Tyranny of Steel
chapter-126

At the moment, Berengar was standing in the Great Hall of Innsbruck surrounded by his Officers; in front of them was a large table with a giant map splayed across it; upon this large map were wooden figures acting as representations of Berengar, his allies, and his enemies. It had been roughly a month since Berengar first began his campaign to conquer Tyrol. After several overwhelming victories, he now found himself controlling roughly a third of the territory in which he had desired to conquer.

Since the beginning of the War, when Berengar first left Kufstein, he had put in place measures to begin conscription, he knew his meager army of a little over 5,000 men was not enough to maintain control of Tyrol in its entirety, and as such had begun a new wave of recruitment designed to adequately train the conscripts in the use of firearms, line tactics, and basic combat maneuvers within a matter of weeks.

Though it was not the Grand Army of Germany that he had envisioned for the future, his current needs required him to make some sacrifices in the training regimen and the equipment in which the conscripts would use. As such, Berengar had tasked the armories to manufacture the 1417 Land Pattern Musket instead of the more advanced 1417/18 Rifled Musket.

At the moment, 5,000 conscripts in the form of infantry were waiting in Innsbruck alongside the veteran forces of Berengar's army. While they waited for their orders Berengar was discussing with his Officers the best path forward into the conquest of Tyrol.

Berengar moved a set of Infantry figures across the map and into the position of Sterzing, Meran, and Schlanders which were the primary hubs of rebellious forces in Southern Tyrol, before announcing his plan for a rapid conquest of his enemies to the men by his side.

"The plan is simple, these three cities are the key centers of resistance to my authority in Tyrol, with the aid of the armies of the Lords who have declared their support for me, we will split our army into three components, I will take Sterzing, Eckhard will lead the forces to Meran, and Arnulf will command the men at Schlanders. In one single swoop, we will bring South Tyrol under our authority before moving onto Trent!"

Eckhard agreed with the plan but also had some concerns; as such, he decided to voice them at the moment.

"What about our position in North Tyrol? How many men will we leave behind to secure our interests?"

Berengar smiled; as always, Eckhard did not lose sight of the big picture, so Berengar made a bold declaration.

"500 men in Innsbruck, and 500 in Schwaz, as for the remaining regions in the North, establish 250 man garrisons to secure the loyalty of the Lords who have pledged their support to me."

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Eckhard nodded in agreement; though these were rather large garrisons, they would be able to adequately defend the regions from enemy sieges, especially with their technological superiority. Eckhard's next question was in regards to the artillery Battalion.

"What about the artillery?"

Berengar had already developed a plan regarding the most efficient use of artillery, and thus he explained his plans to Eckhard.

"We will split the battalion into three separate batteries; one will go with each army to ensure that there is sufficient firepower at each siege to bring down the walls of the enemies."

Listening to Berengar's plans, the Officers of his army, largely comprised of the Knights and Nobility from Kufstein, had nodded their heads firmly in agreement. If they continued to act as a single army, it might take them months if not years to bring Tyrol completely under their control, seeing how this campaign was only a smaller part of the Civil War going across Germany at the moment, nobody wanted to spend that much time securing a small region like Tyrol.

Arnulf, who had been listening to Berengar's words, had a single thought on his mind, and as such, voiced his concerns.

"What if Lothar returns from Vienna? It has been well over a month since he first began his siege of Vienna, and he should be close to victory by now."

Berengar shook his head and responded to Arnulf's concerns with the latest information he had received.

"Lothar is busy defending Vienna from Count Otto, whose forces have arrived and begun besieging the city in an attempt to wrest it from Lothar's grasp. He and his armies will not be returning to Tyrol any time soon, and if they do make it out of Vienna alive, their numbers will greatly be reduced."

Hearing this news Arnulf, and many of the other officers felt more relaxed about Berengar's plans. This three-pronged operation was nicknamed Operation Trident and would be a deciding factor in Berengar's victory in the war for Tyrol. As such, Berengar chatted with the officers for some time in great detail about logistics and tactics before finally ending this strategic meeting.

"Gentlemen, if all of your questions have been answered, then you should get some rest for tomorrow at the break of dawn; we will march upon our enemies! God with us!"

Immediately upon shouting that last part, the men all saluted Berengar and shouted the phrase which had become the battle cry of the armies of Kufstein.

"God with us!"

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After ending the meeting in such a way, the officers returned to their forces to prepare them for the coming battle. With this, Berengar returned to his temporary quarters, where he sat down on the bed and sighed heavily into the dimly lit room in which he resided alone.

"I need to finish this war quickly so I can return to Kufstein and into the loving arms of Linde..."

After having such a thought, Berengar prepared himself for the night and then went to sleep, thinking not of the violence and brutality that he would soon be enduring, but of his two women, and his infant son. He began to reminisce about the days of the not-so-distant past which were far more peaceful than the ones he currently found himself in. It was hard to believe that he had only been reincarnated into this world less than a year ago.

He had accomplished so much in this small amount of time, especially when compared to his previous life, whereby the time he was 21, he was still at Westpoint achieving absolutely nothing in his life; coming from a relatively poor background, he had spent his entire youth gaining the knowledge and grades necessary to get an academic scholarship so that he could attend a university, ultimately after several life factors Westpoint became his best option, and so he begrudgingly chose to join the military. After graduating, he wasted his life away in the hellhole known as Afghanistan until his final days.

In this life, Berengar was fortunate enough to be reincarnated into Nobility. After getting his first taste of real power and wealth, Berengar had become incredibly ambitious, no longer desiring to simply industrialize Kufstein and retire in wealth and luxury. Now that he had a chance, he wanted to be like the many great men from history he had read about in his past life. Thinking of past, present, and future, Berengar fell asleep with a smile on his face. His conquest had only just begun!