Chapter 303: Forward March!

The light of dawn shone upon the southern border of Austria, within the alps of Tyrol, in the Viscounty of Trent, Berengar stood upon a hill observing his army that was gathered below. A total of 50,000 men, armed in the unique quenched and hardened high carbon blackened steel half-plate armor, stood in the valley overlooked by their King.

Under the King's orders, the army had been split into two components, the Italian Invasion Force, which consisted of 50,000 men, while the Swiss Invasion Force consisted of 25,000 men. Berengar intended to use this war as an excuse to annex the Swiss Confederation. As such, he left the invasion of the Swiss Confederation to a competent General among his ranks. 

At the moment, Berengar wore his signature gilded three quarter's plate armor with a cavalier style cloak made from dalmatian fur draped across his left shoulder. The troops gathered below gazed upon his immaculate visage as he began to give his speech.

"Men of Austria! The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire has engaged in attempted sabotage of our factories; in doing so, he has violated the rights bestowed upon us as vassals. Thus I, King Berengar, first of my name, have formally declared our independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

Today you stand as the Royal Army of Austria as we march into the lands of the oppressor who has sought to hamper our progress towards the new dawn! I will not lie to you, the road will be bloody, but in the end, our people shall be free to pursue their destiny, as a great power in Europe!

God with us!"

The moment Berengar said his battle cry while saluting the 50,000 men standing below his plateau, all they began to chant the words in unison, echoing into the dawn while returning the salute to their King.

"God with us! God with us! God with us!"

Such was the sight on the Austro-Italian border as Berengar's men prepared for an invasion into their enemy's homeland. Afterward, Berengar gave the order to his troops.

"Forward March!"

It had been some time since Berengar's Declaration of Independence reached the Emperor, and even longer since his pre-emptive strike on Venice and Genoa, as such war was inevitable. Berengar had mustered his forces at his enemy's border far quicker than the Italians could rally their own troops. 

Thus, the Austrians entered Italy without confrontation. As the soldiers began to march, Berengar mounted his trusty steed and soon found himself marching at the front of his army. The sight of 50,000 men entering northern Italy would be terrifying to anyone who witnessed such a thing.

Such a massive army was rare in Europe during this time frame, especially considering how well equipped and trained the Royal Austrian Army was. The Austrians marched for some time before they encountered any form of resistance. 

The first target of Berengar's campaign against the Holy Roman Empire would be the city of Verona; after all, it was the nearest major city to the Trent border. It took a few days for Berengar to reach the ancient town; however, when they did, they noticed that the walls were well manned. 

The local nobleman had been preparing for Berengar's arrival by fortifying the city and abandoning the towns and villages to Austrian cruelty, utterly unaware that Berengar did not need to ransack such locations.

After all, his logistical network spread to every corner of Austria. When considering the small distance between Trent and Verona, Berengar left the villagers in between the two cities untouched by the savagery of war. 

When the Royal Austrian Army arrived at the gates of Verona, they instantly began constructing a proper siege camp. With the introduction of Schmidt guns, Berengar chose to mount them on the trench lines that he established outside his base with the intent to effectively use the rapid-firing firearms, capable of utilizing canister shots to repel anyone suicidal enough to charge at his defenses. 

Aside from the Schmidt guns acting as defense of the encampment, 1417 12-pounder cannons were also placed under the protection of the trench line while raised in an elevation necessary to fire over it. With this elevation, the cannons would still be able to efficiently target the city's walls.

The beauty of the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon that Berengar had based his artillery off of was that it was versatile enough to act as both a field gun and a howitzer; it was more than capable enough to successfully fire arced shots at his enemy's defenses. 

However, Berengar did not immediately begin his bombardment; in fact, he wanted to wait until the next day to start his assault; after all, he had all the time in the world and would prefer that his soldiers received some proper rest before engaging in a siege. 

Instead, after the siege camp was effectively set up, Berengar began distributing rations, which as per usual, was a wheat porridge-based dish, it was filled with beef, onions, and mushrooms. It was not much, but it was enough to feed the soldiers and was relatively easy to prepare. 

After eating alongside his soldiers, Berengar retired to his tent, where he began to strip his armor before climbing into bed; as he did so, a particular memory flashed in his head. It was the moment he said goodbye to his two lovers and his children, as well as his younger sister. 

Berengar was clad in his armor as he hugged his young son Hans; though the boy was only three years old, he gazed at Berengar with an understanding expression. The only words the boy said to his father as he prepared to march to war were

"Be safe, father."

As for Helga, she was still too young to speak and was in Linde's arms, who once more had a worried expression on her face; as Berengar kissed his infant daughter on her forehead, Linde spoke the words on her mind.

"I will pray for you!"

For some reason, Berengar found this funny and chuckled lightly as he dragged the beautiful young woman into his arms. Linde was far from devout; however, if there was one time she prayed to the Lord God almighty with any sense of sincerity, it was when her man went off to war.  After he embraced his lover, he kissed her passionately before saying his departing words.

"I love you."

Linde responded in kind before letting go of Berengar's grasp.

"I love you too!"

With that said, Berengar turned to Henrietta, where he patted her on the head. The girl instantly hugged him. Over the past few years, she had begun to grow into a beautiful young adolescent girl. Berengar would soon have to think about finding her a fiance. However, such thoughts were interrupted as the girl began to cry into Berengar's steel-plated chest.

"Be safe, dearest brother!"

In response to this, Berengar hugged his little sister before replying to her.

"I promise I will return safe and sound."

After a few moments, Berengar forced himself out of Henrietta's grasp as he walked over to Honoria and grasped ahold of her hand before walking out the door of the building. He said his goodbyes to her as they approached the river port of Kufstein. Honoria had a far more critical job while Berengar was at war, leading her crew of salty wenches as they raided the Italian shipping vessels.

As such, Berengar kissed her goodbye at the entrance to her ship in front of all her crew members, Elfrun in particular looked away in disgust as she saw Honoria fall for such a playboy once more. After making out with the gorgeous young princess, Berengar said the exact words that he left Linde with.

"I Love you, Honoria."

In return, Honoria put on a smug smile before responding to Berengar's words with a snarky remark.

"I know!"

After saying that, Honoria hopped out of Berengar's arms and onto her sloop of war, where she immediately began to depart; as the ship started to sail down the river Inn Berengar called out to her one last time.

"Be careful!"

In response, Honoria smiled and blew a kiss to Berengar; it was only after the ship was out of sight that Berengar reunited with his army and departed for war. After reflecting upon the recent past, Berengar soon found himself asleep with a broad smile on his face. 

He would not awaken until the dawn of the next day, and when he did, it was to the sound of an artillery barrage going off. With such a thunderous noise acting as his alarm clock, Berengar knew that the Siege of Verona had begun.

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