When the enemy succeeded in landing troops on the point of the island,
which was mostly inundated, between the new and the old Piave, they
tried to augment this advance guard by using a bridge of boats at
Grisolera. But the float was shattered, the boats sunk. Enemy forces
higher up the river then threw a floating bridge across at Ca' Sacco.
Italy's naval guns shattered this bridge also. The enemy then ascended
higher up the Piave and built three massive bridges at Agenzia Trezze.
These were likewise destroyed. The Austrians descended the river and
built another bridge at Tombolino; but they were also prevented from
crossing here. They then endeavored to establish communication at San
Doná, but here also the shells from the big guns on the floats reached
them. There is now [April, 1918] a daily struggle between the enemy
desiring to force their way across the river and the great guns on the
lagoons impeding the passage, defending the approach, and ruining the
work they accomplish.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING LAGOONS AND MARSHES BETWEEN VENICE AND THE
PIAVE, WHERE THE ITALIAN NAVY IS HELPING TO HOLD BACK THE INVADERS]
The Italian armed ships sometimes participate in actions against the
enemy infantry. Recently one evening the ship Captain Sauro went up the
old Piave, wending its way into an artificial canal which divided the
Italian first line of defense from the enemy line. The sailors of the
Sauro replied steadily to the rifle fire of Hungarian advance posts in
the houses along the canals and landed on the shore occupied by the
enemy patrols, forcing them to flee and firing the abandoned shelters
after taking out the captured munitions. They then returned to the ship
and, though harassed by enemy fire, succeeded in returning safely to
their point of departure.