A powerful European legend in the 15th century, the "most expensive" regular army in history

Throughout the Second World War, the European continent burned under the iron cavalry of the German invaders***, and only a handful of countries survived. If some countries or regions are "selectively" ignored due to their strategic location, there is still one country in the center of the European battlefield that has successfully escaped the baptism of war - it is Switzerland. Since 1815, Switzerland was recognized as a "permanently neutral country" at the Congress of Vienna. Since then, Switzerland has never been involved in any war, including World War II. But are the Swiss who don't have to fight just "weak scholars" who are powerless? In fact, the Swiss in history were not only good at fighting, but their combat effectiveness was also quite terrifying! The most legendary thing is the rise and decline of Swiss mercenaries. To trace the legendary history of Swiss mercenaries, we have to start from the Middle Ages with a strong "local flavor". As the saying goes, "Poor mountains and poor waters breed unruly people," and Switzerland is the truest reflection of this saying. Although Switzerland has beautiful mountains and rivers and beautiful scenery, transportation was inconvenient at that time, and Swiss farmers living in remote mountains and ravines were still struggling on the poverty line. Throughout the early Middle Ages, Switzerland was the poorest region in Europe. Even the surrounding lords did not bother to go to the mountainous areas to seize the land of Swiss farmers. The Swiss were also happy to be at ease. They usually farmed and got together to practice when they had nothing to do. Training for self-protection. Until the 14th century, some large lords around Switzerland were dissatisfied with their territorial scope and extended their claws to Switzerland, which is located in the mountains. In the first half of the 14th century, well-trained Swiss mud-leggers relied on halberds and spears to completely defeat the troops of the Austrian Dukes who tried to rule Switzerland, which kicked off the Swiss mercenaries' power on the European continent. In 1315, Prince Frederick of Habsburg of Austria sent his brother to "put down the Swiss peasant rebellion." However, his brother was always conceited and believed that the Swiss peasants had no fighting power at all, and three thousand cavalry were enough to completely suppress the rebellion. . As a result, the Austrian army was attacked by Swiss militia as it advanced near Morgarten. The Swiss militiamen carrying homemade halberds directly used ax blades to pull the Austrian cavalry off their horses. The proud Austrian cavalry was killed and lost their armor. Only more than 1,400 people successfully broke through. By 1339, the Austrians attempted to break Swiss independence by capturing Bern. During the siege of Laupi, more than 10,000 Austrian soldiers once again faced off against 6,000 Swiss militiamen. As a result, in the Battle of Laupi, the Swiss put the spear phalanx into battle for the first time and quickly defeated the Austrian army. The cavalry unit that the Austrian prince was proud of was also killed to death by well-trained spearmen. Eight elements are defeated. This battle not only spread the brave and fighting spirit of the Swiss throughout Europe, but also indirectly helped open up the market for Swiss mercenaries. (One of the symbols of Swiss mercenaries-Swiss halberd) Although they defeated the Duke of Austria, the problem of the Swiss not being able to afford food was still not solved. So in the second half of the 14th century, large-scale and professional mercenary groups gradually appeared in Switzerland. Many Swiss farmers who had no money to eat put down their farm tools, picked up their halberds, and became members of Swiss mercenary groups. In order to make money to support their families, this group of Swiss mercenaries have to work harder than mercenaries from other European countries. Fight for what? Let's fight to see who fights harder - as we all know, most European mercenaries at that time were just for a living and had no will to fight at all, but for Swiss mercenaries, not fighting hard meant having no food. For this reason, as long as they are given enough money, Swiss mercenaries can always unleash a powerful combat effectiveness that far exceeds that of other mercenaries and even the regular army. By the 15th century, Swiss mercenaries had already gained some fame in Europe. In Europe at that time, most of the mercenaries were "temporary troops" composed of stragglers with extremely weak fighting will. Some of them were bandits and bandits. But although this group of Swiss mercenaries were poorly equipped (because they were poor), they were exceptionally able to endure hardships and were well-trained far beyond those of the mob. Professional Swiss mercenaries at that time generally carried a self-made "Swiss halberd" and European spears, ranging in length from 1.9 meters to 3 meters. The Swiss halberd is different from ordinary European spears. A heavy battle ax is added to the side of the spear head, and a barb is added to the other side to kill cavalry on horseback. The "specialty" of the Swiss mercenaries is naturally the infamous "Spear Phalanx". This tactic that originally killed the Austrian heavy cavalry was similar to the famous "Macedonian Phalanx" - about 300 Swiss spearmen formed a phalanx and lined up in a small square of 16 by 16. There was a formation, and there were about fifty combatants in it, holding halberds and crossbows. The cavalry that was rampant across the European continent at that time had no way to deal with this kind of iron hedgehog-like but extremely flexible formation. They would even be unhorsed by halberdiers if they were not careful, and they would lose their lives if they were not careful. But compared to the tactics of Swiss mercenaries, the fighting spirit of these Swiss mud-legged people is more terrifying. In Europe in the 14th century, the Italian mercenary group could be said to be the "example" of mercenaries. Not only did they not want to fight, they were always worried that their employers would not pay their wages. They relied on robbing various villages to "supplement funds", and even acted as a "double-faced person". Spy", temporarily defected on the battlefield and killed the old master.

The sudden rise of Swiss mercenaries was like a mudslide in the European mercenary industry. They quickly became famous throughout Europe in the 15th century for their amazing combat effectiveness, high degree of loyalty and absolute will to fight - of course, the premise is that you have to pay enough. At that time, various lords and even kings were proud to hire Swiss mercenaries, and the Swiss mercenaries also made a lot of money. The behavior of the Swiss mercenaries disrupting the market conditions naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the established mercenary groups. As a result, in 1488, Venice and Milan began to secretly collude with the French, hoping that France could invade Italy. But it was not until 1494 that the French army arrived belatedly. The reason is very simple, because the French spent a lot of money to hire a large number of Swiss mercenaries, and it even took France several years to raise this fund. But this group of Swiss mercenaries lived up to expectations, sweeping across most of the Apennine Peninsula like autumn leaves. Those Italian mercenaries who claimed to be old-fashioned as city defense troops were beaten to the point where they didn't even recognize their own mothers, and they all chose to return to their hometowns to farm. After this battle, the reputation of Swiss mercenaries in Europe reached its peak. For a time, it became the most popular mercenary group. In Europe at that time, the value of elite Swiss mercenaries suddenly soared to a height that many small lords could not afford, which shows how popular Swiss mercenaries were. In 15th-century Europe, the Swiss Alliance's army was also known as "the most expensive regular army." However, no matter how powerful and "expensive" the regular army is, it will one day go downhill. By 1501, Switzerland's international influence was growing day by day, and the Swiss Union expanded to 12 cantons. The Swiss Confederation, which had a large number of brave and capable troops and constantly expanded its territory, became a thorn in the side of many countries. As Italy was already in chaos at that time, Austria and France competed with each other for interests in Italy, and Switzerland, which was bold and territorially expanding, also wanted a piece of the pie. In 1512, the Swiss Alliance captured the famous Italian city of Milan. In 1513, Appenzell joined the Swiss League, which caused the Swiss League's military power to expand unprecedentedly, and the Swiss League's ambitions also increased day by day. In the same year, the Swiss Alliance once again went to war against France, its old employer, and successfully severely damaged the French army in Novara. Many Swiss mercenaries in the French army even refused to go to war with their own country and people. France was temporarily trapped in a helpless and embarrassing situation. Until September 1515, France suddenly joined forces with the Venetian Republic and used new muskets and artillery to severely damage the legendary Swiss Spear Formation in the Battle of Marignano, causing the Swiss army to lose 8,000 people and forcing it to The Swiss Union had to sign peace terms. From then on, the Swiss mercenaries, who had gradually lagged behind the times, began to become lonely and lost their glory. But the most famous "peak battle" of the Swiss mercenaries took place after the Swiss mercenaries had begun to decline, which was the famous "Sack of Rome" battle in 1527. In this brutal battle, nearly 40,000 Holy Roman Empire troops attacked the city of Rome, which was guarded by only 5,000 militiamen and papal guards. On May 6, the weak Roman city defenders were defeated, and the imperial army rushed to the Vatican in an attempt to capture Pope Clement VII alive. But just as the Imperial Army rushed towards St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope's Swiss mercenaries, the Pope's Swiss Guards, suddenly burst out and engaged in a nearly suicidal close-quarters fight with the Imperial Army in front of the Basilica. Of the 189 Swiss Guards in Rome at that time, 147 died heroically, and only 42 successfully covered the Pope's safe escape through the underground passage. Since then, the reputation of Swiss mercenaries for their "absolute loyalty" has once again been raised to an unprecedented level, and the Papal Guard has since established a tradition: only hiring Swiss mercenaries as the Papal Guard. (Modern Papal Guards holding Swiss halberds) Even during the French Revolution in 1792, Swiss mercenaries were still active on the European continent. During the operation to defend the Tuileries Palace in France, 786 Swiss mercenaries employed by the French royal family faced off against the rebels until the last moment. However, in the end they were still outnumbered and were defeated by the indignant French people together with their employer Louis XVI. The people had their heads chopped off. Later, the French also carved a dying stone lion statue in memory of these Swiss mercenaries who were loyal to their employers and brave and skillful in fighting. But at this time, the Swiss mercenaries had begun to come to an end. In 1874, the Swiss government began to prohibit Swiss nationals from accepting foreign military employment. In 1927, they directly issued a ban, which almost directly killed the once-splendid Swiss mercenaries. , an industry that has lasted for hundreds of years. However, the 1927 ban is not an absolute "ban" - until now, the Swiss government still authorizes Swiss volunteers to participate in the Vatican's Papal Guard, and the current Papal Guard is also the only legally existing Swiss-employed force in the world. corps and one of the oldest military units in existence.

(Vatican Papal Guard, all composed of Swiss volunteers)