After the danger that was posed by the Strafexpedition ended and after having saved his position as Chief of Staff, Luigi Cadorna again started to look at the front on the Isonzo and, more precisely, at the city of Gorizia. He started to make his plans together with Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta and envisaged a heavy bombardment in a very restricted zone between Mount Calvario and Mount San Michele. The bombardment would be followed by military action to take control of some safe emplacements on the left bank of the Isonzo.
Unlike other battles in the zone of the Second Army, this battle started with a considerable advantage: in the spring of that year the 4th division, led by General Luca Montuori and by Colonel Pietro Badoglio, had succeeded in advancing towards the top of Mount Sabotino in the north-east of Gorizia. The sappers worked quickly and in a few weeks' time they managed to build several tunnels behind the emplacements of the Austro-Hungarian troops.
In the meantime the divisions of the Fifth Army that were transferred to Trentino in May 1916 returned to the Karst. At the start of August there were about 200,000 soldiers who on the dawn of 06th August 1916 started the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo.
The heavy bombardment soon showed that it was effective and in fact Borojevic asked for reinforcements but his request was unsuccessful. At 4.00 pm on the same day Cadorna ordered three columns of the 45th division to attack Mount Sabotino. In just 38 minutes, supported by heavy artillery, the soldiers led by Badoglio and by General Gagliani and General Del Bono reached the peak of the hill to the enthusiasm of Vittorio Emanuele III who was himself following the action from a hill behind the frontline. Most of the Dalmatian soldiers who were defending the hill surrendered while others sought refuge inside galleries that were later burnt by the Italian soldiers.
Almost at the same time (at 3.30 pm) the attack on Mount San Michele got under way. The Catanzaro, Brescia and Ferrara Battalions succeeded in a short while in reaching the top while the Austro-Hungarian soldiers retreated to await the counterattack during the night. This counterattack, however, failed in the absence of reserve forces that were all deployed on Mount Sabotino. On 07th August, therefore, after more than fourteen months of war and a total of 110,000 losses (including 20,000 dead soldiers), Mount San Michele passed under the control of the Italian army.
