Chapter 440 - The Horseman Of War

The day had finally come, Berengar sat on the black leather saddle of his horse whose name was Glory. In his hand was a hemp cigarette which he smoked to calm his anxiety. Trailing behind him was an army of 50,000 men who had just breached the Portuguese Border without incident. 

The young Austrian King was dressed unusually. He did not choose his everyday field uniform as he led his Cavalry. Instead, he wore the uniform of the Austrian Hussars, which was based upon the uniforms issued to German Hussars during the Great War of his past life.

Atop his head was a fur hat, which in its center there was a bold Totenkopf emblazoned upon it. This hat was inspired by the legendary "Death's Head Hussars" of his past life and was the standard uniform of all Hussars within his Army's Ranks.

As for the weapons they were equipped with, a G22 Rifle slung around their backs and a Cavalry Saber strapped to their waists. Berengar was supplied similarly, fully prepared to engage in combat with the enemy wherever they might appear.

The majority of the Army was comprised of Granadan and Byzantine Infantry. As for the Austrian soldiers, all that remained within the Iberian Peninsula were two brigades, one of Cavalry and another of Artillery. Other units that still existed in the field were specialized soldiers embedded deep behind enemy lines, accurately assessing the enemy forces and their positions. 

As Glory strode forth, showing off its beautiful red coat, the Strategos Palladius Angelus rode next to the Austrian King. As he gazed upon the eager expression on Berengar's face and that of the Austrian Cavalry, which displayed their inherent bloodlust, he began to quote scripture.

"And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."

Berengar reflected on this for a brief moment before chuckling; as he did so, he began to make a jest towards the aging General from the East.

"Are you implying that I am The Horseman of War?"

Palladius gazed upon the scene of the mighty Army that had gathered for a single purpose, to destroy the Kingdom of Portugal, and nodded his head with a stoic expression before speaking his thoughts on the matter.

"If the shoe fits..."

This response immediately caused Berengar to laugh as he looked back upon his Army. He raised his sword in the air and encouraged his Cavalry with a sarcastic command. 

"You hear that, boys? I am the Horseman of War! So, ensure that no flesh is spared!"

The Cavalrymen among Berengar's ranks began to break out into the laughter as they heard this jest. If their King was the Horsemen of War, that meant they were an army of the damned. As for the Granadan and Byzantine troops, they had a less enthusiastic response to Berengar's sense of humor. 

After all, unlike the Austrian soldiers, these men were very superstitious and steadfast in their religious beliefs. Thus they sat in silence as they prayed to their respective deities for forgiveness. With a foreboding aura, the Army of the Tripple Alliance Marched into the Kingdom of Portugal without incident. 

It did not take long for conflict to begin; Berengar's Army had advanced so rapidly that they had wholly caught the brigand warbands who occupied the Southern Portuguese villages off guard. The moment they gazed upon the massive Army on the horizon, the deserters and criminals began to flee for their lives.

However, Berengar refused to allow the men to retreat. As such, he unslung his rifle and flipped off the safety as he aimed down his sights at a man roughly three hundred yards out. He silently squeezed the trigger, and the thunder of his rifle went downrange and through the back of the fleeing criminal.

Blood splattered onto the land, and the projectile pierced through the hostile target's armor as if it were butter before embedding itself in the bloody mud below. With this action, Berengar gave his order to the Austrian Cavalry.

"Kill them all! Leave no brigand alive!"

With this command, the 5,000 Austrian Cavalrymen charged forth with their weapons in hand, rapidly firing and reloading their new weapons on the move, gunning down the few hundred brigands without any form of mercy. 

In the end, the deserters of the Portuguese Army who had formed a small Warband and occupied this land were gunned down without mercy. As Berengar rode into the village and gazed upon their corpses, he spat upon the corpse of one of the slain men before commenting on the matter.

"Not even worth their weight in piss..."

Palladius gazed upon Berengar as he heard this with a weary expression. The Infantry had not even fired a shot, yet the Cavalry had so quickly slain the Warband that occupied this village. As he could see, the villagers had been mistreated during the occupation of the brigands.

Those who weren't outright slain or raped huddled in fear of what the Austrian's might do to them. Upon seeing this, the Strategos of the Balkans quickly asked what Berengar intended to do with them.

"What will happen to the villagers?"

Berengar glanced over at the aging General from the East and responded with a stoic expression.

"Leave them be, they pose no threat, and there are no longer any hostiles within the village. There is no purpose for a senseless slaughter of innocents."

For all his bluster, the Austrian King abided by his own rules of war. Thus under his command, the Austrian soldiers treated the villagers they came across rather cordially, offering medical assistance and spare supplies to the people who suffered under the collapse of their Kingdom. 

After treating the civilians, the Army continued on their journey. Along the way, they came across many villages in similar situations; under Berengar's orders, the brigands and deserters who occupied these villages were slaughtered without the slightest hint of mercy. As for the villagers, if they did not resist the invasion, they were spared and treated well.

Eventually, the Army of the Triple Alliance finally came across a sizeable force located within the walls of the City of Faro. Despite the bankruptcy of the crown, mayors of local towns managed to maintain some degree of wealth and control over their City and their Garrisons. 

Upon seeing the Austrian Army enter its borders, the Garrison of the City was immediately on alert as they began to load their trebuchets for war. However, against the superior firepower and range of the Austrian Artillery, such weapons were useless.

Berengar had a wide grin on his face as he gazed through his binoculars and witnessed the sight of the enemy preparing for combat. If they had outright surrendered, he would have been disappointed.

However, by loading their trebuchets, the enemy declared their intent to resist; as such, the Austrian King ordered the 1st Artillery Brigade to set up their guns and bombard the city's walls. The soldiers of the triple alliance waited on standby as the 7.5cm FK 22 cannons were set up into position and loaded. 

After a few moments, the first barrage of cannons went off; as their roars filled the sky, the shells rained down upon the Medieval walls. In a blast of hellish fire, the once-mighty stone walls immediately crumbled upon the impact of the High-Explosive shells utilized by the Austrian Army.

Though Palladius had heard rumors of how effective the new Austrian cannons were, he had never witnessed their destructive power until now. He gazed in awe as he saw the city's walls come crumbling down from a single barrage. 

He immediately dreaded the possibility of War with Austria and thanked God that the Princess had married this cruel and brutal man. For under the fire of such overwhelming force, even the mighty Theodosian Walls, which had stood the test of time, would fall apart as if they were made of mud. 

However, the Artillery did not stop with a single barrage; they instantly loaded the second barrage and fired another seventy shells into the city with a complete and total disregard for life and property.

Berengar had devised his own rules of war; among these rules was the stipulation that his soldiers were not allowed to massacre unarmed civilians. However, this law was limited; For example, collateral damage was wholly disregarded. 

In Berengar's mind, the primary objective of war should be to wage it in the most efficient manner possible, ensure the quickest victory, and maintain minimal casualties among his troops. Thus, shelling an enemy position was considered valid and lawful even if civilians were harmed in the process.

Destroying an enemy-occupied city, which would otherwise result in intensive urban warfare and massive casualties among his troops, was also considered valid regardless of how many civilians lived there.

After all, he had witnessed the inefficiency of the American Military in the Middle East as they risked their soldiers' lives in an attempt to limit civilian casualties of the enemy state. In his past life, thousands of American men had died when a carpet bombing of a hostile-occupied city could have easily handled the situation. 

Thus the shelling contained, as hundreds of shells were launched upon the city, devastating its Garrison and civilian population. After roughly 1,000 shells were fired on the City, Berengar held up his hand, signaling the Artillery to cease their operations. After doing so, he gave the command that would ultimately seal the fate of the City of Faro.

"Take the City and show no mercy! You have my permission to kill any man, woman, or child who shows even the slightest sign of armed resistance to our conquest!"

With this order given, 50,000 men charged towards the crumbled walls of the city; their goal was simple, to put down any form of resistance that remained. However, after such a hellish barrage, not a single soul that survived was willing to resist any further. 

The remaining garrison members immediately threw down their weapons and submitted to their conquerors. Thousands of people lie dead without the garrison even firing a shot. There was no purpose in remaining defiant when faced with such overwhelming firepower. 

Thus Berengar and his Army had captured the first major city of Portugal. As for the rest of the Kingdom, it would slowly but surely be invaded by the Army of the Triple Alliance in the days to come.

The devastation that followed in the wake of Berengar's advance throughout Portugal and the reports of the Austrian King riding on the back of a red horse would forever depict King Berengar von Kufstein as the personification of war among the Christian world. 

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