Chapter 137: Invasion of Trent

The Invasion of Trent was swift and sudden; the three-prong assault on Trent, Riva, and Pergine Valsugana caught the Prince-Bishop completely off guard. Berengar gave no warning when he invaded Trent; as far as he was concerned, he was already at war with the region when they decided to supply his enemies. Due to the lack of notice, the Prince Bishop did not have time to raise an army in defense, not even the ability to form levies.

As such, he was currently surrounded in the City of Trent by Berengar's armies; as for the other key areas of assault, they could hardly even be considered cities; if anything, they were towns with a single castle. Both Eckhard and Arnulf would be able to take their regions and march on the final area with a significant population before Beregnar had even completed his siege of Trent.

This was a lightning war fought with limited time. Berengar had to capture the key regions before Lothar was defeated in Vienna. As such, he had ordered a constant bombardment of the enemy fortifications. While a siege camp was constructed, it was rushed into production, as Berengar did not fear the Bishops armies, who were all hiding cowardly behind the large city walls. It was not as if it mattered though, Berengar concentrated the artillery bombardments on a specific section of the wall and felt he could bring it down very quickly.

As usual, Berengar's forces had fired their muskets upon the defenders on the ramparts; those who survived the initial attack began to realize that by looking over the merlons, they were asking for death. As such, the entirety of the bombardment was rather peaceful, with only a few shots being taken every so often whenever a defender was foolish enough to stick his head out from under the protective cover.

...

The Prince-Bishop of Trent was livid, his territory was under siege from Berengar the Accursed and his demonic hordes; he was completely and utterly trapped within the confines of his territory. The Bishop's name was Ludger, and he could not think of a worse fate than being trapped inside his city walls waiting for Berengar to bring the wrath of Satan upon him. Obviously, he was not one of the Bishops within the Catholic Church who supported Berengar's ideals and had used much of his power and authority to demonize the young Viscount publically.

Ludger was in the middle of screaming at his Garrison's commander, who was heavily armored in the equipment a proper man at arms would have from the era.

"What do you mean the men on the ramparts do not have the ability to return fire? Just what kind of weapons is the enemy using?"

The commander of the garrison was utterly frightened; he had seen too many of his men gunned down by the thunderous weapons in which the enemy forces wielded. Though he recognized the possibility of the arms being used as hand cannons, he could not believe the range they were capable of. It was beyond imagination to suggest such a weapon was capable of engaging targets at over 400 yards.

"I believe they are hand cannons, but your Lordship, I do not understand how these weapons are capable of such range; they have a greater range of effect than even our steel crossbows!"

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The Prince-Bishop of Trent could only gnash his teeth in rage as he continued to hear the echoing thunder of the 12 lb cannons wreaking havoc upon his walls. Fearing the worst, he asked the question on his mind.

"What about the walls? Will they withstand the fire of the cannons?"

The garrison commander shook his head with a worrisome expression on his face when he told the truth.

"They will at most last another day, your Lordship please, let me get you out of the city, you can take refuge in the Vatican until a force can be mustered to take back your land!"

Ludger was outraged at the idea of fleeing his lands and leaving it in control of Berengar the Accursed, but his garrison commander was right; if he stayed here, the Heretic might have him executed as a display of force against the Church. Ludger completely refused to die at the command of Berengar, and he also needed to supply the Vatican with intel he had gathered about Berengar's weapons. Whether they believed him or not, the hand cannons in Berengar's hands were far more effective than anything else seen at the time and were a great threat to any army of the era.

As such, Ludger sighed heavily before accepting the Commander's suggestion

"Fine... We will do it your way; make sure you and your men buy me some time!"

With those words spoken, the Garrison commander nodded his head and saluted to the Prince-Bishop.

"We will die defending this holy land from the heathens at our gates!"

With that said, a plan was put into place for the Pince Bishop of Trent to abscond into the night and flee towards the Vatican. Hopefully, Berengar's forces would be unable to capture him.

...

Night fell, and Berengar's bombardment continued into the night; to provide a distraction for the Prince-Bishop's escape, the enemy defenders sallied out of the sally port and rushed into Berengar's trench line. Ultimately the enemy was spotted before they were even 250 yards away from the camp; as such, Berengar and his men awoke from the sound of the watchtower's bell and rushed into their equipment. This time they would not be foolish enough to leave their armor behind; as such, it took them a few minutes to get fully equipped.

During this time, the muskets from the sentries within the trenches had been going off echoing into the night as the minie ball and musket ball projectiles shredded the oncoming attackers. Though the trenches had been rushed, there was still barbed wire in place and earthen fortifications designed to protect the soldiers within the trenches.

By the time Berengar arrived at the scene, a pile of corpses stacked atop the trenches adding a secondary barrier for the defenders to get through, the zealotry in which they had attacked the defensive trench line was something Berengar had not witnessed in quite some time. Truly religion was a powerful force that could compel men to disregard their lives, but Berengar did not know why they decided to act this way. Berengar disregarded the thought as he rushed into the trenches with a musket that had its bayonet affixed in hand and aimed the weapon at the oncoming attackers.

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After getting a target in sight, he squeezed the trigger of the firearm, causing the hammer which contained the flint to fall onto the pan below and spark, thus igniting the black powder contained within the pan, which propelled the minie ball down range and into the chest of a man at arms no more than 10 feet in front of him. The bullet-like projectile easily pierced through the man's coat of plates creating a massive hole in his chest where his heart used to lie intact. Not allowing time for the soldiers to rush forward, Berngar quickly reloaded his musket alongside his soldiers as fast as he could.

The enemy soldiers rushed into the Trench line but were caught in barbed wire, which tangled around their armor and caught them in place long enough for the defenders to reload and fire into the ensnared enemy forces. Blood splattered across the trench line as limbs were torn apart by the impact, and gaping holes filled the enemy's abdomens and chests. Eventually, enough bodies piled up over the barbed wire allowing the enemy to get into the trench line where Berengar and his forces began to fight within the trenches with swords, bayonets, spears, and clubs.

The trench warfare became a chaotic field as soldiers from Berengar's army clashed with the men at arms, using every method they could think of to defeat their enemy. However, as time went on, it became increasingly apparent that the enemy forces were outnumbered and out-armed. The enemy forces suffered heavy casualties, as the bayonets of Berengar's army were the perfect size and length to pierce through the gaps in the enemy armor. Seeing as how most of them wore mail aventails as a form of throat defense, Berengar's soldiers quickly made that the target of their bayonet thrusts which easily pierced through the interlocked iron rings and into the throats of their opponents, ending their lives.

As for Berengar's forces, aside from the levies, each was equipped with sufficient steel plate protection for their torso, thighs, neck, and head. Aside from the face or the armpits, it would prove virtually impossible to deal a lethal blow to his forces with a piercing or slashing weapon. Thus, most of Berengar's fatalities resulted from blunt trauma to the head, but this was a minimal number.

By dawn, the Sun had risen, and Berengar was victorious. However, it would only be after Berengar had seized the city that he would realize that the Prince-Bishop had fled his lands, leaving them ripe for the taking. Despite defeating the sallying forces, a few hundred men were still defending behind the walls who refused to surrender the city. As such, the Siege would go on for several more days while Berengar's allies fought their own battles for the Prince-Bishopric of Trent.