Further to the east on the evening of 02nd November, after a battle near the river Meduna, the villages of Maniago and Travesio were occupied while in the morning of the following day the first Italian advance troops reached the banks of the river Tagliamento at Pinzano, Spilimbergo and Bonzicco. At 1.30 pm the cavalry squadron Savoia reached Udine which had already in the last few hours rebelled against the Austro-Hungarian occupation. Throughout the day even other sections of the army reached Tagliamento and started to cross the river heading towards Carnia, the Julian Alps, the hills and the plains of Friuli.
But 03rd November 1918 was a very special day in the history of the young Kingdom of Italy: at 4.30 pm the destroyer Audace appeared on the horizon and berthed at San Carlo Wharf (which was later appropriately renamed Audace Wharf) in front of Piazza Grande (now known as Piazza Unità). This was the first Italian vessel to arrive in Trieste that was abandoned by the Austro-Hungarian governor two days earlier.
In the midst of an enthusiastic crowd General Petitti di Roreto got off the ship and in the name of Vittorio Emanuele III, took possession of the city.
A few days later the vessels that sailed from Venice to the cities of Pola, Sebenico, Valona and Cattaro in Montenegro were instead greeted with much less enthusiasm. It was only at Zara that the population did not show any open hostility towards the new arrivals. The occupation of Fiume (17th November) instead was the first step towards a situation which in later months provoked strong tensions between Italy and the other countries of the Triple Agreement.
