Steel Empire
Assaulting

It was late in the fourth morning of the siege of Sterzing when the wall finally collapsed to the ground, however unlike previous sieges in which the gunner would rush into the battlefield and open fire on the enemy before finishing them off with a great melee bayonet. The snipers opened their fire from the security of the trench, continuing to attack the defensive archers standing in the fort. As for the force that invaded the giant crack in the wall, it was retribution. Less trained and equipped but afraid of the gunners behind their ranks, the levies bravely attack enemy garrisons under the protective fire of snipers from afar. As for the more smoothbore musketeers, they continued to maintain their positions until it was time for them to advance.

Bodies fell from the fort as archers appeared to shoot at those who pierced through a giant hole in the wall. The spear was thrust into the retribution rod from both sides. It was a retribution vs. retribution fight at the moment, as very few gunmen were left behind on Tyrol. Blood spilled on the floor, and the body immediately filled the gap. Without using a firearm to break the defensive line, it quickly turned into a stalemate as the enemy defenders closed the hole channeling retribution in some time.

When Berengar saw the impasse begin to occur, he raised a small flag and waved it, signaling a retribution of retreat and a smoothbore shooter advancing. Rifle shooters shoot from their defensive positions while cannons bombard the fortress allowing snipers to advance with sufficient cover fire. Eventually, allied levies in favor of Berengar's forces were withdrawn, allowing the gunners to form firing squads in the crevice and rain down troops defending the hole. After a volley fired at the front row of the defenders, the grenades advanced and threw their grenades into the gap between the walls.

The explosion of several dozen grenades filled the gap where explosive explosions and shrapnel tore the defenders to pieces. Afterwards, the Grenadier and Line infantry retreated, allowing the levies to once again attack defenders who were now concussed and wounded. This time Berengar sat back in the camp and enjoyed the show; while the battle continued, Berengar spoke to the nobles next to him who had brought retribution.

"Your attribution has provided more support than you realize; they inflicted considerable damage on enemy forces."

The Lords only scoffed at Berengar's words; he clearly used levies to weaken the enemy and save the lives of his own men. Of course, any valuable general would employ such tactics; after all, it would cost a great deal to arm, train, and supply Berengar's forces. He would defend their lives as best he could, and until now, Berengar still considered the levies as allied troops, not belonging to his own authority; therefore, Berengar still considered the levies as allied troops, not belonging to his own authority; therefore, he did not care about their lives like he did to his own men.

The course of the battle continued in such a way for quite some time. Whenever the battle reached a stalemate, the grenades and infantry lines would break it, allowing the allied retribution to continue their advance. Unlike the previous siege where he had three entrances to distract the enemy, allowing him to advance into the city quickly, he now had to fight several thousand defenders in one such gap; the battle lasted until late into the night before Berengar withdrew his troops back to the siege camp.

Under the continuous bombardment of Berengar artillery, the battle for the city had reached a stalemate. In total, more than a thousand people were killed today, but for Berengar, even his allied forces suffered fewer casualties than the enemy; after all, even so, they were protected by covering fire and gaining significant ground against the enemy forces that filled the gaps between the walls. Berengar's goal was to repeat this tactic the next day; if the city defenders still had the will to fight, that was all.

As Berengar had guessed, several hundred defenders opened the gates to the city and waved white flags after a few hours. Under the cover of darkness, Berengar's forces were ordered to march into the city and hold off the defenders. Although these actions had been carried out without the knowledge of the local authorities, in the end, the defenders felt the price to be paid to secure the power of their Lord was too great. So Berengar was greeted by the defenders who threw away their weapons and saluted him and his troops with the respect reserved for the Conquering Hero. While God slept in ignorance all night at his Castle, the city was quickly secured by Berengar and his army.

The surrendered retribution was treated as a prisoner of war and was given proper shelter and humane treatment by Berengar's army, which completely shocked the nobles under his command. One of them decided to inquire about Berengar's behavior as they rode their horses throughout the city, which was being secured by their troops.

"Why do you treat the defenders with such dignity?"

Berengar looked ahead into the darkness of the city and saw that the enemy forces were being tied up and leading to detention; now that they had surrendered, he would make sure no harm befall them. With a smile on his face, he answered God's question.

"They have surrendered and voluntarily disarmed them; they pose no threat and obviously no hostile intent. As long as they do not pose a danger to me or my troops, I will treat them with the dignity that the army should give them. After all, their courage in the face of overwhelming odds must be commended, as they lasted far longer against my troops than I had anticipated before. Only a savage would slash a helpless person!"

Berengar might be willing to not give a quarter to an enemy that began to flee in the face of his overwhelming strength. Still, for a power that had surrendered properly and surrendered itself to its mercy, only their leaders would pay the price to rise up against it. The average soldier who follows orders is not to blame for the actions of his superiors. This is how civilized people are in the art of war.

After saying his part, the Lords allied with Berengar began to look at him in a new way, he was not a ruthless conqueror as they had thought before. Instead, he had some insight into warfare that could change the way such a thing was done in a civilized world. For the feudal lords of the barbarian era, the idea of treating the stripped enemy warriors with dignity was a new and bold concept, he said, that would become famous by Berengar and his army as he waged many wars of his conquest.