Tyranny of Steel

The City of Madrid was mostly peaceful. Moreso than it had been for some time. In recent years, since the Granadan conquest of Iberia was completed, the city had been a hotbed of insurgency. Out of all the cities in the region, none had more fierce resistance than Madrid. 

It was not just that thousands of the city's inhabitants had taken up arms against their Andalusian and German occupiers, but tens of thousands of civilians supported the rebels in any way they could. Mostly by gathering intelligence on the occupying forces. This was the reason that Berengar had selected Madrid as his target for terror. 

Currently, the banners of the Iberian Catholic League flew high above the city as the rebels tore down those of Al-Andalus. Why were they acting so brazenly? Because the Andalusian and German troops had withdrawn from the city, in an attempt to reinforce the capital of their false Empire. Along with them were the few moors who resided in the city's walls. 

Evidently, these peasant rebels were not intelligent enough to surmise that the enemy was planning a fierce attack. Or perhaps they simply believed it was improbable for them to wipe out the city. Either way, the rebels were hoisting their crosses and shouting their praises to God and their ancestors who had fought for centuries to remove the Moors from Iberia. 

They were completely unaware that the city was surrounded by the Reichsgarde. After all, the enemy forces sat a distance of twelve kilometers away. Berengar had pulled out all stops over the past year and had spared no expense equipping his Reichsgarde with the latest weaponry.

There was a single Artillery Brigade that was conducting this operation and they had a total of 70 field guns surrounding the city. These weapons were a mixture of the 7.5cm FK 25 and their larger 10cm counterparts. Seventy Field Guns, and four thousand men stood outside the city, preparing themselves for the attack that would annihilate its inhabitants. 

The crews that operated these powerful weapons carefully loaded the chlorine gas shells into the breaches while adjusting the aim towards various locations of the city. Heimerich's plan was to spread as much poison gas as possible throughout the city limits, and then charge through with their infantry, who would clear out any survivors.

The infantry brigade that accompanied the Artillery were closer to the city, lying prone in the fields that bordered Madrid in an attempt to ensure they were not spotted. After checking that everything was in proper order, Heimerich wore a stoic expression on his face as he issued the order for the attack.

"Open Fire!"

The air outside of Madrid roared with thunder as seventy different field guns fired their first barrage onto the city's celebrating inhabitants. However, they did not stop with a single barrage, and instead quickly loaded more rounds into their breaches before unloading their payloads onto the city. 

In the center of the city, standing on the balcony of the mayor's manor, was an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, a man who was tasked by the Pope to instigate the rebellion that was taking place in Iberia. The moment he heard the thunderous echoes, he soiled himself. He was all too aware of what those weapons meant, or so he thought.

He did not know how the enemy had surrounded them when they could not be seen from the city's walls. However, before he could command someone to investigate, the sound of screams filled the air, as the city's inhabitants began to panic. Large clouds of yellowish green gas had formed where the shells impacted. 

The gas rapidly spread across the city, causing anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its vicinity to violently choke while they slowly suffocated to death. Panic was in the inquisitor's eyes as he witnessed this new monstrosity causing him to quickly perform the sign of the cross before uttering a prayer for deliverance from this evil. 

Unfortunately, with each second that passed, another thunderous echo occurred, and more gas appeared in the city's confines, spreading rapidly as if it were a wildfire consuming everything in its path. Nobody was safe from the miasma's effect, even those who fled to the safety of their homes.

The manor's balcony overlooked the majority of the city, and because of this, the Inquisitor could see the cloud of death which blocked his field of vision. The church's representative instantly panicked as he fell back from the balcony with his guards. He needed to escape; He needed to flee the city before this gas caught up with him, and inform the pope of this terrifying new weapon. Should this horrifying weapon be deployed against the crusaders on the fields, there would be no chance of victory.

However, unfortunately for him, the mayor's manor, which he boldly occupied following the local government's retreat, was in the center of the city, and it was not just the section in front of him that were being swallowed by the poisonous miasma. He could only curse himself for failing to notice the enemy's plans when they evacuated the moors from the city.

But how could he know such a thing? Never before had an army possessed the capability of wiping out every living being inside a city without ever stepping foot in it. It was more fiction than reality until now. The inquisitor fled out of the mansion with his tail in between his legs, but with every path he took, a cloud of chlorine gas stalked him. He could only retreat further and further until there was no way out. 

Eventually, he was caught outside a chapel, with gas surrounding him on all sides. In that moment, he took shelter in the church, hoping that the divinity of Christ would spare him from this ordeal. Unfortunately for him, the powers of the Abrahamic God were limited, and he had expended great effort saving Julius from Berengar's previous attack. He would not bother lifting a finger to save a peon like this inquisitor. 

In the end, the chapel was filled with the yellowish-green smoke which forced its way into the Inquisitor's lungs, and suffocated him slowly. First came the coughing, then the itchy eyes that made him want to gouge them out, and finally death. 

After only a minute of firing, a grand total of 1,750 shells had been fired into the city, thoroughly depleting the stockpile of chemical weapons that the German Army had worked overtime to produce. After all rounds were depleted, Heimerich gave the order for the infantry to move in and clear out any survivors. Each soldier of the Reichsgarde was equipped with a gas mask as they rushed into the city, searching for targets to destroy. 

However, in the end, there was not a single soul who survived the attack. Not only were all men, women, and children of the deceased, but every pet and pest was eliminated as well. The city of Madrid was thoroughly cleansed of life. Once the gas dispersed, the Reichsgarde gathered the corpses of the deceased, and buried them in mass graves outside the city. The cleanup operation would take far longer than the attack itself. 

---

While Heimerich was busy overseeing the elimination of Madrid, Adelbrand had worked on the press release. Currently, he stood in a room filled with reporters, mostly from the various German news outlets. However, there were a few Andalusian newspapers who sent their reporters to the briefing. 

Adelbrand was dressed in his Field Marshal's uniform, and wore all the major medals he had earned through the tenure of his service. He cleared his throat and wiped the sweat from his brow before speaking about the ongoing operation in Madrid.

"As we speak, the German Reichsgarde is undertaking an anti-terrorist operation in the city of Madrid. I won't lie to you. The situation is grim. Approximately seventy-two hours ago, the Moorish residents of the city were evacuated, as was the local government, after local members of the Iberian Catholic League assassinated the mayor, and unlawfully seized the city. 

It is the Sultan's belief that we should not negotiate with terrorists, and as a result, I have branded all the remaining residents of Madrid as enemies of the state. This recent attack on the Mayor of Madrid's life is just one of many in a series of coordinated assassinations following the murder of General Ziyad Ibn'Yais. 

Make no mistake, we are at war with a vile band of insurgents who radicalize young children to kill and die in the name of their warped sense of religion. It is because of this reality that the Sultan and his Regent have in their infinite wisdom, decided to take a measured approach to the seizure of Madrid, and attack the terrorists within its walls in a way that will not shed the blood of Germany's finest. 

As of this moment, the Reichsgarde is launching a massive artillery barrage on the city, using newly developed shells. Since the Papacy has encouraged the use of children as martyrs, we have no choice but to recognize the youth of Madrid as enemy combatants. After all, intelligence supports more than a few of them took part in the city's seizure. Thus, with this madness that Pope Julius has started, we have but one option, and that is to annihilate all life in Madrid.

Let this be a warning to the Catholic Rebels in Iberia, and the criminals in the Papacy. Al-Andalus and its German allies are not afraid to resort to underhanded tactics, if the Papacy is insisting on their use! Any town or city whose inhabitants support the terrorist organization known as the Iberian Catholic League, or any similar entity, will be deemed enemies of the state, and will receive a similar treatment as those who have seized Madrid! For the Glory of the Sultan, For Al-Andalus!"

After finishing his speech, the press immediately clambered over one another to ask their questions, but Adelbrand wasn't in the mood, and hurried off the stage. Adelbrand's direct attack of the Papacy's actions would steer the Massacre of Madrid in the Sultan's favor. When the moderates learned the Papacy had encouraged the use of children as martyrs, along with the many other crimes of the Catholic Church, they would seek an alternative. Which Berengar planned to manipulate into another reformation.