Italy also had a strong rivalry with Austria-Hungary that dated back to the Congress of Vienna of 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, when cities with an Italian majority were ceded to Austria.

At the outbreak of the conflict between Italy and Austria-Hungary, Mount Piana found itself in the middle of a fundamental crossroads, which if conquered would have led the Italian troops to enter Dobbiaco, and therefore be able to head towards Brunico or even Lienz.

During the night the Austrian sentries abandoned their posts along the northern summit of Mount Piana to move downstream to the defensive lines, and at the same time destroyed all the road systems.

In those days the Monte Piana line that went from the Carducci pyramid to the precipice on the Vallon dei Castrati was manned by the Alpine troops who carried out continuous patrols in Piz Popena and Höhlensteintal while on 1 June two groups of sappers they set fire to the Rienza barracks and with the jelly they interrupted the path that from the town garrisoned by the Austrians to the west of Monte Piana, Carbonin, led to Forcella dei Castrati On the Austrian side, the newly arrived field marshal Ludwig Goiginger, commander of the Pustertal division, requested the sending of reinforcements for an action on Mount Piana, of which he had already recognized the fundamental importance strategic.

The Italians should not be allowed to permanently settle on the mountain, fortifying it and transporting enough artillery there, to open the much desired passage up to Dobbiaco, so Goiginger ordered a first action to be carried out on the night between 6 and 7 June.

In the silence of a bad weather night, two assault groups of Standschützen slowly climbed towards the flat top of the mountain, the first assault group leaving from Carbonin under the leadership of second lieutenant Wilhelm Bernhard was the most numerous, he arrived in the western valley around 5.30 am and under the cover of darkness he quickly neutralized the first sentries, and in a short time a tremendous melee broke out, the Italian reinforcements did not take long and rushed from the nearby Italian garrison the men of the 268th Alpine company.

A company and a machine gun section of the 56th Infantry are sent as reinforcements From the following day the Austrians began to dig deep trenches with barbed wire, despite the fact that the garrison was exposed to rain, cold and hunger, given that the supplies were not arriving as the roads connecting the valley floor were beaten by the Italian artillery which dispersed the carrier file.

Three hours later a rocket launched from Villa Loero on Colle S. Angelo, gave the signal for the infantry to sprint forward, as soon as the men set foot out of the trenches, the artillery reaction was waiting for them Austrian attack, which caused 13 Italian deaths and around a hundred minor injuries.

Around 1 pm, a company of Alpini along the main route arrives at the Carducci pyramid which was found clear and begins to entrench itself, no longer being able to move towards the Austrian works, after having taken Vallon dei Castrati anyway.

When the two companies jumped out of cover, they were greeted by a dense concentration of artillery which forced them to slow down their advance considerably and when they arrived at the Forcella dei Castrati, they were already significantly reduced in momentum and personnel, so that it was not possible to conquer the Austrian lines.

It was possible to drive the Austrians out of the southern plateau and conquer Forcella dei Castrati, but not the important and strategic northern edge of the mountain, which remained unconquered despite repeated attacks.

After the Italian attack, the Austrian troops found themselves with destroyed and unusable positions, reconstruction was only possible at night, and the chronic lack of supplies made the situation worse.

And taking advantage of this moment of weakness of the enemy, General Luca Montuori, on 2 August with his division attempted the assault on the defensive bastion of the Sesto barrage, with demonstration actions on Mount Paterno, Monte Piana and Boite valley.

On 3 August, two enemy redoubts were conquered, and the following day the Italian action was suspended due to heavy rain which made the camp impassable and the view insufficient.

[6] The following day the Italian bombing continues, Austrian counterattacks aimed at retaking the Val Popena trench are repelled, and the envelopment of the enemy positions does not proceed.

On the 14th the Austrians attack along the entire front of lower Val Popena but are repelled by the Italian artillery which however claims 2 pieces hit and one rendered useless.

[...] the enemy did not even grant the final rest to their fallen, hundreds of whom remained in front of our fences after bloody attacks, and whom we had buried on the spot; the grenades of the large calibers shook the ground night and day, reopening the ditches.

But it is not only firearms that cause death, but also avalanches, like the one on March 5 which swept away 150 Austrian men, who searched for their comrades for 17 hours, but without encountering any offensive action from the Italians who didn't even one shot.

For their part, the Italians, with larger forces but with disadvantaged positions, continued the very slow advance on the northern plateau in enemy hands, managing in August to conquer the so-called "alpine ditch".

[8] Since the time of the envelopment action, the Austrians had occupied a place on the north-east corner of the Alpine Ditch from which to target the Forcellette, and had named it Kuppe K ("Point K").

Throughout the winter and autumn of 1917 there were no substantial events, but the war of attrition continued its macabre ritual of bombings, clashes between patrols, attempted enemy infiltrations, but in that winter the tension was maximum, tunnels were being dug on both sides for the land mines, the Mine chambers, both Austro-Hungarians and Italians were working feverishly to dig and at the same time understand where he was working the enemy.

That day the Austrians in the action destroyed 3 platoons Italians, among these the V Assault Department of General Robilant which stood out for its great valor and temerity and was sent near Misurina under the 54th Regiment Infantry of the Umbria brigade.

The Austrians then in clear supremacy ordered him to surrender but in response they received shots from his service pistol and the cry: "Long live Italy!".

On the other hand, the harsh climatic conditions that decimated both sides and the unusual terrain of battle did not make things easier; avalanches, cold and accidents along almost impassable paths caused more victims than the firefights, which in truth, already after the summer 1915 were sporadic and often short-lived.