Tyranny of Steel

Weeks had passed since the meeting in Innsbruck and the establishment of the rebellion against Berengear's regency. Letters had been constructed and sent across the realm making accusations of Conrad's death and Berengar's attempt to usurp the position of Duke from the rightful claimant Liutbert.

As Berengar had anticipated, his allies immediately began to back his claims; as for the regions of Upper and Lower Austria, one was technically the crownland ruled by Conrad, who was deceased and thus under Berengar's control. The other was led by a Count who was smart enough not to get involved in this conflict; his realm had already bled too much under Bavarian occupation.

Thus Austria was officially at war once more; however, despite the advance of the rebellion's army into Kufstein Berengar did not pull his forces from the rebellious territories. Instead, he used the troops there to establish control over the region and take hold of the successors of the rebellious noblemen.

When the Rebel Army finally made its way into Kufstein, Berengar met it in the field with his own. The mercenaries used to fight Berengar were roughly 5,000 in total and had been a substantial expense for Liutbert; most came from the Swiss Confederacy and were battle-hardened warriors. They did not fear the fabled might of the Tyrolean Army, mainly due to their ignorance of the weapons and tactics employed by Berengar's forces.

As for Berengar, he brought a force of 5,000 men of his own. As far as the enemy could see, there was no cavalry in sight. Instead, it was comprised of various infantry and artillery units. The artillery was a mixture of his 1417 12 lb Cannons and his Schmidt Guns. Enough of the new weapons had been built since their invention that Berengar could field an entire battery with such weapons.

This would be the first major battle that demonstrated the effectiveness of his Schmidt guns and the quick loading tubes that his forces were now equipped with. The moment the Rebellious armies entered the fray, Berengar ordered his artillery to fire off a few light barrages and for his infantry to wait to fire their muskets until the enemy was within the hundred-yard range.

The reason for this was simple, he wanted an overwhelming victory, and the best way to achieve this was to allow his six puckle guns to fire their canister shot at the enemy and quickly wipe the floor with the army, for that they needed to be within the 75-yard range in order to be most effective.

As such, his cannons fired shells into the mix of the enemy, but they had great resolve and discipline. Thus, they marched through the artillery fire and towards Berengar's army, who had held their position near the puckle guns placed between their ranks.

Despite the explosive shells ravaging the enemy's ranks, they were few. Thus the Swiss mercenaries Liutbert had paid for prayed to God above as they marched within formation directly into the oncoming fire.

When the archers finally reached engagement distance, they began to fire a volley of arrows upon the Tyrolean soldiers, and yet despite this, the Tyroleans stood firm, their superior armor deflected many of the oncoming blows, there were no mortal wounds inflicted upon them as they merely stood still with determination.

While the Swiss mercenaries marched, the old and fat Count of Kustenland twirled his beard between his fingers as he laughed at the sight of the battlefield.

"It appears the effectiveness of Berengar's weapons has been greatly exaggerated! I feel confident that the armies of Innsbruck will be fully capable of defeating the armies of that Tyrant Berengar."

Hearing this, several of the nearby lords agreed with the Count's comments. As for Liutbert, he merely smiled bitterly while thinking to himself.

'these fools have no idea what they have gotten themselves into...'

Shortly after the Count's remarks, the swiss mercenaries advanced into engagement distance, and this is where Berengar's armies displayed their full might. The moment the Rebels ranks moved beyond the 100-yard point, the Tyrolean infantry formed ranks and began to fire a volley into the formations of the Swiss mercenaries.

The moment they did so, thousands of minie balls flew forth and pierced through the mighty brigandine and plate armor of the swiss mercenaries and tore apart their flesh beneath it. Blood splattered into the field, and limbs were scattered from the impact. Blood-curdling screams immediately filled the air, and the Swiss began to fear the results of these strange thunderous weapons.

However, before they could even think of retreating, a second volley had been fired by the Tyrolean infantrymen, who had rapidly reloaded their rifled muskets with their quick loading tubes. Yet that was not the worst of it; the first round of shots fired from the six Schmidt guns instantly found their way through the iron and steel armor of the Swiss Mercenaries and into their torsos and limbs, further adding to the carnage.

A total of 96 musket balls were fired from the first volley of the Schmidt guns alongside the thousands of mine balls fired from the muskets. Yet that was not the end of it, as the Muskets were rapidly reloaded, and the Schmidt guns had quickly fired their next round of shot into the enemy lines.

Over 20,000 rounds had been fired downrange within a matter of minutes. This was the result of the combined use of the rifled muskets, quick tubes, and the Schmidt guns—thoroughly shredding the lines of the Swiss mercenaries and the archers behind them. Not a single man had survived the onslaught of the Tyrolean forces. Before the enemy could even reach melee distance, they had been thoroughly shredded by Berengar's armies.

Even Berengar himself was surprised by the slaughter that had unfolded; the bodies of the Swiss Mercenaries looked as if they were steel sieves filled with blood. Each body contained multiple projectiles. It was an absolute massacre, the likes that even Berengar had not expected.

As for the Rebel lord, they gazed at the carnage inflicted upon their forces in such a short period with overwhelming dread. Just like this, their army had been so thoroughly defeated! They could not imagine what would happen to their troops if they could unite with the forces in their lands!

The fat Count dropped his riding crop before instantly screaming in terror, "Retreat! We can't allow Berengar's forces to capture us!"

However, before any of the Lords could do so, they noticed Cavalry appear from within the tree line that surrounded the battlefield; Berengar had kept a company of cuirassiers nearby to quickly encircle the rebellious Lords moment the battle had turned in Berengar's favor. As such, the enemy Lords promptly found themselves surrounded.

The fat Count immediately tried to negotiate with the Cavalry

"We surren-"

However, before he could finish the words, the cuirassiers raised their pistols and fired them into the formation of encircled Lords shredding every last rebel in the act. Their bodies quickly fell off their horses, turned into the same bloody sieves as the mercenaries in the fields below. As for Liutbert, he had silently moved out of the way and merged into the ranks of the Cuirassiers without the other lords being aware. Thus he was spared their fate.

Shortly after, Berengar's forces began to mop up the battlefield, and Liutbert was brought to Berengar; as the official leader of this rebellion, he had to surrender, and as such, he quickly found himself kneeling before Berengar, who gazed at him with a degree of arrogance in his sapphire eye. Liutbert promptly tossed out the words he was expected to say.

"I Viscount Liutbert von Habsburg, hereby declare my unconditional surrender to Count Berengar von Kufstein, in doing so I relinquish my claims to the title of Duke of Austria in favor of his Grace Berengar von Kufstein, long may he reign!"

With this said, Berengar smiled before tapping Liutbert on the shoulder; in doing so, he voiced his first command as the official Duke of Austria.

"Rise..."

With this, Liutbert rose to his feet, where Berengar quickly reprimanded him.

"Viscount Liutbert von Habsburg, as Chancellor of my Realm, you have incited a rebellion against me, and for that, there is a strict punishment. I hereby relieve you of your position as Chancellor and order you to return to Innsbruck, where you will continue to rule over the area as Viscount."

From the start of this plot, Liutbert was aware that he would lose his position as Chancellor, but to be honest, he was pretty relieved. The job comprised entirely of him being delegated a massive amount of work from Berengar; it had begun to stockpile to an unreasonable degree.

Now that Berengar was the Duke of Austria, he could not imagine the sheer amount of paperwork he would be forced to do. Thus retiring to Innsbruck and living out the rest of his days as a pampered noble was a far better option to him. As such, he responded with a warm smile on his face.

"Yes, your Grace."

With this, the most rebellious of the Lords of Austria was defeated in a single battle; their deaths allowed their successors to take charge, who would be strongarmed by Berengar's forces that occupied their lands into obeying his rule. Berengar was now the undisputed Duke of Austria, and with it, had gained a considerable amount of power and prestige. Yet to an ambitious man like Berengar, this was not enough.

As for his immediate concerns, his goal was to consolidate his power and work through diplomacy to elevate the status of Austria from a Duchy into a Kingdom, allowing Berengar to proclaim himself King. This would take a while to accomplish, and Berengar was in no hurry. Thus after defeating the rebellious Lords in battle, Berengar returned to Kufstein to stabilize Austria and, by extension, his rule.