As dusk approached, the setting sun dyed the horizon red, casting a strange light upon the sea.
The tide receded at an astonishing speed, leaving fish, shrimp, and shellfish stranded on the beach, struggling and soon to become food for seabirds.
The battle took a sudden turn, and Pisani immediately stumbled and scrambled to pick up the fallen megaphone, shouting loudly, "All troops, disperse!"
However, even with Pisani's swift reaction, it was already too late; hundreds of cannonballs of varying sizes rained down on Venice's formations, and the Venice soldiers within the formations were struck by the high-velocity cannonballs before they could even react.
In an instant, blood flew, bodies were torn apart, and dozens of Venice soldiers died on the spot.
More than a hundred soldiers were severely wounded, dragging their mangled, bleeding bodies, letting out sharp, shrill howls that shattered Venice's already dwindling will to fight.
In the face of an absolutely overwhelming force, the accumulated anger of the Venice soldiers quickly dissipated, replaced by an endless fear of death.
The ongoing musket exchange with the Tuscany soldiers at the front continued, but under the immense impact, the Venice soldiers had completely lost their will to fight, their firing became scattered, and their order began to crumble.
One by one, the Venice formations scattered in disarray under Pisani's command.
After reloading, another round of artillery fire commenced.
Amidst the massive airwaves, the already scattered Venice soldiers still suffered considerable losses, and their hard-won formations were once again broken.
After two rounds of shelling, Karl and Duke no longer delayed, personally leading elite troops to bypass the south and north sides of the Tuscany defense line from the rear of their respective barracks, then launching a charge against the flanks of the Venice formations in skirmish columns, immediately stabbing and cutting down the Venice soldiers in front of them without hesitation upon engagement, every move fatal and merciless.
The loose formations no longer possessed rock-solid defensive capabilities and were torn open by the sword-like Papal States columns with every charge, creating huge gaps.
The Venice formations were like a giant beast being torn and bitten by wolves, occasionally letting out resentful and painful wails.
Severely battered and facing a formidable enemy, the morale of the Venice army plummeted to a new low, already on the verge of collapse.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Pisani's continuous orders brought a sense of relief to the Venice soldiers, who quickly dispersed and retreated, leaving behind their incapacitated comrades.
Some Venice soldiers, terrified, fled in all directions, and soon fell under the guns of their own people.
Although Riccardo had doubts in his heart, the Papal States reinforcements had finally arrived, filling him with joy.
The Tuscany army's morale also surged, and they fired several more rounds at the retreating Venice soldiers, once again harvesting their lives.
Seeing the Venice soldiers retreat beyond his firing range, Riccardo did not order a pursuit; his mission was complete, and the rest was up to Karl and his men.
Pisani's mind was in turmoil; with the Papal States army's intervention, he had no chance of victory; and the enemy's fierce attack, clearly aiming to kill him, meant they had no intention of letting him escape unscathed.
At this moment, Pisani faced a life-or-death decision.
Facing the relentless advance of the Papal States army, Pisani made a decisive move: "Soldiers, Tuscany attacks us, and the Papal States harms us; they have long colluded, setting a trap to lure us in!
They have no just cause, and they have already killed so many of our brothers; they must want to silence us and then frame us! Even if we surrender, they will not let us go!
All troops, listen to my command, break through to the north! Once we break out, as long as we break out, we will have a chance to live!
Each unit that breaks out should decide for themselves and try to return to Venice to regroup, and then we will come back and avenge our fallen brothers!"
Pisani chose the north because the entire camp structure was a 5x6 rectangle, and Venice's camp was a 2x2 square located in the second and third rows; breaking out in any other direction would require breaking through two layers of camp blockade, while only the north had one layer.
(The camp looks like this:
□ □ □ □ □ □
☆ ☆ ○ ○ □ □
☆ ☆ ○ ○ □ □
□ □ □ □ □ □
□ □ □ □ □ □
□ is Papal States, ○ is Venice, ☆ is Tuscany)
It must be said that Pisani's encouragement was very effective; the Venice army, which had originally been in disarray, rallied again, and the instinct for survival prompted them to exert all their strength to break through to the north.
After shouting, Pisani decisively left the command platform, changed into a common soldier's armor, discarded his distinctive eye patch, revealing his hideous single eye, and then had a close guard put on his attire, each joining the northward fleeing ranks under the escort of a squad of guards.
"I didn't expect Pisani to have this ability." As an enemy, Riccardo, who was observing from the sidelines, genuinely praised him; if he himself were in such a predicament, his response might not be any better than Pisani's, and he couldn't help but think more highly of Pisani.
"Want to escape?" Karl frowned slightly, but quickly made arrangements: "Lead the army to pursue! Capture Pisani alive! At the same time, order the soldiers in the other camps to quickly reinforce the northern camp; don't let a single Venetian escape!"
"Shameless scoundrels, running away when you can't win!" Duke cursed, then made the same arrangements as Karl.
The Papal States soldiers in the northern camp stood ready, inflicting heavy blows on the Venice soldiers from the outset, but the Venice soldiers, after all, were fighting like cornered beasts, and at certain points, they had a numerical advantage, managing to tear open a dozen gaps, and the surrounding Venice soldiers rushed into the breakthroughs as if sucked into a whirlpool.
The pursuing Papal States soldiers followed closely behind, killing and capturing straggling Venice soldiers along the way, quickly catching up with the fleeing Venice army, forming a pincer movement, and the Papal States reinforcements from other camps also quickly joined the northern defense line, filling the torn gaps one by one, encircling and annihilating the advancing Venice soldiers.
"How could it… turn into this…" On the mountaintop, Augustus watched the battle intensify, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.
Augustus had originally estimated that once the Papal States army intervened, with the vast disparity in strength between enemy and self, the Venice army would offer only symbolic resistance and then surrender, but from the current situation, Venice had no intention of surrendering at all.
"Your Holiness, should we send a message to the two generals to restrain them and try to minimize casualties on both sides?" Dracula, gauging Augustus's thoughts, cautiously asked.
Augustus pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "No need; I believe Karl and Duke know what they are doing.
Giving orders casually without understanding the actual situation on the battlefield can put the soldiers in danger."