Steel Empire

Flashes War

The next day Berengar and his army packed their supplies and began marching, an army of 30,000 men, composed of three divisions of ten thousand men each. Deployed to fight this campaign that Berengar had decided to name the Lightning War. The division was divided into four brigades in total, two infantry, one cavalry, and one artillery. 

The Artillery Brigade contains approximately 3,000-4,000 people inside and a total of up to 70 field guns each. The amount of explosive firepower possessed by a single Artillery Brigade was enough to bring down an armed force that dared to stand in its way. Especially if equipped with an Infantry Brigade.

As for the Infantry Brigade, each brigade had 3,000-5,000 people, and these units consisted of various units, ranging from the Infantry Line, Grenadier, Jaeger, and even the Light Infantry. Obviously, there are other units in it, like Medic and Sappers. It was a well-oiled machine designed with one purpose, absolute annihilation against the enemy.

The Cavalry Brigade, on the other hand, was much smaller in size. They were filled with 2,000 people and their horses per brigade. As for the units in this Brigade, there are also those that are divided into several groups, such as Cuirassier, Demi-Lancers, and Hussars. There were also Dragoons and Mounted Infantry units, but the numbers were smaller, as the purpose was more specialized.

The expenditure that Berengar had to pay not only to train these troops but also maintain them was significant. If one were to calculate the cost he would incur to get those horses to ride; that would be enough to bankrupt most of the counties of the European world. However, Berengar was extremely wealthy after the monumental success of his diverse economy and was able to bear such costs.

This great power was followed by the medieval army of Vorarlberg County, all of whom were utterly shocked by the size of Berengar's army, and the equipment they used; most likely there was no other army in this world that was as big as his. They felt unable when gazing at the blackened steel plate and the luxurious clothes underneath that were used by the Tyrolean troops.

The plan was for the two divisions to follow Berengar to Salzburg, where he would meet the Bavarians in the field and retake the castles and towns they had captured. With such a large force that contained an unreasonable level of firepower. Berengar could easily overwhelm the entire County in a matter of weeks, at most a month. 

The other troops will be led by Eckhard and Count Audegar and will consist of one of Berengar's divisions, supported by 5,000 Audegar soldiers. They would attack Carinthia County, where Count Otto and his 10,000 men would reinforce them. They would launch attacks from both sides of the County and meet in the middle after expelling the Bavarians from the region.

After the two territories were secured, Berengar would march on Lower Austria and Vienna, and Eckhard and his allies would march on upper Austria. From there, any Bavarians who remained in other counties would be quickly defeated, thus restoring Austrian control over their territories.

This was an invasion plan, and Berengar felt he had enough troops and weapons to complete it. So he meets Eckhard and Audegar at a crossroads that will take them in different directions. The three men sat on the horse as Berengar said goodbye.

"The next time I see you two, I'll take Vienna! I look forward to the day we all meet again!"

Eckhard nodded at Berengar before saluting one last time.

"Your Majesty, I will do as you command to the best of my ability!"

Berengar nodded with a smile on his face before responding to Eckhard's claim.

"I'm sure you won't disappoint me. See you soon, Ser Eckhard, Count Audegar."

After saying such a thing, Berengar and Eckhard's forces parted ways. Where Berengar slowly walked into County Salzburg. By the time he arrived in the region, he had noticed that the villages he passed through had all been looted, many of them abandoned entirely. 

The destruction brought to Austrian soil was horrific, the bodies of men, women, and children were sculpted, and many of the women appear to have been used thoroughly by the men of the Bavarian army before their deaths. 

Berengar and his troops finally made it through the border town and headed for the first Castle on their way, which was supposed to protect the villagers; it was currently being besieged by the Bavarian Army, who had yet to realize Berengar and his own army were approaching. Therefore, Berengar directly gave orders to his troops.

Berengar had two divisions under his command; he currently had a 140 12-pound field gun in his ranks that was quickly deployed and loaded. Before long, tens of thousands of infantry loaded their rifles and formed a line. 

By the time they were fully in formation, the Bavarians had just realized their approach and began to panic; such a large army had crossed the Tyrolean border and encountered them during the siege, he said, it was as if they found a poisonous snake while they were urinating in the forest.

They did not know how to react to the situation before them. However, seeing the army hundreds of meters away, with over a hundred cannons loaded quickly, many of the people instantly began to pray to God for their safety. 

These prayers were interrupted as the rumbling echoes of 140 cannons fired at once filled the air as bullets fell from the sky and struck the besieging soldiers. Huge rows of infantry and grenade ranks advanced towards their effective range so that they could also defeat the enemy, while jaegers shot from a distance of roughly eight hundred meters.

Thousands of besieging Bavarians were torn apart by explosions and shrapnel from cannon fire, only to be mercilessly shot in the distance by rifles. This besieging force was not large and only held around 5,000 people; it did not take more than a few cannon and rifle shots to crush the siege camp and its troops mercilessly instantly. 

The limbs were scattered on the ground, and blood welled up in the grass as the defenders of the Castle stared in horror at the scene that had just happened. Such incredible strength was unimaginable, and Berengar did not even need to unleash his cavalry. 

The Lord of the Castle sitting on top of his castle saw the simple yet dignified banner of the von Kufstein family and thanked God for his salvation; he was in crisis because he did not know how he could defend his territory against the besiegers effectively. However, in a time of need, the Tyroleans finally arrived from outside the borders and freed him and his people from the injustice of the Bavarian occupation of Salzburg. 

There is still much territory in Salzburg that survives, hoping for a savior; the same can be said throughout Austria; though it has been months since the Bavarian invasion, it is not, they could not tear down the enemy walls as fast as Berengar could. Thus they were forced to surround every Castle and City slowly. The Bavarian invasion of Austria was a protracted process meant to complete months, if not years.

Now that Berengar had arrived with 140 cannons, he would be able to tear down the city wall within a day, it was an army the world had never seen before, he said, and Berengar deliberately waited until he had three divisions before marching to war, because he wanted his campaign to be another remarkable victory.

With strength in his hands, a Duke would not be able to defeat him in battle. To fight against the hundreds of Berengar cannons and the thousands of infantry equipped with most rifles, there needed to be an army 2-3 times larger than him, and only the Kingdom could exert such force. 

Having defeated a besieging force of 5,000 men was as easy as mowing the lawn, Berengar did not bother to approach the gates of the Castle; there were still many more battles like this that needed to be done, and therefore, Berengar did not bother to approach the gates of the Castle, he quickly gave another order to his troops.

"Gather back together, and get ready to march!"

After spending a lot of time to return to the marching formation, the army once again began to set out for its destination; they intended to fight until they had liberated the Capital of Salzburg, which was currently under siege, wolfgang's brother valiantly defended the region, while the man who was supposed to be the current Count in the area hid inside the land of his wife's family.

Because of this, Berengar would face many small battles like this on his way to liberating the capital. They all ended quickly and just as brutally. Wherever his army marched, they reaped thousands of Bavarian lives. Any fool who put themselves between him, and the main Bavarian army in County Salzburg, would be quickly shot dead by Berengar's forces. 

This War of Lightning or Blitzkrieg as Berengar has dubbed it, named after the German strategy in the early days of World War II from his past life, very influential in cutting off enemies; Berengar not only practiced this tactic in Salzburg, but Eckhard also commanded his troops in Carinthia. 

Berengar did not exaggerate in the slightest when he declared in his speech that he and his men would go home before the leaves fell from the trees. Although it was a reference to Kaiser Wilhelm II's speech to his troops before the start of the Great War in his previous life, he was fully earnest with those words and knew he was fully capable of making it happen. Thus, the war continued, and Berengar would soon become the power behind the Austrian throne.