Tyranny Of Steel

Chapter 196 – Battle In Kärnten

While Berengar and his forces were bogged down and slowly advancing through Salzburg due to the tactics employed by the Bavarians, Eckhard had a much easier time fighting the enemy, for they had not resorted to such underhanded tactics to defeat him. Thus at the moment, he was currently engaged in a field battle with the enemy. 

Eckhard had deployed Audegar's forces to protect the flanks of his infantry while they marched in their lines into engagement distance. As for his cavalry, they were waiting on standby for their orders to charge.

At the moment, Eckhard's 70 field guns were in position and had just begun their bombardment upon the enemy army, which was between 5,000 – 7,000 men strong. As the cannons echoed into the air and the explosive shells repeatedly pounded the enemy lines, the Bavarians did not panic. Instead, they marched faithfully into the fire and towards the Tyrolean ranks. 

As for Eckhard, he was at the front lines, with his sword in hand, which was also based upon the 1877 British Heavy Cavalry sword; it had become the basis for all swords wielded in the Tyrolean army. The blade balanced perfectly in his hands as he continued to march orderly by his troops. 

Arrows and bolts fell upon the marching soldiers in volleys, but the Tyroleans did not fear their sting, for their armor would protect their vitals. Because of how resilient their defenses were, they were undeterred by the minor flesh wounds which accumulated on their bodies as they continued to march at an orderly pace..

Only when the enemy was at a distance of roughly three hundred yards did Eckhard give his command to his line of infantry with the authoritative voice of a veteran Field Marshal Eckhard raised his sword and pointed it at the enemy as he bellowed for all his men to hear.

"Present Arms!"

The moment he did so, the soldiers who held their loaded rifled muskets lowered the weapons into a position where Eckhard once more gave a command. The front rank instantly knelt while the rear column pointed their rifled muskets above their heads.

"Take Aim!"

After doing so, his words were relayed to the thousands of infantry among his ranks by the various officers and NCOs within earshot. When he finally felt that the enemy was within an acceptable range, he gave the final command.

"Fire!"

In doing so, thousands of muskets went off in unison, at the distance of three hundred yards. Where they spit lead out of their flashing muzzles, accompanied by the roar of gunfire, which instantly echoed across the battlefield.

The moment the muskets went off, thousands of .58 caliber Minie ball projectiles went downrange. They crashed into their targets, shredding apart the steel body armor in which many of the enemy troops were equipped as if it were nothing more than wet toilet tissue. 

Blood splattered, and bones splintered as the lead projectiles made their way past the enemy's defenses and into their flesh, often coming out the other side of the steel armor. Instantly thousands of men collapsed to the ground, either gravely wounded or dead upon impact. 

The Bavarian vanguard was shattered in a moment, and the surviving veterans among their ranks began to panic. Yet this was not the end, as another artillery barrage began to pound the Bavarian ranks while the Tyroleans reloaded their weapons.

As for the troops from Vorarlberg, they were stunned by the sight of such destruction. The might in which the Tyroleans possessed was unfathomable, and it was at this moment they remembered that this was merely a third of the forces that Berengar had under his command. Such an army was more than capable of sweeping across Austria and reclaiming the land themselves; they felt as if they were merely present to witness the carnage. 

Blood-curdling screams filled the air alongside the thunder as the Tyrolean forces finished reloading before the same series of commands were ordered. However, at this point, the Bavarian commander could no longer withstand the sight of his troops routing and thus ordered his cavalry to charge. 

The heavily armored knights of Bavaria, alongside mounted men at arms, rushed towards the Tyrolean infantry with anticipation; thus far, none of Berengar's armies had been defeated in combat, with the cavalry charge, they truly believed they could change the tide of this battle.

Eckhard immediately noticed the cavalry beginning their attack and gave another order to his soldiers, which was quickly relayed in fashion by the numerous officers and NCOs among their ranks.

"Square formation!"

Upon ordering this command, the soldiers in Eckhard's army quickly began to form ranks in the form of a hollow square. They did so in rapid speed, proving that they had drilled this formation, time and again throughout the months of their training, to such proficiency that they were capable of doing so under the pressure of pursuing cavalry. 

After forming into squares, with their bayonets affixed, the Tyrolean infantry waited for the Cavalry approach until they were within 30 yards; only then would they fire for maximum damage. Despite the superior range of their rifled muskets over traditional smoothbore muskets, they still would be the most effective while firing by rank against the approaching cavalry at a close distance. 

While the Tyroleans formed such ranks, the relatively undisciplined Vorarlberg infantry quickly fled the oncoming cavalry and ran behind the massive squares that had appeared on the battlefield. Confused by the strange formation, the Bavarians charged straight into the line of fire, where after reaching the thirty-yard range, the individual commanders in charge of each formation began to give orders to fire based upon the nearest rank.

The moment they did so, the destructive power of the .58 caliber lead projectiles in the form of Minie balls shredded through the steel plate armor and barding of the knights and their horses, instantly dropping the cavalry bold enough to attack. Some riders survived as their horses fell before them, yet the Tyroleans' disciplined ranks were unphased, never once breaking formation.

To break ranks was to face certain death; these were the words their drill instructors had beaten into their heads throughout the many months of training the men had undergone to be fully recognized as soldiers. As such, the Tyroleans stood in their ranks, reloading before firing on the next cavalry attempted Cavalry charge, which was met with equally disastrous results.

All the while, Eckhard was within the hollow area of the formation alongside several officers; as a man with a sword, his usefulness in this formation was nothing more than being a commanding voice. Thus he spat out commands as the cavalry continued to charge at the formation, hoping to break through with superior numbers.

"Left flank fire!"

"Right, flank fire!"

"Center column fire!"

The veteran field marshal continued to declare his orders. While the men beneath his command followed them to the letter; before long, the cavalry was eliminated, with those few surviving members having fled the scene during the second attack. They could not believe that their heavily armored knights were useless in the face of the absurd Tyrolean weapons.

Seeing their knights being broken, the Bavarian forces were filled with trepidation. Yet, their worries were far from resolved, as the artillery brigade continued to batter their ranks, no matter how far they fled. However, suddenly the artillery battery stopped, and for a brief moment, they felt reprieve. That is before they noticed the Tyrolean Cavalry dashing down the hillside and towards their broken ranks! 

Berengar's rules were simple, so long as an enemy did not surrender, they were fair game and were to be given no quarter, even if they were running with their tail between their legs. Thus, the Tyrolean Cavalry, a mix of Cuirassiers, Demi-Lancers, and Hussars, rushed down the mountainside and into the routing enemies, showing no mercy to the fleeing Bavarians. 

The Bavarian Commander, who had taken part in the initial Bavarian cavalry charge, lay on the ground, with his dead horse lying on top of him, slowly crushing his internal organs. He bled from the mouth, yet this was not visible due to the helmet on his head obscuring such a scene. 

The battle was over, and though Eckhard ordered his troops to keep their wits about him, he and members of his line infantry approached the body trapped beneath the horse and lifted the helm from his head, revealing a horrifically scarred appearance of a man who had seen many battles. 

Eckhard gazed at the man with respect before asking him a question.

"Are you the Bavarian Commander?"

Struggling to breathe, the Bavarian commander coughed up blood before answering Eckhard

"Yes…"

Eckhard felt pity for the man and the situation he was in and, as such, decided to show mercy; thus, he asked the man the final question on his mind.

"Do you regret coming to Austria?"

The Bavarian Commander chuckled as he gurgled on his blood before spitting it out of his mouth and onto the ground.

"With every fiber of my being!"

with that said, Eckhard pulled out his pistol, cocked the hammer, and pulled the trigger, sending a musket ball into the commander's head, giving him a quick death. Afterward, he spoke the words on his mind aloud for all of his men to hear.

"May God have mercy on his soul…"

The first battle in Kärnten was an overwhelming Victory for the Tyroleans, and they had drastically cut down the numbers of the Bavarian forces within the region. It would appear that the war for Kärnten would be much smoother than the one in Salzburg.