The captains considered what they should do:  some were for advancing, others hesitated, for if Colonna had any suspicion of their plan he would call the Swiss to his help, for there was a large force in the neighbourhood.  It was Bayard who settled the question by saying:  “Since we have come thus far, my advice is that we continue the pursuit, and if we come across them in the plain, it will be a pity if some of them do not fall into our hands.”

All cried that he was quite right, and that they must start as soon as possible, but first it would be well if some one were sent on in advance, in disguise, to find out the exact position of the enemy.  This duty was given to the lord of Moretto, who carried out the inquiry very quickly, bringing back word that Colonna and his escort were preparing to dine at Villafranca in full security.

They next settled the order of their match:  Humbercourt was to go in front with one hundred archers; a bow-shot behind him Bayard would follow with one hundred men-at-arms, and then Chabannes de la Palisse and d’Aubigny would bring up the rest of their men.

Prospero Colonna had good spies, and he heard from them as he was going to Mass at Villafranca that the French were in the fields in great numbers.  He replied that he was quite sure it could only be Bayard and his company, unless the others were able to fly over the mountains.  As he was returning from Mass, other spies came up to him with the news:  “My lord, I have seen close by more than a thousand French horsemen, and they are coming to find you here.”  He was a little taken aback, and turned to one of his gentlemen, to whom he said:  “Take twenty horsemen and go along the road to Carmagnola for two or three miles, and see if there is anything to alarm us.”

All the same he commanded the Marshal of his bands to have the trumpet sounded, and to start for Pignerol, where he would follow when he had eaten a mouthful.  Meantime the French were marching forward in haste, and were about a mile and a half from Villafranca, when, coming out of a little wood, they met the scouts sent by the lord Prospero to find them.  When these caught sight of the approaching enemy they turned straight round and galloped off as hard as they could go.  The lord of Humbercourt and his archers pursued them at full speed, sending word to Bayard to make haste.

The French knights rode at such a pace that they reached the gate of the town at the same time as the Italians, and with their cry of “France!  France!” they managed to keep the gate open until the arrival of the Good Knight and the rest of their company, when after some sharp fighting it was strongly held.  They also secured the other gate of the town, but two Albanians managed to escape and carry news of the disaster to a company of four thousand Swiss about three miles off.