Chapter 115: Bringing Down the Castle Walls

The cannons continuously bombarded the walls of the Castle in Schwaz throughout the past few days. While Berengar's spy network was active in their acts of assassination and sabotage, the young Viscount was busy laying siege to the object of his vengeance. Not once had the Regent or the family of the Viscount sued for peace throughout the continuous bombardment, not that Berengar would accept such terms. Still, he found it strange that they had not even attempted to contact the besieging army.

Nevertheless, the defenders could do nothing but sit by and wait for the walls to come down, as Berengar's forces had superior range, and if they even tried to poke their heads above the ramparts, they would surely be shot dead. Having estimated the time it would take to bring down the walls, Berengar was now standing at the head of his army, which surrounded the castle, waiting for the moment when the walls came crashing down around their enemies. Just as predicted the large stone walls came crashing down, scattering dust and debris throughout the air, luckily Berengar and his forces were far enough away to be affected.

Finally, after a few days of bombardment, the Castle walls had fallen. With it, Berengar ordered his troops to advance; as such, the armies of Berengar advanced with their muskets loaded, and bayonets affixed where a similar scene to what occurred a few days prior in the city below unfolded. The musketeers advanced while lobbing grenades into the crowd of men at arms guarding the sections of the castle walls that had fallen; after the grenades had detonated, the firing lines opened fire upon the defenders, sending musket balls passing through their armor and wrecking their lines of defense. It was only after several volleys had been fired into the defenders, that Berenagar's forces rushed the survivors with their bayonets and swords.

Berengar, of course, was once more at the head of his troops, leading them into battle with his sword raised, adeptly dodging and parrying the attacks of the polearms and swords that came his way. The only real threat to his life would be the single-handed blunt weapons in which some of the enemies wielded as such; he made sure to stay on his toes as he thrust the long blade of his cavalry sword into the vital areas of his opponent's body or the gaps in their armor. It would appear that the armies before him were the most heavily equipped of the city defenders, and as such many of them wore brigandine or coat of plates. Thus it took substantial skill to move around their weapons and reap their lives.

The battlefield became a chaotic mess as bayonets clashed with spears, and gunshots were fired above the heads of the melee and into the ramparts whose sections still held archers and crossbowmen that attempted to repel the invaders. Blood spilled across the snowy ground as it stained the floor red, and bodies rapidly collapsed upon it. Having concentrated their fire on three sections of the castle walls as they had done before, Berengar's forces were invading from all sides, slowly pushing back the castle's defenders. Before long, they would be forced back to the Keep where the Viscount's family resided.

Berengar deflected an oncoming sword strike from a heavily armored man at arms. Quickly finding himself on the defensive against the superior swordsman Berengar was pushed back to his troops, who quickly came to his aid. As Berenger blocked yet another oncoming strike, two of his soldiers flanked the man-at-arms and simultaneously pierced through the gaps in his armor, one through the armpit and one through the aventail of his bascinet. Thus the man who had briefly caused Berengar some trouble was quickly cut down by his soldiers.

Before long, the Castle courtyard was overrun by the black and gold-clad forces of Berengar's army; all that remained was to burst down the door to the keep of the Castle; rather than get a battering ram Berengar ordered one of his 12 lb cannons to be brought forth, where it was rapidly loaded and fired at the mighty door of the keep which was blasted into smithereens by the overwhelming power of the solid cannonball.

Afterward, his troops rushed into the Castle. They began to gun down any survivors they came across, ultimately finding themselves in the great hall where the Regent and the Viscount's family was currently huddling together in fear. It turned out that the Regent was not a member of the Viscount's family as his children were too young to effectively rule, as such one of the Viscount's advisors was left in charge of the Viscounty of Schwaz and had ordered the attack on Berengar's camp in the night which had resulted in the city being besieged.

After finding the wife of the Viscount huddling together with her small children, Berengar found himself with a moral dilemma. Despite the fact that he had sworn to behead the Viscount's family and place their heads on pikes; his entire family was comprised of women and children who had nothing to do with the ambush; as such, he came to a decision. Berengar pointed to the man who he believed to be the Regent of Schwaz and addressed him.

"Are you the Regent?"

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the man nodded his head in fear, he did not know what fate awaited him, but as Regent, he should be afforded some protection; as such, he instantly admitted it. Before he could introduce himself, Berengar gave a command to his troops

"Have this man executed by firing squad for the public to see!"

Two soldiers saluted Berengar before following his orders

"Yes, my Lord!"

after saying that, they grabbed ahold of the regent and dragged him away, kicking and screaming. The man begged for a reprieve from Berengar's wrath, but neither he nor his soldiers were listening.

"I am the Regent; I am a man of noble birth! I am afforded ransom!"

Yet Berengar did not pay attention to a single word he said; as far as he was concerned, the man was guilty and deserved to pay with his life. After the regent was dragged away, Berengar sheathed his sword and approached the Viscount's family, where he began to address them.

"I am Viscount Berengar von Kufstein, your Liege has declared open rebellion against Duke Wilmar of Austria, and I am here to reclaim these lands in his stead. So long as you comply, I assure you no harm will come to you."

After witnessing how Berengar had disregarded proper etiquette and had the Regent dragged away to be executed, the wife of the Viscount did not dare believe him; nevertheless, there was nothing she could do about the situation thus, she bowed her head in respect, hoping that the young man before her would keep his word.

"Then we are under your care."

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A satisfied grin spread across Berengar's immaculate face as the Viscountess submitted before his rule; as such, Berengar gave a decree to his soldiers.

"Keep a Garrison of 800 men here to maintain order, and repair the damage. As of now, the Viscounty of Schwaz is hereby incorporated into my domain. There shall be no harm done to the civilians and prisoners so long as they do not resist, am I understood?"

In unison, the soldiers within the Great Hall all called out to Berengar

"Yes, my Lord!"

Thus Berengar had successfully captured the Viscount of Schwaz, where his army would rest for a few days before moving onto Innsbruck. This was the first major victory in his conquest of Tyrol, which would prove to be a long and bloody endeavor. Despite this small victory in the Austrian Alps, and the microcosm that was the war for Tyrol, countless battles waged across the German Kingdom that were far more devastating, unfortunately not every army had the discipline in which Berengar's was instilled with, as such tens of thousands of refugees from across the German-speaking region had begun to make their way to Kufstein in search of a better life.