to
fighting in the Alps. Due in part to their realization of this
superiority of Austria in big guns, the Italians remained neutral for
ten months, but meanwhile they had created a new armament for their
own armies at full speed. For the attack on the Austrian infantry in
the field they adapted the French 75-millimeter quick-firer, and for
siege work they manufactured 6-and 12-inch howitzers. But it takes
time to build heavy artillery, and at this time every armament firm in
the world was pushed to its full capacity, while the Italians, being
without coal fields, were handicapped in the development of armament
resources at home. For political reasons also General Cadorna would
not risk sacrificing his men to overcome this artillery handicap. His
problem was to conserve his forces as much as possible in readiness
for a defensive campaign against combined Teutonic armies, winning
what small victories he could, and meanwhile keeping down his casualty
lists, while fighting heavy howitzers with light mountain guns and
3-inch quick-firers.

After the Italians had established their hold upon the frontier points
there was an apparent relaxation of effort while the infantry of the
line waited for the heavy siege artillery to issue from the armament
factories and come into action. This movement of artillery was slow,
especially on the Isonzo front where engineering operations were
delayed by the summer floods caused by the melting snows from the
mountain tops. To transport heavy pieces of ordnance across the floods
the Italian engineers had to build strong bridges, often under heavy
fire from the enemy, who, even after their retirement from the east
bank of the river, continually harassed the Italian advance guard
holding the bridgeheads. The Austrians aided the work of the mountain
floods by breaking down the high embankment used to carry off the snow
water, and thereby inundated the plain. Working under a plunging fire
from the enemy's batteries on the foothills, the Italian sappers built
light pontoon bridges over the floods upon which the first Italian
contingent crossed at night and occupied the first line of Austrian
trenches near the river.

This much the Italians accomplished by the first week in June, 1915;
but there they were forced to pause for the reasons already described.
Active hostilities during the first part of June on the Isonzo front
centered around Monfalcone, a seaport just below the dominating Carso
head