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On the slopes of the Carso, four or five miles to the southwest of the town, rises the enormously strong position of Monte San Michele, and a few miles farther down the Isonzo, the fortified hill-town of Sagrado. On the other side of the river, almost opposite Gorizia, are the equally strong positions of Podgora and Monte Sabotino.
The men were therefore not available in sufficient numbers to defend the line of the Isonzo, otherwise it is likely it would have remained intact from the outset, and the Italian forces would never have been able to force their way through Flava and Monfalcone.
While regular siege operations were being carried on against Tolmino and Gorizia, the Italians were putting forth great efforts to secure possession of the Carso Plateau, which dominates the rail and carriage road between Monfalcone and Trieste, as well as the Isonzo Valley up to Gorizia.
In the delta of the Isonzo, near Monfalcone, a portion was called "Insula Pansiana" even in the Middle Ages. A river in the bay of Monfalcone is still called Panzano, and near there is a place of the same name. There were also glass works at S. Stefano, Aquileia, where fragments of coloured glass have been found.
For half a century Lombardy and Venetia have lived under the continual threat of an Austrian descent from the mountains, both from the Trentino, thrust like a wedge into the heart of Northern Italy, and across the Isonzo from the east. Nor has this threat been remote.
The Isonzo Front was the only possible field for an Italian offensive on a great scale, and the possession of the Carso, of the Bainsizza and Ternova Plateaus and of Monte Nero are as essential to the future security of the Venetian Plain as the possession of the Trentino itself.
"Our tricolour is waving from the summit of Monte Santo!" Here on the night of the 26th there occurred a scene wonderfully, almost incredibly, dramatic. The moon was rising. Shells passed whistling overhead, some coming from beyond the Isonzo toward the Ternova Plateau, others in the opposite direction from Ternova.
Just across the Isonzo from Gorizia are the town and spur of Podgora, which absolutely command the city and prevent an Italian attack from that side. With Podgora completely in Italian hands, it is difficult to see how Gorizia could hold out.
July 28 United States war industries board created to supervise expenditures. August 25 Italian Second army breaks through Austrian line on Isonzo front. Aug. 28 President Wilson rejects Pope Benedict's peace plea. September 10 Gen. Korniloff demands control of Russian government. Sept. 11 Russian deputies vote to support Kerensky. Korniloff's generals ordered arrested.
Weather conditions on May 27, 1917, slowed down the fighting everywhere, but did not prevent the Italians from extending their various successes slightly in all directions. On May 28, 1917, however, the Isonzo battle was resumed for the third time. A new and large Italian attacking wave was directed against the heights of Vodice and Monte Santo.
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