Steel Empire
Kufstein Defense

Theodoric led his army; they had marched from Vienna to Kufstein over the past few weeks, while Berengar was involved in the defense of Innsbruck and the bloodshed that would be the result. Theodoric had just arrived at the Visounty of Kufstein. They are currently in the Barony of Kitzbuhel, where they plan to besiege Kitzbuhel before marching on Kufstein City. However, when they entered the region, they saw strange fortresses with star patterns protecting the local villages. As they approached, explosive bullets rained down on their troops attacking their forces.

It didn't take long before Theodoric and his army started to panic, shouldn't Kufstein be open to being taken? Something went wrong, but they couldn't give up because of this incident so Theoderic began to deploy his army frightened by the mysterious weapons bombarding their ranks. Theodoric immediately began to order a retreat from the village where they originally wanted to attack; despite having an incredible number, they could not get close to the village without losing hundreds of people, and therefore, were unable to get close to the village, Theodoric commanded his army.

"Retreat! Back to Kufstein. Clearly, Kitzbuhel was loyal to Berengar; we must regroup with Linde and his army!"

Although this event was shocking, Theodoric could not understand the possibility that Linde had betrayed him, and furthermore, his father, therefore he thought it was the action of the local Baron who received his orders from Berengar.

The explosive shells fired from the 24-pound siege cannon exploded during the impact, explosive explosions and shrapnel tore through the bodies of those affected. Those people were frightened by such a destructive force and quickly retreated towards Kufstein. With advanced defense, one small star fortress can protect around local towns and villages from invaders quite efficiently. If the Army was willing to suffer more losses, they could eventually take the city and potentially even become a fortress, but their main goal was to capture Kufstein and tear it apart. Therefore they abandoned the idea of attacking Kitzbuhel and the surrounding area, instead, they decided to believe in Linde.

After marching for a few more hours, the Army, whose morals were greatly shaken by the previous events, arrived in Kufstein City, where they were shocked, to their surprise, the entire city was surrounded by a very impressive fortress similar to the one that had destroyed their troops in the village they had just left. Luckily for them, the cannons did not fire on sight, convincing Theodoric that his army of 5,000 men was completely welcome in the region. However, as he approached the City gate, he saw that the gate remained closed; shortly after. He noticed Linde's smooth strawberry blonde hair fluttering in the wind at the fortress above. She was wearing the black and gold dress that Berengar had given her that looked like it was from the Tudor Era, which had yet to happen in this world.

Theodoric immediately felt his heart thump as he stared at the heavenly beauty, and as such, he smiled as he asked to enter the city.

"Linde my dear, will you open the gates so that we can enforce your father's rule over this rebel territory?"

"Open fire!"

The moment Viscount Theodoric heard the words spoken by the young beauty he so desperately wanted, his heart sank into the abyss; in the next second, it was, the thunder of a thousand rifles and dozens of 24-pound siege cannons exploded, destroying an army of 5,000 people. Linde quickly rushed out of the battlefield and let the people from the garrison do their job.

In his final moments, Theodric realizes that he has been deceived, that Linde has betrayed his own father and lured him and his men to Kufstein so that the enemy can weaken Count Lothar's army. He actually falls into a trap, and his Liege is completely unaware of his daughter's betrayal. Upon realizing this, a shotgun ball pierced through Viscount's basket and into his skull where it turned his brain into mush before coming out from the other side of the helmet.

With the advancement of the star fortress and the people on the walls protecting it, there was not a single area where the enemy could hide; they were quickly torn apart by shotgun balls, canister shots, and explosive bullets. Their limbs littered the battlefield, in addition to the remains of their corpses and the meat paste that splattered from those who were not lucky enough to not leave the corpses intact.

Without their commander, the army quickly fell into chaos; some got lost towards the wall hoping they would get out of the firing line, others were routed away and blown to pieces by cannons. Just like Berengar's defense of Innsbruck, the Siege of Kufstein, if it could be called that, quickly turned into a sea of death. There was nowhere for these people to run within the boundaries of the Visounty of Kufstein; each village was protected by its own star fortress and a small garrison of men to defend it. In order to encircle the city of Kufstein, one would usually have to pass through this rampart and first clear the way. However, if someone was stupid enough to be lured into this trap, then they had no choice but to fight their way out of this fortress path.

Thus, the people who stayed behind and tried to carry out the attack on the city of Kufstein were quickly destroyed by the many rifles lined up on the walls. Since the garrison was not a Berengar field army, and thus, not a crop, they took longer to load their weapons, and thus, the slaughter was extended compared to the bloodshed at Innsbruck. As for the souls that had been directed back to the path they had come on, they would face fierce resistance from the many fortresses along the way, most had previously been tolerant of their journey into the traps set for them.

In the end, not a single soul who entered Kufstein with the intent to attack was allowed to leave alive. Berengar had given the defense of the homeland to the garrison commander, and they did not disappoint the man. With traps sprung up and enemy soldiers annihilated, a quarter of Lothair's army had been killed inside Kufstein, a fact he would not have realized for some time, which would eventually prove to be his doom. Because when Count Otto's forces finally made it out of the blizzard and into Vienna, a great battle would ensue, a battle in which Lothair would now be outnumbered due to the heavy losses he suffered at Kufstein.