Chapter 30: 29: The Age of Knights has Already Passed

Under the cover of night, the army in which Berengar had formed rapidly covered the distance between Kufstein and Wildschönau; by the time the dawn had arrived, they had occupied mining town and detained Ulrich's workers. The sappers in the field began to construct fortifications surrounding the mining towns; by the end of the day, the makeshift town would resemble a miniature version of fortifications used during the Siege of Petersburg from Berengar's previous life. The volunteer militia manned the fortifications while others interrogated the workers that had been detained.

Eckhard personally oversaw this effort. He began by speaking to the workforce Berengar had brought with him, which was far more loyal to the people of Kufstein where they had grown up. However, they were unaware of the assassination plot, but when they heard that Berengar might be stuck in the mines; they quickly revealed the only information they knew. Which was that the foreman had led Berengar into the mines during a routine excavation and that they were oddly ordered to withdraw. Nobody saw Berengar again after that, but a large explosion was heard, which they had assumed was regular construction. When Baerengar's workers had asked the foreman about their Lord's whereabouts, the man claimed that Berengar had left to visit Lord Ulrich.

After hearing such information, Eckhard immediately seized the foreman who had already been detained and violently tortured the man for the information regarding the exact location where Berengar had been trapped. After some good ol' medieval justice, the man sang like a canary, and the rescue operations had begun.

Meanwhile, Berengar was trapped inside the confines of the collapsed shaft. He had no food or water and was slightly injured. It was a miracle that no serious injury had occurred; he was slightly concussed and possibly had a broken rib, luckily it had not punctured his lung, or else he would long since have passed from this world. His throat was dry, as he had not quenched his thirst since before the cave-in, and while stuck in the darkness with no way out, he began to become deeply paranoid about the forces conspiring against him. He swore that if he survived this ordeal, he would personally lay siege to Ulrich's castle and drag him to the dungeons by the throat. There was simply no possibility the Lord of Wildschönau was not involved in this attempt on Berengar's life.

Shortly after having such thoughts, he had heard a muffled voice behind the rubble, which he could barely recognize as belonging to Ludwig.

"Milord, can you hear me? Are you alive in there?"

With a hoarse voice caused by dehydration and breathing in the fumes of the debris, Berengar managed to converse with the man behind the wall.

"Ludwig? Is that you? How the hell did you find me?"

Ludwig had an enormous smile spread across his face when he heard that the young lord was still alive. He began to speak awkwardly as he confessed to how he found out about his current predicament.

"Aye, it's me... Though I'm not one capable of judging the actions of the nobility such as yourself, your brother's fiancee erm... revealed your current situation to me as she begged me to save your life."

Berengar could not help but chuckle but groaned in pain as he did so, he had definitely fractured a rib, and it made breathing difficult and laughing agonizing.

"Dear Lord, do I love that woman! She came through for me once again! I'm seriously going to need to reward her this time!"

Ludwig could tell by the tone of Berengar's voice what the young lord was implying and could not help but sigh.

"It is good to be young..."

After getting out those words, he decided to inform Berengar of what was transpiring.

"Just hang on; I've got hundreds of the villagers to come to your rescue; you should be out of there in no time."

Berengar quickly realized the problem with this; there was not the slightest possibility that their actions would go unnoticed by Ulrich; after all, this was his land that they were currently standing upon. When the Lord found out that there was an ongoing attempt to rescue the target of his assassination, he would undoubtedly send his army in an attempt to cover his tracks. As such, he began to give orders to Ludwig.

"Ludwig, my friend, you need to get Eckhard to muster the militia; when the Lord of Wildschönau finds out what you are doing, he will surely send his army to eliminate you all."

Ludwig could not help but chuckle; he knew what Berengar was thinking and had already acted accordingly.

"Please rest assured, milord, Ser Eckhard, and his men are already here fortifying the position as we speak. All 600 men and 6 guns are currently in a position to defend this mine with their lives"

'600 men, and 6 guns? Fucking Christ, I need to give these guys a raise; they are working way too hard!'

Berengar thought to himself as he laid down and waited for rescue. For now, he had no choice but to wait for the excavation to be complete. If Ulrich showed up with his meager army during this time, he would be in for a rude awakening. The might of his militia was not to be underestimated, though the feudal forces of this world were sure to do so.

...

A soldier in the field was in the process of cleaning his musket. This musket was personally designed by Berengar and was named the 1417 Land Pattern Musket, and it was quite an anachronistic design. It utilized a 46-inch barrel much like the infamous "Brown Bess" used by the British Army for a length of time and a similar flintlock design. Yet, the stock was closer in design used by the early doglock muskets utilized by English forces during the English Civil War. As such, the firearm maintained quite the renaissance aesthetic. The primary difference in the design of the stock was that it had been cut off shorter at the end of the barrel to allow for the attachment of a socket bayonet. The stock also had sling swivels, and each musket was equipped with a leather sling. The 46-inch barrel was bored in a 58 caliber and had iron sights similar to the 1861 Springfield Rifled Muskets used by Union forces during the American Civil War. The reason for these two things was that they were all manufactured with the intent to be rebored and rifled for the use of the .58 caliber Minie ball projectile when the factory could handle such an extensive workload.

It was truly a unique design blending components of three eras of musket development from Berengar's past life. This was a weapon designed with two purposes in mind waging war in the most efficient manner available and looking good while doing it. The soldiers who wielded this mighty weapon were using their downtime to clean their muskets and ensure everything was functioning properly. It would not be long before Ulrich, and his armies arrived. Though they had quite the defensive position, as well as a numerical advantage, most of these men had never seen a battlefield before, those who had been in the field were now officers and NCO respectively and formed the veteran backbone necessary to lead their mean properly. Against a professional and experienced force, things might not go so smoothly.

As the sun began to set, The soldier cleaning his musket pointed into the distance as he saw a scout on horseback riding off towards the Castle.

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"A scout! Where's the marksman? Take him out now!"

Berengar had implemented tactics from modern doctrine and installed a designated marksman with a long rifle into each platoon to engage targets a larger distance. The marksman was already aware of the target and had loaded his rifle in the meantime. When he finally was able to get a shot off, the scout was at a distance of roughly 250 yards, though that was not a problem for the rifle he wielded, which was a replica of the one Berengar had used to take out the assassins during his hunting trip.

Slowly but surely, the dirty peasant, clad in earthly linen clothing, lined up his sights, took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger. After a thunderous explosion and a puff of smoke, the minie ball projectile was sent down range and pierced the back of the scout who was riding off to report to his master to inform him about the occupation of the mining town. A massive hole appeared in the man's torso as the minie ball pierced through his brigandine breastplate as if it were made of single weave linen. Ultimately, the horse was frightened by the blast, and with no concern for the rider which had fallen of its back bleeding out into the dirt below, rode off towards the castle from which it had come.

When the horse returned without a rider, it immediately invoked suspicion. As such, Ulrich knew something had happened to the scout he sent to oversee the rumors of an occupying force at mining town. He had no idea how large the force was or who it belonged to, but an enemy force had seized the land right under his nose. This was an insult to his authority, and if he could not handle it himself, he would only lose the trust in the Baron who's son and heir he had just assassinated. His first course of action was to muster his troops. As a lowly Lord, he only had a dozen or so knights under his command and at most a hundred men at arms; still, his warriors were well experienced, and he had little doubt what he was facing was merely a pack of brigands. When he finally arrived with his army, he was shocked to see many peasants armed with what appeared to be oddly shaped spears. He was unaware of the invention of the musket, or the earlier hand cannon for that matter. It was an especially rare piece of equipment during this time. As such, he vastly underestimated the forces in which Beregar's allies had brought to aid him.

Lord Ulrich approached the fortifications and inquired about the identity of the peasant rabble who dared to offend him.

"I am Lord Ulrich von Wildschönau; under whose authority do you trespass on my territory and occupy my mines?"

Eckhard stepped out in front of the defensive line and approached Ulrich; unlike the rest of his troops, he was properly equipped with the munitions grade half-plate armor prototype. Adorning his head was a sturmhaube, or burgonet, a type of helmet that would normally not be developed for the next century or two. Ludwig was able to sneak a few sets into production for the officers and NCOs of the militia. In Eckhard's hands was a musket with its bayonet attached, which he rested on the ground as he chatted with Ulrich.

"I am Ser Eckhard, retainer to Lord Berengar, son and heir of Sieghard von Kufstein, the Baron who presides over these lands. It is under his authority that I am here"

Ulrich's face instantly turned ugly; this meant Berengar was still alive and somehow could muster such a force to come to his rescue; things were not going well. Luckily Berengar would only know that Lambert was behind this plot and had no proof of his involvement. As such, Ulrich tried to play it cool; after all, the forces he was up against were practically six times the size of his own, even if they were unarmored peasants armed with sticks and spears; such numbers still posed a threat.

"As far as I'm aware, Berengar left back towards his home a while ago without paying proper respects. Why would he order you here?"

Eckhard spit in the general direction of Lord Ulrich, which was an enormous slap to his face

"Cut the crap, my lord; we know you are responsible for the cave in. I suggest you lay down your arms and surrender to justice. If you confess to the actions of the real mastermind behind this plot, I promise in the name of my liege, Berengar von Kufstein; you will be granted leniency."

This response shocked and outraged Ulrich; there was no way of knowing that he was involved in this plot unless Lambert turned on him or someone in his employ did. Though why Sieghard would send this rabble to bring him to justice instead of his own army, Ulrich could not understand. The truth that he was incapable of understanding was this was Berengar's private militia and was fully capable of bringing down the Lord and his Army; hell, they could even lay siege to his Castle if they wanted to.

Ulrich threatened Eckhard further in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of the peasants who followed him.

"When I return with my levies, I will teach you a thorough lesson in the art of war."

Eckhard chuckled at Ulrich's comments which thoroughly provoked the lord

"What's so funny?"

Eckhard stared at Ulrich with a look of contempt as he spoke the blatant truth.

"My Lord, you could attack this position with tenfold the numbers you currently possess, and the result would still be the same. If you march on this position only death awaits yourself and those who are foolish enough to follow. If you run and hide in your Castle, I promise that we will follow you, and when we tear down those mighty walls in which you cower behind, I will personally see to it that Berengar is the one who rips you from your seat of power by the throat!"

Eckhard was clearly the victory in this war of threats that was currently ongoing between a fallen knight and the Lord of Wildschönau. The more Eckhard spoke, the more Ulrich was enraged by his words and made foolish comments.

"Really? How do you expect to accomplish this without any knights or men at arms?"

Ulrich felt with this statement; he would make the militiamen under Eckhard's command back down. Still, when he looked in their eyes, he was shocked to find the same look of determination and disdain Eckhard had so boldly displayed in his presence. Were these peasants mocking him?

Eckhard's final words to Ulrich before he retreated was this.

"If you do not surrender, I swear to show you that the age of Knights has already passed."

With that statement spoken, Ulrich snorted at the remarks and returned to his holdings. While the excavation for Berengar's rescue was ongoing, the Lord of Wildschönau called upon the peasants in his territory and raised his levies with 1500 men. Even if the cost of the battle was the death of all his levies, he make certain to take Berengar's life.

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