Marin is naturally happy to have recruited such a great man as Frundsberg. Because, let the "father of German mercenaries" become his own thugs, no matter how you say it is also a very proud thing. With the presence of Frundsberg, Marin intends to start trying a real Spanish phalanx.
Marin felt that the infantry phalanx trained before was very flawed. The biggest problem is that he is a little helpless with the plate armor. For example, in the ambush in Fornovo, Marin found helplessly that most of the thousands of French plate armor knights who died in the battle were stoned to death, or pushed down the mountain by spears and fell to death. And those who were stabbed to death by spears and shot by bows and arrows did not exceed 50 in total.
In other words, the previous infantry phalanx was only suitable for fighting Swiss mercenaries in fancy civilian clothes. It is actually very powerful against French knights who like to wear plate armor. Of course, if the French knights charged into the phalanx on horseback, that would be another story. If I can't kill a knight wrapped in a "tin can", can I also stab a war horse
You know, horse armor is different from human plate armor. Relatively speaking, the coverage area of horse armor is much worse than that of plate armor, and it is only approved on the horse's back and head. There is no armor on the horse's legs. Because a horse is meant to run, and if it is covered in armor, it cannot run.
Moreover, horse armor is basically armored, mainly for easy running. Plate armor restricts one's freedom of movement too much. Putting it on, people act a bit like robots. If the horse wears plate armor, it will not be able to run.
The spear, on the other hand, is lethal to the armor worn by the horse, and can pierce through it. Even if the horse armor cannot be pierced, it can be lowered to specifically poke the horse's legs or belly without armor.
Therefore, it would be a great disadvantage for the heavily armored knights to ride their horses into this phalanx...
However, it cannot be said that knights have nothing to do with the spear array. If the knight abandons his horse and walks and attacks the pure spear array, it will be very powerful. Because, if the two sides stab each other, you ordinary mercenaries don't wear armor, and I wear plate armor. You are afraid of being poked, once you poke it, you will be finished, and I am wearing plate armor, so I am not afraid of you, if we poke each other, is there any need to talk about the effect
The archers in Marin's original phalanx were also very weak against knights in plate armor. Bows and arrows shot at the armor made of iron plates, it is difficult to penetrate, leaving deep marks at most. Even if it hits the joints, it can only hurt the enemy, not fatal at all...
After much deliberation, the best way to deal with foot knights wearing plate armor is to use muskets...
Of course, not with a small musket, but with a big...
The reason why the early Spanish phalanx was so powerful was because of the extensive use of Spanish musket guns. This is a heavy musket weighing about 10 kilograms, twice as heavy as the musket in the war. Correspondingly, his caliber is also larger, and the projectile is heavier, weighing 50 grams, which is one or two.
One or two heavy lead bullets were fired by muskets, and hit the knight in plate armor at a subsonic speed of several hundred meters per second. In addition to powerful kinetic energy, there was also a powerful shock wave. Under such a powerful blow, the knight had to fall off his horse and be injured, or even die directly. It won't get better if you hit the horse. If it enters the body, one or two heavy lead bullets will cause wounds... plus the tumbling effect of the lead bullets... hehe... you can directly arrange the funeral, there is no way to save it...
Moreover, at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, due to the lack of iron smelting technology, heavy muskets such as the Spanish musquete muskets could fully guarantee that the barrel would not be easy to explode. If it is made lighter and thinner, like the Ming army muskets, which weigh only five catties, before killing the enemy, they will blow up the chamber and kill themselves first...
The Spanish phalanx, precisely because of the extensive use of musket muskets, makes the phalanx not only good at melee combat, but also has a very strong long-range attack strength, especially good at fighting plate armor knights, regardless of whether you are on horseback or on foot. Therefore, relying on this phalanx, the Spaniards have been rampant in Europe for more than a century, and they have also forced the plate armor knights out of the stage of history. Later, that Earl Tilly also relied on the Spanish phalanx, from a small person to an earl, until he met the even more awesome Gu Erye...
Throughout the 16th century, the Spanish phalanx was the best battle formation in Europe-until Morris appeared in the last few years and came up with an improved Morris phalanx from the Spanish phalanx...
All in all, the Spanish phalanx is very powerful for the current European army. You can beat French knights, you can abuse Swiss spearmen...
In fact, Marin wanted to form the Spanish phalanx before the Italian war broke out. However, at that time, he did not have a suitable musket in a hurry, nor did he have enough money to buy a musket and the ammunition consumed by the musket. Therefore, he can only use archers instead.
But the Italian war told him that the enemy will not arrange suitable opponents for you as you wish. Archers have no effect on plate knights, only on unarmored infantry. But the enemy will not eagerly send you unarmored infantry to shoot and kill, maybe send plate armor knights who can't shoot. Therefore, having a musket is a better choice.
Moreover, musketeers are easy to train, and after a week or two of training, they can be pulled into the battlefield. And an archer needs to practice for more than ten years...
Of course, Marin himself actually looked down on the Spanish phalanx. He himself prefers Gu Erye's line array. However, to fight for the emperor, Marin was not willing to take out the most powerful battle formation. Even if the Spanish phalanx is taken out, it is enough to beat the French knights and Swiss spearmen. And Frundsberg is the commander of the Spanish phalanx in Marin's eyes. When the emperor needs it, let this guy take the Spanish phalanx and fight the enemy to death. With Frundsberg's talent and the advanced nature of the Spanish phalanx, it shouldn't be a problem to sweep Western Europe. The next opponents of Maximilian I were actually the Swiss (Swabian War), the French (Italian War) and the Hungarians. The Spanish phalanx is definitely enough.
As for the command composition of the phalanx, the grassroots officers, Marin intends to choose from 400 men, whether it is the company captain or the squad leader.
The family members of these people have been taken to Texel Island, and they must be responsible to themselves. Then, the new army to be built must still be in their own hands. As for Frundsberg, Marin tried it out, and he seemed to be a pure military attache. His ability to fight politically seemed average, and it should be difficult to escape his control. After all, Marin recruited Frundsberg to let him work for the emperor on his behalf, and he couldn't find someone who was born rebellious. Marin didn't care about anything else, only his usefulness in the eyes of Maximilian I. If Frundsberg abducted the army and went directly to the emperor, then his own importance would decline. And I am at odds with those veteran nobles. If he lost the emperor's support, he would be unable to move forward.
With the addition of Frundsberg, Marin intends to officially start preparing for the Spanish phalanx. Marin is not worried about the shortage of personnel. Because of the success of the Italian war, many Germans were young and strong, willing to become a mercenary.
In addition, it seems that in the real Spanish phalanx, in order to improve the survivability of the soldiers, the soldiers in the front row seem to be equipped with half-length Maximilian armor and Spanish helmets.
For this, Marin decided to also equip his soldiers with half armor and helmets to improve their survivability. In order to equip the armor, Marin plans to send people to the southern region of Germany to recruit a group of craftsmen who are good at making armor to make armor and helmets for the soldiers.
Finally, the Spanish phalanx needs a classic weapon - the Musquete musket. This thing is currently only available in Spain, but it has not yet been put into actual combat. Marin decided to send people to Spain to recruit a group of Spanish craftsmen who are good at making musket guns to make muskets for themselves to supply the army's needs...