Fields were strewn with Austrian dead. So precipitate had been their
flight that they had to abandon guns, ammunition, supplies, in fact
everything they possessed. When, a few days later, I crossed the delta
of the Piave, I saw thousands of Austrian helmets, overcoats, and
supplies of every description covering the ground that extended for
many miles to the Little Piave, across which the Austrian army had been
driven.
It had been impossible in their retreat to bury their dead. Heaps of
bodies still lay where they fell. Every ditch was filled with slain
Austrians, the roadways were lined with them. It was a gruesome sight,
but it told the story of a changed Italy, of a new army that meant to
retrieve the honor of the country, and bring to the Italian arms the
glory to which they were entitled.
Italy needed coal, she wanted steel for ammunition, and these
deficiencies threatened her effort. Her allies came to her assistance,
and equipped and replenished her for the prosecution of the war to a
successful conclusion.
[Illustration: A HUMBLE FOUR-FOOTED CITIZEN OF ROME