Chapter 166: The Way is Blocked (1/2)

Rain poured down upon the mountainous borders of Tyrol and Bavaria. At the moment, an army of Bavarians was on the march. At the head of the military was a Count who was quite upset about his current task. For the most part, he and the men of his army were proud members of the German Reformation, and Duke Dietger had tasked them to invade the heartland of their movement. Not only was Tyrol an important place in the hearts of German Reformists, but it also housed two of their leaders; that being Berengar and Ludolf. As such, very few men in the army were eager to fulfill this task.

On more than one occasion, this Count by the name of Siegmund had considered outright insubordination. Yet, here he was at the borders between his homeland, and the capital of the reformation, debating whether or not he should go through with his orders. However, the closer his troops approached Tyrol, the more they were able to notice that a fortress was constructed in the area, one whose design was unlike anything Siegmund had ever seen before. It was in the shape of a star and flew the coat of arms of House von Kufstein. It was a fortress constructed by Berengar to protect the routes into his lands.

Siegmund decided to halt his advance when faced with such a mighty fortress, which was visibly defended by relatively massive cannons and hundreds of men armed with what he perceived to be hand cannons. He was no fool, and he could tell by the design of the fortress that if he were to attempt to take it over, it would be a long and bloody battle. Not only were his men vulnerable to fire from all directions, but there were no blind spots to take advantage of. If rumors were to be believed, the hand cannons in which the defenders were equipped were devastating weapons.

When faced with such a challenge, Siegmund only had three options; first and foremost, he could withdraw from the region and find another route into Tyrol, one he hoped would not be as heavily defended. The second option was for him to disregard his losses and attack the fortress in an attempt to force his way into Tyrol. His third and final option was to give up on the idea of attacking the region, and set up camp on the edge of the border, and act like he was doing something, hoping that his liege would not realize he had sat still and done nothing. After all, neither he nor his men were too keen on the idea of attacking Tyrol.

Count Siegmund von Augsburg took a few moments to contemplate his options when one of his commanders approached him.

”Your excellency, the path forward is blocked by the strange fortress; I fear as if it will be a difficult task to invade Tyrol.”

Count Siegmund immediately felt a headache looking at the situation before him. If he did not advance into Tyrol, he would be labeled an oath breaker, and after the war was over, Duke Dietger would surely come for him and potentially his family. As such, he mustered his courage and ordered the Army to advance on the fortress.

”Prepare to lay siege to the fortress! We have our orders!”

While giving out the command to his army, Siegmund told himself in the back of his mind.

'May God have mercy on my soul.'

As such, a siege camp was prepared, and within a few hours of preparations, the Bavarian army began to attack the Star Fortress. Men at arms rushed towards the fortress curtains, hoping that the solid portion of the wall would provide a steady platform to raise their ladders. However, the moment they came within engagement distance, the several hundred soldiers of Berengar's army who were garrisoned at the fort unleashed the 24 lb siege cannons onto the invaders. The explosive shells tore the besiegers asunder long before they made it to the wall section, which was their goal.