ITALY'S NEW ARMY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 May 1917, Page 3

ITALY'S NEW ARMY.

HIGH CONFI^iiXCE, A YEAR AGO AXJJ NOW. (From Dr. MACIA BOBSA.) Italian General Headquarters, x February. My visit to the Italian front has convinced me that tho military situation inn;,- now be viewed with full confidence, considering especially the great work has been done lately, both in the consolidation of our present positions and the preparation for a further advance. But if our war machine is satisfactory, the spirit of our men. is even more so. What a difference to what it was a year ago! There was a, timo wlien our troops looked towards tho future development of operations with a feeling of dismay. Not that they were individually disheartened or had lost confidence in themselves; on tho contrary. That was just the time when they were exhibiting the most conspicuous gallantry; when the old men who had served under Garibaldi and had volunteered in this war, intolerant of trench warfare, jumped out clad in their red shirts and ran aganist the enemy's wire entanglements; when young men faced death singing patriotic songs. That, indeed, was the period that saw our heaviest losses and the greatest deeds of .personal bravery. But from a purely military standpoint, the heroism and sacrifices of our troops were carrying us but little farther. And that is where the feeling of dismay came in. On the Isonzo front we were pitched against the formidable bridgehead of Gorizia. Our infantry had reached the lowest spurs of Mount Skn Michele, Pocfgora and Sabotino, the three strongholds barring the gate of the city. Night after night, month after month, our soldiers would throw themselves against the entanglements, only, to be checked and repulsed by the enemy's heavy artillery. 'Positions were taken and lost again. Our troops would conquer the summits and there be annihilated by the fire of 'the big guns beyond in stili higher positions. Of big guns and high explosives the Austrians had plenty. We had few. In tho Alpine region it was practically the name tragic story. Our natural frontier, the great chain of commanding mountains, was in the hands of tho Austrians. They had made it impregnable. OADORNA A! (REVELATION. Yet it was in tho Alpine region that the course of tho war turned in our favor. The enemy's attempt of last May 111 the Trentino has been our good fortune. Our troops, as I have said, were then fighting with bravery, but with a growing feeling of scepticism as to the tangible results of their sacrifices. Could we ever attain the efficiency of our opponents in artillery and ammunition? Should we ever be able to score a decided Euccess over them? The answer came from the Trentino and Gorizia. In May the Austrians attacked in force all along the Trentino front. Under the first heavy onslaught the centre gave way, but both flanks stood magnificently, ami General Cadorna did the rest. The man was a revelatioii. He never had appealed so calm, self-confident, energetic as in those fateful days. He had flown to the spot, seen things and men, and immediately formed a clear idea of tho situation. He sat at a table with a telephone at hand and gave orders. How troops were hurried 1 from tho Isonzo to tho Trentino front, how they were concentrated, fresh supply depots organised and mountain mule tracks converted overnight into splendid motor-car roads, is a story of ycstcrda}), yet one reads it already like a legend. As a distinguished 'English journalist put it: "It was roads versus big guns. Roads won." The Austrians were held up, baffled, repulsed 1 . Before Brusilofl had started his great offensive in the east, General Cadorna had already slammed the door into Italy 011 the enemy's face. But he did not rest on his laurels. No sooner had the gate been bolted and barred than he conceived and realised another daring stroke. The Austrians thought we had been exhausted in the effort of our coimter-prossurjj in the Trentino. They did not expect, for a long time at least, another attack elsewhere. This was their mistake. As soon as General Cadorna had his legions and guns brought back from the Trentino lie flung them against Gorizia. In throe days the bridgehead was taken, tho city conquered.

TROOPS' NEW CONFIDENCE. It is difficult to realise the moral effect these two brilliant successes antl the subsequent advance on the. Carso plateau had on our troops. They had proved that the enemy was not invincible, that progress could be made!, that the way to Trieste might be forced. Since then two more factors have, elevated still more the spirit of our men; firstly, the knowledge that our original deficiency in big guns and ammunition had been made good.; secondly, the conviction that the condition of the Austrians was going from l bad to worse. As to the first point, here are the simple words I heard from, a private on the Carso: '"lt ia all right now," he said to me; "for every shot tho Austrians fire we fire ten in return, just the reverse of what it was at the. beginning. We see guns everywhere now. Tlicy do the rough work for usi. and bow they do it! When we advance, we found the ground well cleared! with all the barbed wire broken to pieces and swept down, and the trenches smashed up."