On 3 October 1935, General Emilio De Bono advanced into Ethiopia from Eritrea without a declaration of war.

In December, after a brief period of inactivity and minor setbacks for the Italians, De Bono was replaced by Badoglio.

Badoglio ultimately overwhelmed the armies of ill-armed and uncoordinated Ethiopian warriors with mustard gas, tankettes, and heavy artillery.

On the Ethiopian right was Ras Mulugeta and his army of approximately 80,000 men in positions atop Amba Aradam.

Ras Imru Haile Selassie with approximately 40,000 men was on the Ethiopian left in the area around Seleh Leha in Shire Province.

Mulugeta's force would have to be dislodged from its strong positions on Amba Aradam in order for the Italians to continue the advance towards Addis Ababa.

[4] On 9 February, Marshal Badoglio held a press conference at his headquarters and announced that the mighty obstacle that blocked the road to Addis Ababa was about to be liquidated.

An article in a then-current issue of Time magazine indicated that the correspondents on the Italian side were provided with a high-powered telescope to watch the progress of the battle.

His headquarters was also the Italian artillery observation post and about every five minutes scout planes of the Regia Aeronautica went out to circle the front.

[9] The Italian scout planes also mapped out the area around Amba Aradam and discovered a weakness in Ras Mulugeta's defences.

Air photographs showed that an attack from the Plain of Hintalo to the south of Amba Aradam should be uncontested.

As a result of this discovery, Badoglio planned to encircle Amba Aradam and attack Mulugeta from the rear after his forces linked up at Hintalo.

[10] On the afternoon of 12 February, a large Ethiopian force streamed down the western slopes of Amba Aradam and attacked the 3rd CC.NN.

[12] By the morning of 15 February, under cover of darkness and dense cloud, the Italians completed the encirclement of Amba Aradam.

The Italians attacked and secured the lightly held Ethiopian positions on "The Herringbone" which made defence of the "Priest's Hat" untenable.

Through this break, the army of Ras Mulugeta made its escape as it fell back towards Amba Alagi and Sokota.

[9] Badoglio unleashed the full power of the Italian Air Force on the fleeing army of Ras Mulugeta.