are here agree with you, we shall indeed win...." No one made any
difficulty; on the contrary, the captains of the men-at-arms were so
delighted that, as the chronicler says, "they thought they were in
Paradise." The boats were all prepared as quietly and secretly as possible,
for in the city there were known to be many friends of the Pope.

Fortunately it was the dead of winter, when the nights were long. As soon
as it was dark the foot-soldiers embarked in the boats, which were provided
with trusty and experienced boatmen. The horsemen, led by the Duke in
person, also set forth as soon as the twilight came; they took good guides,
and had a safe journey notwithstanding the stormy weather. Thus it
happened that half an hour before dawn they arrived at the narrow passage,
where all was lonely and quiet, at which they rejoiced greatly. They had
not been waiting half an hour before the boats arrived with the
foot-soldiers.

The men landed and then marched slowly by a narrow path until they reached
a very deep canal between the Po and La Bastida, where they had to cross a
little bridge so narrow that they had to go one after the other. This took
a whole hour to cross, so that it was now quite daylight, which made the
Duke anxious, more especially as, hearing no sound of artillery, he feared
the fortress had been taken. But just as he was speaking about it there
thundered forth three cannon shots, at which all the company was delighted.
They were now only a mile from the enemy, and the Good Knight said:

"Gentlemen, I have always heard it said that he is a fool who makes light
of his foes; we are now close to ours, and they are three to one. If they
knew of our enterprise it would be very bad for us, as they have artillery
and we have none. Besides, I believe that on this occasion all the flower
of the Pope's army is before us; we must take them by surprise if possible.