In fact, the Venetians not only financed the implementation of the French counter-plot in Spain, but also began to consider financing the remnants of the Vattas dynasty in Venice, as well as the Saad tribes in southern Morocco, to support them in taking the opportunity to attack northern Morocco and seize the lost territory.

At this time, the Spaniards transferred most of their forces to Italy and France to confront each other, and at this time, the northern part of Morocco that had been defeated was empty. Although more than 10,000 Italian mercenaries were later brought in to defend it, the forces were scattered because they had to defend multiple cities. Even the city with the largest garrison did not exceed 4,000 people. Moreover, these Italian mercenaries were basically infantry.

On the other hand, the remnants of the Wattas dynasty and the Saad tribe were all Arab scimitar cavalry, riding on Bobu horses. If you storm those cities, it will be very difficult. However, sweeping the wilderness is no problem.

At the beginning, because the Vatas Dynasty took the initiative to retreat to the Atlas Mountains, the main force of 8,000 scimitar cavalry was retained. Although the Wattas dynasty later lost another 3,000 scimitar cavalry in many conflicts, the Sultan of the Wattas dynasty, Abu Abu. Abdullah. Burtucali. Ibn . Muhammad also recruited tens of thousands of tribal scimitar cavalry from among the Berber herdsmen of Morocco. In this way, the remnants of the Vatas dynasty still had a strong strength of 15,000 cavalry. Although the combat effectiveness of the cavalry of those tribes was average, they might not be able to defeat the main Spanish army. However, if you face the Italian mercenary infantry in the field, you are still very sure.

And the Saad tribe south of the Atlas Mountains was originally of average strength. However, after the Vatas dynasty was destroyed by the Spaniards, it grew rapidly and became the spiritual pillar of the Arab herdsmen in Morocco, and was unanimously supported by the Arab herders in southern Morocco.

Although Morocco at this time was still dominated by Berbers, there were also many Arabs. The Arab tribes under Saad's command were also able to produce more than 10,000 tribal cavalry.

Historically, the Saad tribe rose up in 1511 to drive out the infidels of Spain and Portugal, launched a holy war, and conquered southern Morocco with its own army. By 1553, the decaying Wattas dynasty had been eliminated and the Saad dynasty was established with the Arabs as the ruling class.

At this time, although the overall combat effectiveness of the Arab tribal cavalry of the Saad tribe was not as strong as that of the remnants of the Wattas Dynasty. After all, the quantities are there.

Moreover, under the persuasion of the Venetians and the French, the two powers joined forces in order to jointly fight against pagan Spain.

This time, the Venetians planned to transport a large number of weapons and armor to equip the cavalry of the Vattass and Saad.

Of course, it was impossible for the Venetians to provide them with European-style weapons and armor. Because, it's easy to show the stuffing. If they angered Spain, the Venetians did not feel that they had the strength to confront Spain on land.

Therefore, the Venetians planned to buy a large number of Egyptian-style scimitars and Middle Eastern style armor (mainly chain mail and piercing) from the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. Then, it was given to the Wattas dynasty and the Saad tribe. In this way, even if the Spaniards knew about it afterwards, as long as there was no evidence, it would not be easy to trouble Venice. Because, the Venetians could have made the excuse that it was the Mamluks who transported camels from land to the Moroccans.

This argument is very valid, after all, the Mamluks of Egypt and Morocco are located in the north of the African continent, and it is reasonable to transport a batch of weapons and equipment by camel from land. Moreover, the blockade of the Indian route by the Spanish and Portuguese offended not only Venice, but also the Mamluk dynasty. It makes perfect sense that they would supply arms to the Spanish enemies......

In addition, the Venetians learned from naval reconnaissance that because of the war with the French, the Spanish fleet originally stationed in the Strait of Gibraltar was sent to blockade the southern coast of France. The Venetian ships, as long as they took advantage of the darkness, could avoid the small number of Spanish warships left behind in the Strait of Gibraltar, and transport weapons and armor to the southern coast of Morocco, and then deliver them to the Wattas and Saadi tribes.

And the Venetian command also recommended the most suitable tactic for the remnants of the Wattas dynasty and the Saad tribe - to go north to grab food!

The grain robbery here is not to loot the granaries of the cities. After all, scimitar cavalry is only suitable for field warfare, and is very unsuitable for siege. Therefore, the Venetians' suggestion was to take advantage of the upcoming autumn harvest and let the Berber and Arab scimitar cavalry go to the north to harvest wheat and compete with the Spaniards for food.

In recent years, after Spain occupied the most elite northern part of Morocco, a large amount of arable land was cultivated on the banks of several important rivers, mainly for the cultivation of barley. What, why not grow more expensive wheat, you ask? I'll tell you – because Morocco is short of water......

Although Morocco is the wettest region in North Africa, it is still an arid region. In the absence of modern irrigation tools, wheat yields are much less stable than those of barley. This is because barley is a drought-resistant variety. Moreover, the Spaniards don't know how to fertilize. If you harvest from the sky, barley is much more reliable than wheat.

At present, agriculture in Europe is characterized by the fact that the northern regions and Eastern Europe are mainly cultivated with rye and oats, and rarely wheat; In the Mediterranean, barley is the main cultivation and wheat is rare. Only the Golden Basin in Sicily, because of the fertile land and the more advanced irrigation technology of the Italians, dared to grow durum wheat.

In Morocco, where the land is not fertile, the Spaniards apparently did not dare to grow wheat, which had a fluctuating yield, but chose to grow barley, which was as easy as rye and more drought-tolerant.

In addition, it should be pointed out that barley can be eaten not only as food for people, but also as a food for animals, and can be used as a concentrate for horses. During the war, the standard feed for French horses was barley, and each horse was supplied with 4.8 kilograms of barley per day......

Therefore, it was advantageous for the cavalry of the Vatas dynasty to attack the Spanish occupation in the north and harvest the local barley together with the cavalry of the Saad tribe. With this barley, the Berbers of the Wattas dynasty and the Arabs of the Saad tribe could choose not only to make their own pasta, but also to use it as concentrate feed for their horses......

What the? You say that the Italian mercenaries stationed in northern Morocco will come out to stop it? They didn't dare, because the Italian mercenaries didn't have the confidence to defeat more than 20,000 Moroccan scimitar cavalry in the field. Therefore, they could only watch from the city as the cavalry of the Wattas dynasty and the cavalry of the Saad dynasty snatched the barley there......

……

Therefore, when the Venetian envoys arrived in southern Morocco, they quickly reached a secret agreement with the two powers. The two families agreed to send cavalry north to harvest the barley of the Spanish colonists, and divided the plundered territory between each other—the Vattass dynasty was responsible for the grain in the eastern part of northern Morocco; The Saad tribe is responsible for the grain rush in the western part of northern Morocco......

As a result, under the blows of the two-pronged approach of the French and the Venetians, it was difficult for the Spaniards not to be unlucky......