In spring 1915, the corps under general Mario Nicolis di Robilant was moved towards the Austrian border and saw its first combat during the battle for Monte Nero (today Krn) in the Julian Alps. At the outbreak of the war the corps consisted of the 7th and 8th Division of the Line (Infantry), the 33rd Territorial Division, the elite Bersaglieri Division and two division sized Alpini formations: