ted strongly. Vienna was
claiming the capture of 30,000 men, but the Italian reports claimed that
the Austrian losses were stupendous. Thousands of dead were heaped
before the Italian line in the mountain sectors, blocking the mule paths
and choking the defiles. No fewer than nine desperate onslaughts upon
Monte Grappa, always with fresh reserves, were broken upon Grappa
heights, with terrific losses.

On July 19th the dispatches from Rome were emphasizing the Italian
counter-attacks. Not only were the Italians preventing the enemy from
making further gains, but they were beginning to crowd him back at the
points where he had crossed the river, and were raining bombs and
machine-gun bullets upon the Austrian troops at the bridgehead. They
were also taking the initiative in the fighting in the mountain sectors.

By June 20th the Austrian defeat was clear. Their forces were backed
against the flooded Piave, which had carried away their bridges and left
them to the mercy of the Italians. Thousands were being killed and other
thousands captured. Czecho-Slovak troops, it was reported, had joined in
the fighting, and had given their first tribute of blood to the generous
principles of freedom and independence for which they were in arms. In
the Piave delta the Italians had regained Capo Sile, which had been
captured early in the drive, and it was reported that all along the
Piave line they had won complete control of the air, not a single
Austrian machine being still aloft. The spirits of the Austrian troops
had been definitely weakened. They were war wearied, and evidence began
to accumulate that Austria's drive was a "hunger offensive."

As the battle continued reports began to arrive of the gallant deeds of
American airmen, who were helping in the fighting along the front. The
airmen were assisting in destroying the bridges that the Austrians were
trying to throw across the river. The Piave was now a vast cataract and
the bridges which it had not washed down were constantly destroyed by
the aviators. The Austrians on the western bank were finding it
difficult to obtain supplies and were resorting to hydroplanes for that
purpose. On June 24th the Austrian attack had definitely failed and they
were fleeing in disorder across the Piave. One hundred and eighty
thousand men had already been lost and forty thousand were hemmed in on
the western side of the river. The Austrian communications were
emphasizing the difficulties th