Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat atop his trusty steed Erwin, the muscular black destrier gallantly trodded at the front of the Army in which Berengar was currently leading. Aside from the thousands of infantry he had at his back, the man also led a few thousand levies raised from the Lords and Regents of the portion of Southern Tyrol in which supported Berengar and his campaign. Beside him were the commanders of these mostly levy-based units; they were clad in knightly armor in the design fitting for the time period.

This army was one of three which had begun to march on three critical regions, which acted as the centers of rebellion against Duke Wilmar within the region of Tyrol. By laying siege to these areas, Berengar would effectively bring Southern Tyrol under his control in one fell swoop. As such, Berengar smiled as the men in his army sang along to the marching song Erika from his previous life; it had become one of the favorites of the men in his army.

The levies and noblemen who were marching aside Berengar and his army were quite confused about the chipper nature of Berengar ’s soldiers. The veterans of Berengar ’s army knew that thus far casualties had been low among their forces, and now they had a bunch of levies to soak up the enemy ’s arrows and bolts. Thus they were in a perfect mood; as for the conscripts who recently joined the army, they were following their seniors ’ lead.

Before long, Berengar ’s forces had arrived at the city of Sterzing and once more made camp outside of the enemy ’s range of fire but well within their own. Though he only had three cannons in this army, as he had split up the battalion among the three armies, if concentrated on one wall, it would be more than enough to open a gap for his forces to charge through.

The cannoneers, who at this point were well accustomed to laying siege, had quickly set up the guns behind some defensive barriers and began to fire off at the city ’s walls. When the thunder of the guns echoed into the evening sky, the many levies became frightened, not knowing how to react to such a thing. Seeing the distraught expressions on the faces of the levies, the veterans and conscripts of Berengar ’s army all began to laugh at the men and the pathetic looks on their faces.

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If these levies looked like they were about to shit bricks, they could only imagine the faces of the enemies currently bombarded with explosive shells. Berengar decided to take a moment to comment on the situation.