Chapter 411: Angels are Falling! (2/2)

If they do not kneel before me and wave the white flag when they die of disease and starvation in the trenches, I will rain poison gas upon their position! I will destroy this entire god-forsaken peninsula in a fit of fire and fury if I must!”

Adelbrand and Arnulf stood there in silence; this was not the usual behavior of King Berengar. Something must have happened to invoke his ire severely. Various ideas formed within their minds as they thought about what could have made Berengar so enraged. They would never guess that he was venting his frustration about Henrietta's confession onto the Iberian people.

Having thoroughly discussed their plans Berengar and his soldiers decided to rest in the trenches for the time being. Hours passed and eventually, the sun fell from the sky, in its place the clouds blocked out any form of illumination that would normally be provided by the moon and stars.

Seeing that they were completely lacking in illumination Berengar decided it was about time to use one of the inventions he had put in place before arriving in Granada, thus he pulled out an exciting new device. It was a short-barreled flare gun based on Leuchtpistole 34 from his previous life. The primary difference was that it was made entirely of steel since Berengar had yet to invent aluminum.

After opening the breech and sliding in a flare, he closed it before raising the flare pistol into the air and firing it into the sky. As his flare gun went off, so too did dozens of others in the hands of various Austrian troops, creating a bright illumination as if stars were falling from the sky.

By now, the advance force of the enemy Army was unknowingly camped within range of the Austrian Artillery. They gazed upon this sight with horror as they mistook the scene for angels falling from the heavens. Immediately, the Catholic soldiers dropped to their knees and began to make the cross sign as they said their prayers.

In the next moment, the thunderous echos of hundreds of 7.5cm FK 22 field guns resounded through the illuminated night sky; then, the shells landed on the targets. Tens of thousands of men were caught unaware as the Austrian munitions landed upon their encampments, blasting everything contained within to shreds.

Bodies exploded as the shells landed nearby, and limbs were hewn apart by the shrapnel. Blood splattered the dirt as the men accepted their fate in fear of further invoking the wrath of the heavens. In the distance from the advance force, the Castilian Commander gazed in horror at the scene. Angels fell from the sky, and death was wrought upon his men with their descent. There was no mistaking it, this was a sign of the apocalypse!

Frightened out of his wits, Duke Lorenzo de Benavente, who was tasked with leading the Castilian Army, trembled in trepidation as he witnessed the fantastic scene. His lips wavered as he struggled to find the words to issue a full retreat. After several moments he began to scream to his forces in a hysteric voice.

”Retreat! Angels are Falling! Retreat!”

He had no way of knowing that the disaster thrust upon his advance force was solely the doing of modern science, not superstitious belief. However, how could medieval noblemen know of the existance of flares or rifled breechloaders firing high explosive shells? He genuinely believed that Angels were falling from the sky above Granada and onto their men resulting in massive explosions.

The Castilian army, which consisted of many foreign volunteers, immediately abandoned their camp and supplies as they fled from the chaotic battle scene in the dead of night. Berengar, who was in the rearmost trench, gazed upon the stage with a wicked grin upon his face. Did these fools believe he would allow so many of them to flee alive?

With the blowing of a whistle, the Cavalry who were on standby immediately began to charge after the routing Catholics; for them, there would be no mercy on this night. Only those blessed by the heavens would manage to escape the Austrians' wrath!

Berengar himself hopped upon his mount and charged towards the direction of the cowardly Iberians. He supposed now was as good as a time as any to enact his plan for this war. With this in mind, ten thousand Cavalry of various forms, alongside Mounted Infantry and an Artillery Battery, marched off to fight as they chased down the frightened Iberians numbering in the tens of thousands. For Berengar, the War for Iberia had just begun!

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