The city of Mantua is located at the confluence of the Po River and the Mincio River, the terrain is dangerous, the fortifications are strong, and it can be used by tens of thousands of people, it is the most important stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy, and it is a sharp sword inserted in the heart of Italy by the Empire, which must be defended and must not be lost.

For the Italians, control of Mantua would give them complete control of northern Italy, expelling the power of the German princes, taking complete control of the Alps, and using it as a base to open the passage to Carinthia, Austria and Bavaria, and threaten the eastern part of the empire.

The Italian army was determined to win the city of Mantua, and Ezzo II, Duke of Lombardy, the leader of the Italian League, did not wait for reinforcements from Tuscany and Ancona, and on October 5, 1053, he arrived in front of the defense line of the Mincho River in the city of Mantua with a central army of up to 10,000 men.

Since ancient times, "defending the city must defend the wilderness", in the battle to defend the city, the city is the key, but it is just a reliance! If you want to defend the city, you can't rely on the city walls. This arrangement of the Duke of Verona completely alludes to the military principle of "defending the city must defend the wilderness".

Outside the Mincho River, Ezo II chose a field fortress on a dry plain ten kilometers from the riverbank, and then took his two cousins, Oberto. Morality. Este and Aberto. Morality. The two of Esther, together with a group of more than 100 horsemen, went to the bank of the Mingqiao River not far away to observe the enemy's situation.

"Be careful, my lord, if you continue to advance, you may encounter the German knights of Verona and Carinthia." Oberto, who was in his forties, said to his cousin Ezzo II.

"Listen to you, all the knights, stop advancing!" Ezzo II raised his right hand and commanded the Lombard knights behind him.

Then he commanded his cousin, Oberto's brother, "Aberto, you take ten Lombard knights to the riverbank in search of the enemy, and if there is any warning, return immediately." ”

"Yes, my cousin." Aberto bowed and commanded.

Then Ezo II rode forward, bravely approached the Minqiao River to observe, and said to his cousin Oberto beside him: "There are more than 5,000 enemy troops on the opposite bank, the formation is tight, and it is closely arranged along the Mincho River, and the banner of Conrad III is erected on it. ”

"Cousin, our side is condescending and has a geographical advantage, coupled with our inland water army that has an advantage in the Po River, our army can completely find another place to land, land from behind the enemy's flank, and force the other party to push the city of Mantua." Oberto suggested.

"This is a very good plan, I need you to take 3,000 troops to pretend to be the main force of our army, and confront the Carinthian army on the opposite bank of the Mincho River, and I will lead the remaining 7,600 or so people and all the Lombard knights to land from the upper reaches of the Mincho River, detour the enemy's flank, and fight a decisive battle with them." Ezzo II stroked his long beard, nodded, and commanded Oberto.

Alberto. Morality. Esther was only one year younger than Ezzo II, experienced in warfare, mature and steady, and a veteran of the battlefield, and Ezzo II trusted him very much.

"Yes, my cousin, please leave it to me." Oberto bowed in response.

Then Ezo II and Oberto led the Lombard knights to gallop along the banks of the Mincho River, stopping from time to time to observe the enemy's situation, attracting the enemy's attention on the other side.

It was not until Ezzo II's cousin Aberto returned safely with ten Lombard knights that he returned to the camp.

Ezzo II's bold presence on the banks of the Mincio River was not only to personally reconnoiter the enemy, but more importantly, to convince the enemy troops on the opposite bank, especially Conrad III, Duke of Verona and Carinthia, that the main forces of Heezzo II and the Lombards were camped on the other side of the Mincho River.

As long as the enemy believed this, they did not dare to move their positions, and Ezo II was able to cross the river from the upper reaches of the Mincho River with 7,000 men and break through the enemy lines.

At dawn on 6 October, Ezzo II, taking advantage of the fact that the enemy army had not yet fully awakened himself, left the camp with 7,000 men and marched north along the Mincho River.

It was impossible for 7,000 men to cross the river without the slightest movement, so the place chosen by Ezzo II was more than 20 kilometers from the enemy's defensive line, a distance sufficient for him to defend himself before the enemy reached the place where he crossed.

Fortunately, the river flotilla of Lombardy blocked the detection of enemy sentinel ships, and Ezzo II successfully crossed the Mincio River at about 2 p.m. with his whole army of more than 7,000 men.

The Lombards were in full swing, and Ezzo II saw the opportunity and decisively ordered the whole army to march at full speed towards the enemy's lines.

In less than an hour, thousands of Lombard knights were behind the Duke of Verona's defenses, unaware of the enemy's unaware.

"Knights of Lombardy, charge with me!" Faced with an enemy several times his size, Ezzo II was undaunted, and waved his hand and gave the order.

Immediately, Ezzo II rode out of the crowd and led all the Lombard knights to charge at the flank of the Duchy of Verona's army with overwhelming momentum.

Ezzo II and his Lombard knights learned the Norman technique of charging with rifles, and all the knights, armed with spears and lined up in close columns of cavalry, rushed unstoppably towards the position of Conrad III's black cross on a yellow background.

Since ancient times, thieves have captured kings first, and Ezzo II also knew this truth, as long as he defeated Conrad III's personal guard, cut off his head, and cut off his battle banner, the enemy army would collapse without a fight.

Conrad III and his soldiers did not react at all in the face of the Lombard cavalry that suddenly appeared behind the flanks of their own lines, he only had time to hastily dispatch hundreds of knights and guards to protect him, and the rest did not have time to do it at all.

Iron hooves thundered, spears cracked, screams, resounded, Ezzo II personally led the iron cavalry into the rear of the enemy, he drew his sword to cut off Conrad III's black cross on a yellow background, and routed the enemy's right flank and rear position.

Although it was somewhat regrettable that Conrad III escaped, the collapse of the enemy's defensive line was irretrievable, and more than 5,000 soldiers rushed north, either trampled by the Lombard knights and stabbed to death with spears, or driven into the raging waters of the Mincio River and drowned alive.

The Lombards won the first battle, and the Mincio River was red, and the corpses of the Germans almost blocked the width and surface of the Mincho River.

The Mincho line was breached, and Conrad III fled back to Mantua with dozens of German knights.

Although Conrad III lost 5,000 troops in this battle, there were still 8,000 defenders in the city of Mantua, and it was not a problem to wait for the emperor's Bavarian army and the king of Bohemia to reinforce them.

After this battle, the Lombards regained their self-confidence, and Ezzo II did not wait for reinforcements from Tuscany and Ancona to arrive, but preemptively led an army of more than 10,000 troops to garrison the city of Mantua.