The most important point gained by the enemy in its early
assault was the village of Caporetto on the Upper Isonzo where General
Cadorna held a great series of dams which could have drained the Isonzo
River dry within twelve hours.
[Illustration: Map]
AREA OF THE FLOW AND EBB OF ITALY'S MILITARY SUCCESS FROM THE CARSO
PLATEAU TO THE PIAVE LINE.
The Italian retreat at places degenerated into a rout and it was not
until the Italians, reinforced by French and British, reached the Piave
River, that a stand was finally made. The defeat cost Cadorna his
command, and he was succeeded by General Armando Diaz, whose brilliant
strategy during the remainder of the war marked him as a national hero
and one of the outstanding military geniuses of the war.
The order for a general retreat was issued on October 27th. Poison gas
shells rained blindness and death upon the retreating Italians and upon
the heroic rear-guards. The city of Udine and its environs were emptied
of their inhabitants; and Goritzia, which had been wrested after a
desperate effort from the Austrians, was retaken on October 28th.
That the entire Italian army escaped the fate that had come to the
Russians at the Masurian Lakes was due mainly to the third army
commanded by the Duke of Aosta. During the long running fight, it faced
about from time to time and drove the Germans back in bloody encounters.
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