Those who were quick-witted enough to notice the first wave of deserters followed suit. The sight of nobles abandoning the field, vanishing into the madness, only hastened the inevitable collapse.
Even before the Roman cavalry reached them, the rebel army had already begun to unravel.
While pockets of resistance still held in key sectors of the formation, their efforts were futile. Giovanni Junior's heavy cavalry crashed into them with the force of a tidal wave, cutting through flesh and steel alike, tearing a path of blood and shattered limbs. The carefully arranged formations of the rebels crumbled like dry parchment beneath the hooves of the Roman warhorses. What had seemed formidable from a distance was proving to be little more than a paper wall against an iron storm.
