The sun., 1915-06-21
ITALIANS WON PLAYA
IN BRILLIANT DASH
Swept Austrians From Their
Positions Despite Many
Difficult Obstacles.
ADVANCE Is UNCHECKED

ture by the Italians of Plava, on the
Ison.o. and the surrounding heights.
made public by the War Office to-day,
show that in this battle. the first gen.
eral engagement Of the campaign, the
Italians fought with extraordinary brav-
cry in the face o falmost insuperable OBJ
staclcs. Barbed wire entanglcments.
hidden batteries. natural defeuces were
powerlcss to hcld hack the invaders,
who swept the Austrians out OF posi-
tion after position and finally forced
them to precipitate flight
Rcpcrts from a reliable source in
Vienna are to the encct that Emperor
Frarcis Joseph is indignant at the de-
feats OF his army on the italian frontier.
In spite of heavy reenfcrcements sent
10 the Austriars from Bosnia and Her
zegovina, strategic,l and strongly forti-
fed positions which had been considered
lmpreznable have been lost. The Aus
,rlans have shown themselves ap-
parertlv unable to guard AGAINST sur
prise attacks and the ltaltin advance
has gone on unchecked, while the Aus
II is reported that the Emperor has
relieved Gen. Dankl and Gen Rohr of
their commands on the Tyrolean front.
aud has threatened the commander in
chief, Archduke Eugene. with the same
fate II he alows Goritz to fall into the
hands 4 the enemy.
Following is the official report telling
OF the great battle at PLAYA;
Artillery duels and engagemen's be-
tween small bodies occupied several
points or The front on Juno 10. In
Carnia the enemy made fresh attacks
on Freikofel and attempted to ap-
proach the head Of tie Nalonla Pass.
They were rcpulsed in each case.
New details now have been received
Of the struggle which continued two
days and nigh, for the heights on
the left bank OF the lsonzo River.
commanding PLAYA village, which t.
situated at the bottom OF dehlc en-
closed by steep. wooded slopes. he
tween which the river runs. deem and
rapid. The bridge crossing the IsonZo
AZ This point had been destroyed hy
the enemy with patient efforts and
boldness we threw bridges across dur
Ing the night and at dawn on the
10th our troops began an attack. The
movement VAS carried out all day
sistlnce and the difficulties OF the
ground. Increase, by serious artificial
obstacles and solid entanGlements pro-
tected by extensive barhed wire en-
tan-lements strengthened by iron IT
bars
Numerous hcavy guns. even l2 inch
guns were Concenlct in commanding
positions which we're difficult for our
artillery 10 reach. Nevertheless. sup
ported by the are OF our batteries our
troops succeeded. by repeated hayoret
char-cs. IN dehouchiug on the euemN's
first line toward evening. Daring the
night tho enemy tried sserll times
with sudden d.. shes TO deprive us OF
the GROUND conq 'ored. but always they
were thrown back.
ON the i1th our troops completed
their success ny carrying the heights
st.ll In the hands OF the enemy. The
latter then concentrated on them Nio-
( lent artillery and machine gun fire.
which was followed up by another
/ counter attack hy fresh troops He
was decimated and definitely driven
4 back NJ the point Of the hayoaet We
| made more than $50 prisoners. inc.ud-
! ing four officers and captured n guam
tity OF rifles, munitions and one ma
chine gun. Our losses We're serious,
! but the results obtained were I'M
| portan'.
on the Isonzo. which We passed hy
main ,orcc. the ereTys positions.
| naturally commanding and further
strengthened by military ar,!fices.
have been one after another taken hv
assault, Attempts to assume the Of
: fensive by numerous seasoned troops
have been constantly re0ulsed on
/ the heights OF PLAYA our infantry. we'll
supported by artillery, has given
fine example Of tenactN and bravery.
In pursuance OF special deere
authorizing extraordinary appointment
In the army, Guglielmo Marcons ha
been gazetted as n lieutenant Of cngi
neers and Gabrielle dAnnunzio as
I lieutenant of cavalry.
A member of the encourage of Kin
Victor Emmanuel has supplied the cor
respondent OF THE SUN with some do
tails 4 the life Of the k!nc al the from
The monarch mixes freely with Il
soldiers. sharing their meals, lie treat
the men with the greatest familiarit
shakes them by the hand and pats thci
on the shoulder They call him ICON
rade." The King sleeps in huts at II
outposts and has been present in mar
actions.
, One day recently King Victor ga'
his luncheon 10 a man ~ an out of Il
= way post. When he felt hungry son
; time later he asked a soldier for half
: loaf and sat down on the ground to g
: 1t. surrounded by cheering soldiers.