Excerpt from ATTACKS
By Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

On November 10, Major Sproesser had his available forces ready for combat on the high ground a thousand yards east of Rivalta. These forces consisted of Schiellein's detachment (4th and 6th Companies and 2d Machine-Gun Company) and the Signal Company of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion, four infantry guns of the 1st Battalion of the 26th Infantry and the 377th Imperial and Royal Mountain Howitzer Detachment. The Grau detachment (5th Company, 3d Machine-Gun Company) was marching up from Erto.

During the night Major Sproesser sent an Italian prisoner of war back to Longarone with the following message written in Italian by Dr. Stemmer:

"Longarone is surrounded by troops of a German-Austrian division. All resistance is useless."

When Major Sproesser found out, at dawn, that the Rommel detachment had renewed its advance against Longarone and that the enemy in Longarone was laying down his arms, he started to march to Longarone with the units of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion located a thousand yards east of Rivalta, followed by the 43d Brigade of the 22nd Imperial and Royal Rifle Division.

November 10 was a rainy day and it took a long time to clear all Italian soldiers from Longarone's streets. Piles of weapons lay in the public square, and even Italian cannon were delivered there. The lowlands east of Longarone were full of prisoners. In all, over 10,000 men—an entire Italian division—had laid down their arms. Our booty amounted to 200 machine guns, 18 mountain cannon, 2 semi-automatic cannon, and more than 600 pack animals, 250 loaded vehicles, 10 trucks, and 2 ambulances.
My detachment's losses in the fighting at Cimolais, in the Vajont ravine, at Dogna, Pirago, and at Fae amounted to 6 dead, 2 severely wounded, 19 slightly wounded, and 1 missing. The losses of the 1st Battalion of the 26th Imperial and Royal Rifle Regiment were unknown.