Steel Empire

The Northern Territory Surrender

Berengar was currently sitting on the seat of power in Innsbruck, kneeling before him were the surviving Lords of Northern Tyrol. Having lost the regent and most of the power they could muster in their crushing attempt to recapture Innsbruck, these men had little support to defend against Berengar's invasion. Seeing how these men controlled the nearby provinces with Berengar's troops stationed in Innsbruck, they knew their days were predetermined and that Tyrol would soon fall into Berengar's hands. These relatively wise men had traveled to Innsbruck to formally cede the North to Berengar, and subsequently the Duke of Wilmar.

Berengar, who had a satisfied smile, was resting his face on his fist while listening to the terms of surrender shown by the Lords. At the head of the group was an old man with long white hair and a matching beard. He was a Lord who was the sworn subordinate of the Baron of Landeck and was the one who represented the interests of the dozen Northern Lords who had gathered to formally surrender to Berengar. The man remained standing with the stick and slowly said his words.

"Viscount Berengar, on behalf of the Lord of North Tyrol, we convey the terms of our surrender. First and foremost, we will acknowledge you as the ruling lord of Tyrol until Duke Wilmar defeats Count Lothar and decides whether his family or not. "

Berengar nodded his head and smiled gracefully at the old man

"I accept this condition, are there any more demands?"

The old master nodded as he continued to utter the terms made by the nobility in the region to negotiate their surrender.

"As you know, we have been subjected to sabotage on our food storage during this conflict; therefore, we will ask for help with respect to the crisis we now face on our land."

Berengar thought for a moment about this, while this year's harvest was incredible for his territory, it wasn't to the degree where he could feed the Visounties and the other Baronies, either, it would take some time before he received such an outcome, thus, he would be forced to purchase the wheat at his own expense and transfer it to these Lords. However, if he did not do such a thing, many innocent people would starve to death for the rest of the winter, and he would be directly responsible for it.

Therefore, he decided to bite the bullet and pay the fee to supply this region. After all, he waged war to gain territory and population to help his growing ambition. Losing a large portion of the land population that he would conquer due to starvation would greatly hinder his future progress. Therefore, Berengar nodded and agreed to this condition as well.

The older man nodded his head and spoke of his final condition.

"If you win this war and succeed in quelling the rebellion of Count Lothar, and the Duke decides to appoint Liutbert as his father's successor, we ask that you respect this arrangement and not act as a usurper! If you are really fighting for the sake of restoring Duke Wilmar's authority to Tyrol, then you will have no trouble accepting this condition!"

This put Berengar in a difficult position if he accepted this request, and he was not rewarded with the County of Tyrol for his efforts; he would wage this war in vain, but if he were to deny this condition, then he basically announced to the public that he was actually nothing more than a usurper, and that would further strengthen the remaining territory of Tyrol to continue opposing him, he said, that would be disastrous because he did not have enough people to besiege every town and small town in every Tyrol province. He relied on several major victories in key provinces to force his enemies to the negotiating table. They would be far more likely to do so if they believed Berengar was acting in the interests of Duke Wilmar rather than himself.

Berengar tapped his finger on the armrest of the chair where he sat several times before making a decision. After a moment of silence, Berengar finally voiced his decision about this condition.

"I accept... If that's it, then I hereby acknowledge the surrender of North Tyrol."

Seeing Berengar accept the third and final condition made many other nobles smile; to be honest, aside from the Baron, and the Viscount was directly under Count Lothar's followers, most of the lesser nobles who lived in Tyrol did not fully support Lothair's rebellion and simply followed orders. With Berengar accepting the last term of office, they felt that he was sincerely acting as a loyal supporter of the Duke rather than a man who used the current crisis to seize Tyrol County due to his own greed.

As a result of this surrender, Northern Tyrol was temporarily under Berengar's control. He planned to head immediately to Southen Tyrol and Trent to seize the rest of the County of Tyrol. For now, Berengar had to think of a way to convince Duke Wilmar to revoke the title of Prince of Tyrol of the von Habsburg-Innsbruck dynasty and appoint his own dynasty as future Prince of Tyrol. Little did he know that when Duke Wilmar finally heard the news that North Tyrol had surrendered to Berengar after more than a month of fighting, he would begin to strongly favor Berengar's abilities and would become much friendlier to the idea of making Berengar and the von Kufstein Dynasty Prince of Tyrol.

For now, Berengar was in the process of resupplying his troops and giving them a much-needed break; it would be at least a week before he would march on the South. Luckily for him, Linde had already implemented the conscription process, and soon, he would have reinforcements on his way; it would only take another two months for a few thousand more people to complete the basic training, he said, by then Berengar would be able to replace his losses, and even get a significant boost to his troop numbers.