 Realizing that he could not match the sheer offensive power of the French gendarmes and Swiss pikes, Fernández de Córdoba decided to integrate the shooting power of firearms, an emerging technology at the time, with the defensive strength of the pike, and to employ them in a mutually-supporting formation, preferably in a strong defensive position.At first, this mixed infantry formation was referred to as a "colunella" ("colonelcy"), and was commanded by a colonel.It interspersed formations of men in close order armed with the pike and looser formations armed with the firearm, initially the arquebus.