Chapter 133: Storming the Gap

It was late into the fourth morning of the siege of Sterzing when the wall finally came crumbling down to the ground, yet unlike previous sieges where the musketeers would rush into the fray and open fire on the enemy before running them down with their bayonets in a great melee. The rifled musketeers fired their shots from the safety of the trenches, continuing to engage the defending archers who stood on the ramparts. As for the force that rushed the now giant gap in the wall, it was the levies. Poorly trained and equipped but fearful of the musketeers behind their ranks, the levies boldly charged the enemy garrison under the protective fire of the rifled musketeers from afar. As for the many more smoothbore musketeers, they continued to hold their position until it was time for them to advance.

Bodies fell from the ramparts as the archers revealed themselves to fire upon those who penetrated the now giant hole within the wall. Spears were thrust into the torsos of the levies from both sides. It was a levy vs. levy fight at the moment, as very few men at arms were left behind in Tyrol. Blood spilled across the floor, and bodies soon filled up the gap. Without using firearms to break the line of defense, it quickly turned into a stalemate as the enemy defenders plugged the hole funneling the levies in a few at a time.

When Berengar saw the stalemate begin to transpire, he raised a small flag and waved it, signaling the levies to pull back and the smoothbore musketeers to advance. The rifled musketeers fired from their defensive positions while the cannons bombarded the ramparts allowing the smoothbore musketeers to advance with sufficient covering fire. Eventually, the allied levies that supported Berengar's forces had withdrawn, allowing the musketeers to form a firing squad in the gap and rain a volley down upon the forces defending the hole. After the volley gunned down the front row of defenders, The grenadiers advanced and lobbed their grenades into the gap between the walls.

The explosion of several dozen grenades filled the gap where the explosive blast and the shrapnel tore the defenders to pieces. Afterward, the Grenadiers and Line infantry pulled back, allowing the levies to once more charge the now concussed and injured defenders. This time Berengar sat back in the camp and enjoyed the show; while the battle continued to wage on, Berengar spoke to the Lords next to him who had brought the levies.

"Your levies have provided more support than you realize; they are dealing quite a degree of damage to the enemy forces."

The Lords merely scoffed at Berengar's remark; he was obviously using the levies to wear the enemy down and save the lives of his own men. Of course, any general worth their salt would use such a tactic; after all, it cost a great sum to arm, train, and supply Berengar's forces. He would preserve their lives as best as possible, and until now, Berengar still considered the levies as allied forces, not belonging to his own authority; as such, he did not care for their lives like he did that of his own men.

The course of the battle continued in such a manner for quite some time. Every time the battle reached a stalemate, the grenadiers and line infantry would break it, allowing the allied levies to continue their advance. Unlike previous sieges where he had three entrances to divert the enemies attention to, allowing him to advance into the city rapidly, he now had to fight several thousand defenders in one single gap as such; the battle waged well into the night before Berengar pulled back his forces to the siege camp.

Under the continuous bombardment of Berengar's artillery, the battle for the city had reached a stalemate. In total, over a thousand men had perished this day, but for Berengar, even his allied levies suffered significantly fewer casualties than the enemy; after all, they were protected by covering fire and gained significant ground against the enemy forces who filled the gap between the walls. Berengar's goal was to repeat this tactic the following day; if the city's defenders still had the will to fight, that was.

Berengar, of course, was suspecting the city's garrison to surrender; the levies who were raised to fight against Berengar had suffered significant casualties both in the field battle before and throughout the duration of the siege. Unless they all wished to die fighting, there would be some form of defection that would transpire this night.

As Berengar had guessed, several hundred defenders opened the gates to the city and raised the white flag after a couple of hours. Under cover of darkness, Berengar's troops were ordered to march into the city and restrain the defenders. Though this action had been done without the knowledge of the local lord, ultimately, the defenders felt the price to pay to secure their Lord's power was too great. Thus Berengar was welcomed in by the defenders who threw their weapons away and saluted him and his army with respect reserved for Conquering Heroes. While the Lord slept in ignorance throughout the night in his Castle, the city was swiftly secured by Berengar and his army.

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The surrendered levies were treated as prisoners of war and were afforded proper lodgings and humane treatment by Berengar's army, which thoroughly surprised the Lords beneath his command. One of them decided to inquire about Berengar's behavior as they rode upon their horse's backs throughout the city, which was being secured by their troops.

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"Why are you treating the defenders with such dignity?"

Berengar looked ahead into the darkness of the city and saw that the enemy forces were being tied up and lead to containment; now that they had surrendered, he would make sure no harm befell them. With a smile on his face, he replied to the Lord's inquiry.

"They have surrendered and voluntarily disarmed themselves; they pose no threat and clearly no hostile intentions. As long as they do not pose a danger to myself or my troops, I will treat them with the dignity that soldiers should be afforded. After all, their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds should be commended, for they lasted far longer against my forces than I had initially estimated. Only a savage would cut down a defenseless man!"

Berengar may be willing to give no quarter to enemies who had begun to flee in the face of his overwhelming might. Still, to a force who had properly surrendered and thrown themself at his mercy, only their leaders would pay the price for rising against him. The average soldier who was following orders could not be blamed for the actions of his superiors. This was how a civilized man conducted himself in the art of war.

After saying his piece the Lords who allied themselves with Berengar began to see him in a new light, he was not as ruthless of a conqueror as they had initially thought. Instead, he had some insights into warfare that could change the way in which such a thing was conducted within the civilized world. To the feudal Lords of a barbaric era, this idea of treating the disarmed combatants of the enemy with dignity was a new and bold concept, one which Berengar and his forces would become renowned for as he waged his many wars of conquest.