Steel Empire
Destroying the Castle Wall

Cannons have continued to bombard the castle walls in Schwaz over the past few days. While Berengar's spy network is active in their acts of murder and sabotage, the young Viscount is busy besieging the object of his vengeance. Not once did the Regent or the Viscount family demand peace during the continuous bombing, Berengar would not accept such a requirement. Still, he found it strange that they did not even attempt to contact the besieging soldiers.

Nevertheless, the defenders could do nothing but sit back and wait for the wall to collapse, as the Berengar army had a superior range, and if they even tried to stick their heads out over the fortress, it would be impossible to do so, they will definitely be shot dead. After estimating the time it would take to tear down the wall, Berengar now stood in front of his troops, who surrounded the castle, waiting for the moment the wall collapsed around their enemy. As expected the massive stone wall collapsed, spreading dust and debris throughout the air, luckily Berengar and his army were far enough away to be affected.

Finally, after several days of bombing, the castle walls collapsed. With that, Berengar ordered his army to advance; thus, Berengar's army advanced with their rifles loaded, and, and a bayonet was affixed where a scene similar to what had happened a few days earlier in the city below was revealed. The gunmen advanced while throwing grenades at the crowd of gunmen guarding parts of the castle wall that had collapsed; after the grenade exploded, the firing line opened fire on the defenders, sending the shotgun balls past their armor and destroying their defensive line. Only after a few shots were fired at the defenders did Berenagar's troops storm the survivors with their bayonets and swords.

Berengar, of course, once again led his troops, leading them into battle with raised swords, skillfully dodging and fending off the polearm and sword attacks that confronted him. The only real threat to his life was the one-handed blunt weapon that some such enemies used; he made sure to remain standing as he thrust the long blade of his cavalry sword into the vital area of his opponent's body or the gap in their armor. It seemed that the army before him was the most complete of the defenders of the city, and therefore many of them wore brigandines or emblems. Hence, it required a substantial skill to move their weapons and reap their lives.

The battlefield became chaotic as the bayonets clashed with spears, and shots were fired over the heads of the melee and into the fort whose section still housed archers and archers trying to repel the invaders. Blood spilled on the snowy ground as it stained the red floor, and the body quickly collapsed on it. After concentrating their fire on the three parts of the castle wall as they had done before, Berengar's forces attacked from all sides, slowly pushing back the defenders of the castle. Before long, they would be forced back to the Keep where the Viscount family lived.

Berengar repelled the approaching sword attack from a heavily armed man. It quickly found itself in a defensive position against the superior swordsman Berengar was pushed back into his army, which quickly came to his aid. As Berenger blocked the impending attack, two of his soldiers flanked the man-at-arms and simultaneously pierced through the gaps in his armor, one through his armpits and one through his basket hole. Thus the man who briefly caused Berengar some trouble was quickly cut down by his soldiers.

Shortly thereafter, the castle grounds were raided by Berengar's army dressed in black and gold; all that remained was to break down the castle's doors; instead of getting a battering ram, the, Berengar ordered one of the 12-pound cannons to be taken out, where it was quickly loaded and fired into a mighty door that was smashed to pieces by the overwhelming force of a solid cannonball.

After that, his troops rushed to the Castle. They started shooting at all the survivors they had met, finally finding themselves in the large hall where the Regent and the Viscount family were currently swarming in fear. It turned out that the Regent was not a member of the Viscount family because his children were too young to govern effectively, therefore one of the Viscount's advisers was left in charge of the Viscounty of Schwaz and had ordered an attack on Berengar camp at night which resulted in the city being besieged.

After finding Viscount's wife huddled with his young children, Berengar found himself in a moral dilemma. Despite the fact that he had sworn to behead the Viscount family and place their heads on a spear; his entire family consisted of women and children who had nothing to do with ambushes; therefore, he made a decision. Berengar pointed to the man he believed to be Schwaz Regent and greeted him.

"Are you the Regent?"

the man nodded his head in fear, he did not know what fate awaited him, but as Regent, he should be given protection; therefore, he immediately admitted it. Before he could introduce himself, Berengar gave orders to his troops

"Have this man executed by firing squad for public viewing!"

Two soldiers saluted Berengar before following his orders

"Okay, my master!"

"I am the Regent; I am a noble! I was given a ransom!"

But Berengar did not pay attention to a single word he said; as far as he knew, the man was guilty and deserved to pay with his life. After the regent was dragged away, Berengar sheathed his sword and approached the Viscount family, where he began to greet them.

"I am Viscount Berengar von Kufstein, Liege You have declared an open rebellion against Duke Wilmar of Austria, and I am here to reclaim this land as his successor. As long as you comply, I guarantee no harm will befall you."

After witnessing how Berengar had disregarded proper etiquette and had the Regent dragged to be executed, the Viscount's wife did not dare to believe him; however, there was nothing she could do about the situation, he lowered his head respectfully, hoping that the young man in front of him would keep his promise.

"Then we're under your care."

A contented grin spread across Berengar's clean face as the Viscountess bowed before his rule; therefore, Berengar gave an edict to his army.

"Save the 800-man garrison here to maintain order, and repair the damage. From now on, the Visounty of Schwaz is hereby incorporated into my domain. There will be no harm done to civilians and prisoners as long as they do not resist. , do I understand?"

Simultaneously, the soldiers inside the Great Hall all called out to Berengar

"Okay, my master!"

So Berengar had successfully captured Viscount Schwaz, where his army would rest for several days before moving to Innsbruck. This was the first major victory in his conquest of Tyrol, which would prove to be a long and bloody endeavor. Despite the small victories in the Austrian Alps, and the microcosm that was the war for Tyrol, countless battles throughout the far more devastating Kingdom of Germany, were fought, unfortunately not every soldier has the discipline that Berengar instills, as tens of thousands of refugees from across the German-speaking region begin heading towards Kufstein in search of a better life.