Foot soldiers crossing a river chained arm-in-arm
A human palisade set along the current, each man a shield for the next against the flow
Leonardo describes a safe way for infantry to cross a river of vehement current: the soldiers lock arms under one another to form a chained rank like a palisade, and the files advance along the thread of the water so that none stands athwart the flow. The reasoning is mechanical: the uppermost man bears the first impetus and would be thrown down alone, but the men below sustain him and make of him their shield, so each goes safe by means of the others. The faint drawings show a mounted crossing before low mountains; a short annotation at the upper left and a line of text at the top of the sheet are not included in this transcription.
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A human palisade bearing the water's impetus
The soldiers take hold of one another under the arms and make a rank like a palisade, chained by the arms. The first, uppermost man bears the initial impetus and would be thrown down if alone, but those below sustain him and make of him their shield, so each is safe by means of the other.
Files set along the thread of the current
The chained files set themselves on the march along the thread of the water so that none turns athwart its current. If the river falls from right to left, each file receives the current and its companion on the right shoulder in passing from bank to bank.
Mounted crossing sketched below
Beneath the text a group of horsemen is drawn fording a river, with a range of low mountains sketched behind. The riders are faintly rendered in the current.