Chapter 223: Crushing the Rebellion (1/2)

Weeks had passed since the meeting in Innsbruck and the establishment of the rebellion against Berengear's regency. Letters had been constructed and sent across the realm making accusations of Conrad's death and Berengar's attempt to usurp the position of Duke from the rightful claimant Liutbert.

As Berengar had anticipated, his allies immediately began to back his claims; as for the regions of Upper and Lower Austria, one was technically the crownland ruled by Conrad, who was deceased and thus under Berengar's control. The other was led by a Count who was smart enough not to get involved in this conflict; his realm had already bled too much under Bavarian occupation.

Thus Austria was officially at war once more; however, despite the advance of the rebellion's army into Kufstein Berengar did not pull his forces from the rebellious territories. Instead, he used the troops there to establish control over the region and take hold of the successors of the rebellious noblemen.

When the Rebel Army finally made its way into Kufstein, Berengar met it in the field with his own. The mercenaries used to fight Berengar were roughly 5,000 in total and had been a substantial expense for Liutbert; most came from the Swiss Confederacy and were battle-hardened warriors. They did not fear the fabled might of the Tyrolean Army, mainly due to their ignorance of the weapons and tactics employed by Berengar's forces.

As for Berengar, he brought a force of 5,000 men of his own. As far as the enemy could see, there was no cavalry in sight. Instead, it was comprised of various infantry and artillery units. The artillery was a mixture of his 1417 12 lb Cannons and his Schmidt Guns. Enough of the new weapons had been built since their invention that Berengar could field an entire battery with such weapons.

This would be the first major battle that demonstrated the effectiveness of his Schmidt guns and the quick loading tubes that his forces were now equipped with. The moment the Rebellious armies entered the fray, Berengar ordered his artillery to fire off a few light barrages and for his infantry to wait to fire their muskets until the enemy was within the hundred-yard range.

The reason for this was simple, he wanted an overwhelming victory, and the best way to achieve this was to allow his six puckle guns to fire their canister shot at the enemy and quickly wipe the floor with the army, for that they needed to be within the 75-yard range in order to be most effective.

As such, his cannons fired shells into the mix of the enemy, but they had great resolve and discipline. Thus, they marched through the artillery fire and towards Berengar's army, who had held their position near the puckle guns placed between their ranks.

Despite the explosive shells ravaging the enemy's ranks, they were few. Thus the Swiss mercenaries Liutbert had paid for prayed to God above as they marched within formation directly into the oncoming fire.

When the archers finally reached engagement distance, they began to fire a volley of arrows upon the Tyrolean soldiers, and yet despite this, the Tyroleans stood firm, their superior armor deflected many of the oncoming blows, there were no mortal wounds inflicted upon them as they merely stood still with determination.

While the Swiss mercenaries marched, the old and fat Count of Kustenland twirled his beard between his fingers as he laughed at the sight of the battlefield.

”It appears the effectiveness of Berengar's weapons has been greatly exaggerated! I feel confident that the armies of Innsbruck will be fully capable of defeating the armies of that Tyrant Berengar.”

Hearing this, several of the nearby lords agreed with the Count's comments. As for Liutbert, he merely smiled bitterly while thinking to himself.

'these fools have no idea what they have gotten themselves into...'

Shortly after the Count's remarks, the swiss mercenaries advanced into engagement distance, and this is where Berengar's armies displayed their full might. The moment the Rebels ranks moved beyond the 100-yard point, the Tyrolean infantry formed ranks and began to fire a volley into the formations of the Swiss mercenaries.

The moment they did so, thousands of minie balls flew forth and pierced through the mighty brigandine and plate armor of the swiss mercenaries and tore apart their flesh beneath it. Blood splattered into the field, and limbs were scattered from the impact. Blood-curdling screams immediately filled the air, and the Swiss began to fear the results of these strange thunderous weapons.

However, before they could even think of retreating, a second volley had been fired by the Tyrolean infantrymen, who had rapidly reloaded their rifled muskets with their quick loading tubes. Yet that was not the worst of it; the first round of shots fired from the six Schmidt guns instantly found their way through the iron and steel armor of the Swiss Mercenaries and into their torsos and limbs, further adding to the carnage.

A total of 96 musket balls were fired from the first volley of the Schmidt guns alongside the thousands of mine balls fired from the muskets. Yet that was not the end of it, as the Muskets were rapidly reloaded, and the Schmidt guns had quickly fired their next round of shot into the enemy lines.

Over 20,000 rounds had been fired downrange within a matter of minutes. This was the result of the combined use of the rifled muskets, quick tubes, and the Schmidt guns—thoroughly shredding the lines of the Swiss mercenaries and the archers behind them. Not a single man had survived the onslaught of the Tyrolean forces. Before the enemy could even reach melee distance, they had been thoroughly shredded by Berengar's armies.