Tyranny of Steel

It was late into the fourth morning of the siege of Sterzing when the wall finally came crumbling down to the ground, yet unlike previous sieges where the musketeers would rush into the fray and open fire on the enemy before running them down with their bayonets in a great melee. The rifled musketeers fired their shots from the safety of the trenches, continuing to engage the defending archers who stood on the ramparts. As for the force that rushed the now giant gap in the wall, it was the levies. Poorly trained and equipped but fearful of the musketeers behind their ranks, the levies boldly charged the enemy garrison under the protective fire of the rifled musketeers from afar. As for the many more smoothbore musketeers, they continued to hold their position until it was time for them to advance.

Bodies fell from the ramparts as the archers revealed themselves to fire upon those who penetrated the now giant hole within the wall. Spears were thrust into the torsos of the levies from both sides. It was a levy vs. levy fight at the moment, as very few men at arms were left behind in Tyrol. Blood spilled across the floor, and bodies soon filled up the gap. Without using firearms to break the line of defense, it quickly turned into a stalemate as the enemy defenders plugged the hole funneling the levies in a few at a time.

When Berengar saw the stalemate begin to transpire, he raised a small flag and waved it, signaling the levies to pull back and the smoothbore musketeers to advance. The rifled musketeers fired from their defensive positions while the cannons bombarded the ramparts allowing the smoothbore musketeers to advance with sufficient covering fire. Eventually, the allied levies that supported Berengar ’s forces had withdrawn, allowing the musketeers to form a firing squad in the gap and rain a volley down upon the forces defending the hole. After the volley gunned down the front row of defenders, The grenadiers advanced and lobbed their grenades into the gap between the walls.

The explosion of several dozen grenades filled the gap where the explosive blast and the shrapnel tore the defenders to pieces. Afterward, the Grenadiers and Line infantry pulled back, allowing the levies to once more charge the now concussed and injured defenders. This time Berengar sat back in the camp and enjoyed the show; while the battle continued to wage on, Berengar spoke to the Lords next to him who had brought the levies.