es the
road to Caprile. The Italians had already occupied Col di Lana, but
could not drive the Austrians from its western peak, where an entire
battalion of Alpine troops, Kaiserjaegers, was strongly intrenched and
protected by semipermanent fortifications with field and machine guns.

It was impossible for the Italians to attack the enemy's positions,
within range of the Austrian artillery on Mount Sief, which is nearly
on the same level, so the entire western margin of Col di Lana was
carefully and patiently mined, an undertaking which probably took
months of hard work, and several tons of high explosives were
distributed in such a way as to destroy the whole side of the mountain
above which the enemy was intrenched.

The explosion that followed was terrific. The earth shook as if rocked
by an earthquake, and the havoc wrought was so great that out of the
1,000 Austrians who held the position, only 164 survived.

Of course, the Austrians launched many counterattacks against this new
strong position of the Italians. But the latter had fortified it so
well that all attempts of their opponents to dislodge them failed.

Considerable further fighting also occurred during the second half of
April, 1916, and the first half of May, 1916, in the Adamello zone,
adjoining the Camonica Valley, especially in the region of the Tonale
Pass. The same was true of the Tofana sector on the upper Boite. But
though spectacular, the results were of comparatively small
importance.

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE AUSTRIAN MAY DRIVE IN THE TRENTINO

About May 15, 1916, the Italians were at the gates of Rovereto, less
than twelve miles south of Trent and seriously threatening that city.
East of Rovereto the Italian lines ran along the crest of Doss di
Somme to the Monte Maggio beyond Val Terragnolo and then northward to
Soglio d'Aspio. The Austrian forts of Folgaria and Lavarone compelled
the Italians to follow the frontier as far as Val Sugana, where they
occupied good strategical positions on Austrian territory and held
Ronsegno, on the railroad between Borgo and Trent. Further north the
Italians held dominating positions in front of the Austrian forts at
Fabonti and Monte Cola.

During the preceding months the Austrian forces along the Italian
front had gradually been increased, until they now numbered about
thirty-eight divisions. Of these, it was estimated that sixteen
divisions, or over 300,000 men had been massed by May 15, 1916,