On 15 May of 1916, behind marshal Conrad's pressures, two imperial armies, the XI and the III, supported by a thousand of guns, instigated between the rivers Adige and Brenta a mighty offensive, to the purpose to break down the Italian defenses of the zone of the plateaus and to flow in the venetian lowland ; the offensive came then call "Strafexpedition", suggestive name that is to mean punitive consignment , a kind of supreme lesson to inflict to the traitorous ex-ally, guilty, to said of the high imperial commands, to have thrown back the pacts of the Triplex Alliance without delay. Really Italians had not betrayed anybody. They had limited to observe one of the points of the essay, that allowed the neutrality of one of the three states in case (Italy, Germany and Empire Austro-Ungarico) of offensive war instigated by one of the allies.

Really the imperial troops were ready since April but the bad weather in mountain lets postpone the beginning of the offensive actually to half May, removing part of the necessary strategic surprise to the good one succeeded of attacks of similar ampleness.

"The dawn of on May 15", writes in his book '1914-18 history of the big war on the front Italian' Gianni Pieropan, "gave the way to Italians to perceive a new dimension of that war that the country had begun one year before, hoping for to conclude in shortly time." In effects the Strafexpedition will bring the armies of the general Conrad to reach the maximum penetration in the sector of the venetian prealpis, and to threaten a staving in of the Italian lines strongly a passage opening each other toward the lowland padana, that have allowed to entrap the majority of the Italian army deployed on the front carsico and of the Isonzo. For the first time Italy has the war in her house.Italians fear the defeat, and only the audacious opposite resistance on the Cengio and on the Plateaus will allow the failure of an operation that, in the plans of the Imperial Commands, had to be decisive. The more important fightings concerning this part of front happened all in the zone of the plateaus (CTA), and they saw the opposite line up face in battles, now defensives, now offensive, that they fought each other cyclically on the same positions, in the one month-old temporal arc, from on May 15 to on June 15.
The imperial armies were composed by a lot of unities of elite, like the regiments Landsschutzen, the Tirolean Kaiserjaeger, the best troops from mountain as the Schuetzens and from many glorious regiments of infantry as the 14 Linz or the 59 Salisburgo.

The Italian troops lined up around on the highland of the 'Sette comuni' to Asiago were not of the same quality of those imperial, besides around half battalions were composed from replacement or from territorials. Finally the defensive line up was not optimal with too lined up unities, in advanced position in comparison to the defensive battle that they had to fight.
The Gen. Cadorna, Commander in Head of the Italian Army, will be therefore forced to replace the commander of the Comando Truppe Altopiano (Command Troops Highland-CTA), big unity constituted on purpose for defending the Venetian plateaus, taken once conscience of the suffered reverses and the difficult situation.

Despite such difficulties the Italian troops fought with great tenacity and many regiments, as the Grenadiers of Sardinia, the 'Alpini ' and the 'Bersaglieri ', were immolated in the attempt to stop the imperial advance.
The imperial troops occupied the whole highland of the Seven Communes practically: it withstood a thin line only on the southern edge, in correspondence of reliefs become legendary for the granite Italian resistance: the Pasubio, the Priaforà, the Cengio, the Lemerle, the Zovetto, the Fior.
A lot of of these tops fell to precipice on the lowland; and many of their defenders, exhaust the ammunition, fell in the void, bound to the hostile soldiers, in a desperate body to body.

In the meantime however Cadorna had not remained to look and from on May 22 started to assemble different unities taken from the other less busy sectors of the Italian front and he succeeded in forming an army, 5th, composed by 5 army corps, lined up in the inclusive zone initially between Vicenza, Citadella and Padova.

Such corps worked first as reserves in case of Austrian staving in for then to be used in the counteroffensive of June instead.

In fact the desperate resistance of Italians was not vain; on June 4 the russian armies leaded by gen. Brussilovs began in Galizia the offensive arranged in the conferences of Chantilly, performing a staving in of vast proportions. Sees the situation on the Russian front and the increasing difficulties to advance toward the Venetian lowland the evening of June 16 the Supreme Austrian Command ordered to pass to the defensive and to withdraw two divisions from italian front to envoy with urgency to east; the Strafexpedition was ended. Besides it gave order immediately to begin the manoeuvres to occupy the best positions defensives in sight of probable Italian counterattacks.
And in fact Italians counterattacked, taking advantage some tactical withdrawal of the enemy, using some army corps of the 5th army.

On July 24, regained Asiago and Arsiero, the front was stabilized on the line represented by the mountains Majo, Cimone, Zebio and from top Caldiera.
The danger of a decisive staving in toward the lowlands seemed definitely avoided.