THE DEFENCE OF VENICE.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 January 1918, Page 5

THE DEFENCE OF VENICE.

The measures taken by the allies, for the defence of Venice against direct attack were recently described by a correspondent of,the Associated Press, of America. Countless square miles .of desolate marsh' land, intersected and. cut into numberless islands by sluggish lagoons, and land inundated to the depth of several feet, line after' line after line, of stationary batteries of guns of from 3in. to 15in. in calibre, and deep, muddy trenches filled with men determined that the enemy shall not advance any further —such are the impressive and apparently well-nigh unassailable defences of Venice, the correspondent wrote. The character of the warfare all along the Lower Piave line, and particularly the methods employed to defend the "Queen of the Seas" from invasion

undoubtedly are unique, even in this war of novelties. Nature has placed a barrier in the path of the invader apparently more nearly insurmountable even than the mountains across which the enemy has fought his way, and these natural obstacles have been fortified as probably has no other place in Europe. Floating fortresses, armed with large guns, can slip from point to point, never offering a mark for ' the invaders and yet always able to bombard the enemy as he attempts to build pontoon bridges across the Piave River. Engineers have ferreted out every bit of solid mainland in the vast swampy area north of Venice, where batteries, large and small according to the distance from the Austrian lines, have been established. The engineers have cut away the dykes that formerly controlled the water to irrigate the fertile Italian plains, creating a vast lake. Finally, in addition to the foremost infantry lfnes in the inundated section, big and little batteries are scattered everywhere and j floating monitors constantly arc on i patrol. The Austrians have occupied the entire northern bank of the new Piave and have reached Santa Donna di Piave, which is about 16| miles north-cast of Venice, but the Italians hold Musile, on the south bank of the river opposite Santa Donna di Piave, and have been able to prevent the Austrians from "brin'gThg any heavy artillery up to that point, from which Venice possibly might be bombarded.