Nearly 10,000 longbowmen inflicted huge casualties on the HRE infantry, and William took care of it, and ten rounds of arrows rained down, at least thousands of soldiers fell, and there were countless colors on their bodies.

It stands to reason that after these Shinra infantry suffered nearly one-tenth of the casualties, they should retreat rationally, after all, the ancient feudal army, one-tenth of the casualties was already considered a heavy loss, and more than one-third of the casualties did not retreat, which was definitely the elite of the elite.

However, the situation of the Shinra infantry was somewhat different, they were being chased and forced forward by the Shinra knights behind them, and these warlords of the Shinra knights in the rear were directly executed in front of everyone against the infantry who tried to escape.

In the face of brutal suppression, the HRE infantry had to bite the bullet and press the whole army.

Although these infantry are not worth much in the eyes of the princes, and their most important and valuable combat power is still those precious Shinra knights, after all, they are all the private property of their respective princes, where can they be so bad.

However, in the face of the coercion and temptation of Emperor Henry III, the strongest monarch of the powerful Sallian Dynasty, the HRE princes had to force their infantry to die.

The scattered Shinra infantry were no match for the elite Norman standing infantry, and the spears frantically stabbed all the enemies that came close to them, and the weakly armored princes' infantry only needed to stab them with a single stab with their spears to kill them.

Below the spear array, groups of Norman light infantry armed with round shields and short swords in their right hands roamed under the shafts of the spears.

Norman hoplites were placed on both sides of the spear phalanx, protecting the flanks of the spear array with sturdy kite-shaped shields, and could immediately support and stabilize their own positions in case of trouble.

Wandering around and around the phalanx, crossbowmen wielded crossbows and fired deadly bolts at the HRE infantry, while some elite crossbowmen sniped infantry officers with specially made precision crossbows.

Perhaps because he had been unable to open the Norman gap for a long time, Henry III finally couldn't help but open his long-hidden hole cards.

In the middle of the crowd, a well-armed and well-trained heavy infantry team emerged, armed with a kite-shaped shield, a long sword or mace in their right hand, most of them wearing double layers of heavy chain mail and iron helmets to protect their bodies, and the front row was equipped with this heavy full-body plate armor imported from Normandy, which can be said to be armed to the teeth.

The crowd involuntarily made way for the elite heavy infantry, which numbered as many as 2,000 men.

William saw that the other party was hiding such an elite, but he didn't mean to be afraid, but he couldn't help but be a little surprised in his heart.

"Lord Hubert, do you know anything about this elite heavy infantry?" William turned his head and asked Duke Hubert beside him.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, this is the dismounted knights trained by the Emperor of the HRE with reference to the standing corps of our army, and its soldiers are mainly composed of dismounted knights of a slightly lower rank, well-equipped and well-trained, not inferior to the elite legion heavy infantry of our army." Duke Hubert pointed forward with his right hand and said:

"You see, this dismounted knight is only the precursor and prelude to the opponent's attack, and there are more hoplites following behind them, they must want to use this elite dismounted knight to open the gap in our army's battle formation."

"Aren't you worried, Lord Hubert. It wouldn't be great if this Shinra dismounted knight broke through our army's defenses! William asked with a smile on his face as usual.

"Your Majesty, you're not worried, what am I worried about?" Duke Hubert replied with a smile: "With these half-baked goods, how can they be the opponent of the heavy infantry of our Norman Legion." ”

As Duke Hubert said, the well-equipped, well-trained, and fearless 2,000 dismounted knights were in fact half-goods, and they had not learned the essence of the Norman heavy infantry.

These dismounted knights still prefer to fight bravely and heroically, rather than rely on discipline and flexible tactics to defeat their opponents, so Duke Hubert commented that this dismounted knight is just a false appearance.

In the beginning, the dismounted knights were able to remember to observe discipline under the supervision of the officer, shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield and move forward.

But as the melee began, except for the Norman legion phalanx, which could still maintain a relatively intact formation, the formation of the Shinra dismounted knights had already collapsed.

After more than ten years of summary and improvement by William, the Norman phalanx, which was different from the previous Norman tactics, finally developed and took shape.

The Norman phalanx, which was born from the Spanish phalanx of later generations, like its prototype, was good at positional warfare and defensive warfare, and at the same time the attack was not weak.

The Norman phalanx, consisting of spear infantry, sword and shield light infantry, Norman heavy infantry and crossbowmen, was able to inflict a multi-faceted attack on their opponents.

Even if the enemy resisted the dense spear array, he could not escape the attack of the sword and shield light infantry swimming under the spear.

At the same time, on both sides of the spear phalanx, the role of the Norman heavy infantry was not only to protect the spearmen, but also to attack the main force, and their most important role was to trap and break the enemy.

As with the Spanish phalanx, the Norman crossbowmen roaming around the phalanx were the main force of the phalanx, and their crossbow arrows were enough to threaten the chainmail-clad knights.

Knights, who are generally very difficult for melee infantry, only need one crossbow arrow to kill the Norman crossbowman.

In the Norman Standing Army, a Norman phalanx is generally an infantry regiment, a legion is usually composed of four or five Norman phalanxes, and there are more than five Norman standing legions on the front.

These Shinra dismounted knights were unable to deal with a highly synthesized Norman phalanx, let alone face the attack of several Norman generals at the same time.

The phalanx of more than 2,000 Shinra dismounted knights was quickly defeated in the attack of several Norman phalanxes, and after five or six hundred dead and wounded, the dismounted knights retreated one after another, no matter how the legions at all levels cursed, they did not dare to confront the Normans head-on.

Without this new force, the infantry of the HRE Empire is inevitably crumbling.

At the same time, William duly ordered his longbowmen to shoot arrows and kill the HRE knights behind the HRE infantry phalanx.

Countless heavy arrows slashed through the sky and fell, and in the blink of an eye, more than two hundred HRE knights fell on the spot.

Fearing the sharp attack of the Norman longbow, the HRE knights who oversaw the battle retreated, fleeing from the range of the Norman longbowmen with their tails between their legs.

At this moment, the rout of the infantry of the HRE Empire, without the supervision of the Warlord, began to gradually become irrepressible.