rgaettes,
must go awaie from thens where he stoode, and go to the backe in the
lefte corner: and thus a battaile shall be made of xxv. rankes, after
twentie men to a rank, with two hornes, upon every side of the front,
one horn, and every one, shall have ten rankes, five to a ranke, and
there shall remain a space betwene the twoo hornes, as moche as
containeth ten men, whiche tourne their sides, the one to thother.
Betwene the two hornes, the capitain shall stande, and on every poinct
of a horne, a Centurion: There shall bee also behinde, on every corner,
a Centurion: there shal be twoo rankes of Pikes, and xx. Peticapitaines
on every flancke. These twoo hornes, serve to kepe betwene theim the
artillerie, when this battaile should have any withit, and the cariages:
The Veliti muste stande a long the flankes, under the Pikes. But mindyng
to bring this horned battaile, with a voide space in the middeste, there
ought no other to bee doen, then of fiftene rankes, of twentie to a
ranke, to take eight rankes, and to place them on the poinctes of the
twoo hornes, whiche then of hornes, become backe of the voide space, in
this place, the cariages are kept, the capitain standeth, and the
Ansigne, but never the Artillerie, the whiche is placed either in the
front, or a long the flankes. These be the waies, that a battaile maie
use when it is constrained to passe alone through suspected places:
notwithstandyng, the massive battaile without hornes, and without any
soche voide place is better, yet purposyng to assure the disarmed, the
same horned battaile is necessarie. The Suizzers make also many facions
of battailes, emong which, thei make one like unto a crosse: bicause in
the spaces that is betwen the armes therof, thei kepe safe their
Harkebuters from the daunger of the enemies: but bicause soche battailes
be good to faight by theim selves, and my intente is to shew, how many
battailes united, do faight with thenemie, I wil not labour further in
describing them.
COSIMO. My thinkes I have verie well comprehended the waie, that ought
to be kept to exercise the men in these battailes: But (if I remember me
well) you have saied, how that besides the tenne battailes, you joyne to
the maine battaile, a thousande extraordinarie Pikes, and five hundred
extraordinarie Veliti: will you not appoincte these to be exercised?
[Sidenote: To what purpose the Pikes and Velite extraordinarie must
serve.]
FABRICIO. I would have theim to bee
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