An officer's son, Martin Dedovich received his training in the Engineering Academy of the Austrian Imperial-Royal Army, which he entered as a cadet at the age of 20. In the Austro-Turkish War of 1788, which came in the wake of Koča's rebellion, Dedovich was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and in the same year, during the siege of Bosanski Novi, he was put in charge of the opening of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd parallel, the latter only 4 steps away from the covered road. As Field Marshal Loudon wanted to be completely convinced of the effectiveness of the breaching battery, Dedovich dared to walk 100 paces into the covered path and ditch in broad daylight and discovered that behind the palisades on the parapet, some distance from the "Contreescarpe" -- the outer wall of the trench -- there were two rows of large filled battery baskets whereupon Loudon immediately had 4 mine chambers built, which cleared these obstacles out of the way, whereby the breaching battery was able to work efficiently and successfully. It was there that he was promoted to the rank of captain. At the siege of Berbir in 1789 he was among the first to penetrate behind enemy lines. When the Turks left Berbir on 9 July 1789, Dedovich entered the fortress with the Reuss infantry from the trenches over the fortress. Dedovich received the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa for his excellent performance at Novi and elsewhere. In the course of this campaign, he participated during the siege of Belgrade and Smederevo.