Chapter 196: 195: The Hunter has Become the Hunted

The Tyrolean army was on the march, Berengar leading his two divisions in the fields of Salzburg was currently at the head of his majestic army. Every soldier who served alongside him was clad in blackened steel plate armor, with the black, gold, and white attire beneath it.  Some wore half-plate, while others were equipped with the three-quarter plate armor.

The Non-commissioned and commissioned officers stood out from the regular enlisted personnel. Their armor was trimmed with brass to show off their prestige and to indicate to the individual troops who were leading their units. Though they might become greater targets for the enemy, with the protection their armor provided them, they seldom had to fear a deathly blow at range.

At the moment, Berengar and his forces had set up an encampment in the field. Berengar spoke to General Arnulf and several of his high-ranking officers about the current situation in the County of Salzburg. Arnulf was the first to bring new information to light.

"Our scouts have reported that the Bavarians have begun to flee from their posts. We are not exactly sure of the reasoning, but they may have figured out our advantage in this conflict and are attempting to mitigate casualties.  In their hasty retreat, they have begun to torch every village they come across. They massacre the people, burn the fields, and slaughter the livestock. The Bavarians are determined to halt our advance by any means necessary!"

Berengar immediately frowned when he heard this report; this was scorched earth tactics, a strategy which Berengar personally despised. The principle was simple, as the Bavarians withdrew, they would destroy any possible resource that Berengar and his forces could take advantage of, forcing the Tyrolean army to slow down their advance. An army that could not eat could not function.

Luckily Berengar had anticipated this use of tactics and had long-established supply Caravans to follow his army in the rear. His forces protected these caravans and would continuously bring much-needed resources such as food, water, and munitions from Tyrol to the front lines. Logistics are the key to victory, and Berengar had no plans of advancing beyond his means of resupply.

After hearing this report, he gave a command to his officers.

"Make sure supplies are being properly rationed; I don't want to see any waste of the products that the men consume. As for our advancement into Salzburg, we can only slow down and wait for the supply caravans to catch up. The Jagers are skilled in wilderness knowledge, set them to the task of foraging and hunting any food that they can acquire!"

Hearing the Count's orders, the officers quickly pounded their breastplates in salute before responding.

"Yes, sir!"

After saying that, they were set to the task, and the army began to fulfill his orders. As for Berengar, he stayed at his post with Arnulf by his side; the man had been a valuable ally and formidable General during the past and was once more alongside him. Berengar valued his advice and quickly began to ask the man his opinions on what the Bavarians were planning.

"Tell me, General, do you think the Bavarians are plotting an ambush for us?"

Arnulf nodded his head before expressing his opinion.

"It is what I would do. By now, the Bavarians should realize that they are facing overwhelming firepower. Thus they don't stand a chance fighting against us in an open field or within a siege. The best they can do is engage in skirmishing tactics to try to prevent our advance long enough for them to muster the forces necessary to overwhelm our armies with sheer numbers."

Berengar's face contorted into a worried expression as he began to anticipate the Bavarian's next move.

"Halt our advance, and make sure our supply lines are properly protected. I fear they will try to cut us off from our logistical network; in doing so, they will attempt to wear us down with attrition; I will not have my men starving in the field while cut off from support from the homeland. It is better to move with caution than to walk into a trap."

Arnulf nodded in approval with this line of thinking and began to make his suggestions.

"We should split off some Grenadier units and set them to the task of searching for and destroying the enemy skirmishers and their encampments. I find it hard to believe the Bavarians are fleeing from the region entirely; they are probably waiting in ambush for our forces." 

Berengar nodded in agreement before adding to the suggestion.

"I want the Dragoons and Mounted Infantry tasked with protecting the supply caravans; they should have more than enough firepower to deter any potential ambush while still maintaining the mobility necessary to keep up with the caravans."

Arnulf quickly made a mental note of the orders he had received; he would soon relay these tasks to the necessary units. The Tyrolean army was powerful primarily because of its superior training and equipment but also the diversity of the troops they employed.

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With the specialized training that specific units underwent, they could perform these deeds that they would soon be commanded to fulfill with excellent efficiency. Thus Berengar indeed did not have to be too worried about what dangers might approach them in this ongoing conflict with the Bavarians. 

After giving Arnulf his orders, Berengar parted ways with Arnulf for the night and immediately proceeded to his tent, where he slept peacefully. As for the units and their new orders, they quickly began to deploy to fulfill them.

During the middle of the night, the Grenadiers tasked with search and destroyed missions advanced beyond the primary host, determined to find any Bavarian forces waiting for them. In doing so, a battalion was sent out in total and split into six individual companies where they canvassed the territory ahead of them. 

If one of the companies were to make contact with the enemy ambushers, the other companies would be alerted by the sound of gunfire and advance upon the position, encircling the enemy ambushers and taking their lives.

At the moment, one company of grenadiers had made the first contact with the enemy; as such, they quietly hit in the tree line as they pulled back the hammers of their flintlocks. The Bavarians had not yet noticed that the Grenadiers were in range, and they were sitting by a fire enjoying themselves.

They had seen that the Tyrolean army had halted their advance, and so they were waiting patiently in the perfect position for an ambush. After the muskets were loaded and aimed at a distance of a hundred yards, The Captain in charge of the company gave his order loud enough for the men nearby to hear.

"Fire!"

immediately the thunder of a hundred and twenty muskets went off, echoing in the distance. The moment they did so, the lead projectiles fired from their muzzles found their way into the enemy ranks. Torsos were shredding, with gaping holes the size of golf balls appearing through the enemy's breastplates.

The less fortunate victims had their limbs severed by the rounds and were thrashing about on the ground screaming in agony. The flash of the fired volley instantly lit up the area, and the surviving members of the ambushing troop realized they were surrounded. 

Several dozen Bavarian men at arms were killed on the spot, and even more, were wounded. Yet when compared to the size of the ambushing troop, this was not much. However, what followed instantly sent fear down the spines of the Bavarian skirmishers as they heard a battle cry filled the air around them as if over a thousand voices screamed the powerful words in unison.

"God with us!"

Shortly afterward, the Tyrolean grenadiers converged on the enemy position. They were alerted by the sounds of gunfire and the sight of the muzzle flashes. Where they quickly formed ranks and fired off their shots at the Bavarian ambushers.

Gunfire echoed in the air, and the advancing Bavarian skirmishers were rapidly cut down as they attempted to approach the lines of grenadiers. The scene quickly turned chaotic as more men had their lives snuffed out by a single minie ball projectile piercing through their chests. Others gurgled on their own blood for a period of time before finally leaving this world.

Before the Bavarians even got a chance to unleash their swords upon the Tyrolean forces, steel balls were lit and thrown into the ranks of the enemy, where they quickly exploded, sending shrapnel and body parts flying through the air. 

Though the Grenadiers were outnumbered, the Bavarians began to panic, trying to find a way to break out of the encirclement. However, all they managed to do was run into a wall of bayonets that were ready to engage in melee combat. The long triangular bayonets were thrust into the gaps of the men at arms armor, creating devastating wounds, which would be very difficult to patch up assuming they were able to survive the onslaught. 

Eventually, the Bavarians finally managed to muster a resistance and clashed headfirst with the grenadiers who had encircled them. Despite this courageous last stand, the damage had already been dealt to the Bavarian skirmisher's ranks, and they found themselves quickly being pushed back. By now, a sea of corpses and blood had filled the floor, and the Tyrolean Grenadiers were advancing over the bodies and into the fray.

With each thrust of the bayonet, a Bavarian was either wounded or killed. Slowly but surely, the Bavarian Ambushers had dwindled to a few hundred men whose backs were pressed against each other as over a thousand bayonets pierced at them from all sides. Before long, the surviving Bavarians cast their weapons aside and shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Yield! I yield!"

With a declaration of surrender, the Tyrolean grenadiers ceased their violence and quickly rounded up the survivors for interrogation. With a little over a hundred captives, they could easily find out the whereabouts of the remaining ambushes and potentially the plans that the Bavarian army was resorting to. Thus the Tyrolean forces marched their prisoners back to the Tyrolean encampment, where they would be interrogated for every piece of information that they harbored in their minds.

While Berengar slept, his grenadiers had mercilessly hunted down the first of the Bavarian Ambushes set in place and captured a few hundred prisoners whose intelligence would be critical in the fight ahead. As such, the tactics he had put in place earlier that day had already born fruit, and Berengar would have a much swifter conquest of Salzburg than he had initially estimated.

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