Duke Otto III of Swabia was undoubtedly wrong to charge the well-armed spear-shield infantry phalanx with a large number of heavy cavalry, and even the heavily armed full-body plate cavalry of later generations was unable to directly break the infantry phalanx.

Do you still remember the scene in the mercenary legend, when the French cavalry attacked the Spanish spear phalanx, in the face of the dense Spanish spear phalanx, the French heavy cavalry was powerless to knock the turtle shell of the Spanish spear phalanx.

Although compared with the later Spanish spear phalanx, the infantry phalanx arranged by the Duke of Lombard in the front line at this time was slightly inferior, but it was enough to resist the German feudal knights wearing chain mail and slightly less protected.

Moreover, these phalanx infantry were not considered temporary conscripted peasant soldiers, and the second man-in-arms, that is, armed soldiers, armor soldiers, and armored samurai, could be counted as professional soldiers.

Although the status of these armed soldiers is inferior to that of knights, they have protective armor to protect themselves, can skillfully use weapons, have a certain amount of training, and can serve as the main force in close combat, such soldiers are the main force of kings and princes in the Middle Ages.

For example, in the game of horse riding and slashing, the two types of Swadia hoplites and dismounted heavy cavalry are man-in-arms, that is, armed soldiers and armor.

They formed the backbone of the army under the command of the king and the princes, otherwise how could they defeat the enemy by relying on improvised peasant soldiers and hired mercenaries?

The armed soldiers also included the cavalry, and the thousands of Lombard cavalry that were galloping down included many armed soldiers.

Knights, that is, registered nobles who own manors and castles, are members of the noble sequence, no matter how rich and vast the Lombard principality is, it is impossible to afford the land and castles needed by thousands of knights, so it is already very good to have more than two hundred knights among the more than a thousand cavalry, and the rest are mostly heavy cavalry belonging to man-in-arm, and knight squires also belong to this category.

For example, the gendarmes in William's army, the cavalry in the standing army, and William's guards all belong to this category, and most of their equipment is provided by kings and noble lords, and the most important indicator is the number of armed soldiers to measure the military strength of a country or prince.

"God's will! God's will! Kill me! Messina's Tancred took the lead, his sword raised in his right hand and shouted.

"God's will! God's will! Kill! ”

With Tancred as the arrow, the Norman knights lined up in a tight cavalry wall, clamping the cavalry spears on their right arms to fill the arrows of the army's counterattack.

Seeing the bravery of Tanrred and the Normans, the Aberto and the Lombard knights were not to be outdone, and they followed in the footsteps of the Norman knights, and also formed a similar cavalry phalanx, and charged the Swabian knights who were trying to retreat with spears.

Tancred, who was charging forward, was only a few steps away from the Swabian knight, and he could even clearly see the frightened expression on the Swabian knight's face.

Tancrad smiled fiercely, waved the long sword in his hand casually, and a big head suddenly jumped up, and bright red blood sprayed into the sky unscrupulously, turning into a canopy of blood mist.

Tancred was covered in blood, with a hideous and bloodthirsty smile, and behind him there were thousands of cavalry, and this terrifying sight was as terrifying as it could be.

As the arrows of the cavalry, Tancred and the Norman knights behind him did their job perfectly, breaking a huge gap in the loose array of Swabian knights, and then the Lombard knights and heavy cavalry behind them followed in the footsteps of the Norman knights and quickly rushed into the gap.

The Norman knights of Tancred and the Lombard cavalry of Aberto were working together for the first time, but they were very skilful in cooperating, and wherever they passed, the Swabian knights were either killed in front of them or dismounted and surrendered, with the latter being more numerous.

As a member of the nobility, the knights who captured them could not only obtain the other party's equipment, but also receive a large ransom, and Tancred they naturally did not want to let go, so they shouted the slogan of surrender and death, while forcing the Swabian knights to dismount and surrender with their swords.

Tancred came to serve under the command of Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy, for nothing more than prestige and wealth, defeating the Swabian cavalry in a battle, this feat was enough to make him famous in Italy, as for wealth, in addition to the reward issued by Ezzo II, the knightly nobles who surrendered in front of him were the greatest of them.

The equipment on each knight's body, including horses, chain mail, armor, and swords, is priceless, and after capturing them, they can not only obtain the equipment listed above, but also demand a large ransom.

This money was enough to make Tancred and the Norman knights who followed him on his adventures, and that's why the Norman knights were willing to take risks and even more Tanfred.

The cavalry under the command of the Duke of Swabia was heavily damaged, the rear was broken, a large number of knights and cavalry were killed and wounded, and countless surrendered were numerous.

"Call Count Hobbold and Count Friedrich to pick them up." The Duke of Swabia shouted anxiously.

Seeing that more than 2,000 of his knights and cavalry had suffered heavy losses and were about to be wiped out, the Duke of Swabia could not care about it, and shouted to Hubold, Count of St. Gallen, and Friedrich, Count of Swabia, to come to the rescue.

The Friedrich he spoke of was none other than the ancestor of the later Hohenstaufen dynasty and Frederick the Redbeard, the later Duke of Swabia. Hohenstaufen, it was through his marriage to the daughter of Henry IV that the Hohenstaufen family became the royal family that ruled the Holy Roman Empire.

"Look, my lord, here they are."

Otto III looked in the direction of the other man's finger, and sure enough, he saw two teams hurrying towards this place.

"Knights, hold on a little longer, our reinforcements are coming!" Otto III looked delighted and shouted an order.

The arrival of reinforcements shook the Swabian knights, who were about to lose their will to resist, and their morale increased sharply, while the Norman knights and Lombard knights also lost their speed, and the threat to the Swabian knights was greatly weakened.

"With the captives, we turn, retreat! Don't forget to bring your captives! "Tankred was not a reckless man through and through, but was very extreme, extremely good at judging the situation, and when he saw the arrival of local reinforcements, he decisively ordered to abandon the intention of continuing the attack, and ordered the Norman knights under his command to turn and retreat.

"Go and tell Aberto that the enemy's reinforcements have arrived, and if you want to avoid being surrounded by the enemy, retreat first."

Before evacuating, Tancred did not forget to inform Aberto and his Lombard knights.