The offensive on the Piave started officially at three in the morning of 24th October 1918 with a massive bombardment on the Austro-Hungarian positions on Mount Grappa. The hail of Italian grenades, however, failed to have the desired effect: given the weather conditions, the experienced General Svetozar Borojevic, understood that an attack along the Piave was not possible and so he positioned his troops on the Grappa, arranging them in formations that were much better than the Italians.
On the contrary General Giardino who only had a week to organize the attack, soon found himself in difficulty. The infantry moved with old-fashioned tactics and advanced in line (without taking into consideration the 'elastic' movements as had happened during the first Battle at Mount Grappa) and without being able to rely on the support of the Eight Army which pushed back the attack by 48 hours. In this way Mount Asolone, Mount Prassolan and Mount Solarolo all remained in the hands of the Austro-Hungarians.
The next day the attacks were directed towards Mount Pertica, on the western side of the mountains. In the afternoon the Italian soldiers succeeded in conquering the top but two days later they had to face the counterattack. Several attempts followed that did not lead to any appreciable results. The same thing happened on Col della Beretta that was held firmly by the men of Borojevic.
It is likely that if the Italian attack had been limited to Mount Grappa, the situation would not have changed and the Austro-Hungarian troops would have succeeded in keeping all their positions. The fate of the Final Battle changed on the Piave: the advance towards Vittorio Veneto and the river Livenza risked isolating the Habsburg soldiers and so General Ferdinand Goglia, leader of the Belluno Army, was obliged to announce on 30th October the immediate withdrawal from all positions.
In less than twenty-four hours all the regiments moved southwards with the exception of the class of 99 who, after having covered the march of their comrades, were captured by the Italian forces that had surrounded them.
The battle ended after a week of very harsh fighting that brought back the worst nightmares of the Isonzo: in six days of fighting 25,000 men were lost, of whom at least 5,500 were dead or missing.
