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Show OVER 33,000 AUSTRIANS CAPTURED BY ALLIES More Than One Hundred Hun-dred Villages Have Been Liberated Since the Offensive Began. American Infantry in Action and Fighting Extends All Along the Course of Piave River. VIENNA, Thursday, Oct, 31, via London. "In view of our desiro for peace, our troops on Italian soil are evacuating occupied regions, ' ' says an official statement issued late tonight. By the Associated Press. Over a front, of some sixty miles, from the Brenta. river in northern Italy to the vicinity of tho Adriatic sea, the Austro-Hungarians Austro-Hungarians are being: violently attacked by Italian, British, French and American Ameri-can troops. In tiie mountain region the enemy la resisting desperately and holding his ground fairly well. But east of the Piavo river ho is in flight across the plains of Treviso, shaping his course over the same territory through which ho drove the Italians a year ago and readied the eastern edge of the plains of Venetla. RETREAT ON BADLY CONGESTED ROADS. Already numerous towns have been liberated, lib-erated, 33,000 prisoners have been taken ' and large numbers of guns and miyhins guns and huge quantities of stores have fallen Into the hands of the allied troops. Far behind tho lines allied aviators avia-tors are heavily bombing enemy columns in denso masses which are in retreat over badly congested roads leading eastward toward tho Austrian frontier. Judging the situation from the napld advance tho allies are making, it would I appear that the entire enemy front has been broken cast of the Piave and that with the cavalry operating far in advam-o of the foot troops tho enemy forces will bo unable to reform their battlellne until the Austrian border la reached. It Is not unlikely that many of tho Auatro-Hungarlans Auatro-Hungarlans are doomed to capture or extermination ex-termination by the allies. FRENCH ENGAGED ON LONG FRONT. On the western front In Fiance and Belgium there has neen a marked diminution diminu-tion in the intensity of t lie inlantry activity. ac-tivity. Along the British line there have been only patrol encounters and reciprocal bombardments. The French, however, are engaged in another atack on a front of about seven and a half miles between Ht. Qucntin, lye Petit and llerpy, in tho general direction of the eneniy'rt communication com-munication lines running eastward from the old St. Quentin and Laon sectors, and also with the purpose of driving a wodgo Into this part of the southern battlellne and thereby compel the enemy to readjust re-adjust his from through Champagne to the Mouse. Around Grand Pre, north of the Ar-gonne Ar-gonne forest, the Americans have materially ma-terially bet tered their positions In attacks at-tacks " aga inst the Germans. The Belle .loyeup'- farm, which for several days had been No Man's land, now is virtually all held by t he A rnerlcans. East of the Meiisc there lias been considerable fighting, fight-ing, but It has resulted in no great channc in positions. The big American guns are continuing , to heavily shell German positions far behind be-hind t iie linos, and bombing planes also are intensively active against troop concentration con-centration points. FIGHTING EXTENDS PRACTICALLY ALONG PIAVE RIVER COURSE WWS'IUNGTON, O'-t. 30. Thirty thre thousand Austria n troops, Imndi cds of jams and Innumerable machine guns have been captured by Italian and allied forces on the Italian front, said an official dispatch dis-patch tndayefrotn Rome. Tho 32nd American Amer-ican infantry regiment has gone Into action ac-tion and the fighting now extends prar-Ucally prar-Ucally all along the course of the Pla a river. j The Austrians arc resisting stubbornly, throwing in many new divisions, but hnva It not been able to stop the advancing forces. The dispatch follows: "Our offensive Is developing farther (Continued on Page Eight.) OVER 31000 AUSTRIAN TROOPS CAPTURED (Continued from Page One.) southward, and stretches practically all along the course of the Piave. The third army is now in action successfully. The line between the Brenta and the sea is strongly held by the greater part of the Italian army, alongside of which is the fourteenth armv corps of British troops and a French division. The Thirty-second American Infantry is now also in action. ac-tion. "The enemy is resisting with exceptional exception-al stubbornness and is throwing into the fray new divisions without, however, being successful in holding back our troops. On the Grappa region the troops of the first Italian army with the support of the twelfth army has been successful in beating the enemy at Segusino, and has conquered Mont Gesen. The eighth army has occupied the narrow pass of Follina and has already reached Vittorio. The tenth army, after having established solid bridgeheads 1 over the Monticano river, has crossed the river and Is advancing ad-vancing along the road Conegliano-Odrzo. The third army, after neutralizing the formidable artlllerv fire of the enemy, has crossed the Piave at San Dona di Piave, and east of Zenson. "The number of prisoners captured up to the present moment amount to 802 officers of-ficers and 32,198 men. Hundreds of guns have also been captured. It is impossible to calculate the number of machine guns which have fallen into our hands. "In Albania our troops, after beating the rear guards of the enemy, have occupied oc-cupied San Giovanni dl Medua and are rapidlv advancing on Scutari." An earlier official dispatch from Rome said that more than 100 villages and towns had been liberated since the offensive of-fensive began and that the Austrian army corps on the left had retired in disorder, leaving behind war materials and several hundred guns. The position of the. sixth Austrian army corps was described as very critical. |
