On reaching Treviso, the Italian Supreme Command ordered its men to cross the Tagliamento and to block the advance by Austro-German troops. At the end of October it was, however, obvious that it was impossible to implement this order. On 31st October there was a last desperate attempt: a large group of Italian soldiers tried to push back the enemy on Mount Ragogna and on the bridges of Pinzano and Cornino but after a battle lasting three days, they had to surrender. On 03rd November a division of Bosnian soldiers crossed the river in Friuli around the Isolotto del Clapat and in this way even the right bank was indefensible.
In the meantime meetings got under way in Rome between General Cadorna, the new Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and General Foch (France) and General Robertson (Great Britain) of the Allied armies. Very worried about the situation but unwilling to change their positions, the two military commanders announced that it was not their intention to provide any assistance to the Italian forces (with the exclusion of six divisions) and that the best tactic would be to slow down the advance on the Tagliamento to create a new front along the Piave river. But the breakthrough at Cornino forced Cadorna to order the immediate withdrawal of all the forces along the Piave.
The Italian soldiers, having also lost the Battle of Pradis (05th-06th November 1917) and control over Forcella Clautana, abandoned consequently the whole Friuli region and the eastern part of Veneto and moved towards San Donà di Piave, Trevigiano and Montello
(a small village near Montebelluna) and went up the Mount Grappa Mountains, north of Bassano. Their intention was to resist for as long as possible, not excluding the possibility of retreating further up to the Mincio. But fortunately the Austro-German troops who were superior in all aspects (in terms of morale, positions, arms and organization) were unable to destroy the enemy. Conrad, who pushed to descend to the plains of Veneto through the Asiago plateau, was unable to move forward while Krauss, instead of pushing decisively towards the west, started to consolidate his positions in Carnia. The indecision by Ludendorff himself in continuing the advance allowed the Italian soldiers to lodge themselves in a good defensive position on the Piave and to establish the new front in this area.
