In this way, the two armies began to come into contact - the Swiss had lost nearly one-twentieth of their soldiers, or about five hundred, in the previous rain of arrows. Such a loss is completely irrelevant to the Swiss. I saw that these guys were in groups of 300 or 500 people, lined up in rectangular phalanxes, and several small phalanxes formed a relatively large phalanx. In this way, dozens of phalanxes formed a prismatic formation. Thicker in the middle and thinner in the wings.

When the enemy was engaged, the Swiss did not charge. Of course, the spears in their hands, which are two meters and four long, are not very suitable for charging. In fact, they don't even need to charge. Because they have better ways of killing people.

The mountainous terrain was not suitable for cavalry deployment. So the Italian heavy cavalry actually dismounted and fought. As a result, Venice had a total of 5,500 hoplites, all armed with plate-chain composite armor. Plus the three and a half thousand projectile infantry, which are actually also equipped with melee weapons, as well as chain mail. Putting down the crossbow and drawing the sword is the standard infantry. That is, Venice actually had nine thousand heavily armed armored infantry. Such a terrifying armor rate can be said to be unbelievable in the eyes of the Catholic kingdoms of Europe.

And Duke Charlie, who was standing on the top of the hill and looking down, was also very surprised by this. It was also the first time he had seen such a scene - Italy was not Norman, nor was it an Eastern Roman, nor did it have as much arable land and population as the Normans, or Eastern Rome. It doesn't have that vast territory. The Venetians, however, outnumbered these two powerful kingdoms in terms of equipment! This was the economic power of which the Venetian city-state was proud!

However, in the era of cold weapons, equipment is certainly part of the manifestation of strength. But what is more important than equipment, even more important than the so-called degree of training, and even more important than the so-called degree of organization, is morale.

Venetians are rich.

So, the Venetians are afraid of death.

In other words, it is precisely because of the wealth of the Venetians that the Venetians are afraid of death. As the saying goes, the greatest tragedy in the world is that people die, but the money is not spent. While it's unlikely that the Venetians have ever heard of such a thing, the truth is the same. At home, I have real estate goods, wives and children, gold and silver, and merchant marine shares...... If you die, won't these be cheaper for others?

So you must not die.

Therefore, when facing the phalanx of Swiss pikemen who are extremely hateful to the rich, they look at the Swiss who are dressed in tatters, but their eyes reveal the terrifying light of greed and **. The Venetians were timid.

Seeing that his own army was cowardly before fighting, the commander of the Venetian army, Dandolo the Younger, was extremely anxious, but there was nothing he could do - speaking of which, this guy was also good at naval engagement. At the age of fourteen, he began to run ships, and now he has experienced decades of wind and waves, commanding the navy to fight like an arm. Even better than Anrew, the governor of Genoa. However, for the army, it is a little harder. It's not as good as Andrew's. If it weren't for the fact that there was no one under Old Dandoro, he wouldn't have rushed the ducks to the shelves and filmed his son. After all, if little Dandoro hangs up, the Dandoro family will be extinct...... There's really no one under the hands here. This is not to say that the Republic of Venice does not have army generals who can fight well. It's that these army generals who can fight well are not reliable.

Because they are all Catholics.

Soldiers, political vision is generally very low. The limbs are well developed and the mind is simple. It is completely incomprehensible what kind of psychological struggle and struggle the old Dandoro went through when he converted to Orthodox Christianity and took refuge in Eastern Rome, such a humiliating and ungodly method, out of consideration of peace. They only know a little.

"Ahh Why doesn't this old bastard die when he's seventy or eighty?! Look at the old fool's energy......

Therefore, old Dandolo was quite sure that if these fellows had been given control of the army, it would needless to say, with their toes, that they would have done exactly what they would have done—they must have cut themselves down first, and then declared Venice to be converted to Catholicism, and then all those who set foot on Venetian territory were enemies. Ordered all the Eastern Roman and Norman armies to leave, or else they would go to war.

Afterwards...... After that, there is no after. At least Venice didn't have a follow-up...... And little Dandoro has been with his father for so long. But I also learned a lot of political intrigue and the like. Somewhat understanding the meaning of the old father, and at the same time, the natural blood connection also made little Dandoro unable to make the decision to betray his father.

So, although it is not certain that Dandoro Jr. can win. But at least it can be determined that he will not defect. For this reason, the elder Dandolo decided to let his son go on the expedition as the commander of the Venetian army.

But no.

If Egil is here at this time, you can see it by opening the character surname interface of Little Dandoro. This guy has only one qualified general, a military academy background, a total of two positive surnames, and only two command points. It's a real rookie monster. Not at all a match for Duke Charles, who can fight well.

And Duke Charlie's stunt Death Assault can increase the attack frequency and attack power. Such powerful and practical stunts also raised the attack power of the Swiss mercenaries to a higher level.

Where the soldiers of both sides meet. But it's in a mountainous terrain. The Venetians occupy several successive mountain terrain in the hope of being able to play to a condescending advantage. However, because the Venetians are very afraid of death. So I didn't dare to charge. As a result, it was completely impossible to shake the formation of the Swiss pikemen. With the advantage of super long spears, the Swiss pikemen could calmly assassinate the opponent with their spears outside the range of the Venetians' attacks.

Although the Venetians are well-armoured, the composite shields are also very strong. However, with the blessing of Duke Charlie's stunts, the attack power of the Swiss mercenaries has been greatly increased. Even if you can't stab you to death once. But ten times, a hundred times - the plate chain composite armor is not a real plate armor after all, and the joint of the nail pieces is a flaw. The Swiss mercenaries targeted these places and continued to assassinate the Venetians.

"Damn it!Forward!Forward, Venetian!!Think about the consequences of defeat! Behind you is Venice!, your wives and children!What will happen after the city of Venice is broken, do I still need to tell you?!!" Seeing that his soldiers were wearing heavy armor and still dodging and dodging. Little Dandoro was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He drew his sword and swung it at the sky, shouting at the same time.

Be encouraged by this. Imagining the miserable state after the city was broken, the Venetians finally mustered up the courage to force the Swiss mercenaries through the guns of the Swiss mercenaries with their heavy armor, and finally entered the combat radius.

However, these Venetian hoplites did not have time to rejoice. I saw the Swiss man holding the halberd on the other side raise his hands in the air, and the glittering Swiss halberd fell sharply. The Venetian hoplites were shocked. Hurriedly raised the shield to block, only to hear a "click", and the Swiss halberders, who had enough strength, directly cut the shield with the skin and iron edge in half. Before the Venetian hoplites could react. Then he raised the halberd again, slashed it with his head and face, followed the peeping eyes of the other party, and cut the helmet of the Venetian hoplite at once, taking away a layer of scalp by the way, and the halberd blade was embedded in the skull, and then slid downward, cutting the bridge of the nose in half.

"Ah......!!!h In this way, pikemen are used as the backbone, supplemented by halberders to increase lethality, and used for melee combat. The Swiss phalanx lives up to its name. With absolute combat effectiveness, there was an overwhelming advantage over the Venetians.

On the right flank, the Venetians looked even more dangerous than the Romans on the frontal battlefield.

At this moment, the frontal battlefield. Under the longbow's projectile auxiliary attack like a rainstorm, the Roman heavy infantry was able to enjoy the advantage of a larger shield this time. Frontally, the Eastern Roman hoplites, who were fighting with the two-handed axe-wielding warriors and the professional Viking soldiers with tomahawks, had to raise their shields to protect their heads from the hail and thunderstorms.

Even so, many of the Eastern Roman hoplites were still killed by the longbow's arrows. The feathered arrows, as powerful as hailstone, crackled against the surface of the shield. Despite the curvature of the Roman shield, the surface is also painted, which can largely bounce off the feathered arrows. However, under such a rainstorm-like attack, it was difficult for the heavy infantry to raise their shields properly. After a while, you will feel that your wrist is sore, and you will die of soreness - and then you will not lift it well. If the shield is slightly crooked, it will be shot by a long arrow that leaks in, and then die. And because of the gaps in the defense line, the loopholes are increasing little by little, and they are getting bigger and bigger...... It's just that Egil's heart aches very much--these feathered arrows are also [***] money! The arrows of the longbowmen are brush-and-brush-[***] those feathered arrows that are shot, and the worn bowstrings are all money!!! even if some of the iron arrows can be recovered after the war. But that's not a good deal! To put it bluntly, the longbowman is actually a very expensive class. Although they are really very easy to use.

Egir was in a state of distress here, but the Eastern Roman commander was in a state of distress - there were only 23,400 men left in his Eastern Roman army. Under such a rain of arrows and such a strong Viking warrior, the Eastern Roman army was defeated one after another. The entire battlefield was covered with the corpses of the Eastern Roman hoplites......

(To be continued)