Chapter 43: The Battle Start
For several days, Marin arranged Schwartz to lead his soldiers to practice digging and mid-night ambush training in the hills on the west bank of the Tarot River. Marin and Sauer, who are riding horses, each carrying a telescope, went quietly to investigate near Fornov. Because of the possession of the telescope, Marin and Sauer do not need to be close to do the investigation. They only need to stand on the high slope of the hill and use telescopes to investigate. Moreover, in order to facilitate the investigation, Marin and Sauer did not wear plate armor, each carrying only a light sword, a gambeson and a telescope.
In the early morning of July 6, Marin arranged for the square to continue to rest, recharge their batteries, and rode with Sauer on the side to continue investigation. The weather was good in the morning and the road was dry. After waiting for a while, Marin finally waited for the French army on the south shore of the Tarot River, and the Italian coalition on the south shore.
"Great, they finally came!" Marlin was very excited. He endured for a long time, did not dare to interfere with the Italian military affairs, he is afraid that the Battle of Fornov can not happen. Today, the two sides are still playing in Fornov, proving that his "prophetic vision" is useful and exciting.
"Young Master, how did you know they are going to fight here?" Sauer was surprised. Because, he has a feeling that Marin seems to know that the two sides want to "play" here.
In fact, Sauer is right, Marin really knows that the two sides will fight here. The problem is that Marin is afraid of this little butterfly effect will affect the battle. Fortunately, this battle was carried out as scheduled.
It was determined that the two sides were fighting here as scheduled, and Marin could not wait. He left Sauer to continue to observe on the high slopes of the Western shore, and he himself planned to return to camp. As for how to prepare? Of course, I am going to dig up the road along the river shore of the river. The French army fled in the night and night, if it was to take the road in this plain area, Marin could not stop the French. Because, this road, in addition to the Tarot River, there are farmland. You broke the road and the Frenchman can step on the field. Therefore, Marin's plan was to directly dig the river shore of the Tarot River, flood the road, and the nearby farmland. In this way, the French cavalry will not be able to take this road, or they will be trapped in the mud. The heavy cavalry is already heavy, and if the horses hooves are caught in the mud, it is difficult to get rid of it, and it is very dangerous. As for the time of excavation, Marin is tentatively scheduled for afternoon. Because, according to the record, there will be a heavy rain in the afternoon. At that time, the soil will become soft and easy to excavate. At the moment, the soil is very hard and it is very laborious to dig up.
After returning to the camp, Marin took a break and asked Schwartz to call him at noon. After all, he wants to bring people to ambush the French in the middle of the night, have to rest, otherwise, dozing off in the middle of the night will affect the battle. As for the poor Sauer, he will need to continue to observe the battle between the French and Italian coalition forces. At the same time, before the break, Marin arranged a group of people to go to the northwest facing mountain roads in advance and arrange ambushes.
This mountain road is not a mountain road, it can only be regarded as a road in the hilly area. On both sides of the road, there are many hills, which are very suitable for ambush on both sides. Marlin saw many war films in the past, and the ancients liked to throw stones and fireballs (not the magic one you uncultured fool, and don't think l didn't see you thinking about it. Sorry for this little crisis. The fireball we are talking about is a big ball of hay and branches and oils you enflame) rolling down the hill. However, it is necessary to have a heavy rain in the afternoon and throwing a wet fireball is stupid. Because the firewood is hard to ignite when it is wet. Therefore, Marin directly intends to use the stone. To this end, the team sent out was responsible for collecting small and medium-sized stones in the entire hilly area, and transporting the unicycles carrying goods to the high slopes on both sides of the ambushed mountain road.
Of course, the team leader Kohler is not stupid. He did not let the 100 soldiers take all the hard work to move the stones, but sent the 100 soldiers to the nearby village to grab 1,000 Italian farmers to help collect and carry the stones. In this way, Kohler completed Marin's instructions with a minimum of strength. When it was noon, Marin woke up and Kohler came back to report and completed the task of moving the stone.
"So fast, Kohler, you aren't trying to fool me?"
"Who can, young master? I sent these 100 people and went to the nearby village to catch the 1000 Italian peasants. How can the soldiers do this so fast?"
"You... why didn't I think of it..."
"Young master, you are thinking about big things, the small one is the most convenient for me to do." Kohler flattered.
"Stop boot licking. Wait, are the farmers still there?" Marin suddenly thought, since it is possible to use Italian peasants to move stones, why not let them help to dig the road. If he let his 1,100 men go to dig the road in the afternoon for a long time, in the evening, who has the strength to fight the French?
"I am preparing to dismiss them..."
"Don't dismiss them, Kohler, you give some food to this group of farmers, because there is still work for them in the afternoon."
"Yes, young master!" Kohler quickly sent people to retain the group of Italian farmers and distributed some inferior black bread.
In the afternoon, it really began to rain. Sauer came back to report once, the two sides are currently dispatching troops, but they have not yet played, and it is estimated that they will start playing in the afternoon.
Marin fixed his mind and knew that things were not out of control. Then, after the rainstorm, when the rain was small, when the two sides were about to contact, he sent people to the peasant, with the engineer shovel and some soldiers began to dig the river embankment on the road so that is not visible to the coalition forces.
At the beginning, those local farmers were reluctant to dig up the river embankment. Because, when the riverbank is excavated, some of them who live near the river bank, and the fields of the manor are also going to be inundated. But under the pressure of the soldier's spears, they had to obey Marin's arrangement and began to excavate the river embankment.
When the Venetian infantry crossed the Tarot River and confronted the Swiss mercenaries of the French army on the South Bank, Marin took the Italian peasants to dig the river bank of the Tarot River. When the Swiss mercenaries repelled the Venetian infantry, Marin finally dug the river embankment. Then, because of the heavy rain, the Tarot River water, which washed up the riverside avenue, rushed directly into the riverside field. After the river flooded the riverside and the nearby fields, Marin did not stop, but took the soldiers against the peasants and went to the ambushing places in the hilly areas to dig the pits.
Since there is a labor force that does not need money, he is reluctant to let the soldiers under him work diligently. Then, the poor Italian peasants continued to be escorted to the mountain road, arrived at the ambush, began to dig trenches and horse trap, and arranged a simple dead trap under the command of an Italian-speaking soldier.
Marin chose to set up a place, about a dozen kilometers away from the battlefield, and both sides of the road are hilly mountains. The French must go through the mountain roads. Moreover, this distance is also outside the detection distance of French scouts without telescopes. When Marin commanded the Italian peasants to dig the trenches and trapped horses, it was already seven or eight in the evening, and the sky was already dark. At this time, Sauer came to the news. In the French army camp, the French cavalry had just finished their dinner and fed the horses. It seems that they are ready to go.