The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-27
FOUGHT 5 TO +
Italian General Describes Ter
ribIe Battle in Alps.
Ia Below Zero, No Shelter or
Rest for Italians.

Italian Army Headquarters in ;
Northern Italy, Nov. 26. (By the As
ISOLATED Press. During trip of one
hundred miles today thru the fighting
zone in the north the correspondent
met the major general in command of
the most exposed front between the
Brenta and Piave rivers. where the
pressure has been greatest and the
losses heaviest, and obtained from him
details of the situation. AS the gem
eral spoke a heavy cannonading re-
, sounded thru his field headquarters
and he looked out upon a great
stretch of the Brenta valley where
the enemy is concentrating his forces
! to break thru to Bassano and the
Venetian plains.
Staff officers and orderlies were
arriving with reports from all vital
points and hurrying off with orders
for the maneuvering of troops. 1t
was a stirring scene. but the general
paused long enough to give a. good
general idea of the situation and de-
tails of the condition of the troops
/ and the splendid fight they are max
1 ing against heavy odds.
Italians Outnumbcred 5 to l.
! The general estimated these odds al
four or five to one, based on reports
/ reaching him and which were much
heavier than heretofore known. But
even against such odds his men were
fighting with a power of resistance
courage and dash beyond all praise.
Attacks were almost continuous at
: one point or another but the Italians
were always ready to respond and had
not only repulsed attacks, but driven
the enemy back after a series of
heroic charges.
The general summed up the physi
| cal condition OF the battle ground
which made the struggle particularly
trying on the troops. First, he said,
| there was that terrible strain of en-
/ durance and natural fatigue accom-
| panying nights and days of ceaseless
fighting with the relentless foe. Then
there was the extreme cold, with the
temperature at nights at about 4 de-
| greeS above zero. This extre me cold
was made worse, he said, because the
men were without shelter, everything
| having been swept away in the ter
rifle artillery action and the constant
shifting of position There were no
trenches or dugouts which ordinarily
give some shelter, and there was no
water from unfailing sources, such as
the soldiers should have when going
thru such an ordeal. They were on
the barren ground of foothills covered
with rocks and stones The ground
was without habitation or the slightest
| natural facilities usually required by
fighting troops.
Many Officers Slain.
After summing up the physical
iAe'A 20 6ohOA al aN.ueu eial lilSIe
was the still more serious condition
of many commands being with few of
ficers. as the continuous fighting had
| told terribly on officers. AS a result
new men were suddenly called upon
to lead large forces far beyond Their.
experience and sub-officers as well as
Junior officers were directing super
ior commands in many instances
The general said there have been
fearful losses among the troops, which
required constant reforming of COM
| panieS, regiments, brigades and divi-
sions But with all these terrible
conditions the general said the spirit
of the men was undated in the de-
termination to hold at any cost
The rumble of heavy artillery fire
continued turnout the generals talk
while a dense mist over the valley
gave faint outline of the rising hills
l / where one attack was following an
other in this fateful battle.