Excerpt from ATTACKS
By Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

For officers I had only the commander of the 3d Company of the 26th and Deputy Officer Huber. All others seemed to have fallen into enemy hands. I sorely missed Lieutenant Streicher.

The battle raged for several hours in undiminished violence. The front between the Piave and Mount Degnon filled and the enemy tried repeatedly to overwhelm us by sheer weight. Our uninterrupted rapid fire prevented a hostile breakthrough at all points. Our southern security element consisted of six men from the 3d Company of the 26th. No others were available. It was already close to midnight. New fires were started on the front, since the old ones threatened to go out. We waited in vain for sorely needed reinforcements. We believed that units of the 22d Imperial and Royal Infantry Division must be arriving on the east bank of the Piave and that the other detachments of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion also were there. We had no telephone communication with Major Sproesser's command post.

The enemy fire slackened shortly after midnight and allowed us to breathe more easily. Our losses were moderate, thanks to the skillful use of the small amount of available cover. We worked feverishly to strengthen our positions. Our outposts reported the enemy to be withdrawing and as soon as all firing had ceased we sent out patrols to maintain contact. One of these lost its able leader from fire at close quarters. Another returned at 0100 with 600 prisoners who had surrendered a short distance from our position. The bulk of the enemy withdrew to Longarone.

Reinforcements arrived at 0200 in the form of the entire 2d Company, which under Lieutenant Payer had made the circuit around Mount Lodina, and elements of the 3d and 1st Companies, which, after the night battle south of Pirago, retreated to the east bank of the Piave. We also welcomed the rest of the 1st Machine-Gun Company, which arrived with abundant ammunition, and the 1st and 2d Companies of the 26th Imperial and Royal Rifle Regiment under Captain Kremling.

The whole defense was reorganized and the castle itself converted into a strongpoint. Large quantities of ammunition were available. A company of the 26th Rifle Regiment provided security and reconnaissance to the south. Furthermore, the fifty Italian officers, who had been silent witnesses to the battle at Fae, were sent to the east bank of the Piave. Their crossing of the ice-cold Piave required a great deal of urging on the part of the escort.