During these operations a misunderstanding arose between the Italian and French Commands, due probably to the imperfect liaison, communications being indeed very difficult, on account of the broken nature of the ground. Our Command wished to push forward in a northerly direction, as far as the apex of the loop of the Devoli, so as to occupy the whole of the mountain range of the Mali Siloves, which dominates the left bank of the river, while the French, in view of their weak effectives in Albania, were opposed to this advance which seemed to them too risky. The advance, however, was effected, and a part of the above mountain range was occupied, but the Austrian Supreme Command, alarmed by the rapid success of the various French and Italian offensives in Albania, the result of which had been not only an important strategic loss for them, but also a serious danger of insurrection on the part of the untrustworthy natives on account of the weakened Austrian prestige, and represented a menace in the direction of Montenegro, changed the Commander-in-Chief and sent out important reinforcements. General Pflanzer-Baltin flew by aeroplane to Albania, where he took command. At the same time the Italians were suffering terribly from malaria. The coastal zone of Albania is very unhealthy; as long as the troops remained in their camps or were making no great effort, they held out fairly well, but as soon as they began the advance and had to sleep in the open, often in marshy places, they were mown down by fever, especially the detachments operating along the lower Semeni. To give one instance, in a whole regiment of cavalry only 70 men were not on the sick list. From Italy no reinforcements arrived, because preparations in course made for the great offensive on the Italian front, which had originally been intended to take place in the month of August. Thus, when the enemy, in the second half of July, strengthened by large reinforcements arriving from healthy places and not yet infected by malaria, launched a counter-offensive, the Italian troops were forced to withdraw to some extent. This they did in good order and without serious losses in prisoners or material, and if the evacuation of Fieri and Berat were regrettable episodes, our situation still remained far better than it had been before the offensive, as we maintained our positions on the heights to the south of those towns, and especially on the important lines of the Malakastra. Enemy pressure made itself felt also in the Mali Siloves area, where our column had to withdraw so as not to remain with its left flank uncovered. The French now opposed this withdrawal, as they did not believe in the existence of Austrian reinforcements, simply because the latter had not been seen in the French sector. This led to a disagreement between the two Commands, which, however, was soon settled, and the French column also withdrew a little further back. Our line was then stabilized as