, and carried
out a vigorous offensive in order to gain a secure footing on the left
bank--an antecedent condition to further operations eastward. Italian
troops crossed the river at five different points, Caporetto, Plava,
Castelnuovo, Gradisca, and Monfalcone. Considering the immense
strength of the Austrian defenses this was considered a good start.
Along the thirty-mile front from Tolmino to the sea there is a
continuous wall of defensive works, flanked on the north by the
fortified position of Tolmino, and on the south by the formidable
Carso Plateau, while Gorizia constitutes the central Austrian _point
d'appui_, having been converted into a modern fortress with a girdle
of exterior forts supplemented by advanced batteries provided by
armored cars on which the latest types of howitzers are mounted. All
that military science could do to render this iron barrier impregnable
had been done, and the Italians from the first had a hard struggle in
their attacks on it.

While regular siege operations were being carried on against Tolmino
and Gorizia, the Italians were putting forth great efforts to secure
possession of the Carso Plateau, which dominates the rail and carriage
road between Monfalcone and Trieste, as well as the Isonzo Valley up
to Gorizia. The plateau had to be completely occupied before any
advance could be made along the coast road into Istria and before
Gorizia could be attacked from the south. Two months after the
declaration of war the Italians, who by that time were in possession
of the bridgehead at Sagrada, stormed with great gallantry several
lines of trenches on the summit of the western face of the plateau,
and captured two thousand prisoners with a large quantity of war
material. They followed up this success by an infantry attack,
supported by a large number of heavy and field guns. Farther north
another army operated against Tarvis along two routes, one of which
goes over the Pontafel Pass and is traversed by the railroad running
between Vienna and Venice, while the other is a coach road leading
from Plezzo over the Predil Pass to the Save Valley. The progress of
the Italian columns was checked at Malborgeth, where the Austrians had
constructed a chain of permanent forts, while along the coach road an
equally strong group of forts covering the Predil Pass blocked the
way. A further offensive was directed across the Carnic Alps by way of
the Kreuzberg Pass down the Seoten Valley to Innichen an