iudicaria is the highway into the Tyrol
from Brescia, and on either side of it are fortified positions nearly
the whole way to Trent. During the first week of the war the Italians,
taking the Austrians by surprise, seized Condino by a coup de main,
and compelled the Austrian garrison to fall back on the second line of
defense higher up the valley. Then the Italian troops began to secure
the position gained by constructing defensive works covering the road
approaches to Brescia, and linking these up with other defensive
positions extending along the entire front from the Stelvio pass to
Lake Garda. Simultaneously with the occupation of Condino, an Italian
force, based on Verona, moved up both banks of the Adige, crossed the
Austrian frontier near Borghetto, and seized Ala with hardly any
opposition. Continuing their offensive the Italians then seized Monte
Altissimo and its northern spurs, which command the railroad between
Riva and Rovereto, and at the same time occupied the important
position of Gori Zugra, which is four miles north of Ala, and flanks
the Rovereto road. From there on advance was subsequently made to
Pozzachio, an unfinished fort eight miles from Rovereto, which was
abandoned by the Austrians as soon as the Italian offensive began to
develop. Another force then moved up the Val Astico from Asiero, and
succeeded in storming the Austrian positions on Monte Maronia, whence
the Italians threatened the main defenses of Rovereto on the
Lavaone-Folgaria Plateau. Rovereto is at the junction of three
mountain roads leading into Italy in this locality, and has a
strategical importance second only to that of Trent. Its occupation
was recognized from the start as a necessary preliminary to advanced
operations up the Adige. The third Italian column, directed against
Trent, moved up the Brenta along the Val Sugana, and in September,
1915, its advanced guards, operating right and left of the valley,
reached Monte Salubion on the north and Monte Armenderia on the south
of Borgo. These heights command the town of Borgo, but as the
inhabitants are all Italians, the place was not occupied lest this
should lead to its bombardment by the Austrian artillery. The Austrian
commander, however, did not spare the town, which had been repeatedly
bombarded by the guns north of Ronegno. Borgo is only eighteen miles
from Trent and its investment by Italian troops brought them almost
within striking distance of the great Tyrol fortress