The French army now comprised some 36,000 infantry (many of whom would be detached from the main force in garrisons) and 2,200 men at arms, plus numerous gentlemen volunteers; there would also have been some light horse but the number of these is not known.

Any potential for rivalry and dissent over who should command the combined Imperial-Spanish army evaporated almost at once with the death of the ailing Colonna on 30 December, leaving Lannoy as undisputed general.

He warned his political master, Charles V (who was both king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor), that the army might fall apart through mass desertion unless some funds could be provided; he even suggested negotiating a truce with the French;[5] this would give time to alleviate the problem of pay.

In early February, after Lannoy was reinforced by yet another contingent, this one paid for by Venice, Bonnivet pulled back to a safer position behind the Ticino river.

The army began crossing the Sesia river on 29 April with the Swiss intending to head for home and the depleted French back to France.

However, the Ticino is a major river, fed by streams and tributaries which were obstacles in themselves and which minimised the areas of flat, good-going required by the French to optimise the performance of their best assets: their heavy cavalry and remaining Swiss infantry.

This was significant as it would have little effect on the ability of the Imperial-Spanish arquebusiers in their loose formations to shoot, whilst also giving them time to escape from the closed ranks of the French shock troops.

Swiss infantry launched a fearsome pike charge but the more nimble arquebusiers did not attempt to stand up to them; instead, they danced out of the way as the eventually reformed and resumed their fire when it was safe to do so.

In early July 1524, Lannoy launched an invasion of Provence, commanded by Don Fernando d'Avalos and Charles de Bourbon, and crossed the Alps with nearly 11,000 men.

[8] By mid-August, Fernando d'Avalos and Charles de Bourbon had besieged Marseille, the only stronghold in Provence that remained in French hands.

Their assaults on the city failed, and when the French army commanded by Francis I himself arrived at Avignon at the end of September, they were forced to retreat back to Italy.

[10] The Battle of the Sesia is a comparatively little-known encounter but historians who do comment upon it ascribe great significance to its place in the evolution of firearm tactics.

In the three decades of the Italian Wars that preceded Sesia, hand held firearms had become increasingly prominent in most armies, with only the French native troops clinging to the crossbow in large numbers.

However, if the statement is read as implying "the way in which the Spanish intended to fight," it is far from clear that Hall is correct, not least because of the lack of clarity around the events at Pavia.