As soon as the bold and dangerous plan became known there was no lack
of volunteers. We had no difficulty in forming a band of experienced
miners, who worked in two shifts, never stopping day or night. A
powerful perforator (drill) was got to work under most ingenious
conditions--in deference to the higher military authorities I cannot be
more precise--lest its strident voice should give away the secret of
the fate which awaited the enemy forces on the iron-crested peak.
During the month of January we made excellent progress with our tunnel
into the heart of the mountains, and were able to form some idea of how
long we should be over the work. Roughly speaking, we found we were
able to bore about seven hundred feet a month. During February we put
on speed, and did considerably over that length--not bad work when you
consider that each of our _galleria_ was sufficiently big to allow two
men to pass each other comfortably, and that we were working all the
time in bitter winter weather. But, in spite of our hardships, all
went as merry as a marriage bell until we reached the early days of
March. Up to then the Austrians had suspected nothing. They showed by
what they said during the occasional truces, which were not uncommon
between the rival trenches, that they considered themselves in perfect
safety. We often heard ironical voices chanting such taunts as this:--
"Perhaps you may take Trento,
Perhaps you may take Trieste,
But the Col di Lana--never!"
And the chorus of arrogant, cock-sure Austrian soldiers would
vociferate:--
"But the Col di Lana--never!"
When March came in, however, we discovered that the enemy were becoming
suspicious. The steady burrowing noise of our drills and the thud
of our pickaxes awoke them, as we drew nearer and nearer to their
positions, to the reality of the situation. Soon we became aware that
they had started excavating a counter-mine. Don Gelasio brought the
news to the day-squad with words of encouragement:--
"Go ahead, boys!" he said. "Put on speed as much as you can. It's now
a matter of a race for life."
We were now boring slightly upwards, to get as near as possible to the
summit of the Col di Lana, and the turn matters had taken necessitated
an earlier date for the eruption of our artificial volcano than we had
contemplated. So, after we had been working with feverish haste for
another three weeks, our chief held a council of war and announced that
the fateful day was near.
"To-morrow or the day after we must place the explosive," he said. "We
shall need ten tons of gelatine and dynamite. I'm having the extreme
end of the _galleria_, which cannot be far away now from the enemy's
positions, blocked with a shield of thick armoured steel, in order to
turn the force of the explosion upward, and at the same time save the
remaining portion of the main tunnel from destruction. I'm counting on
that as an open pathway when the moment comes for rushing the enemy
trenches--or all that will be left of them. Ah! in spite of all their
tardy attempts to counter-mine us, they little suspect on what a
volcano they are sitting!"
For the dangerous task of leading the way through the tunnel, directly
after the explosion, forty of our bravest _alpini_ came forward, being
promised a fortnight's leave if the attempt succeeded.
At last everything was ready and the hour fixed--half-past eleven on
a Tuesday night--for the firing of the mine. How the time hung on our
hands all that afternoon and evening!
All the while we wondered what progress the enemy had made with _his_
boring, asking ourselves whether we should forestall him or not. More
anxious hours I never passed in my life.
What a relief it was when the hour struck for testing the efficiency
of our work. I can still see Don Gelasio Caetani as he stood at the
wheel of his little electric generator, ready to give the couple of
turns which would set free the destructive spark. We surrounded him
in his little dugout, waiting with bated breath, for the sound of the
explosion.