Forte Campolongo

Fort Campolongo is an Italian fortification built just before World War I. The fort is built into the sheer cliffs overlooking the Asiago Valley at an altitude of 1,720m (5700ft). The fort was built between 1912 and 1914, and was thus one of the newest fortifications in the Asiago sector of the Agna-Assa Barrier. Campolongo was relatively weak due to being constructed out of unreinforced concrete, which would later prove fatal. Campolongo was built at nearly the maximum range of the Austro-Hungarian guns in the Lavarone-Folgaria Group on the other side of the border.

Armament

• 4 149mm howitzers in 18cm thick armored domes
• 4 old bronze 87mm cannons

• 

  4 armored rotating machine guns domes with 2 guns each

World War I

In the closing days of May 1915, Campolongo fired at Fort Lusern across the border, much to no avail. From nearby Lusern, the Austro-Hungarians fired their monster 305mm Mörsers back, which on June 12, knocked out 1 gun and killed the fort’s commander and 44 men. The remaining guns were removed and Campolongo was of no strategic value anymore. On May 15, 1916, It was bombarded by heavy guns which marked the opening of the Austro-Hungarian Spring Offensive, also called the Battle of Asiago. On May 22, Campolongo, alongside the nearby Forte Verena which fired the first shot of the war between Italy and Austria-Hungary, were occupied by the Austrians. The rest of the war the fort was occupied by the Austrians, but they made no intention to arm it and Campolongo never fired a shot again.

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