In the autumn of 1513, the war of powers for control of Italy is still intensifying. Although the French army suffered a sudden and disastrous defeat at the Battle of Novara, their Venetian allies are still fighting.
Despite the huge losses in previous conflicts, the treasury of the Republic can still ensure that it continues to recruit new sources of troops. Especially under the north-south attack between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, new battles are inevitable. The Battle of La Mota broke out in this context.
In addition to Venice, Italy, it also has a large overseas territory
Since the establishment of the Cambrai League, the Republic has been reorganized Own broken arms. The previously captured mercenary commander Alviano has been released after the establishment of the French-Venice alliance. He quickly used his deep connections in Italy to recruit mercenaries to serve the Venetians. At the same time, a large number of overseas citizens of the Republic from the Balkans and Greece also called on them to rush to the Italian battlefield.
There are many people in the Venetian army from Balkans and Greece
But the thousands of troops that quickly formed the army are still not enough. Resist the strong forces of the opponent. King Ferdinand II of Spain has sent 4000 infantry and 1000 cavalry to go north from Naples under the command of Avalos. The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I also sent a capable general Frenzberg, and the 3,500 German mercenary infantry formed by him. The two armies soon joined forces in Veneto, the mainland territory of the Republic, and confronted the Italian mercenaries who were hurriedly deployed. Alviano has only 24 large and small artillery, unable to compete with his opponent's 32 field artillery, and can only choose to retreat under unfavorable circumstances.
Frentzberg and his German mercenary
September 1513, Spain-Shenluo Allied Forces Pushing forward, the mercenaries chasing Alviano came to the outskirts of Venice. Many soldiers from Iberia and the north of the Alps were able to see this great city of San Marco surrounded by the lagoon for the first time. But without the support of the fleet, any storm plan is very unrealistic. The Venetian army kept the sequence intact during the retreat, and might turn around at any time to counterattack. A large number of citizens and volunteers from nearby towns were also mobilized, and they came to defend Venice with arms. Many merchants have also suspended trading activities, pieced together their ships into a fleet, cruising back and forth in the lagoon and offshore. Therefore, despite repeated attempts by the coalition to bombard deterrence, only the ruthless ridicule of the city defenders was obtained.
Venice surrounded by water is difficult to be captured by the army
Seeing that the supply is about to run out, Avalos and Fren After discussion, Zberg decided to withdraw his troops westward. They are going to enter the Lombardy area previously owned by Venice, and prepare a winter camp there for this year. Before that, Spanish and German soldiers had raged all along the way. Not only seized a lot of materials, but also destroyed farmland, orchards and the country houses of Venetian nobles.
German mercenaries have always been known for their poor military status
"Recovering the lost ground", found that what they had got back was only a mess. Out of anger and revenge, the Venetian ordered the troops to pursue the pursuit. In order to completely wipe out the poorly-supported opponents, they also took a large number of noble armed forces, militias and local volunteers. All were handed over to Alviano’s command. The latter’s troops also skyrocketed to 10,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry.
Venetian’s native heavy infantry
On October 7, the coalition troops had already marched near the small town of Vicenza. Alviano’s light cavalry was in hot pursuit on the road, forcing the opposing coaches to consider Do not switch to the challenge. Considering their own numbers and disadvantages, especially the major shortcomings of the cavalry, they decided to deploy a battle formation after crossing a small river. Use a relatively small space to limit the range of activities of the Italian cavalry. Most Spanish cavalry points. They are on two wings to cover, and their long spear phalanx and German mercenaries form the left and right sides of the central front. Many light shooters and artillery go to the front line, preparing to block the forwards of the Italian pursuers first.
The battlefield of La Mota is located on the edge of the land territory of Venice
The Venetians also wanted this, and quickly dispatched most of the soldiers.河.Although there are more than half of the muskets and bow shooters in the army, the heavy infantry responsible for cover is less powerful. Several previous confrontations have also proved that relying on the combination of traditional shield spears and halberds cannot resist long guns. The frontal attack of the troops. However, due to time constraints, the Venetians still had no time to retrain their new troops. Therefore, Alviano’s pattern of formation also had a clear medieval style. He placed some of the most elite heavy cavalry in full. In the center of the army, an infantry battle formation of about 5,000 men was deployed on each side of them. The remaining cavalry provided flanking cover, among which the right wing was relatively stronger. But because of the pursuit, the Venetian artillery could not catch up. The fast paced pace can only lag far behind.
The two sides in the battle of La Mota
After the battle began, the right-wing cavalry of the Venetian army first attacked the left wing of the coalition army. They successfully bypassed the frontal artillery position, attacked the weak link of the opponent, and soon suppressed the Spaniards who had a low proportion of heavy cavalry. But In the middle, the charge of the Italian heavy cavalry was weakened by the powerful coalition firepower.
9a8b 8#Italian cavalry has always been known for being well equipped
In order to prevent themselves from falling into the double danger of cavalry impact and infantry long-range fire suppression , Spanish and German infantry can only attack immediately. The soldiers in the front row raised their spears more than 4 meters high, and their companions in the back row also raised their weapons over their shoulders, pressing on the Venetians densely. Alviano's original intention was to use cavalry to force the phalanx to stop in place to defend, but they could not resist the phalanx's crush in a static defense. At the same time, the infantry phalanx, which is used to output the main firepower, also suffers a lot from this close combat. Heavy armed forces with only short spears, halberds, or pointed tomahawks cannot hold dense spear formations even with shields. Faced with several extremely deep coalition infantry units, they were quickly pushed back to the river.
German mercenary phalanx with guns charging
Under the huge pressure, many militiamen enlisted by Venice Morale began to collapse with volunteers. They turned around and fled before launching their weapons, but they squeezed back and forth because they needed to cross the river. The cavalry caught in it has no way to retreat, and there is no time to stand again after the horse falls.Li, he died from chasing soldiers or trampled by his own people. The coalition infantry who fought smoothly, massacred more than 4,000 Venetian soldiers by the river.
Venice’s heavy forces cannot withstand the long spear phalanx
At this time the Venetian cavalry has won a small victory on the right , But they still could not prevent the defeat of the entire army. Some people chose to attack the German infantry phalanx on the left of the Allied Forces and forced the opponent to stop to form a defensive formation, which somewhat bought time for the suffering infantry. It was also relying on their efforts to prevent the disintegrated Venetian army from being slaughtered more than half.
The charge of the Italian cavalry can only delay the advancement of the coalition infantry. After winning, Spain and the Shinra army had hoped to continue to deter the Republic of San Marco. Since then, a series of small-scale conflicts occurred between the two sides, but after all, they did not evolve into another battle.
The legitimate war gradually reached a deadlock, and a series of new news began to come from the west. The French King Louis XII died in early 1515, and the new King Francis I had led the reorganized French army to the south. They will encounter the Swiss Federal Army who defeated themselves in Marignano in the Principality of Milan, and fight a war that shocked Europe...
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