Battle of Piacenza - Charles Emmanuel Reopens The Battle For Italy

Charles Emmanuel Reopens The Battle For Italy

The Treaty of Dresden signed between Prussia and Austria on December 25, 1745, had as much impact for the fighting in Italy as it did for central Europe. Charles Emmanuel and his advisors saw this clearly. Evidently Austria, now freed from a war in Germany, would transfer the bulk of its army to Italy, and since the position of France and Spain had not altered, the King realised that they would not be able to match Austria's military buildup in the peninsula.

Although still negotiating with France the King realised that keeping his alliance with Austria was the more profitable gamble. Charles Emmanuel was no fool, however, and realised that he needed to buy himself time until Austria had completed her concentration in Italy. The easiest way to obtain this was to string out the negotiations for as long as possible until it was time to act. Consequently he gave the French court until the end of February to reach an agreement; otherwise there would be a resumption of hostilities. He also requested that the French raise the siege of Alessandria and, in an extraordinary act of good faith, the French complied on 17 February 1746.

With the first of March, however, with the deadline now passed and the Austrian concentration complete, Charles Emmanuel realised that the time had come to resume the war. The Piedmontese Army slowly began to move towards the French garrison at Asti and Alessandria. Having successfully disguised their intentions, Charles Emmanuel reopened the war in Italy on 5 March 1746 with an attack on Asti. Three days later the garrison had surrendered, and 5,000 prisoners fell into Piedmontese hands.