In April 1796, a 26-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte transformed a demoralized, ragged French army into a lightning-fast strike force that knocked the Kingdom of Sardinia out of the war in just over two weeks. By utilizing the strategy of the central position he successfully split the superior Austrian and Piedmontese forces, defeating them in rapid succession at battles like Montenotte and Mondovi - and proving in the process that a disciplined, mobile army could shatter traditional European alliances and permanently shift the balance of power in Italy.

Clemens Bemmann is joined once again by Rick Schneid, our battlefield correspondent, and John Gill and Graeme Callister, our Austrian/Piedmontese and French army experts, for this continuation of our series on the battles of 1796.