Spain's plan was not to be followed until after the humbling of Piedmont-Sardinia, after which the joint armies would march into Lombardy to secure the Infante Philip his new realm.

The principal plan for invading Piedmont was devised by Lt-Gen Pierre Joseph de Bourcet, who was France's leading expert in alpine warfare.

Finally, by putting pressure along the whole front it was reasoned that the Piedmontese defence perimeter would crack at some point, and then the columns could re-unite and push through the gap.

In accordance with instructions, the Franco-Spanish army now converged on the Stura Valley in order to take advantage of the gap in Charles Emmanuel's defences.

The Franco-Spanish army triumphed again on 19 July when it won the Battle of Casteldelfino; to cap it all, the town of Demonte, the last outpost before Cuneo, surrendered to Conti on 17 August 1744.

With King Frederick of Prussia advancing into Bohemia, Charles Emmanuel knew that the bulk of the troops needed for the defence of Cuneo would have to come from his own domains.

To safeguard Cuneo he appointed Major-General Leutrum – who had performed well at Campo Santo – to command the garrison, and called out the kingdom's militia, which could act as a superb guerrilla force.

Although Leutrum showed great ingenuity – lighting the sky to illuminate the trenches for his cannon and continuously mounting sorties – by 28 September Conti's army was closing in on the fortress.

With the other aims fulfilled and winter and the snow closing in, the French and Spanish would be forced to disengage from the siege and retreat into France.

Although the Bourbon outposts around Cuneo were intact, the siege works had been destroyed, the garrison re-supplied and reinforced, and Conti's communications had been cut.