Steel Empire
Is There a Question?

A few days had passed since the battle in the trenches, and Berengar was growing anxious; he did not yet know when Lothair would fall, and he was trying to hasten his campaign as quickly as possible. Eventually, the wall collapsed, and when that happened, he ordered a full stampede into the city. Covered by continuous artillery fire and rifle fire. Rows of infantry and retribution alike rushed into the crevice to the wall, using whatever methods were available to them to seize the city.

Despite the fierce assault, the defenders of the city of Trent were undaunted; although the Prince-Bishop had managed to escape, it was their duty to defend the city with their lives; hopefully, the Prince-Bishop had managed to escape, if they did, they could enter the gates of heaven. After all, in the eyes of the defenders of the city, they fought against the infidels who were trying to bring down Christianity. Religion is a powerful tool, and weak-minded people are easily forced to die by Church propaganda.

But despite the spirit of the troops who gave their lives to defend against the besiegers, they quickly realized they were outnumbered. Retribution fell with the gunmen, and the line infantry fired their rifles in concentrated fire into enemy positions. Blood and entrails spilled on the snowy streets as the surviving garrison was pushed further and further into the city.

Those more cowardly enemies would hide in civilian homes, which Berengar would soon order to clear. Unwilling to risk the lives of his soldiers, one or two grenades were thrown into the room before breaking down the door, usually resulting in not only the death of the defender but also the civilians cowering in their homes.

As the battle raged, the Lords who had been subject to Berengar's authority saw the tactics Berengar used and were quite confused; they knew Berengar had orders not to kill unarmed civilians in vain. However, here, his troops threw explosives into a room that clearly contained such people. Therefore, they asked Berengar why he broke his own rules of war.

Berengar stared steadfastly into the battlefield, beside the Ruler of retribution who entered the city beside him. Violence, blood, and despair quickly spread to every corner of the city, enemy lives were taken, and many civilians were caught in the crossfire. As Berengar stared at the sight, he continued his lecture on the art of war to be heard by all the nearby nobles.

"My rules of war can be summed up in one phrase. Victory by any means! If civilians are caught in the crossfire between two fighters, then so be it. If civilians take up arms and rise up against me in acts of rebellion, I will take 10 heads for each rebel to prove a point. Kneeling in front of me, or dying those are your two choices.

With those words spoken, the Lords who had submitted to Berengar felt goosebumps. However, before they could protest, Berengar began to continue his speech.

Berengar's concept of warfare stems from the fact that he was well educated about the history of warfare and tactics, as well as the fact that in his previous life, he was, he has witnessed many young men serving in the U. S. Armed Forces lose their lives in Afghanistan where they would probably have survived if the Pentagon had not been so concerned about civilian casualties. As long as a territory opposed to the rule of the occupying state, in the eyes of Berengar, it was considered an active war zone, and any atrocities required to end the war were entirely justified.

The battle continued, but this time Berengar was not on the front lines. Instead, he lectured the nobles about his vision of warfare and which levels were justifiable and unjustified in pursuit of victory. Because of this, Berengar decided to move on to the actions he had restricted.

"As long as there is resistance in a region, it is a war zone, and any action required to achieve quick victory is justifiable. However, if the enemy surrenders, they must be given the dignity they deserve unless, of course, they are rebels, and a brutal show of force is needed to crush the spirits of those who believe in their cause. As for the civilians in the region, after the battle is over, there is no loss to be brought to them, because at that time, you have successfully conquered the region, he said, and they are now your subject. There are exceptions to this, but it revolves around a series of political actions, especially regarding colonialism, and I will not discuss the complexity of that topic at this point."

As Berengar ended his words, the Lords stared at the city, which was illuminated by explosives. When combined with the corpses of enemy soldiers, and civilians caught in the crossfire whose blood flowed into the snow-covered streets, creating the image of armageddon. When witnessing such destruction, and death, Berengar turned to face the Gods with a cold smile on his immaculate face before asking the question in his mind to them.

"Is there a question?"

The few Lords who had submitted to Berengar's authority and allied with him to crush the Southern Rebellion shook their heads in silence, with horrified expressions spreading on their faces. For a man who smiled in the face of such a chaotic scene, only a monster could do such a thing. Or so they thought, although Berengar was happy that his plan was proceeding, internally, he could not help but sigh at himself for the unnecessary loss of life. If his enemies were not so stubborn and handed the city over to him when the walls collapsed, the citizens of the region would not suffer so badly.

Of course, the Lords had no way of knowing what Berengar was thinking inside the labyrinth that he had in mind, and because of that, they felt an overwhelming fear, inspire them to never take up arms against the man in front of them, for in their minds Berngar is a demon in human flesh.