Although Gascony was the cause of the war, Edward was able to spare few resources for it; whenever an English army had campaigned on the continent, it had operated in northern France. In 1346 Edward raised an army in England and the largest fleet ever assembled by the English to that date, 747 ships. The fleet landed on 12 July at St. Vaast la Hogue, from Cherbourg. The English army is estimated by modern historians to have been some 10,000 strong, and consisted of English and Welsh soldiers and a small number of German and Breton mercenaries and allies. The English achieved complete strategic surprise and marched south.