Chapter 122: Defense of Kufstein

Theodoric was at the head of his armies; they had marched from Vienna to Kufstein for the last few weeks, while Berengar was engaging in defense of Innsbruck and the bloodbath which would be the result. Theodoric had just arrived in the Viscounty of Kufstein. They were currently in the Barony of Kitzbühel, where they planned to lay siege to Kitzbuhel before marching on the City of Kufstein. However, when they entered the region, they noticed strange forts in the pattern of stars protecting the local villages. As they got close, explosive shells had rained down upon their army battering away at their forces.

It did not take long before Theodoric and his forces began to panic, wasn't Kufstein supposed to be open for the taking? Something was amiss, but they could not give up because of this incident as such Theoderic began to rally his forces who were terrified by the mysterious weapons that bombarded their ranks. Theodoric immediately began to order a retreat from the village in which they had initially wanted to raid; despite having overwhelming numbers, they could not get close to the village without losing hundreds of men, and as such, Theodoric commanded his troops.

"Retreat! Fall back to Kufstein. Clearly, Kitzbühel is loyal to Berengar; we must regroup with Linde and her forces!"

Though this event was shocking, Theodoric could not fathom the possibility that Linde had betrayed him, and by extension her father, as such he figured it was the act of the local Baron who took his orders from Berengar.

Explosive shells fired out of 24 lb siege cannons exploded upon impact, the explosive blast and shrapnel tearing apart the bodies of the men affected by it. The men were terrified by such destructive power and rapidly retreated towards the direction of Kufstein. With advanced defenses, a single small star fortress could protect the vicinity of the local towns and villages from invaders quite efficiently. If the Army was willing to suffer more losses, they could have eventually taken the town and potentially even the fortress, but their main goal was to seize Kufstein and ransack it. As such they abandoned the idea to raid Kitzbühel and the surrounding regions, instead, they decided to place their faith in Linde.

After marching for several more hours, the Army, whose morale was greatly shaken by the previous events, arrived in the City of Kufstein, where to their surprise, the entire city was surrounded by such impressive fortifications that were similar to those which had wrought destruction upon their forces at the village they had just fled from. Luckily for them, the cannons did not fire upon sight, convincing Theodoric that his army of 5,000 men was truly welcome in the region. However, as he approached the City's gates, he noticed they remained shut; shortly after. He noticed the distinctive silky strawberry blonde hair of Linde fluttering in the wind on the ramparts above. She was dressed in a black and gold dress in which Berengar had gifted her that looked like it was from the Tudor Era, which had yet to transpire in this world. The sun glistened on Linde's porcelain skin and illuminated her peerless face creating the illusion of a Goddess protecting the city's gates.

Theodoric immediately felt his heart race as he gazed upon the heavenly beauty, and as such, he put on a smile as he requested entry into the city

"My dear Linde, would you please open the gates so that we may enforce your father's rule over this rebellious region?"

However, Linde's reaction to his words confused the old Viscount; she stared at him with a look of pity mixed with disdain, all while her angelic voice resounded in the air, commanding the defenders on the walls to unleash hell.

"Open fire!"

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The moment Viscount Theodoric heard those words spoken by the young beauty who he greatly desired, his heart sank into an abyss; in the next second, the thunder of a thousand muskets and dozens of 24 lb siege cannons went off, devastating the army of the 5,000 men. Linde quickly scurried off from the battlefield and allowed the men of the garrison to do their work.

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In his last moment, Theodric realized that he had been tricked, that Linde had betrayed her own father and lured him and his men to Kufstein so that the enemy could weaken Count Lothar's forces. He had completely fallen for the trap, and his Liege was entirely unaware of his daughter's betrayal. After realizing this, a musket ball pierced through the Viscount's bascinet and into his skull where it turned his brain into mush before exiting out the other side of the helmet.

With the advancement of the star fortress and the men on the walls protecting it, there was not a single area where the enemy could hide; they were quickly torn apart by musket balls, canister shots, and explosive shells. Their limbs littering the battlefield, alongside the remains of their corpses and the splattered meat paste of those unlucky enough to not leave an intact corpse behind.

Without their commander, the army quickly fell into chaos; some strayed towards the walls hoping they would be out of the firing line, others routed away and were blasted to bits by the cannons. Much like Berengar's defense of Innsbruck, the Siege of Kufstein, if it could even be referred to as such a thing, was quickly turned into a sea of death. There was nowhere for these men to run within the confines of the Viscounty of Kufstein; every village was protected by its own star fortress and a small garrison of men to defend it. To lay siege to the city of Kufstein, one would normally have to go through the path of these fortresses and first clear the way. However, if one were foolish enough to be lured into this trap, then they would have no choice but to fight their way out of the path of these forts.

As such, the men who remained and tried to mount some offense against the city of Kufstein were quickly torn apart by the many muskets which lined the walls. Because the garrisons were not Berengar's field armies, and as such, were not the cream of the crop, it took them longer to load their weapon, and as such, the slaughter was prolonged in comparison to the bloodbath at Innsbruck. As for the souls who had routed back the way which they came, they would face fierce resistance from the many forts along the way, most of which had previously been tolerant to their march into the trap that was set for them.

In the end, not a single soul who had entered Kufstein with the intent to invade was allowed to leave alive. Berengar had left the defense of the homeland up to the garrison commanders, and they did not disappoint the man. With the trap sprung and the enemy army annihilated, a quarter of Lothar's forces had died within Kufstein, a fact he would not become aware of for some time, one which would ultimately prove to be his undoing. For when Count Otto's forces finally made it out of the blizzard and into Vienna, a great battle would unfold, one in which Lothar would now be outnumbered due to the heavy losses he suffered here at Kufstein.