A plan was hatched: the main English army would be sought out and crushed, after which Charles VII would be crowned as king in Reims. In August, the new Franco-Scottish army made ready to march into action to relieve the fortress of Ivry (about 50 km northeast of Verneuil), which had been under siege by the Duke of Bedford. Douglas (newly created Duke of Touraine) and Buchan left Tours on 4 August to link with the French commanders, the Duke of Alençon, the Count of Aumale, and the Viscount of Narbonne. But before the army could arrive, Ivry surrendered to the English. Uncertain what to do, the allied commanders held a council of war. The Scots and some of the younger French officers were eager for battle, but Narbonne and the senior nobility had not forgotten Agincourt, and were reluctant to take the risk. As a compromise it was agreed to attack the English strongholds on the Norman border, beginning with Verneuil in the west. The town was taken by a simple trick: a group of Scots, leading some of their fellow countrymen as prisoners, pretended to be English, and claimed that Bedford had defeated the allies in battle, whereupon the gates were opened. On 15 August 1424, Bedford received news that Verneuil was in French hands and made his way there as quickly as he could. As he neared the town two days later, the Scots persuaded their French comrades to make a stand. Douglas is said to have received a message from Bedford that he had come to drink with him and prayed for an early meeting. He replied that having failed to find the duke in England he had come to seek him in France. The allied Franco-Scottish army deployed a mile north of Verneuil on an open plain astride the road leading out of the forest of Piseux. The flat fields had been chosen to give the greatest advantage to the Milanese cavalry, whereby they could be employed to their full potential against the enemy archers. The mounted Milanese men-at-arms under Caqueran drew up in front of the dismounted Franco-Scottish men-at-arms, who were formed into one battle. Narbonne's Spanish mercenary men-at-arms and most of the French were situated on the left of the road, while Douglas and Buchan were on the right. Aumale was given overall command, but this heterogeneous army defied all attempts at co-ordinated direction.