Tyranny of Steel

Captain Arnwald was a soldier who had been among Berengar's forces since the very beginning. He was present at the battle in Schwaz, where the enemy had ambushed Berengar's forces during Berengar's Campaign for Tyrol.

During that time He was only a private; despite this, he had survived in Berengar's various campaigns until now and eventually completed officer school. As a man of common birth, he had risen through the ranks of Berengar's meritocratic system and become a full-fledged captain.

At the moment, he led a Grenadier company, which was the highest honor among infantry officers. For the past few years, his company was tasked with protecting the Austrian borders on the edge of Bavaria.

Due to the peace agreement with Duke Dietger of Bavaria, there had been little more than a few skirmishes with brigands trying to enter Austria from the chaotic region of Bavaria. Aside from that, his job was mainly facilitating the temporary housing of German Refugees from the North.

However, overnight, his peaceful world was shattered, as the leaders of Austria declared their independence from the Holy Roman Empire and the formation of the Kingdom of Austria. Such a decree was a bold slap to the Emperor's face and the German Dukes.

As a grenadier company, his unit was fully mustered from their relaxed position and had begun shipping off to the Italian border. Though news had not yet arrived in the rest of the world about Austrian independence, King Berengar was not wasting time when it came to deploying his troops.

Every soldier he could get to the Swiss and Italian borders was an advantage in the upcoming days of the conflict. At the moment Arnwald clutched the dog tags in his hand with a downcast expression on his visage.

Though he had personally survived Berengar's wars, his comrade Bardo who fought alongside him for so many years had unfortunately perished in battle. As such, the Captain never forgot the loss of the man who had come to be his best friend during their tenure in Berengar's armed forces.

After nearly three years of peace, the Austrian armies were on the march again, and Arnwald prayed that he might live to see the future of his homeland and the glory he knew awaited it. If there was one comforting thought, it was the fact that King Berengar would once more be leading their armies into battle.

The man reflected on the past, and how at one point, he had fought side by side with a man who was now King; the very idea filled him with pride, as a warrior and as an Austrian. As he thought about such things Captain Arnwald marched alongside his soldiers to the songs of the marching band as they made their way from the Bavarian border to the Italian Alps.

At a marching speed of 3.4 miles per hour, it would take them roughly 82 hours to reach the Italian border. However, there would need to be stops along the way, so it would take them approximately a week to arrive at their destination.

By the time the Emperor received word of the Austrians Declaration of Independence, Berengar would already have an army had amassed at his enemy's borders. As for the Navy of Austria, the sly young King had already begun to sail his forces towards the Venetian coast. However, that was a story for another time.

As the soldiers marched towards Italy, they came across a small village within Austria; like most villages, this one was protected by a nearby garrison; upon seeing the men of Austria go to war, the women and children came out from their homes and laid flowers down in the street.

Despite none of the men in this unit being from this village, the people of Austria showed respect for its warriors who fought for their sovereignty. As such, the men in uniform gazed upon the villagers with solemn expressions.

None of them knew if they would survive the upcoming war, and thus they gazed upon many of the pretty young girls with lament in their hearts. Some of these soldiers were married with children, others were single, but these soldiers reflected on the lives they would live should they survive the remainder of the duration of their service.

Eventually, the company of grenadiers stopped outside of this village and made camp for the night. They were not the only unit marching towards the Italian border, and as such, Arnwald approached his superior officer, who was smoking some hemp in the form of a cigarette.

Berengar was not the only one who had formed a habit of calming himself with the properties of the miraculous flower; considering it did not cause a high effect, Berengar had begun processing a portion of his hemp flowers into cigarettes to distribute to his soldiers after all without tobacco, something would be needed to calm their nerves, and alcohol was forbidden in the field.

Berengar was a massive fan of hemp; it was a miraculous material that could make several sustainable products, such as paper. Due to the benefits of hemp Berengar had begun to grow more of the substance to make paper rather than cut down trees. As such, not only were the cigarettes filled with hemp, but they were rolled with hemp-based papers.

When Arnwald entered the command tent and saw the colonel smoking, he immediately saluted. However much to his surprise, the Colonel lacked any form of formality and merely handed Arnwald one of his cigarettes.

Upon seeing this Arnwald grabbed ahold of the hemp cigarette and lit it with a match before smoking the substance. As he did so, his nerves calmed, and he began to report to his commanding officer.

"Colonel, the troops, have finished setting up the camp and are preparing for rest, food has been distributed, and sentries are on watch. Any man who attempts to desert will be captured and put before a firing squad."

After hearing this, the Colonel nodded. He was an old Knight, from the days of Sieghard's rule, and under Berengar, had seen the transformation of medieval warfare into the form of semi-modern war. As such, he was not surprised in the slightest that Berengar would be bold enough to declare himself King of Austria.

Because Austria's military was among the largest in all of Europe and was undoubtedly the best armed and trained among them, there was no longer a need to be a part of the so-called Holy Roman Empire.

As such, the man took a deep puff before releasing it; after doing so, he sighed heavily as he spoke to Arnwald with a complicated expression.

"75,000 men marching to the drums of war, have you ever seen anything like it, Captain Arnwald?"

Arnwald was surprised to hear the Colonel speak in such a manner; as such, he contemplated on his words. Over the past year, Berengar's main focus in military matters was expanding the Navy, but that did not mean he neglected the army.

Austria could project 75,000 men onto the battlefield; however, that was not the total size of the army, as garrisons existed across every city and district within Austria, enough to defend their borders while the Grand Army was at war. After reflecting upon this Arnwald responded to the Colonel's question with another question.

"What do you think our chances of winning are?"

To this, the middle-aged man chuckled before responding with a confident glint in his steel-blue eyes.

"Unless that King of ours suddenly returns to the form of the sickly, foolish, and lazy brat he once was, I'd say the odds are heavily in our favor."

Arnwald had nearly forgotten the rumors that plagued Berengar in his youth; after all, the man had proven them wrong in so many ways, it was not something one usually thought of when they heard the name Berengar von Kufstein, not anymore, that is.

However, as a Knight in Sieghard's service, the Colonel seemed to know the reality of the situation and, as such, began to scoff as he reflected on the past.

"If you were to tell me five years ago that Berengar von Kufstein would rise to the position of King of Austria within my lifetime, I would assume you were possessed. How that boy managed to change his destiny in such a short period, I will never know."

Upon hearing this, Arnwald was naturally curious and thus asked the question on his mind.

"Were the old rumors true?"

In response to this, the Colonel silently nodded with a bitter expression on his face; he knew talking about such things in any detail would only bring him trouble, and as such, he no longer dwelled upon it; instead, he gave Arnwald his orders.

"Get some rest while you still can; this march of ours is about to be the last peaceful days you see for a while."

With that said, Arnwald saluted the Colonel before departing towards his tent; he spent the rest of his waking hours reflecting on what the Colonel had said; with this, the Captain's admiration for Berengar grew considerably more significant. After all, to go from a weak, petty, and indolent wastrel to the King of Austria in just a few years was beyond impressive; it was practically otherworldly.

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