Swiss Invasion of Piedmont

Swiss Invasion of Piedmont
Part of War of the Sardinian Succession
Date 14 July, 1749 - 11 August, 1749 Location Northern Italy Status Swiss troops take control of Turin, Nice, and Cuneo. Sardinian Army retreats to Sardinia.
Belligerents
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia	Kingdom of the Swiss
	Viceroyalty of Venice Viceroyalty of Genoa Viceroyalty of Lucca
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Ishmael I Prime Minister Peter Plankwrecker Lord Ivan Decksteel	King Alexander I Prime Minister Jozef Kohleschmied (POW) Generalfeldmarshall Jon Kroshbon Generalmajor Rayne Kroshbon Viceroy Giovanni de'Medici
Units involved
Sardinian Royal Army 150,200 Infantry	Swiss Royal Army 138,071 Infantry 8,261 Foot Guards 10,211 Professional Cavalry 36,300 Militia Infantry

"Ishmael must be stopped for he has committed many crimes such as forgery, ruthless takeover, and taking the Swiss prime minister hostage'. It is time that he pays for what he has done to the lives of many." ~ Generalfeldmarshal Jon Kroshbon

Background

On July 14th, 1749, King Ishmael Emmanuel I Decksteel of Sardinia declared himself Emperor of all of Italy, and laid claim to lands  such as Venice, Genoa, and Lucca. With these being Swiss held territories, the Tagsatzung had no choice but to elect to retaliate with military force. Generalfeldmarshall Jon Kroshbon has begun to raise an invasion force, in preparation for the attack. He has prepared many weapons and soldiers for this fight to end the war as soon as possible. 

Within days, Lord Jozef Kohleschmied, Prime Minister of Switzerland and Duke of Zurich had moved to take command of the army from General Jon and they both begun their march into the Piedmont region. With nearly 50,000 soldiers rallied for the invasion, they took the province of Cuneo without conflict then proceeded to move north into Turin to begin a siege of the capital of Sardinia. 

Battles over Turin

Lord Jozef Kohleschmied took 30,000 men and moved to engage King Ishmael Decksteel on July 19th, defeating him in the decisive Siege of Turin (1749) and capturing the city of Turin and surrounding areas. The next day Colonel Alexander Cortes was assigned as Military Governor of Turin, to handle the integration process. Lord Kohleschmied's army prepared to move east to route the remaining Sardinian forces numbering 17,431 strong. 

On July 24, just as Lord Kohleschmied was prepared to begin marching east, a surprise counterattack force led by Lord Ivan Decksteel crippled the Swiss Army and left Kohleschmied a prisoner of the Sardinians. Sir Giovanni de' Medici, the Viceroy of Lucca and Swiss Minister of State was appointed as Acting Prime Minister and was ordered to launch an army of 30,000, that would link up with Lord Jon Kroshbon's remaining 13,000 men and retake Turin within the week. 

Lord Jonathan Goldtimbers marched his army to Turin, reaching within a week and taking the city without a fight, as King Ishmael Decksteel had already fled with his army, southwards towards Nice. The Swiss army under Giovanni was ordered to return to Cuneo to prepare to take Nice. Lord Wilhelm continued south with his army to move to garisson Turin. 

Attack on Nice

On August 11, Sir Giovanni and his army of 40,000 invaded the city of Nice, which was the last Sardinian stronghold in Piedmont. Ishmael's army of 16,000 was routed by the larger Swiss army, however he managed to escape with 3,000 men still intact and fled across the sea to Sardinia. However, as Giovanni had moved his forces into Nice, Piedmont had been liberated, and thus the Invasion was complete. 

The Swiss generals and military leaders begun discussing the next phase of the War, the Invasion of Sardinia. Lord Jon Kroshbon had already begun amassing a fleet in the port city of Genoa and Sir Giovanni was ordered to move his men from Nice to Genoa in a weeks time to begin the sea invasion.