Chapter 113: Siege of Schwaz
Berengar was currently sitting outside the city walls within the confines of his siege camp. He was having breakfast, which consisted of rye crackers, and salted pork. He ate the same food as his soldiers and refused to have special treatment while in the field. As such, he was sitting next to an Officer, an NCO, and an enlisted soldier. The cannons echoed across the field as they continuously bombarded the city walls; one might think a thunderstorm occurred if they were not accustomed to such advanced weapons.
Though the skies above were gloomy, and the cold breeze was filled with falling snow, it was by no means a thunderstorm. The cool breeze whipped across Berengar's face, which was the only portion of his skin that made direct contact with the air; he was covered from head to toe in thick fur-lined wool clothing like the rest of his troops. Actually, Berengar's armies attire was far less garish in the winter; with a set of winter boots and gloves, they looked far different than their field equipment that was utilized in more favorable conditions.
Though they did not look as exquisite as they normally would, they were kept warm by their clothing, and in the end, practicality was far more important than aesthetics when it came to an army's gear. As such, the men ate their crackers and pork under the falling snow while the explosive shells continued to bombard the city's thick stone walls. It had already been three days since the siege had begun, and Berengar was confident that the walls would soon come crumbling down after all the sections they had been bombarding were already in a miserable state.
Just when Berengar was about to speak to his soldiers, he overheard the sound of stone crumbling down upon itself and the cheers of his men. Seeing that the wall had collapsed Berengar quickly put on his steel skull cap and his feathered hat before marching to the frontlines where his troops had quickly rallied. Finally, they would be able to seize the city, as for the castle's bombardment, that would still take a few days. With sword in hand, Berengar cried out to his force as he rushed for the shattered section of the wall.
"Charge!"
The overwhelming majority of the soldiers in his camp rushed to the broken wall with bayonets affixed and swords in hand as they resisted the oncoming missile fire from the archers and crossbowmen above. Luckily for them, their vitals were covered in hardened steel plate armor, so as long as they were not shot in the face, they would endure the rain of arrows descending upon them. Berengar's forces quickly arrived in front of the wall where they formed a firing line and rained musket balls upon the defenders who filled the gaps, the mighty spear wall the garrison of the city had formed quickly collapsed under the lead balls which pierced their armor as if it were non-existant, and sent them to the afterlife.
The defensive line collapsed with a single volley and was quickly rushed upon by a sea of bayonets and swords. Those troops in the rear of Berengar's formation continued to fire upon the defenders upon the ramparts, rapidly cutting away at the archers' numbers who desperately tried to combat the tide of black and gold which forced its way through the gap within the city wall.
The wall was brought down under concentrated fire from Berengar's artillery battalion in three sections; each region was undergoing a similar sight. Berengar batted a spear out of his way with the blade of his sword before lunging directly into the open bascinet of the city defender, piercing through the man's eye and thus his skull ending his miserable existence. He was leading the charge at the center gap within the city's defenses; slowly but surely, his troops were overwhelming the local garrison.
Eckhard was leading one of the other locations where he used his rifled musket and bayonet to outmaneuver a spear that was thrust in his direction before piercing through the man's mail and gambeson with the lengthy bayonet, which was shaped perfectly to get through the gaps in the mail hauberk. Like Berengar, he led the forces into battle as the city defenders slowly began retreating. Eventually, the defensive line was broken. Rather than pursue the fleeing garrison to the keep, Berengar's forces lined up, reloaded, and fired upon the city's defenders as their backs were turned, instantly gunning them down with no remorse.
Berengar, Eckhard, and the Commander of the third section all yelled out similar commands to their forces.
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"Give no quarter!"
As the soldiers of Berengar's army advanced through the city, they gunned down anyone who was remotely garbed in armor or equipped with a weapon. At the moment, Berengar was leading his forces through the city, where a crossbow bolt was fired out of a window and into his breastplate, where it left a mild dent. Enraged by the action, Bernegar commanded a nearby grenadier to lob his grenade through the window; after lighting the fuse, the grenadier did as instructed, and within seconds, the grenade went off, after which Berengar led his forces into the building to clear it completely.
When Berengar burst through the door, he witnessed a horrific scene; the crossbowman inside the building was utterly torn apart by the fearsome blast and shrapnel of the grenade, but so were what appeared to be the remains of a mother and her two daughters. Evidently, these civilians were hiding in the room where the Crossbowman had taken his position.
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Berengar could not prevent himself from sighing at the scene as he spoke his thoughts aloud while the rest of his soldiers cleared the building.
"Such is the price of war..."
Similar scenes could be seen throughout the city, as the archers and crossbowmen took refuge in buildings before firing upon the advancing enemy, which would result in a grenade or two being lobbed into the structure, killing every living thing inside. Though Berengar prohibited the deliberate targeting of civilians, he did not prevent his soldiers from clearing a room with the most effective methods available, even if it meant the death of innocents.
As such, the City was rapidly taken, and the city's defenders either fled to the Castle as the last defense or were killed in the streets. Berengar's casualties were extremely low due to the high degree of protection the hardened and quenched half-plate armor afforded to his soldiers. The cavalry suffered even less than the infantry as they were equipped with Three-quarters plate armor, and though dismounted, they took part in the siege as well.
Soon enough, the city was secured, and all that remained was to bring down the Castle and the noblemen within it cowering behind their walls. As such, the artillery was moved into the city and lined up in a manner to attack the walls of the Castle; within a few days, Schwaz would completely fall to Berengar, and he would show no mercy to the young Lord who acted as Regent. All of this could have been avoided if the foolish boy had just stayed within his city and had not bothered attacking Berengar's forces as he advanced onto Innsbruck. Ultimately someone had to pay the price for the lives lost in the ambush, and that was left to the Viscount's son and heir, who ruled in his stead while he was off committing treason.