On the Trentino front, the German-Austrian army was still moving nervously, making final preparations for a counteroffensive. And on the front line of Isonzosa, the counterattack has begun,

To the great surprise of Lehedon of Trieste and all the Austro-Hungarian generals, the 21st Croatian Mountain Army, which was on the first assault mission in the Issonzo region, broke through on the flank with such ease. The Italian resistance they encountered was very small, and the Italians began to retreat on all fronts after a little resistance when attacked.

The 21st Croatian Army was left uninhabited, and only three days later, on the front line of the Tagliamento River, encountered some decent counterattacks.

The whole process of the battle also made Li Haidon, who had already been mentally prepared, unable to close his mouth in surprise, he knew that the Italian army was very dishful, but he really didn't know such a dish. In order to prevent the Italian army from escaping, he hurriedly ordered the Trentino group to start a general attack.

On the fourth day after the start of the Battle of the Isonzo River, the German-Austrian heavy army group, which had been assembled around Trentino under the command of Archduke Eugen, also began to attack. After heavy artillery preparations, the Eastern Front group, consisting of the elite Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, the 12th Army, the Tyrolean Defense Army and the German 9th Army, launched an attack on the Italian army on a front about 60 kilometers wide between Rovereto and Borgo.

The Austro-Crarian 3rd Army consisted of the 3rd, 8th, 14th, 20th, 17th Armies and the Tyrolean Defense Army, with a total of 6 armies and a total strength of 340,000 troops, the newly formed 12th Army had 150,000 troops, and the German 9th Army also had 170,000 troops in 3 armies, plus 230,000 troops of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army.

As the Italian 5th Army was transferred to the Pivia River line, the Italians had only about 250,000 men of the 1st Army under the command of General Giraldi on the Trentino line, and the German-Austrian offensive force was about twice as large as the Italian army. The inexperienced Italians lacked artillery and did not build defensive positions in depth, which led the Austro-German forces to break through the central line of defense quickly.

The 20th Army, commanded by Archduke Karl, was the vanguard of the attack on the right flank, and the 14th Army was behind them as support.

In fact, before the campaign was launched, the Italian General Staff had already warned the Chief of the General Staff, Admiral Carridona, that the German-Austrian forces had amassed a large number of troops in Trentino and that it was possible to launch an offensive against the Italian army, asking him to abandon the battle plan for the Isonzo River area. However, Carridona believed that the Austro-Hungarian army's build-up in Trentino was only to contain the Italian army's attack on the Isonzo River, and did not think that the Austrian army would launch a full-scale attack on the Italian army.

After all, Italy had amassed 1.1 million troops in the Veneto region, and in terms of troop comparison, the Austro-Hungarian side had fewer troops than the Italian army. However, he ignored the German army, in fact, even with the addition of 350,000 German troops, the total strength of the German-Austrian army was only comparable to that of the Italian army, but the hastily assembled Italian army was too poorly equipped and trained, and had no combat experience.

In comparison, the German 9th and 12th armies were elite after several major wars, while the Austro-Hungarian army, although inferior to the Germans, was slightly stronger than the Russians. What's more, the Austro-Hungarian army went through several major battles, and although it suffered heavy losses in the initial Galician campaign, it was victorious in the subsequent battles against Russia. The successive victories greatly boosted the morale of the originally not very high, and because the Austro-Hungarian Army, under the command of Lee Haydon, did not fight hard with the Russians, nor did it suffer major losses, the rich combat experience and the officers and non-commissioned officers were preserved, which allowed the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army to be maintained.

However, the commander of the Italian 1st Army, Admiral Giraldi, who was on the Trentino front, trusted the judgment of the intelligence service of the General Staff, and he was concerned about the changes in the Austro-Hungarian army in Trentino, especially the appearance of German troops in the Battle of the Isonzo River.

Giraldi ordered the Italian army to build three fortifications along the Tyrolean front, with the support points of Mount Vilenna, Capologo and Capomeron as the first line of defense, and the second and third lines of defense with the support points of Mount Enna, the support group of Maso Mountain, and the group of support points of Casaratti. In addition, from mid-August, the Italian army continued to launch raids and harassment operations to interfere with the preparations for the Austro-Hungarian army's attack.

However, Carridona's insistence on transferring the 5th Army from the Trentino Line to strengthen the front line of the Tagliamento River left Giraldi's forces stretched.

The cool breeze of the night blew away the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield. The rumbling of cannon could still be heard in the distance, and darkness covered the land.

The 14th Lancer Marksman Division of Galicia, which was part of the 3rd Army, was again deployed to the front, and they had already caught up with the 20th Army, which was serving as a assault in front.

On the front between the Ororo and Astico rivers, the German-Austrian army sent four corps, the German 17th Army and the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army besieging the Italian fortification group of Arseiro, while the Austro-Routic 20th and 14th armies, after breaking through the Italian lines, attacked Schio.

The Italian 3rd Army, made up of elite Alpine infantry, withstood the Austrian onslaught at Schio, and Archduke Karl, who was the commander of the front, sent the 14th Army behind him.

Unlike the gentle hills of Galicia, the steep peaks of northern Italy were not conducive to the offensive of the Grande Armies, but more conducive to the Italian defense. Before the 14th Army could reach the battlefield, Archduke Karl commanded the Austro-Hungarian 20th Army to launch three fierce attacks on Schio, but all of them were repulsed by the Italians.

The commander of the 3rd Lancer Division of Galicia, General Crasse, received an order from the front command to lead the 3rd Lancer Division across the Orolo River, bypassing the Italian lines and rushing behind the Italian army.

Rakovsky's 3rd Regiment moved forward after dinner, marching in a long column on a deserted path between the valleys. The sky was drizzling, and the officers and men were soaking wet, exhausted and panting, with a belly full of resentment, and from time to time some people were complaining.

During the night, they crossed the fast-flowing Aurolo River west from a makeshift pontoon bridge and then advanced south along the river valley. In the early hours of 29 August, the 3rd Lancer Division marched 15 kilometers south overnight, then captured a bridge over the Auroro River, crossed the Ororo River from there, returned to the left bank, and drove into a small town called Gaveno.

It was very strange that the Italians had sent only one company to guard this very important bridge and town in their rear. Due to the lack of troops, the line of defense of the Italian 1st Army was now full of holes.

General Crasser ordered the 3rd Regiment to defend the town of Gavennow and the bridge, and he also set up his headquarters in the town. The 1st Regiment was in the village of Riva, about 2 kilometres east of Gavenno, and the 2nd Regiment was in the town of Marano in the south-east. The Italians in the town watched the invaders with indifferent expressions, and the Austrian soldiers, after a short break, marched through the dilapidated streets full of potholes and water to the town, where they were digging trenches.

Some Italian-speaking officers were trying to persuade the inhabitants to flee or hide in relative safety, which would soon become a battlefield and risk being razed to the ground.

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