It was now the fourth day of this new Carso battle. Still the Italians extended their positions. On May 26, 1917, artillery action all along the line continued fiercely from sunrise until evening. In the afternoon between the coast and Jamiano Italian infantry by a brilliant assault succeeded in reaching a point beyond the railway from Monfalcone to Duino, northeast of San Giovanni, and carried the strongly fortified Hill 145 southwest of Medeazza. They established themselves a few hundred yards from the village.
North of Jamiano violent attacks and counterattacks followed in succession all day, supported by artillery fire. Castagnievizza also was reached and passed, but the persistent and concentrated shelling by a number of Austrian batteries compelled the Italians to evacuate ground there. The latter maintained a hold on the western boundary, however.
In the area east and north of Goritz the artillery action was intense. The Italians shelled the basins of Cargaro and Britof, in which the Austrian supplies centered.
In the Plava sector Italian infantry carried the heights at the head of the Palieva Valley, thus connecting their Monte Cucco lines with those on Hill 363.
Weather conditions on May 27, 1917, slowed down the fighting everywhere, but did not prevent the Italians from extending their various successes slightly in all directions.
On May 28, 1917, however, the Isonzo battle was resumed for the third time. A new and large Italian attacking wave was directed against the heights of Vodice and Monte Santo. An Italian attack launched at noon against the north slope was preceded by powerful artillery fire. It extended along the entire sector.
During the afternoon it resulted many times in severe hand-to-hand fighting, which also raged during the night. Especially violent fighting occurred in the region of Hill 652. The entire extent of the Austrian front, however, now offered iron resistance to all Italian efforts.
South of Jamiano the Italians attacked Austrian positions four times, losing, besides heavy casualties, fifteen officers and 800 men as prisoners. The number of prisoners brought in by the Austrians since the commencement of the Isonzo battle amounted to 14,500 men, according to their official statements.
The Italian offensive now began to come to a stop. The hard fighting naturally had exhausted the Italian forces and munitions and by now strong Austrian reserves had come up and made the resistance sufficiently strong to stop further advances. On May 29 and 30, 1917, artillery was not very active on the Trentino front and in the Carnia, but was very heavy on the Julian front, particularly in the sector from Monte Cucco to Vodice and east of Goritz.
On May 31, 1917, considerable artillery activity developed in the northern sector of the Carso and on the line from Goritz to Plava. In the Vodice area numerous massed troops of the Austrians made a violent attack upon Italian positions on Hills 592 and 652. The attack, prepared by intense artillery fire and carried out with stubbornness, failed.