The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-02-07
aIJSTRIANS CAUGHT ASLEEP.
First Rush Against the Huns Made
at 3 O'Clock A. NJ.

at 3 O'clock A. Nj.
Italian Headquarters in Northern
Italy, Jan. 3O.-Eye-witnesses OF the
Italian attack of the past few days
on the Asiago plateau tell story OF
thrilling interest. From their ac-
count it appears that the first 1tal-
ian rush was in the darkness at .
O'Clock Monday morning. The Sleep
ing enemy forces were taken COM
pletely by surprise. The Alpinl were
in the thick of this fighting and by
daylight they had swept the first
line trenches and taken an old church
which formed strategic point in the
enemy line of defense. They were
vigorously supporting the heroic Sas-
sari brigade, which took and retook
the height of Col Del Rosso three
times against the stubborn, deperate
resistance of the enemy.
To Screen Main Movement.
Those early movements were d.
version to screen the main move
ment on the right where stroke was
delivered for the dominating height
of Monte Di Val Bella. It was here
that the most severe fighting occur
red through Monday night and in the
early hours of Tuesday. Italian
storming troops took the eastern and
western slopes and by 7 o'clock Tues
day morning had cut their way to
the summit and were establishing
themselves firmly in definite control
of the key position.
It was hand to hand fighting up
the slopes, with heavy losses on the
Austrian side and the enemy clearly
at a disadvantage.
Singular Feature.
A singular feature of the struggle
was supplied by a considerable Ital-
ian force which fought it's way far
beyond the first days objective and
was such a distance within the ene-
my's lines that the troops were CIV
en- up for lost. When the final charge
was made up Monte Di Val Bella, this
Italian force disengaged itself from
the enemy encirclement and took an
important part in the final capture Of
the summit Throughout the day
yesterday the enemy sought to re-
deem the situation by bringing for
ward large reinforcements and it is
estimated that fifty new batteries
were added to his fighting line. But
his efforts to move the infantry led
to such confusion that all his coun-
ter-attacks were rendered abortive.
Austrian prisoners declared that the
reserves hurrying forward were met
by steady streams of beaten troops
moving backward until all orderly
formations were broken up. At
tempts to merge the fresh troops with
the decimated front line units only
added to the confusion.
- Virtually Destroyed.
According to prisoners the twenty
first Schutzen division of Austrians
and the 101st Austrian landstrum di-
vision were practically destroyed,
while the Goth and 52nd mountain
brigades were similarly decimated.
The large percentage of officers
among the prisoners is noticeable
feature, and the casualties show a
similar heavy proportion of officers.
No exact information is available
as to the number of casualties, but
the total mounts high for the enemy
Besides yielding a considerable num-
Der of prisoners and war materials,
the engagement resulted in restoring
the Italian lines to the dominating
position they occupied before the en-.
emy made his forward movement in
this sector just before Christmas.
-4%O>k
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