Italians had already conquered the lowland area surrounding Monfalcone and Ronchi, and attempted to push over the Karst Plateau to seize control of the major road that linked the city of Trieste and its port with Gorizia.

[2] Lack of Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the region resulted in Italian general Luigi Cadorna deciding to attack the river.

Fighting started on 6 August,[2] with Italian forces, led by general Luigi Capello, assaulting Austro-Hungarian positions guarding the main transport road between Duino and Gorizia.

As planned, four divisions of Italian forces began with a frontal assault, which resulted in huge casualties due to heavy machine gun fire.

Although Italians had secured their objective, their loses were significant, with roughly 5,000 men dead due to frontal assaults on superior enemy defenses and the Austro-Hungarians' use of chemical weapons.