Chapter 537: Mountain Insurgency

Captain Andreas Jaeger stood within the mountains of Lombardy. By his side were roughly a dozen "rebels" that he had recruited since the beginning of the military exercise two weeks prior. Currently, he was dressed in the newest equipment that had been produced because of the Kufstein chemistry departments' efforts with synthetic materials.

He wore a gorka style uniform made from a blend of nylon and polyester that was colored in the camouflaged pattern known as blumentarn. Over his uniform was an olive drab green plate carrier loosely based upon the design of the Defender 2, equipped with Russian forces from Berengar's past life. Inside this armored vest were ceramic plates capable of protecting its user from arrows, bolts, and bullets alike.

Atop this vest was a design of web gear based upon the smersh vest that Russian soldiers had used in the Austrian King's past life. Rather than wear a helmet, the Captain had painted his face in a woodland pattern, and wore a blumentarn pattern headband.

In his hands was a g-22 bolt-action rifle, which, when contrasted with his otherwise modern load-out, would give the viewer an anachronistic feeling. As for the rebels themselves, they had been outfitted in surplus splinter pattern camouflaged smocks, and uniforms that were previously issued to the Jaeger Corps before the introduction of the new uniforms.

Much like their surplus uniforms, these men also wielded a variety of weapons, ranging from the more modern needle rifles to the older muskets. For the sake of the operation, they had been equipped with non-lethal munitions, such as wax projectiles.

Currently, Andreas and his rebels were gathered outside of a local village, which was occupied by the Austrian Army for the sake of this military exercise. Though the people within were alerted by their King as to the nature of this occupation, tensions were far from low.

On the contrary, the proud people of Lombardy remembered quite well what the Austrian Army had done during its brutal campaign just a few years prior. Seeking to take advantage of this conflict between the occupying forces and the local villagers, Andreas had recruited several hot-headed youths from the village and dragged them out into the mountains to undergo combat training.

Weeks had passed since the beginning of this operation and by now, the "Rebel Forces" had grown from two dozen Jagdkommandos to a small army of two hundred men. Meanwhile, Heimerich was completely unaware of this reality, and instead focused his efforts on controlling the region. While the Austrians were maintaining peacekeeping operations, there was a growing insurgent force in their occupied territory, preparing to strike at this very moment.

On this fateful day, the rain was pouring, and the villagers huddled within their homes, seeking the warmth of the open fire within. The only people outside their homes were the Austrian soldiers, who maintained the peace. Dressed in their signature greatcoats, the black and gold clad Austrian Army proudly strode through the streets, ensuring that no rebels were present.

These men did not know that an armed force had gathered in the fields outside the village and were preparing to sabotage their food supply. With a silent wave of his hand, Andreas communicated his orders to his guerillas to sneak through the fertile fields and enter the vicinity of their target.

As for the special forces captain, he was the first to rush through the fields towards his target. Entirely aware that while his unit closed in on the objective, another Jagdkommando was leading his personal war band to distract the enemy.

Private Gercke Bÿderman exhaled a plume of smoke from his lungs as he finished his drag on his last cigarette. The rain poured down upon him and his unit as they stood in a small mountain village within Lombardy. He, like everyone else in this ragtag brigade, had only recently graduated from infantry school, and despite this, was thrust into a joint military exercise within the neighboring Kingdom of Lombardy.

While initially, he was excited to get some experience in the field, as the days passed, he only grew more tiresome with his appointment. Not a single instance of mock combat had occurred since this operation began, and he was not the only one who felt this way. The soldier next to him chuckled as he gazed upon the pouring rain, getting his face soaked in the process.

"God kill me now... If this is what our four years in the army are going to be like, then I'd rather get struck by lightning..."

Gercke chuckled when he heard this, however in the next moment, thunder crackled in the air, and a wax bullet slammed into the side of the soldier's steel helmet, knocking him to the ground. The man who was just complaining about the lack of action was the first to fall under the attack of the rebels.

Immediately, the youth cursed at his cruel fate. Just when things were about to get interesting, he had to be KIA. He could not believe the cruelty of the world. All he could do now was sit back and smoke as his comrades defended their position against the rebel attack.

The sound of combat echoed from the northern position. In doing so, it successfully drew the attention of the sentries gathered around the village. When Andreas saw this, he quickly gave the command to his soldiers to rush towards the objective.

"Go, now! The coast is clear!"

Without hesitation, the young rebels rushed towards the position of the storehouse, where they pulled out a few bottles of distilled spirit from their rucksacks. These bottles had camouflaged bandanas embedded in their openings, which were quickly lit by the guerillas who then chucked them into the storehouse.

The moment these Molotov cocktails hit their target, they lit it aflame. Quickly, the fire spread to the food stored within. By the time the Austrians were able to put out the fire, their food supply would be ashes. After succeeding in their mission, Andreas whistled, signalling his troops to withdraw.

The rebels quickly began to run away from the scene of their crime. As they did so, a squad of Austrian soldiers spotted them in their escape and charged after them. The Austrians quickly formed a firing line where they shot at the Lombardic Rebels. A few young men were struck in the back with the wax bullets, and fell down to the ground in agony. Though they weren't lethal, such bullets were still incredibly painful.

As far as this operation was concerned, these Rebels were KIA, and thus Andreas and the other guerillas did not spare them a second glance as they dashed through the fields, and attempted to escape the conflict. As for the group of guerillas who acted as a diversion, they had long since been overrun by most of the occupying forces, and, as a result, retreated from their position.

When the Austrian Officer who was tasked with leading the company in charge of this village saw his food stores lit aflame, he immediately threw his helmet onto the ground in a fit of fury and stomped on it before cursing out the nearest soldier.

"Just why wasn't this building protected? Our food is gone! What are we supposed to eat now?"

The soldier who was rebuked bowed his head in silence. He had nothing to say. After all, he was not responsible for monitoring the food supplies. Despite his internal complaints, ultimately this fool was still an officer, and though this was a military exercise, the chain of command was still in full effect. The officer in command continued to rant and rave for some time before he was finally able to come up with a coherent thought.

"Inform the other companies in our battalion, the enemy has finally showed themselves, and they are engaging in sabotage. We need to be prepared for their next attack!"

Having finally received a reasonable order, the soldier immediately saluted his officer and responded in the affirmative.

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, this entire sabotage mission was witnessed by Berengar and Bruno, who gazed upon the inflamed storehouse with varying expressions. A smug smile was on the King of Austria's lips as he made a snide remark towards his Lombardic counterpart.

"So, have you prepared those guldens yet?"

Bruno felt as if he had eaten an entire plate filled with human waste. He gazed over at his Austrian counterpart as he bit his bottom lip in consternation.

"You knew the Jagdkommandos would recruit and train my villagers all along, didn't you? Was this part of your plan the whole time?"

Berengar scoffed at this suggestion before denying the allegations.

"I did not order them to do such a thing. I simply suspected it was what they would do. After all, I trained my Jagdkommandos with the skills necessary to topple other governments. Forming a small insurgency is well within their capabilities.

Now we will see how Heimerich takes to the challenge presented to him. Only time will tell who is the winner of our little wager, but I have a feeling this is just the first of many attacks that will occur in the coming days..."