Chapter 220: The Brigand Act

The following day Berengar proclaimed the realm of Austria as he passed a controversial law into effect within the entirety of the domain. This law was known as the Brigand Act, and by the time the southern Lords realized it was nothing more than a ruse it would be too late.

"I, Count Berengar von Kufstein, Regent of the Duchy of Austria hereby declare the signing of the Brigand Act into law. Under this act, the soldiers of the Austrian Army, currently comprised of the various units from Tyrol, will be stationed throughout the Counties of Austria to ensure that the plethora of brigands, bandits, highwaymen, and other ruffians who have appeared within our realm since the destruction brought upon it by the Bavarian occupation shall be brought to justice!"

With that said, the Austrian Army, which was simply the Tyrolean Army rebranded under Berengar's regency, was immediately deployed to the regions most afflicted with brigands, that being the counties most likely to rebel against Berengar's transition to power.

Willehelm Krieger stared at the notice in his hands as he rode on horseback towards the region known as Kustenland. This region which was also known as the Austrian Littoral was critical to Berengar's plans to develop a Grand Navy.

Willehelm was a young man of common descent; his father was a man-at-arms like his father before him. He was one of the first men to join Berengar's Army; back during the days when it was considered a militia. He was one of the few members of the Officer class to come from common birth. Through his actions in Bernegar's various campaigns, he had risen to the rank of Captain and was currently leading an effort to eliminate out a group of Brigands who had been occupying a village.

The unit he was in command of was mounted infantry, and they had become at the forefront of the fight against the Brigands in southern Austria. Due to their rapid mobility and exceptional firepower, mounted infantry was one of the most deployed units to combat the ruffians who had been causing trouble for the south. As for the rest of the infantry, cavalry, and artillery units they occupied the cities, towns, and ports of southern Austria. Their total numbers were within the thousands. 

Willehelm and his company of soldiers approached the village and noticed that a crude barrier had been set up around it. The brigands who had taken over the town had been using it as their hideout. Seeing that they were still a safe distance away, the troops dismounted before proceeding on foot. 

At the moment, an extensive fog filled the air, making it very difficult to see a few yards in front of one's location. Thus they went unnoticed by the brigands who were currently enjoying the dawn by drinking, feasting, and abusing the women and girls of the village that they had occupied. The few men stationed in the poorly constructed watchtowers had no idea that a company of soldiers was advancing onto their position. 

The mounted infantry got on top of a hill overlooking the settlement, where a soldier took out his spyglass and surveyed the area; he quickly noticed that there were only half a dozen men on guard. As for the others, it was impossible to know their numbers. However, these ruffians were poorly equipped and could easily be handled. Thus the soldiers began to load their rifled muskets before approaching the palisade on the north side. 

After approaching the area, the sappers embedded with the company began to place TNT along with three positions, where they quickly fell back to a safe distance before detonating the explosive compound. A booming echo went off, and the north side of the barrier was turned into shrapnel, as such Willehelm gave the order to fire upon the dizzy and confused ruffians who acted as guards.

Immediately dozens of rifled muskets went off at the six targets, and the minie ball projectiles quickly penetrated through the flesh of the brigands. Large holes appeared in their chests and abdomens as blood sprayed in the air and onto the ground below.

Those who had fired their muskets quickly began to reload, and due to the use of the quick loading tubes they had been provided with, it was a much swifter process than it had been previously. As such, the company of soldiers was fully loaded in a matter of seconds.

Hearing the explosive blast and the sound of firearms being shot off, the brigands who hid within the settlement quickly began to flee from the buildings they were in; they knew their lives were in peril because the Austrian Army was here to deal with them, and they had no intention of sticking around to fight it out.

However, the moment they got into the open, Willehelm gave another order to his soldiers.

"pick your targets and fire at will!"

Thus while perched on the hill above, the company of soldiers fired their rifled muskets into the village below, targeting any man who wielded a weapon in their hands. Before long, those cowardly enough to flee the town were all gunned down, and Willehelm blew his whistle signaling the men to fix bayonets and charge into the settlement. 

While the Austrian soldiers charged into the village with bayonets affixed, they immediately came into contact with another wave of brigands, and unleashed their fire upon them, before running them through with their bayonets.

After a brief and bloody scene, most of the bandits were killed and the brigand leader revealed himself. He had a young woman as a hostage and held a blade to her throat as he began to make his demands to the Austrian soldiers who had encircled him.

"Not a step closer! I'm warning you; I will cut this bitches throat!"

Seeing the brigand so close to killing the hostage, Willehelm quickly gave a command to his forces.

"Halt!"

As the soldiers surrounded the man, Willehelm began to negotiate.

"Surrender willingly! Do not pointlessly shed any more blood!"

However, the man began to laugh and chastise Willehelm for his bold words.

"Surrender? Fuck off! You will just execute me! I want a horse and enough food and water for three days! if you don't hand it over to me, I will kill this cunt here, and now I swear to God!"

Seeing that the situation had turned sour, Willehelm immediately backed off and ordered his troops to fulfill the request.

"Do what he says! Quickly!"

However, as he did so, he gave a stern look to the soldier who rushed by and grabbed ahold of him before whispering in the man's ear.

"Bring my horse..."

The man quickly nodded, and as such ran off to the directions where the horses were hitched. Moments later the soldier returned with Willehelm's horse and handed it off to the Captain. Captain Willehelm immediately took control of the reins, and behind the cover of the horse, reached into the holster that lay on the horse's saddle and grabbed ahold of his flintlock pistol, where he quietly cocked the lever. 

After doing so, he brought the horse over to the brigand leader and handed the man the reins. Where the man began to laugh and mock Willehelm for his submissive attitude.

"Good! Good! Be a good little soldier..."

As the man hopped onto the horse, he quickly dragged the woman up into his lap, despite her kicking and screaming, and grinned at Captian Willehelm while doing so.

"You have helped me a lot; I'll make sure to free the lass after I have had fun with her."

Right before the man was could snap the reins and ride off into the dawn. The sound of gunfire echoed, and a musket ball pierced through the back of the brigand leader's skull and out the other side. His corpse immediately fell off the horse and onto the ground, where Captain Willehelm could be seen with a smoking pistol a few feet away. Luckily for him, his gun was rifled, and such a shot was easy enough to make without harming the women. 

Afterward, he gave another command.

"Clean up the village, and make sure any other brigands who are hiding in the area are killed on the spot; there is no mercy for such villains!"

With that said, the company of soldiers got to task and investigated the village, where they found a few more brigands hiding among the peasants. After discovering these men, they were arrested, lined up against the wall, and summarily executed. This was only one village, but Scenes like this displayed themselves throughout the entire southern portion of Austria. 

These actions were merely a cover Berengar used to hide his true intent. Only a tiny portion of the troops sent to the south was used for hunting down the brigands. In reality, Berengar needed less than a thousand men to accomplish these tasks.

Yet instead, he had sent thousands of soldiers into the southern Counties, where he began to house his troops within his enemies' borders.  The vast majority of the soldiers occupied the cities, towns, and ports where Berengar intended to use these forces to instantly squash any rebellion that might take place.

When the Counts of Southern Austria realized that Conrad was dead, they would already be fully occupied by a large armed force—preventing them from revolting against Berengar's rule. Of course, Berengar had other plans in mind for those who resisted his authority, and while the Brigand Act was underway, Berengar began to plot against those who would resist his ascension to power.