Steel Empire
Borbardier

While Berengar and the others settled in Kufstein after their long journey, Eckhard was busy acting as commander of the border troops stationed at Kitzbuhel; he had been overseeing the northeast Tyrol border defenses ever since he was first deployed to the region. In contrast to the Northwest front, which has run into a stalemate, where the attackers refuse to advance. 

The commander of the Northeast Bavarian Army was constantly throwing people into the walls of the Star Fort. However, no matter what they tried to do, it ultimately failed. Currently, Eckhard was inside one of the buildings built inside the fort that served as the headquarters for the officers guarding his garrison. 

Currently, Eckhard was talking to the officers under his command about the constant threat beyond their borders. An armored officer wearing a three-quarter plate was the first to talk about the current situation.

"If they continue to attack at such speed, we will eventually run out of ammunition. The next supply from Kufstein is still a week away. Someone needs to tell Berengar that we're running out of ammo and to speed up deliveries!"

Today, thousands of corpses lie strewn with bullets, and shrapnel outside the fort, rotting in an area that enemy soldiers have labelled strictly as a "killing zone". Anything that enters the area will be hit by gunfire and barrage of artillery. It was a nightmare to pass. 

Eckhard nodded in agreement as he sipped his cup, which contained beer. If there was one thing Berengar made sure of as he recovered from his injury and took care of the matters of the country, it was that his troops were well supplied with high-quality rations. It was only after the grizzled veteran satisfied his dry throat with the delicious taste of Oktoberfest beer that he began to talk about his work.

"We will send carrier pigeons to Kufstein to ensure delivery of our ammunition and other supplies will be expedited. As for the situation at the border itself, how are we doing?"

The other officer, who was roughly the same age as Eckhard and had been a Kufstein Knight for many years, quickly began his explanation of the ongoing effort to defend the border.

“A patrol recently captured a unit of gunmen of no more than 250 trying to cross the mountains and into Kufstein. They were most likely assigned to sabotage. However, they were effectively shot dead by our patrols before they could do any damage. As for the wall itself, they held. The enemy cannot damage our fortress, at least not for now!"

Eckhard nodded in silence. Other than running out of supplies, there was not much to worry about in terms of Northeast Tyrol border defense. However, for whatever reason, Eckhard felt a disturbing suspicion in his mind that Bayern would try something drastic. Therefore, he gave orders to his officers before ending the meeting.

"Double night watch and on-going patrols; I don't want any Bavarians sneaking past our borders!"

All the officers saluted Eckhard by hitting their steel breastplates with their fists before replying in agreement.

"Yes sir!"

with that, Eckhard turned his back on them and gave one last command for the night.

"Dismissed!"

Hearing their orders, the men finally departed from the stronghold headquarters and carried out their duties. As for Eckhard, he stared at the map in front of him and pondered the actions that the Bavarians might take. The number of people they threw against his wall was incredible; despite setbacks, they still attacked periodically. They did this in an attempt to lower his vigilance, but he had no idea what it was for.

Finally Eckhard sighed before he decided to give up on predicting the enemy's plans; he would never be able to guess what devious plans the Bavarians were up to; he was never going to be able to guess what devious plans the Bavarians were up to; he would do his best to adapt when such a scheme gave rise to his ugly head. Therefore, he left the headquarters and entered his room, where he climbed into his bed and slept soundly all night.

...

Hours had passed, and it was about midnight; the new moon in the sky provided excellent protection for the Bavarian's latest plan to break through the mighty star fortress. Since they could not break through its defenses during the day, they had wasted people's lives over the past few weeks periodically to lower their opponents' defenses. 

Now the time had come for them to let go of the plot they had long planned. Under the cover of darkness, the Bavarian army slowly moved the horses into position, keeping the creatures calm to the best of their ability. 

Slowly but surely, the devices known as the Bombards got into the firing position where they were installed, entirely shrouded by the lack of illumination provided tonight. During the loading process, one of the large stone balls fell from the mouth of the cannon and fell to the ground, causing a thud. 

One of the soldiers directly scolded the man who had messed up the loading procedure in a slow tone.

"Stupid! You're gonna warn the Tyroleans!"

However, after a few seconds, it became clear that the guards on the nearby wall were unaware of the commotion. Therefore, the men sighed before restarting the loading procedure. In total, there are these three monumental devices. It was all that Duke Dietger was capable of; he did not even bring such a masterpiece to Vienna. Yet here at the Tyrol Border against a small star fortress, the Bavarians were forced to unleash their strongest weapon. 

Finally, the Cannon was lit, and after a few seconds a loud rumbling sound echoed in the air before the huge stone cannonballs found their way into the fortress wall. Bavarian soldiers began cheering outside the walls as they believed such a small bombardment was fully capable of inflicting significant damage on the Tyrolean walls.

However, when the dust subsided, all that was accomplished was to alert the Tyrolean defenders, he said, which quickly rose to their position where they began loading 24-pound siege cannons and directing them to the bombers. When the Bavarian commander stared at part of the wall only to realize that most of it was still intact, his jaw dropped. 

The man could not possibly know that the low and thick walls of the star fortress were explicitly designed to reduce the destructive power of the cannon. Because these walls were made of steel-reinforced concrete brick, these walls were much tougher than anything outside of Tyrol. 

Eckhard quickly rushed out of bed and entered the scene, where he saw his men quickly loading a 24-pound gun mounted on the wall. When he arrived, they quickly stopped what they were doing and saluted the man before waiting for Field Marshal to speak.

Eckhard quickly assessed the damage before an evil grin formed on his face.

"Show these fools what real artillery bombardment looks like!"

The Tyrolean defenders quickly responded with a salute and a familiar battle cry.

"God is with us!"

Afterwards, a 24-pound cannon mounted towards the bomber was fired, and a dozen 24-pound shell casings landed on top of the bomber, destroy the device and tear apart the fools who have marched right into the kill zone. 

However, the battle did not end there, as the cannons were quickly recharged and fired once more, this time it was aimed at the encirclement camp foolishly set up by the Bavarians within the mighty artillery fire range that Berengar's forces had. 

To date, they have been fighting a war of attrition, but Eckhard is fully aware of Berengar's ongoing plans and has decided to annihilate the army approaching the Northeast border by tonight. He was really angry that the fools would bring cannons against him. Therefore, he wanted to teach the Bavarians a valuable lesson about who the real artillery master is!

So the Tyrolean defenders retaliated and began to bombard the Enemy's camp throughout the night. A blood-curdling scream filled the air, in addition to the sound of explosions exploding at enemy positions. As the enemy commander stared at the destruction of his camp, he quickly saw a projectile heading towards him and cursed softly.

"Fuckin..."

with that, a shell landed on it, and an explosive explosion engulfed its figure, making it become nothing more than minced meat. The rumbling echoes of a dozen cannons would continue to be fired throughout the night, long after the Bavarian Army was completely destroyed.