between the Adige and Brenta Rivers. Artillery, too, in comparatively
great quantity and of as heavy caliber as the country permitted, had
been assembled.

Suddenly on May 15, 1916, the Austrians along the Trentino front
followed up an intense bombardment which had lasted throughout May 14,
1916, with an attack by large masses of infantry against the Italian
positions between the Adige and the upper Astico. Although the
Italians valiantly resisted the first onrush they had finally to give
way, losing some 2,500 men and sixty-five officers. Austrian troops
have occupied Italian positions on Armentara Ridge, south of the
Sugana Valley, on the Folgarone Plateau, north of Cagnolo Valley and
south of Rovereto. On the Oberdo Plateau they entered trenches east of
Monfalcone, capturing five officers and 150 soldiers belonging to five
different Italian cavalry regiments.

The following vivid picture of the vehemence of the Austrian attack is
given in the "Comere della Sera":

"The Austrians have opened a breach in the wall of defense which we
have won by heavy sacrifices beyond our frontier. They have beaten
with a hurricane of fire upon our Alpine line at its most delicate
point, striving with desperate fury to penetrate into Italian
territory. This is the hardest moment of our war; it is also one of
the most bitter and violent assaults of the whole European war.

"The battle rages furiously. The Austrian attack is being made with
colossal forces in the narrow zone between the Adige and the Val
Sugana. The enemy had assembled fourteen divisions of his best troops.
An Austrian officer who was taken prisoner said:

"'You are not far from the truth in reckoning that there are three
hundred thousand men against you. These comprise the armies of Dankl,
Koevess, and the Boroevic, and these armies are served by unlimited
artillery. More than two thousand pieces are raining on a
twenty-five-mile front projectiles of all calibers.'"

"On Sunday morning, May 14, 1916, three shadows approached the Italian
trenches. As they advanced they were recognized as Austrian Slav
deserters. They said:

"'The attack has been ordered for to-morrow. The bombardment will last
from dawn to 6 p. m., when the infantry will attack.'

"The information was exact. A bombardment of incredible violence
began. Aeroplanes regulated the fire of a 15-inch naval gun, which
sent five projectiles on the town of Asiago. After the bombardment had
ceased the f