Despite delays due to the snow that fell till the end of spring and information that was in the possession of the Italian military command, the first hours of the Strafexpedition were a notable success for the Austro-Hungarian troops. Along a front that was 20 kilometres long to the west of the Asiago plateau their advance could not be stopped. Mount Zugna south of Rovereto, Col Santo, Mount Maggio and Mount Toraro to the south of Folgaria fell in a few days under their control. The Italian artillery was ordered to retreat almost immediately to organize again a new line that would be withdrawn further backward but by doing so the infantry at the front line found itself completely isolated.
Five days later the action of Conrad moved to the east: between 20th and 25th May the Kingdom of Italy suffered the losses of Cima Mandriolo and of Cima Portule, leaving the way open towards the Asiago plateau. A few days later the exceptional push by the Austrians reached the villages of Arsiero and Asiago, not far from the plains of Veneto, that fell respectively on 27th and 28th May. Exhausted and famished, the Habsburg troops did not spare these two small villages from looting, fire and destruction.
In the meantime Cadorna realized that the situation on this front could effectively give way. The Fifth Army was assembled hurriedly and was formed of all the divisions that were available on the Isonzo front and of two other divisions that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sidney Sonnino, sent to Albania at the start of the war. In this way in June about 300,000 men under the direction of General Gaetano Giardino were lined up in the south of Trentino.
On 01st June, despite the resistance by the Granadiers of Sardinia, the action by Conrad reached the southern extremity of the plateau at Val Canaglia and on Mount Paù. Another few kilometres and the Austro-Hungarian forces would have found themselves at Schio and Thiene. But luckily for the Italians, the Habsburg army stopped its advance at that crucial moment because it lacked men, ammunitions and military force.
Simultaneous action on the eastern front of Russia practically signified the end of the Strafexpedition that officially came to an end on 16th June 1916.
