Battle of Asiago The Battle of Asiago ( Battle of the Plateaux ) or the Trentino Offensive ( in Italian : Battaglia degli Altipiani ) , nicknamed Strafexpedition ( " Punitive expedition " ) by the Austrians , was a counteroffensive launched by the Austro - Hungarians on the Italian Front on May 15 , 1916 , during World War I . It was an unexpected attack that took place near Asiago in the province of Vicenza ( now in northeast Italy , then on the Italian side of the border between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria - Hungary ) after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo ( March 1916 ) . Commemorating this battle and the fallen soldiers of World War I is the Asiago War Memorial . Background . Already for some time the Austrian commander - in - chief , General Conrad von Hötzendorf , had been proposing the idea of a " Strafexpedition " that would lethally cripple Italy , Austria - Hungary ' s ex - ally , claimed to be guilty of betraying the Triple Alliance , and in previous years he had had the frontier studied in order to formulate studies with regard to a possible invasion . The problem had appeared to be serious , mostly because the frontier ran through high mountains and the limited Italian advances of 1915 had worsened the situation and excluded a great advance beyond the valleys of Valsugana and Val Lagarina ( both connected by railway ) and the plateaus of Lavarone , Folgaria and Asiago . The geographic location of the routes of advance was conducive to the original plan which called for an advance from Trent to Venice , isolating the Italian 2nd and 3rd Armies who were fighting on the Isonzo and the Italian 4th Army who was defending the Belluno region and the eastern Trentino . The preparations for the battle began in December 1915 , when Conrad von Hötzendorf proposed to his German opposite number , General Erich von Falkenhayn , shifting divisions from the Eastern Front in Galicia to the Tyrol , substituting them with German divisions . After having received a negative reply from the German , who refused the proposed replacement and actively tried to discourage the Austro - Hungarian proposed attack , Conrad von Hötzendorf decided to operate autonomously . The 11th Austro - Hungarian Army , under the command of Count Viktor Dankl , would carry out the offensive followed by the 3rd Army under Hermann Kövess . It was not so easy , however , because the Italians had deployed in the area about 250 , 000 troops ( General Brusati ' s First Army and part of the Fourth Army ) . Hötzendorf had asked Germany for help , but his request was denied because Germany was not yet at war with Italy ( which would declare war on Germany three months later ) , and because redeploying German units on the Italian Front would have diminished German offensive capability against Russia . Italian intelligence had been gathering information about an impending enemy offensive in Trentino — and a big one — for about a month , but Cadorna dismissed those reports , persuaded as he was that nothing could happen in that region . Battle . On May 15 , 1916 , 2 , 000 Austrian artillery guns opened a heavy barrage against the Italian lines , setting Trentino afire . The Austrian infantry attacked along a 50 km front . The Italian wings stood their ground , but the center yielded , and the Austrians broke through , reaching the beginning of the Venetian plain . With Vicenza about 30 km away , all the Italian forces on the Isonzo faced outflanking . Cadorna hastily sent reinforcements to the First Army , and deployed the newly formed Fifth Army to engage the enemy in case they succeeded in entering the plain . The situation was critical . However , on June 4 , the Russians unexpectedly took the initiative in Galicia , where they managed to enter Austrian soil . Although they were effectively countered by German troops , Hötzendorf was forced quickly to withdraw half of his divisions from Trentino . With that , the " Strafexpedition " could no longer be sustained and the Austrians retired from many of their positions . Italian troops in the region were increased to 400 , 000 to counter the Austrian positions . Although the " Strafexpedition " had been checked , it had political consequences in Italy : the Salandra Cabinet fell , and Paolo Boselli became the new Prime Minister .