About half an hour later, the two spies sent by Lawrence returned without incident.

Lawrence was also a little relieved, and if the two men were discovered by the defenders of Giethoorn, he would have to attack or retreat temporarily.

"Sir, here's how Sheephorn is arranged..."

One of them crouched on the ground, drawing a general picture of what was going on in Giethoorn Bay with a twig, and Lawrence turned his head and told Lieutenant Seth to bring an oil lamp, and then listened in the dim light.

"The only way to get into the pier is a trail with steep rock walls on both sides, and only about ten people can walk side by side. The main building of the dock is a large warehouse, as well as several double-storey wooden houses, presumably the residence of the defenders there. We calculated that the defenders would not exceed two hundred. ”

"No more than two hundred?"

Major Tripfary's eyes lit up, if that was the case, the 4th Battalion, which had the advantage of surprise attacks, had a good chance of taking Giethoorn Bay.

"Yes, but—" The spy hesitated for a moment, and said:

"But in the middle of the wooden houses, there was a longhouse made of bricks, which was well guarded. And the guards there did not look like Genoese soldiers. ”

Lawrence frowned and asked, "What are they dressed in?" ”

"I could barely see them wearing cuirasers, with pointed helmets on their heads, and halberds in their hands. By the way, there seems to be a white cross on a red background on the front of the breastplate. ”

Lawrence and Trafali glanced at each other, and the logo of the white cross on a red background was familiar to them, and they said in unison:

"Swiss' mercenary halberds?"

Swiss mercenaries were definitely famous throughout Europe in the 15th and 18th centuries, and due to the rugged mountains and sparse agricultural land in Switzerland, a considerable number of Swiss chose to take up arms and go abroad.

Even the Pope of Rome and the King of France have formed the Swiss Legion, which played an indelible role in the Seven Years' War, which ended five years ago.

Even in the Vatican in later generations, the Holy See was guarded by a Swiss halberd guard numbering about one hundred and fifty.

Genoa, as a commercial republic with a shortage of manpower, was not surprised to include mercenaries in its army, but Lawrence was a little surprised as to why the house was guarded by Swiss mercenaries.

You know, behind the excellent combat power of Swiss mercenaries is their high price, and the average person's wallet is not rich enough for these elite guards to defend themselves.

"Perhaps, this is an opportunity for the 4th Battalion." Lawrence whispered with his eyes fixed on the diagram on the ground.

Major Trefalli was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?" What opportunities? ”

Lawrence did not look up and replied:

"Even our General Poly isn't rich enough to hire a Swiss guard to protect himself..."

"You mean... Is there a big guy in it? Major Trefali nodded knowingly, and said excitedly.

Lawrence turned to Lieutenant Seth:

"Lieutenant, get all the soldiers ready for the sword-wielding soldiers to attack Sheephorn Bay, and those on the list should be at the forefront. Musket-wielding soldiers followed Major Trefarli in formation, temporarily concealing at the entrance to Giethoorn Bay. ”

About three minutes later, more than a hundred soldiers drew their sabers and took advantage of the cover of night to reach Sheep's Horn Bay. In order to stabilize morale, Lawrence decided to take the risk himself, drawing his sword and following the soldiers into the interior of Sheephorn Bay.

Lieutenant Trefali and Lieutenant Seth led the musket team at a distance from them, following them closely.

"Huh? This is!? ”

A small group of Genoese patrolmen, carrying torches, bumped into the soldiers of the 4th Battalion who had broken in from the entrance path.

"All charge!" Lawrence let out a loud shout and led the charge at the patrols with a dagger in hand.

"Alarm bells! Go ring the alarm! ”

A Genoese soldier who looked like a captain shouted at the soldiers at the end of the line, and then hurriedly drew his saber to deal with the soldiers of the fourth battalion rushing up, and the other Genoese also panicked and loaded their bayonets onto their muskets, and retreated again and again under the charge of the soldiers of the fourth battalion.

Due to the huge difference in numbers, only half a minute later, the pair of patrolmen had all collapsed in a pool of blood.

At the same time, there was a loud and clear sound of bells striking on the docks.

"Don't let up! Take advantage of the enemy's lack of reaction and start fighting freely now! ”

Lawrence ordered loudly, wiping a handful on his blood-stained forehead, which had just been splashed on the head of a Genoese soldier after being impaled through the heart by Lawrence.

By the light on the docks, Lawrence could see the defenders' quarters pouring out one after another, most of them holding muskets and not even having time to reload their bayonets, so they had to use their muskets as burning sticks to resist the soldiers of the fourth battalion.

In such a large melee, the broad-edged knives used by the soldiers of the 4th Battalion were already superior to the smoothbore guns with bayonets attached, and the defenders were not prepared at all, and they rushed to meet the battle, and had to retreat one after another.

However, Lawrence's expression was still serious, and after he gave the order to fight freely, he did not join the battle himself, but climbed a small dirt slope and looked down at the longhouse guarded by Swiss mercenaries.

Despite the chaos surrounding the defenders of Giethoorn, Lawrence was keenly aware that the guards in the longhouse were not moving, as if they were not following the command of the defenders of Giethoorn.

"It's kind of interesting, who the hell is in there..."Lawrence squinted his eyes and continued to observe the battle below, ready to give further orders.

Finally, just as the defenders of Sheephorn Bay were on the verge of collapse, the guards inside the longhouse made a move.

I saw dozens of well-trained guards armed with halberds pouring out of the doorway, and as soon as they left the longhouse, these guards were extremely skillfully arranged in a three-row phalanx.

By the light of the torches in Giethoorn Bay, Lawrence could barely make out that the guards were indeed marked with the Swiss flag on their breastplates, numbering about fifty people.

Lawrence kept an eye on the situation on the battlefield, and the moment these guards came out to assemble, he did not hesitate to order:

"Fourth battalion! Retreat all! ”

The soldiers who heard Lawrence's order also repeated the order to retreat loudly, making sure that every soldier on the battlefield could hear it.

With these elite mercenaries, Lawrence didn't expect these sword-wielding infantry of the Fourth Battalion to be able to deal with them. Even under their tight halberd phalanx, the soldiers of the fourth battalion could not even get close to them.

The soldiers who heard the order to retreat took a deep breath, swung their knives with more force to break free of the opponent in front of them, and then retreated towards the entrance.

At this moment, even Lawrence, who was watching the battle from a distance, could hear an angry roar coming from the longhouse, as if asking the mercenaries to cooperate with the remaining defenders in pursuit.

The mercenaries, who had already assembled, did not hesitate, and after receiving the order, they trotted towards the fourth battalion, which was evacuating towards the entrance.

Lawrence retreated towards the entrance with the soldiers of the 4th Battalion, and turned back to confirm that the mercenaries were really in pursuit.

Seeing that the neatly arranged figures not far away were still approaching him, the corners of Lawrence's mouth couldn't help but bend.

After all, on the small road at the entrance, there was a lot of surprise waiting for this group of pursuers.