Papal soldiers surged from all directions like a tidal wave, while the Venice soldiers in the rear struggled to fend off the pursuing enemy, and those in the front fought desperately to break through to the north, paying a huge price for every step forward.
Duke, leading the charge, was at the forefront of the pursuit.
After easily cutting down a Venice soldier blocking his view, his gaze quickly swept across the Venice army, desperately searching for Pisani's whereabouts.
Suddenly, Duke's eyes lit up: after a Venice soldier was stabbed and fell to the ground, a familiar figure flashed past, but was quickly blocked again by soldiers filling in from behind, tightly protected in the middle.
Judging by the person's attire, it must be Pisani himself!
"Pisani is there! Whoever can capture Pisani alive, I will reward him handsomely!" Duke's eyes gleamed as he excitedly gripped the sword in his hand and pointed in that direction.
Instantly, the attention of the surrounding Papal States soldiers was drawn, and they rushed towards that direction, vying with each other.
The pressure on the Venice soldiers blocking their way doubled.
At this moment, the real Pisani, protected loosely by several personal guards, was dressed in ordinary soldier's clothes, hidden among the crowd, calmly observing the battlefield situation.
More and more Papal States soldiers arrived from all directions, and the last remaining gap was also blocked.
With a forest of spears in front and swords chasing from behind, a huge net had formed, rapidly devouring Venice's living forces.
Venice soldiers were still fighting desperately to break through, but Pisani had soberly realized that a breakthrough was hopeless.
After moving a few more steps forward, Pisani stumbled, and his gaze instinctively shifted to his feet, glimpsing a Papal States soldier lying on the ground, his throat still gushing blood.
Pisani's one eye gleamed, and a plan came to mind.
At this time in Europe, national military uniforms were not yet unified, many still bore the imprint of family private soldiers, but military uniforms of various countries, especially between some frequently warring nations, usually had more distinct differences, which was also one of the keys for soldiers on both sides to distinguish friend from foe on the battlefield.
However, after Augustus came to power, the army's numbers rapidly expanded, and the selection methods were also very different from before.
Most soldiers were no longer nobles who brought their own provisions, horses, and household guards to join the army; there were many more commoners, and these commoners were uniformly issued military uniforms by the state, which inadvertently led to a much higher degree of uniformity in the Papal States soldiers' attire.
"Cover me!"
Pisani commanded in an unquestionable tone, and the Venice soldiers guarding him quickly gathered around, completely surrounding Pisani.
Ignoring the still gushing blood, Pisani propped up the Papal States soldier's corpse, and in a few swift motions, stripped off his clothes, then his own.
Since it was summer and the temperature was higher, except for those with armor, other soldiers' clothing was relatively light and easy to remove.
Without the slightest hesitation, enduring the pungent smell of sweat and blood, Pisani put on the Papal States soldier's clothes, which were slightly too large, but it didn't matter.
After a moment's thought, to prevent the Papal States soldiers from becoming suspicious, Pisani put his previous clothes on the Papal States soldier's corpse, then picked up a knife and wildly slashed at his face until it was unrecognizable.
After another moment of thought, Pisani was still not at ease, so he gripped the knife with both hands and pressed down hard on the knife mark on the corpse's neck.
Instantly, the body was decapitated, blood splattered, and then he kicked away the already disfigured head.
After changing clothes, Pisani, without a close look, was indistinguishable from a Papal States soldier, except for one place.
Pisani gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, drew his dagger, and stabbed his already blind eye, then twisted it forcefully, blood gushed out, and the gruesome dead eye was destroyed beyond recognition.
"Commander, you are..." The personal guard beside him turned pale with fright at this sight.
Pisani endured the intense pain, trying his best to make his voice sound calm: "Soldiers, the Papal States soldiers are getting more and more numerous, and a breakthrough is no longer feasible.
The most important thing now is to preserve our living forces.
As long as the green hills remain, there will always be wood to burn.
You also cover each other, change into Papal States soldier's clothes like me, and then find a place to lie down.
When the battle is over, they will definitely clear the battlefield and rescue the wounded, and then we will seize the opportunity to escape.
If there's really no time to change, then..."
Pisani paused, then reopened his mouth with difficulty: "Then surrender to the Papal States, perhaps there will be a glimmer of hope..."
After speaking, Pisani directly found a good spot, pressed another corpse onto himself, and lay down.
Unexpectedly, one of the personal guards, viewing death as going home, said: "No, Commander.
The more people who escape this way, the greater the possibility that the Papal States will notice, and the smaller your chance of escaping.
I will die here today, you must escape and then avenge us!
Brothers who are willing to join me, let us charge one last time together!"
"Charge one last time!"
All the other personal guards responded without exception.
They then charged together into the Papal States army formation, fighting desperately and killing several Papal States soldiers before falling one by one under spears and swords.
Pisani lay on the ground, watching all of this in agony, one eye continuously gushing blood, the other eye soaked with hot tears.
He didn't know how long it had been, before he fainted from excessive blood loss.
The "Pisani" identified by Duke was still fighting, giving orders and organizing attacks from time to time, which further solidified Duke's conjecture and further ignited the fighting spirit of the Papal States soldiers.
The Papal States pursuers advanced rapidly over the bodies of the Venetians, already less than a hundred meters from "Pisani."
Looking at the approaching Papal States soldiers, "Pisani" was resolute in his determination to die, and ordered his surrounding guards to gather around: "Everyone listen to me, the Papal States dogs are about to catch up, we must not let them discover that I am an impostor, otherwise the Commander will be in danger!
I will commit suicide immediately, you cut up my face, then take out all the gunpowder on your bodies, put it together, and burn my corpse with a fire.
After I die, whether you fight or surrender is entirely up to your personal will, but there is one thing, you must never reveal my identity or the Commander's whereabouts; if anyone speaks out, I will not let him go even as a ghost, can you all do that?"
"Yes!" The guards answered in unison.
Receiving the answer, "Pisani" nodded, then decisively raised his sword and sharply drew it across his neck, tearing open a long, thin gash; bright red blood spurted out, and his entire body crashed straight to the ground, then fell silent.
Several personal guards turned around and mutilated "Pisani's" face, while other soldiers continued to shield the person inside.
"What are they doing?" Duke saw Pisani suddenly surrounded tightly, feeling puzzled, but didn't think much of it, "Full speed ahead, capture Pisani alive!"
Suddenly, a flame shot out from where "Pisani" was, followed by raging fire.