 Starting in October 1733, a combined Franco-Sardinian army, numbering over 40,000 and led by Charles Emmanuel, rapidly took control of Milanese territory without significant opposition from the roughly 12,000 Austrian troops defending the duchy.After the conquest of Tortona in February 1734, the fighting season slowed and the army camped for the winter.The army was joined in November 1733 by the 81-year-old French Marshal de Villars.