Steel Empire
Storm Overloaded

A few weeks had passed, and Berengar had fully recovered, but at the other end of Europe in the east, the Teutonic Order was still trying to gather its advantage in the war with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, however, the Teutonic Order was still trying to collect its advantage in the war with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, The Grand Master is currently reading reports in connection with the Battle of Oberstdorf in which Lambert fought Berengar. The man deeply frowned as he read the contents. One of his most promising talents, being Lambert was dead, and 10,000 people were with him. The result was a disaster; he had not expected Berengar to take down such a large and powerful army in such a short time. Then again, he also did not expect Bernegar to become the Count of Tyrol by the time Lambert's forces arrived. Too many things happened between the time Lambert marched into the war and the events of the battle itself.

The result of that battle was a significant loss to the Teutonic Order, 10,000 people was not a small number, either, and he relied on many of those people to come back and strengthen their ranks to defend their territory. Now that news of their defeat had spread, the Golden Horde, the ruler over the Grand Duchy of Moscow, began to mobilize their forces to liberate the territory where the Teutonic Order had annexed their conquest. There was no mistake; at any moment they could face the great Khanate's power, a war they could better handle if they still had 10,000 Crusaders setting out with Lambert.

Not only was the East unstable, but Grand-Master now faced pressure from the Papacy to gather another army and invade Germany once again; The Crusade to end Berengar's heresy had just begun in the eyes of Pope Simeon II. However Grand-Master had no intention of doing such a thing. If they could not defend the territory they had just conquered, then what was the point of marching into the war zone known as Germany. In fact, Lambert was fortunate not to have been involved in any conflict with the German army currently fighting over the vacant throne. 

The envoy the Pope sent to present his demands to the Grand Master stood before him impatiently as he watched the Teutonic Leader read the report on what had happened, as well as the demands of the Vatican. Finally, the envoy was unable to resist his wishes anymore and asked what the Grand Master wanted to do about the situation.

“Pope demands a response to the defeat of your Order in Oberstdorf. Berengar's victory will only further strengthen the heretics who flock to his cause. If he can defy the power of the Papacy without punishment, then why can't they? So what are you doing? intend to do this?"

Grand Master glared at Messenger viciously before replying.

"I've done enough. If Berengar could defeat an army of thirty thousand people by half that amount, then that meant he was not an opponent that I could underestimate!"

The envoy was surprised that the Grand Master would praise Berengar's abilities despite suffering great losses against him. So much so that he foolishly cursed the Grand Master because of his gaze.

"You praised the damned heretics? I'm beginning to question your faith and your Ordom!"

Hearing these words, the Grand Master turned around and grabbed the neck of the Vatican envoy with his hands and slammed him against the stone wall before punishing him.

"Listen, you arrogant bastard, Tyrol is a mountainous region where Berengar has all the advantages as a defender! That man has obtained great wealth, hasn't he? Who said that he did not use that wealth to build up the overall defense, making it even harder to conquer? Do you fools in the Vatican know what's going on in the Count's territory? I sent 10,000 formidable war veterans to Tyrol because you guys foolishly told me that he wasn't a threat to worry about, and they're all dead now!"

The priest who acted as the Vatican envoy was so frightened by the anger of the Grand Master that he began to dirty his tunic, which caused the Grand Master to release him in disgust. After which, he turned around, no longer facing the envoy before giving his decision.

"Go back to the Vatican and ask Your Majesty what he wants most from the Teutonic Order, to turn the Orthodox territory in the east into his domain, or to destroy the heresy that has spread throughout the German-speaking regions? Because I can't fulfill both his requests at the same time!"

With this said, the priest of the Vatican escaped from the Grand Master's room and quickly left Malbork Castle, where he intended to report back to Pope Simeon II as soon as possible. After the envoy left, the Grandmaster sighed while staring at his fireplace and took out his thoughts.

"A storm is brewing in the East, and I have neither the time nor the resources to fight against the various German forces. If the Pope is foolish enough to send me to Tyrol, then the East will be lost forever."

Shortly after saying that, an Order commander walked into his room with a report in his hand and announced his presence.

The old leader of the Teutonic Order sighed before nodding his head, gesturing for the commander to continue.

"Golden Horde is on the move; they are besieging Moscow as we speak."

With this news his worst fear had materialized, the Grand Master responded to this information with a heavy sigh before taking out one wine jar and filling it into two trophies, the Grand Master said, one for himself and the other for the Commander. After handing one of the cups to another man, he took a sip from his glass before revealing his thoughts.

"So it started ..."

If what the Teutonic Commander reported was true, the Order would face a difficult road ahead as they tried to defend the East from the invasion of the Golden Horde. Now that they had lost 10,000 people, it would not be an easy feat. On top of this new invasion from the East, they were currently at war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; their forces were stretched quite thin as it was. Yet Simeon still wanted him to waste time and manpower on Tyrol.

Judging from the extent of expansion of Berengar's forces, it would not be long before such a war was unwinnable for Catholics; berengar Heresy was likely to flourish in Germany as its tenants were attractive to the nobility and commoners. Now that the Golden Horde had invaded, it was no longer his business; the Papacy had to find another fool to wage that war. If the French bastards hadn't dismantled the Templar Order, they might have brought the justice of the Church to Berengar. 

All these thoughts revolved in the Grand Master's mind as he quietly drank from his cup; when he finished with the wine inside, he threw the trophy aside and ordered the Commander of his command.

"Warn the people; we ascend to the East. Hopefully, the troops we've stationed there can hold off the enemy long enough for our reinforcements?"

Upon hearing this command, the Commander became confused and, thus, sought to clarify the matter at hand.

"And the Heresy Berengar?"

The Grand Master grabbed his sword belt and tied it to his waist as he casually ignored the matter.

"Let someone else handle it; we've bled enough."

With that said, the Teutonic Order completely ignored the events in Oberstdorf and the defeat of Lambert and his troops; after all, they had much more pressing problems to attend to. Thus, the Grand Master had begun to gather strength in the westernmost region of the Teutonic State, the war in the East had begun, and they had limited time to make it before they were overwhelmed. It did not take long before the troops in Malbork gathered and began to advance to the East; other soldiers from the Teutonic State would be deployed along the way. The Teutonic War against the Golden Horde had just begun, giving Berengar the much-needed time to build up his defenses. 

When Pope Simeon II heard that the Teutonic Order had insulted him and moved eastward, he would be furious; to avenge him on Berengar, he needed a new army to fight him. Unfortunately for him, all the Catholic Military Orders were currently undergoing some form of warfare, and the Byzantines in the East had already begun to establish friendly relations with Berengar. Thus the safety, and security for the people of Tyrol have been secured for the time being. Something Berengar would make full use of to make his vision of a fortified Tyrol a reality. When the Catholic Church can muster an army large enough to attack Tyrol, the region will become one of the giant self-supporting fortresses.

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