New Britain herald., 1917-11-02
MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR
 COUNTER ATTACK ON ENEMY
Italian and Allied Troops Getting Ready for Decisive Battle on Tagliamento River.
AIRPLANES BATTLE
 AS CANNON BOOM

To the Fearful Din and Heavy Shell
 Fire Was Added Continuous Expao-
 sions As tho Italians Blew Up Pow
 der Supplies As They Retreated, Fighting Bravely Another Big
 Rattle Expected.
 Italian Headquarters in Northern Italy Nov. Italian and Allied troops are preparing for long count CT offensive A great battle based or the line of the Taglamento river is forecast. :.
 The Italian cavalry rear guard con- the main body of the Italian army to it's newly chosen position and at the same time to check the advance of the enemy lines. tt..
 Gen. Cadorna's bulletin last night gives the first idea of where the ad- vance is making itself felt along the hills connecting St. Daniele del Fruili, the Ledra canal and Pozzuolo del Fruili making a curved line some miles west of the Isonzo river. |. Military necessity still restricts rigidly the sending of details of the | operation and the mention of places, | but within these close limits some general idea can be given, of the heroic resistance the main part of the Italian army gave to the rush of overwhelming numbers. sI The greatest shock came on the north where the Iscnzo first was crossed. Here occurred the weaken ing of certain ae'achments oc t.,e Second army which General Cadorna has bulletined with the frankness of great commander. It was this weakening which gave the German contingents the opportunity at crit ical moment to pass forward between a portion of the army on the north and that on the line further south.
 The Germans encountered stubborn resistance on the Bainsizza plateau. and heaps of enemy dead mark the lines of their advance. Around Glo- bro ridge, Bersaglieri brigade, out numbered five to one, held back the enemy while the main line had an opportunity to get their retreat in motion.
 In one of the mountain passes & small village commanding the pass was taken and re-t9ken eight times during desperate artillery, infantry and hand-to-hand fighting.
 Gorizia was shelled heavily and what remained of what the corres- pondent saw there just a week ago today was further reduced to a mass of debris. One of the main bridges from Gorizia across the Isonzo was blown up by the Italians and the enemy movement, thus was further 1mpeded.
 To the west of Gorizia, the town of Cormons also was shelled heavily. The great German guns opened enormous craters and literally tore the town to pieces.
 AS depots and arsenals were blown up the whole sky was lighted with a red glare, and dense masses of smoke formed an enormous pail like the ap- proach of an equinoctial cyclone Added to the fearful din and heavy shell fire on front and flank was the l continuous explosion of powder sup plies as the Italians slowly fell back l screened by a rear guard of the Pe.- . saglieri brigade which threw ur nasty | breastworks and contested every foot l of the way.
 Now began the double exposure of l the southern force to fire in the front l and on the flank which required d | steady falling back until the entire 1 army was in movement toward the l newly established positions further west. During this prodig1ous move 1 ment on the main front and the rear | guard, which can only be sketched in | the broadest outlines, some sections sustained shocks of exceptional in- ! tensity. The commanding heights of l Monte Nero, which. the Italians had | occupied after deeds of great valor, was defended against onslaughts from 1 three sides which gradually devel- oped to envelopment.
 Added to this was the suddenness of the surr:ise blow from the north. which developed into 8 turning fire { before the southern armies and also l on their extreme flank, gradually ex- tending to their rear. Under such l circumstances 1t was humanly possi- 1 ble that any army would be tried l sorely and it was to extricate the | troops from this situation that the re- l tirement began all along the extended l advanced position occupied hv the l
 (Continued on Fifteenth Page)