 The Venetian commander for the battle, Carmagnola, had recently been under the employ of Milan but defected to Venice when Filippo Maria gave him governorship of Genoa rather than further military duty in an attempt to lessen his power.The doge of Venice, Francesco Foscari, was seriously considering helping Florence in their conflict against Milan, and Carmagnola spurred this on, persuading the doge to name him general in a new war against Milan.Carmagnola quickly took Brescia for Venice, then made sure he campaigned very slowly, doing very little for a long time, forcing Venice to pay incredible amounts in upkeep for the almost useless army.