Steel Empire
Throw The Wolves

The dawn had risen, and Baron Guntrum and his family could not sleep a single bit. Instead, they crowded the large hall listening to the almost constant thunder of weapons while shivering in fear. The 2-year-old daughter of Baron Guntrum was terrified by the thunder that echoed through the night and held her father's hand firmly.

"Dad, I'm scared ..."

The look on Baron Guntrum's face was unconvincing; after all, in his declaration of war, Berengar had promised not to show mercy to Guntrum or his family. If the wall collapses and the enemy forces storm into its fortress, there is no chance of survival. Therefore, he began to regret his decision to provoke Berengar on behalf of the Church. Why did God test it in such a way? What has he done to achieve this fate? That was the question that the godly nobles posed to themselves as the echoes of the cannons continued to bombard his palace.

However, shortly after praying to God, the thunder of the weapons had stopped; after waiting nearly half an hour for the bombardment to resume, there was only silence from his enemies. As if his prayer had been granted, Guntrum rushed out to see for himself what had happened. After standing on top of the wall, which had been greatly reduced by the night of the bombing, he could see the besieging forces standing still in their siege camp below. Inevitably he wondered if they were out of ammunition.

In the next moment, a small tin projectile shot past his face, and the thunder of the rifle that had fired it echoed in the distance. He quickly ducked under the fortress and hid from enemy fire. What kind of weapon is that? Seeing his men cowering in fear under the protection of the wall, he could not help but empathize with their pain. Therefore, he quickly returned to the guards, where he hid with his family once again, although the cannon may have stopped the hand cannons that the enemy used to pose a significant threat to anyone foolish enough to expose themselves.

...

Berengar was currently standing in the middle of his siege camp in front of the three men whose arms and armor were stripped and currently wore nothing but the gambeson they wore underneath. These three men were his father's army, and they were currently bound and kneeling before him. By night, these men had abandoned their posts and raided the local town; they had even raped a local teenage girl who was slightly older than Adela, who was a child, what Berengar said was disgusting and unforgivable. However, they did not do this to their loneliness. Obviously, there's someone else involved. However, only these three men were arrested, and they did not want to complain about their brothers being armed.

Berengar paced back and forth in front of those people and stared intently at them. His anger radiated from the depths of his soul deeply as he lectured the surrounding soldiers, who were forced to witness this scene.

"I have made my orders very clear, the locals will not be harmed, yet the three of you have violated my orders. You leave your post at night to engage in raids, rape, looting, and arson while flying. Color my family! Do you know how this makes me look, as Master and Commander of this army?!"

Standing next to Berengar was the little girl that the three men had eaten; her family had remained in the territory, along with some more stubborn families who did not want to leave their homes. After Berengar heard about their crimes, he immediately had the men arrested and interrogated. Unfortunately, they were quite formidable and did not complain against the other members of his father's army who had acted in the same way.

Because of this, Berengar had no further choice and had gathered his troops and villagers to witness the upcoming scene. Berengar spat with disdain at the people bound in front of him and boldly declared for everyone to hear.

"As Regent Baroni Kufstein, and Commander of this army, I hereby declare that you three men are guilty of War Crimes and sentenced to death to you by firing squad. May God have mercy on your soul..."

"Anyone of you who is guilty of engaging in this activity in the future will be given the same punishment! I came to this land as a conqueror, but that doesn't mean my troops will act like a bunch of robbers! order me, or you will face the consequences!"

The members of his militia were fully disciplined in the way Berengar intended to wage war. Against enemy forces, Berengar would permit almost any use of force. He also did not fear civilian casualties if they were caught in bombing or assaulting enemy positions. His cruelty in pursuit of victory can be considered a War Crime by the standards of the 21st century where he lived during his past life.

However, as far as Berengar was concerned, robbery, rape, murder, and other such crimes that deliberately targeted unarmed civilians were completely inexcusable, especially when it is applied to those he considers as children. Unfortunately for him, these things were common in this feudal era, especially during sieges, and his father's professional army did not take his warnings seriously.

Berengar comforted the girl who had been violated by the people in his father's army as she crouched down and got into his line of sight.

"I know that there is no apology I can give you to atone for the crimes you have experienced under my supervision. However, I hope you can find comfort in the fact that justice has been given to the perpetrators ..."

With this said, Berengar returned his attention to the public execution and signaled for it to continue. The criminals were tied to a pole, and a firing squad of a dozen people was formed as they raised their rifles. Eckhard personally gave the order that led to the deaths of these people who were guilty of doing nothing more than what was common in this primitive era.

"Prepare to shoot!"

With the last command given, the thunder of the rifles resounded as their projectiles tore apart the bodies of the people tied to the poles and ended their miserable existence. Many soldiers from his father's army were shocked and angered by Berengar's actions. Until then, they truly believed Berengar was merely bluffing in an attempt to scare them into following his ludicrous ideas of decency in warfare.

The final order Berengar gave in front of the crowd would act as a permanent reminder to the people under his command of the atrocities Berengar would commit against those who failed to follow his orders.

"Throw them to the wolves!"

With that said, the bodies of the criminals were cut down from the poles and left to rot in the wilderness; under Berengar's orders, they were not even given a proper burial...