On the evening of 17 January the commanding officer of the Italian Mountain Corps General Gabriele Nasci ordered a full retreat. At this point the Julia and Cuneense divisions were already heavily decimated and only the Tridentina was still capable of conducting combat operations.
On January 17 evening, General Gabriele Nasci made the decision to withdraw completely. At this stage, the Julia and Cuneense divisions had been severely weakened by fighting and were no longer capable of participating in combat, leaving only the Tridentina division as a viable option.