Tyranny of Steel

Berengar gazed into the distance, where he saw the rear lines of the Austro-Granadan trench system. Since the First Division had arrived, they had seized most of the territory that would one day become known as Andalusia. Even the grand city of Cordoba was retaken in the name of Granada.

Since the territory had been reclaimed, the Austrians and their Granadan allies had begun fortifying their defenses with an intricate trench system, not unlike what would have been seen in the Great War of Berengar's past life.

There was simply one problem, a complete and total lack of machine guns. Because of this, Berengar's Army would have to rely heavily on artillery barrages and the mass employment of needle rifles.

Thus Berengar and his Second Division entered the Trenchline where they were swiftly dispatched to various sectors to enlarge the defensive perimeter. As Berengar entered into the muddy trenches, he was greeted by both of his Generals whom he had placed in the field.

Generals Arnulf and Adelbrand were quick to greet their King as they saw him and his soldiers enter the massive trench system dug into the Andalusian border. The two men immediately saluted their King and Reichsmarschall before welcoming him to the front line.

"Your Majesty, we were not expecting your arrival so soon! I must say it is good to have some reinforcements!"

Berengar returned their salute before gazing off into the distance. Far north of the front lines, an army was on the march, displaying multiple banners that Berengar did not recognize. Upon seeing their leader's interest, General Arnulf handed him a pair of binoculars to gaze at the oncoming forces. He caught the young monarch up to the situation at hand as he did so.

"The enemy approaches; they have split into a total of five armies consisting of nearly a hundred thousand men each. A prominent Iberian Nobleman leads each Army; the forces consist of Iberian Catholics, Crusaders, and foreign volunteers. Their objective is to crash against our lines of defense, hoping to break through our thinly spread forces.

With the arrival of the Second Division and the soldiers of the Bohemian Army, we will now have 140 of the 7.5cm FK 22 guns in place along our defensive perimeter. The rest of the artillery pieces will be from Bohemia and Granada, so a mixture of about 100 1lb Falconets and surplus 1417 12 lb FIeld Guns. I'm not sure how many rifled musketeers and arkebusiers we have, but it is definitely in the tens of thousands."

Berengar immediately began to speak of his plan as he spoke to his Generals with a voice filled with determination.

"My plan is simple, the bulk of our Army will hold the line until our Byzantine Allies arrive. At the same time, I will lead the Cavalry, Mounted Infantry, and a single Artillery Battery to pierce through the enemy lines and lay siege to their capital cities. Once I have their monarchs and their families in my hands, I will demand the Catholic Forces to withdraw from Granada and the land they have seized in this conflict or face the execution of the royal families."

Arnulf and Adelbrand looked at Berengar with a worried gaze; the plan was risky, to say the least; it could easily result in his capture or death. As the ever-loyal subjects of the King, Generals Adelbrand and Arnulf immediately began to protest Berengar's current strategy.

"Your Majesty, such action is reckless beyond measure; we should hold the ground we have until our reinforcements arrive and do our best to slaughter as many of the enemies as possible!"

Berengar immediately frowned upon hearing this before speaking about the reality the Austro-Granadan Alliance was about to face.

"Half a million men will be marching upon the Emirate of Granada, they will come in waves, and we lack the firepower to cut them all down effectively. Some of them will make it into these trenches, where you and your men will be forced to fight them in melee combat with your bayonets and your spades.

Allow me to clarify the situation further, you currently have 75,000 men at the most, spread out across the entire Granadan border! If I do not force the enemy to capitulate by some unconventional means, then we are in for a hell of a fight! I will not concede defeat simply because my enemies outnumber me!

If the Catholics do not surrender when I capture their royal families, I will slaughter them down to the last child! If they do not capitulate when I seize their capitals, I will massacre every living being who dwells within them. If they do not concede defeat when I have taken their fields and infrastructure, I will burn them to the ground!

If they do not kneel before me and wave the white flag when they die of disease and starvation in the trenches, I will rain poison gas upon their position! I will destroy this entire god-forsaken peninsula in a fit of fire and fury if I must!"

Adelbrand and Arnulf stood there in silence; this was not the usual behavior of King Berengar. Something must have happened to invoke his ire severely. Various ideas formed within their minds as they thought about what could have made Berengar so enraged. They would never guess that he was venting his frustration about Henrietta's confession onto the Iberian people.

Having thoroughly discussed their plans Berengar and his soldiers decided to rest in the trenches for the time being. Hours passed and eventually, the sun fell from the sky, in its place the clouds blocked out any form of illumination that would normally be provided by the moon and stars.

Seeing that they were completely lacking in illumination Berengar decided it was about time to use one of the inventions he had put in place before arriving in Granada, thus he pulled out an exciting new device. It was a short-barreled flare gun based on Leuchtpistole 34 from his previous life. The primary difference was that it was made entirely of steel since Berengar had yet to invent aluminum.

After opening the breech and sliding in a flare, he closed it before raising the flare pistol into the air and firing it into the sky. As his flare gun went off, so too did dozens of others in the hands of various Austrian troops, creating a bright illumination as if stars were falling from the sky.

By now, the advance force of the enemy Army was unknowingly camped within range of the Austrian Artillery. They gazed upon this sight with horror as they mistook the scene for angels falling from the heavens. Immediately, the Catholic soldiers dropped to their knees and began to make the cross sign as they said their prayers.

In the next moment, the thunderous echos of hundreds of 7.5cm FK 22 field guns resounded through the illuminated night sky; then, the shells landed on the targets. Tens of thousands of men were caught unaware as the Austrian munitions landed upon their encampments, blasting everything contained within to shreds.

Bodies exploded as the shells landed nearby, and limbs were hewn apart by the shrapnel. Blood splattered the dirt as the men accepted their fate in fear of further invoking the wrath of the heavens. In the distance from the advance force, the Castilian Commander gazed in horror at the scene. Angels fell from the sky, and death was wrought upon his men with their descent. There was no mistaking it, this was a sign of the apocalypse!

Frightened out of his wits, Duke Lorenzo de Benavente, who was tasked with leading the Castilian Army, trembled in trepidation as he witnessed the fantastic scene. His lips wavered as he struggled to find the words to issue a full retreat. After several moments he began to scream to his forces in a hysteric voice.

"Retreat! Angels are Falling! Retreat!"

He had no way of knowing that the disaster thrust upon his advance force was solely the doing of modern science, not superstitious belief. However, how could medieval noblemen know of the existance of flares or rifled breechloaders firing high explosive shells? He genuinely believed that Angels were falling from the sky above Granada and onto their men resulting in massive explosions.

The Castilian army, which consisted of many foreign volunteers, immediately abandoned their camp and supplies as they fled from the chaotic battle scene in the dead of night. Berengar, who was in the rearmost trench, gazed upon the stage with a wicked grin upon his face. Did these fools believe he would allow so many of them to flee alive?

With the blowing of a whistle, the Cavalry who were on standby immediately began to charge after the routing Catholics; for them, there would be no mercy on this night. Only those blessed by the heavens would manage to escape the Austrians' wrath!

Berengar himself hopped upon his mount and charged towards the direction of the cowardly Iberians. He supposed now was as good as a time as any to enact his plan for this war. With this in mind, ten thousand Cavalry of various forms, alongside Mounted Infantry and an Artillery Battery, marched off to fight as they chased down the frightened Iberians numbering in the tens of thousands. For Berengar, the War for Iberia had just begun!

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