For several days in a row, Marin arranged for Schwartz to lead his soldiers to practice digging pits and midnight ambush adaptation training in the hilly area on the west bank of the Tarot River. And Marin himself took Sauer, rode a horse, and each carried a telescope to quietly investigate near Fornovo.
Because they have binoculars, Marin and Sauer don't need to approach for scouting. They just need to stand on the high slope in the west of the river and use binoculars to investigate.
Moreover, for the convenience of investigation, Marin and Sauer did not wear bulky armor, and each only carried a light sword and a telescope.
In the early morning of July 6, Marin arranged for the soldiers of the entire phalanx to continue to rest and recharge their batteries, while taking Sauer to continue the investigation.
The weather was good in the morning and the roads were relatively dry. After waiting for a while, Marin finally waited for the large French troops on the south bank of the Tarot River, and the Italian coalition forces on the north bank...
"Great, it's finally here!" Marin was very excited. He endured it for a long time and did not dare to interfere in the Italian military affairs, just because he was afraid that the Battle of Fornovo would not be fought. Today, the two sides are still fighting in Fornovo, proving that his "foresight" is useful, which makes him extremely excited.
"Master, do you know they are going to fight here?" Saul was surprised. Because, he had a feeling that Marin seemed to know that the two sides were going to fight here.
In fact, Sauer guessed right, Marin really knew that the two sides were going to fight here. The problem is that Marin is afraid that his little butterfly will affect the occurrence of this battle. But fortunately, the battle went on as scheduled.
After confirming that the two sides started the war here as scheduled, Marin couldn't wait. He left Sauer to continue observing on the high slopes on the west bank, while he himself planned to return to camp to prepare.
As for how to prepare? Of course, they are going to cut off the road along the north bank of the river...
The French army fled at night. If they took this road in the plains, Marin really couldn't stop the French. Because besides the Tarot River, there are farmlands beside this road. If you cut off the road, the French can still walk through the fields.
Therefore, Marin's plan is to directly dig the embankment of the Tarot River and flood the road and the nearby farmland. In this way, the French cavalry would not be able to take this road, otherwise they would be bogged down in the mud. Heavy cavalry is inherently heavy, and if the horse's hooves get stuck in the mud, it will be difficult to get out, and the danger is great.
As for the excavation time, Marin tentatively scheduled for the afternoon. Because, according to records, there will be a heavy rain in the afternoon. At that time, the soil will become soft and easy to dig. At present, the soil is very hard and digging is very laborious.
After returning to the camp, Marin took a rest for a while and asked Schwartz to call him when he had lunch. After all, he wanted to lead people to ambush the French in the middle of the night, so he had to take a rest, otherwise, falling asleep in the middle of the night would affect the battle.
As for poor Sauer, you need to continue to observe the battle between the French army and the Italian coalition forces. At the same time, before the break, Marin arranged for a group of people to go to both sides of the mountain road facing northwest in advance to set up an ambush.
This mountain road cannot be considered a mountain road, but can only be regarded as a road in hilly areas. On both sides of the road, there are many hills and hills, which are very suitable for ambushes on both sides.
Marin had watched many war movies in his previous life, and the ancients liked throwing stones and fireballs down from the hills the most. However, it's going to rain heavily in the afternoon, so don't even think about throwing fireballs. Because firewood must be difficult to ignite under heavy rain. Therefore, Marin directly planned to use stones.
For this reason, the people sent by the team were responsible for collecting small and medium-sized stones in the entire hilly area, and transported them to the high slopes on both sides of the mountain road at the ambush site with the wheelbarrow used by Marin to carry the goods during the march.
Of course, Kohler, who leads the team, is not stupid. Instead of letting all the 100 soldiers under his command act as coolies to carry stones, he sent these 100 soldiers to a nearby village to capture 1,000 Italian farmers to help collect and carry stones. In this way, Kohler completed Marin's order well with the least effort.
At noon, Marin woke up, and Kohler also came back to report that he had completed the task of moving the stone.
"So fast, Kohler, you're not fooling me, are you?"
"How can it be, master, I sent these 100 people to the nearby villages to arrest 1,000 Italian farmers for doing this. How can the soldiers do this so quickly?"
"There's yours, why didn't I think of it..."
"Master, you are thinking about big things. Small things like this are the easiest to do." Kohler flattered.
"Stop talking, are those farmers still there?" Marin suddenly thought, since Italian farmers can be used to move stones, why not let them help dig the road... If he asked 1,100 of his men to dig the road in the afternoon, after a long time of digging, they arrived At night, who the hell still has the strength to fight the French
"Preparing to dismiss them..."
"Don't dismiss, Kohler, you give these farmers something to eat, they still have work to do in the afternoon."
"Yes, master!" Kohler quickly sent someone to retain the group of Italian farmers, and distributed some low-quality black bread.
In the afternoon, the sky really started to rain heavily. Sauer came back and reported once. The two sides are currently dispatching troops, but the fight has not yet started. It is estimated that the fight will start in the afternoon.
Marin settled down, knowing that things were not out of control. So, after the heavy rain, when the rain subsided and the two sides were about to contact each other, he sent people to escort the group of farmers with engineer shovels and farmer shovels and picks (Italian agriculture was the most developed in Europe at this time, The agricultural tools here are very metallized), and began to dig the embankment on the road that the coalition forces could not see behind them...
At first, those local farmers were not willing to dig the embankment. Because, if the embankment is dug, some of them live near the embankment, and the fields of the manor will also be submerged.
But under the persecution of the soldiers' spears, they had to obey Marin's arrangement and began to dig the embankment...
When the Venetian infantry crossed the Tarot River and confronted the French Swiss mercenaries on the south bank, Marin led the Italian farmers to dig the embankment of the Tarot River...
When the Swiss mercenaries repelled the Venetian infantry, Marin finally dug the river embankment. Then, the Tarot River, which was already swelled due to the heavy rain, washed away the riverside avenue and rushed directly into the fields by the river...
After the river flooded the riverside avenue and the nearby fields, Marin did not stay, but led his troops to suppress the group of farmers, and went to the ambush site in the hilly area to dig pits.
Since it has free labor, it is reluctant to let its soldiers dig holes hard. Then, the group of poor Italian farmers continued to be escorted to the mountain road, arrived at the ambush site, started trenches and horse traps, and under the command of Italian-speaking soldiers, they arranged simple dead-chain ropes.
The place where Marin chose to set up an ambush was about ten kilometers away from the battlefield, and both sides of the road were hills and mountains. The French must pass through here if they want to take the mountain road. Moreover, this distance is also outside the detection distance of French scouts without binoculars.
When Marin directed the Italian farmers to finish digging trenches and horse pits, it was already seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and it was already dark. At this time, Sauer sent news that in the French army camp, the French cavalry had just finished their dinner and fed their horses, and they seemed to be getting ready to go...