The changes brought about by the victory and the brilliant strategy of General Cadorna were so widespread that they would have been unbelievable if one had not seen it all for oneself a few days after the battle. In fact, it was almost at once that the results were discernable. You realized it yourself as soon as you reached certain well-known points which had hitherto been inside the danger zone. The sense of relief at being able to move about freely and without having to keep your ears cocked all the time, listening for shells coming over, was very pleasant. With a little party of _confrères_ I motored out to the new Italian lines within a few hours of their re-adjustment. Most of the places we went through in order to get close up to the fighting had only become accessible since the fall of Gorizia, whilst others, as for instance Sagrado, and Gradisca, were now almost peaceful after months of constant bombardment. Gradisca interested me very particularly, as I had lively recollections of the flying visit I had paid to it the preceding year when, as I have described in a previous chapter, our cars to get there had to run the gauntlet of the fire of the batteries on Monte San Michele. Now the Austrian guns were well out of range, and the little town was quite delightfully peaceful in comparison, and you could wander as you pleased under the big trees in the park, round the bandstand, and fancy you were waiting for the music to commence; or through the grass-grown, deserted streets and take note of the wanton damage done by the Austrians to their own property. Monte San Michele, at the back of the town, was now but a very ordinary and unpicturesque hill in the distance, and from the military standpoint no longer of any importance whatever. The town itself was rapidly being occupied, and inhabited; several of the big buildings were being transformed into first line hospitals, and the General of the division had already fixed up his headquarters here. All these changes conveyed more to me than any _communiqués_ had done; I saw for myself what had been accomplished since I was last there, and there was no doubting the evidence of my own eyes. At Sagrado, on the lower Isonzo, a similar condition of affairs existed; but here it was my first visit, as it was inaccessible the previous year. A one-time beautiful little town, I should say, typically Austrian, it is true, but nevertheless from all accounts a very pleasant place to live in. All the river frontage at the present time is nothing but a shapeless heap of ruins; the magnificent bridge and the elaborate system of locks are irreparably damaged. Fortunately a considerable portion of the town escaped damage by the shells, and this was now crowded with troops. Yet, barely a week before, it was practically uninhabitable except at enormous risk.