Tyranny of Steel

Eckhard stood at the front of a formation of soldiers which belonged to the recently formed state of Prussia. These men were mere peasants a few months ago, and yet now they were armed and trained to the same standards as the Kingdom of Austria's Armed Forces. 

Even though Berengar had granted an exemption to the Grand Duchy of Poland from participating in the ongoing unification wars, that did not mean that the fledgling state was lacking in military matters. Quite the contrary, as the greatest of Berengar's generals, Eckhard had ensured that a proper Army was established. 

Especially when one needed to consider the conspiracies that surrounded him by the local lords who clung to an ancient past. Feudalism was dead, and Berengar had killed it. Yet these pompous fools continued to defy the new order, and thus, Eckhard was forced to act ruthlessly in his attempts to squash dissent. 

Though he had an engagement to the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg, it was becoming clear to the aging General that his fiancee and her father were a couple of scheming devils. Thus, he had resorted to force to show an example of what happens to those who defy the crown of Austria. 

With a grim expression, Eckhard addressed the Brigade of soldiers beneath his command. Currently, he only had 5,000 men, but with his wits and overwhelming advantage in military technology, it would be enough to bring the Margrave of Brandenburg to heel..

"A few months ago, you were mere serfs, tending to the lands of your masters. However, with Austria's conquests of these lands, you were liberated from your servitude to your ungrateful masters. Despite the age of feudalism ending, these nobles refuse to surrender the absurd privileges they have enjoyed for the past few generations. 

Thus, as men of the new era, it has come to us to force these privileged fools into the submission of the Austrian Crown! Many of you may be in fear for your lives. After all, we are outnumbered. However, you have been trained for this! You wield weapons that the enemy has never even seen before! Go forth, men of Prussia, and conquer your former masters!"

The soldiers in the field immediately roared their battle-cry in unison.

"For King, and fatherland!"

With this said, the soldiers of the Prussian Army loaded their weapons and waited for the hostile field army to arrive. 

---

On the other side of the field was the army, which belonged to the Margrave of Brandenburg. The proud noble led his knights and men at arms from the rear. Though many realms had adapted to the weapons and tactics employed by the Kingdom of Austria and its South German Confederation, there were still those stuck in the old ways, refusing to believe the authority that the Knights once wielded on the field of battle had ended. 

Johannes von Hohenzollern was one of these men. He was so confident in his victory over the Austrian Knight, who had been granted the position of Grand Duke from his upstart master, that the Margrave had even brought his daughter to watch the battle unfold. 

A cruel smirk was on the face of Martha as she shooed away the heat with a hand fan while sitting on horseback. 

"Has he gone senile? The so-called Great Field Marshal of Austria has only brought 5,000 men to combat our forces? We easily outnumber him by five times as many soldiers! I can't believe you agreed to wed me off to such a fool!"

Johannes merely chuckled at his daughter's analysis. With a confident expression on his face, he boldly declared victory before the battle had even begun.

"I suppose once he is defeated, the old man will finally realize that he and his King have no control over our lands. Stay here, and watch as your father defeats the pitiful army of levies that your fiancee has mustered."

After saying these words, the man snapped the reins of his horse and rode off to the front of the formation. Once the Margrave was in front of his knights, he gave a rousing speech to the men who followed him into battle. 

"Knights of Brandenburg! These fools think that because they have annexed the Teutonic State that they have a right to our lands. This is nonsense. Our ancestors have built this mighty realm, and it is our birthright to carry on their legacy and rule over its people! Ride out and achieve your victory over these foreigners from the South!"

Upon saying this the Margrave lowered the visor to his great bascinet before charging off on his horse with a sword in hand. Immediately the army of knights, and men at arms, followed in pursuit, believing by sheer volume of numbers they would overwhelm the enemy. 

---

When Eckhard gazed into the distance through his binoculars and witnessed this mindless charge, he merely shook his head before raising his hand and ordering the artillery battalion to let loose a barrage upon the enemy army.

"Open fire!"

The moment these words were spoken, the Artillery crews nodded their heads, before loading the shells into their guns. Once the shells were loaded into the guns, and the horizontal sliding blocks were closed, the gunner in charge of firing the weapon pulled the lanyard, immediately detonating the projectile and sending it down range onto the charging knights. 

Before the Knights could even get close, explosions detonated among their ranks, killing men, and beat alike. The Margrave looked back at his ranks to witness from a single barrage, hundreds of his men lie dead.

Before he could return his focus, another barrage of 18 shells landed upon their ranks and blasted more of his knights to bits. He could hardly believe his eyes. Though he had heard rumors of the effectiveness of Austrian weapons, he had never believed the stories to be true until now. 

Despite this, he was undeterred. After all, he still had an overwhelming numerical advantage, thus he raised his sword in the air and compelled his forces to charge through the fire and into the fray. 

"Charge!"

Though the Knights and Men at arms that composed the Margrave's ranks were fearful, they ultimately mustered their courage and charged forth towards the Prussian Army. When Eckhard witness this, he sighed heavily in defeat, before motioning for his secret weapons to be unleashed. 

"Bring out the Schmidt guns!"

When this order was given, the machine gun crews scrambled to set up their weapons into position, in his entire Brigade, Eckhard only had a single battery of these devastating weapons, and though he had never witnessed their use in battle, he was far from eager to see them employed. Still, despite his hesitation, it was completely necessary to unleash this mighty weapon upon his foes. 

The moment the enemy entered within firing range, the men who operated the Schmidt guns cranked their weapons and, in doing so, fired off hundreds of rounds a minute. The repeated echo of gunfire was something that had never been witnessed before in these lands. 

The first round of bullets struck the margrave in the chest, with at least seven projectiles piercing through his thick steel breastplate as if it were made of butter, and splashing his blood out the other side. The mount beneath him immediately became frightened and bucked its dying rider off its back before attempting to flee the rapid gunfire. 

When Martha witnessed her father's situation from afar, she gasped in horror and covered her mouth in shock. However, the dread that she felt in that moment was only exemplified when the six Schmidt guns continued to fire thousands of rounds downrange towards the Army of Brandenburg in a chorus of thunder. 

It was not only the Machine guns that were being fired at the oncoming forces, every soldier within Eckhard's ranks who wielded a rifle stood firm and fired their shots into the mass of iron and steel that was charging towards them as quickly as they could manage. 

The Margrave of Brandenburg lied on his back, bleeding out, gazing upon his army of 25,000 men which he had spent his whole life training, cut down in a matter of minutes by the overwhelming firepower of the Austrian weapons in use by the Prussian soldiers. With a bitter smile on his face, he mouthed a single phrase before his life was snuffed from existence.

"So.... it is truly the end of an era..."

The life faded from the Margraves' eyes as the Prussian army continued to fire upon the hostile soldiers as if their very lives depended on the volume of fire they could unleash upon their enemies. What was supposed to be a quick victory via overwhelming numbers ended up in a disproportionate massacre. 

Word of the new and improved Schmidt guns would quickly travel around Christendom, adding a new sense of dread in the hearts and minds of Austria's rivals. The result of this battle would forever serve as a reminder of Austria's advanced military technology to those who sought to refuse their rule.