10 
T AND Sc W A T E R 
Juno 15, 1916 
To the right they were trj-ing to seize iho road from 
Kovereto to Schio by forring the Posina ridge, that is 
the steep, bare mountain bank which frowns two thous- 
and feet and more over the bed of the Posina torrent to 
the west. On the left the\- were attempting what would 
be a ver\' much more important thing, if they succeeded 
in reaching the Brenta valK'\- in tlu- neighbourhood of 
\'alstagna. This would cut off the whole of the I'pper 
Brenta. and would bring them very near to the issue 
from the mountains an<l the possession of the whole of 
this avenue of rommunication. 
Last week there was a lull in the effort towards the 
Austrian left, towards the Brenta valley, and a particular 
intensity in the efforts towards the Austrian right on the 
Posina. That effort to force the Posina ridge failed 
altogether. 
This week the effort has been the other way. There 
has been a lull on the Posina and the main part of the 
hea\v guns and tlm^ mass of the infantry have been used 
for the effort upon the left and centre and the reaching of 
the Brenta \alley at Val-^tagua or the point of Schio by 
way of Cogollu. 
Now let us sec what the conditions are which govern 
that effort. 
Imagine a rather thick book near the edge of a table 
and up against the side of the book a saucer with a rather 
high rim. The book stands for the row of high mountain 
ridges and peaks bounding the plateau of Asiago to the 
north and west. That is from the direction this Austrian 
offensive has come. The saucer stands for the hollow 
upland plateau of the Sctle Comuni or Seven Villages, 
of which the little town of Asiago is the chief centre. 
The edge of the table below the level of the saucer is the 
rocky crest of that exceedingly steep bank which falls 
down three thousand feet into the Brenta valley. 
Another way of e.xpressing this condition of the ground 
is by way of a section taken from north-west to south- 
cast frorn the high mountains of the frontier ridge to the 
gorge of the Brenta near \'alstagna. 
^eaks StD 6oooPt: 
A 
IV 
Rim oPBasem. ^ ' 
Highest Peaks 
4f00tD4700ft. 
LastCresi about 
, 3000 ft 
You have the high ridge at A with peaks as much as 
6,000 feet and 5,500 feet. It falls on to the hollow plain 
of Asiago some 3.000 feet above the sea. The outer rim B 
of this hollow tableland rises again into peaks of as much 
as 4,500 and 4,700 feet in height and a general crest about 
a thousand feet above the plain of Asiago. 
Beyond this ridge or crest there is another step down 
to the last rock\' crest C, and thence the sides of the 
Brenta gorge fall very steeply indeed down a stance, in 
some places, of as much as 3.000 feet. 
In order to prevent the Austrians getting out of this 
basin the Italians have seized the edge or rim of it. and 
if we notice the points upon the accompanying sketch 
map we shall see in what fashion they hold this rim and 
liow the Austrians arc trying to break through their 
line. 
Up into the high mountains northward from the Asiago 
plain run clefts, passes and torrents. One of these 
valleys is that known as the valley of Campo Mulo from 
the huts and pasturage in its higher flats. And on the 
eastern side of this valley stand the two peaks of the 
lUaletla and the Little Maletta. each about 5,500 feet 
high, the latter having behind it the highest peak, about 
6,000 feet, 'and the (Ireater Maletta. 
The Italians hold all that ridge which overhangs the 
valley of Campo Mulo from the east. Proceeding further 
to the south one gets a cleft in the rim of the basin, and 
this cleft is that profound ravine called ^'al Frenzena. 
V 
//' ■!.._ ..\'^ ^msp . » - w I— 
ASIAfiO ' / sA 
/ % 
VdMaffUi. 
i 
which leads down by nothing better than a rough mule 
track to Valstagna. 
Now the Austrians have certainly set foot in the upper 
part of this cleft, but there is some discrepancy in the 
evidence as to the exact amount by which they have 
been able to proceed down it. 
They cannot go down the cleft so long as the heights 
overlooking it are held \>\ the Italians, They have to 
carry those heights progressively on the right and on the 
left side of the cleft in order to be able to advance down 
it at all. In one of their communiques they claim the 
capture of a Maletta height and they tell us they are in the 
viOage of Ronchi, the positioA of which will be noted 
upon the Sketch Map V. The Italians have not denied, I 
believe, the .\nstrian occupation of Konchi, but they 
tell us that their positions at the head of the valley of 
Frenzena have been slightly advanced in their counter- 
offensive of the last two or three days. As we are not 
quite certain to within say half a mile where the line runs 
at this point I have marked it upon Sketch V with notes 
of interrogation. 
When we get further on the bend of the rim the position 
becomes clearer. All along the high ridge which runs 
south of Asiago the Italians hold commanding positions 
and the Austrians are trying to push them up and over 
those positions, just as they were trying last week to push 
them up and over the corresponding positions of the 
Posina ridge away'to the west. That is what is meant 
by all the matter of the communiques about the fighting 
in the neighbourhood of Cesuna, a little village south ol 
Asiago, and of various mountains which are either the 
foothills or the main slopes of the rim. The Monte 
(engio, for instance, the Monte Marco, the Monte 
Busibollo are all main heights upon the rim of the plateau, 
while the hill which the Austrians claim to ha\-e taken 
is one of the foothills. 
The other central issue from the upland plateau of 
Asiago which the Austrians are trying to force is that 
marked C upon Sketch V. 
Its capture would not give such great results as the 
issue of the Val Frenzela on to the lower Brenta. But it 
would still have the effect of turning the whole of the 
Schio-Rovereto secondary avenue of communications, 
and further has the advantage of possessing a light line 
of railway and a road. This is the Co.gollo gap which 
opens jvist beneath the Monte Cengio. The disadvantage 
of this issue is that the heights upon both sides are very 
nnich better supplied from the Italian bases, having good 
roads and a railway immediately behind them, than are 
the heights in the Val Frenzela. On the other hand, if 
it is taken the Austrians are very near to turning the 
whole of the Rovereto-Schio road. 
The last communiques up to the time of writing, 
Tuesday afternoon, leave the matter, thus, with the 
.•\ustrians relaxing for a moment their efforts against the 
basin of the ridge and still attempting both the Cogollo 
and the Frenzela issues from the upland hollow plateau 
of Asiago. There is, however, this much development in 
the situation, that the Italians are now undertaking 
successful local counter-offensives which seem so far to 
contain the enemy, 
