Chapter 9
January 18th, 1664
Hans watched alongside the Empress as their men marched in massive columns.
“What is our next move, Empress?”
“We do not have the forces to take Bickenstadt, trying that on a city of nearly a million people with only a hundred thousand men is a fool’s errand.”
She smiled.
“Instead, we are going to burn the countryside to a smoldering mass as we wait for our supplies to trickle across the river, to show them the cost of rebellion before we move to Leibenstadt.”
Hans nodded.
“That sounds sensible, ma’am. Should we start with Kopfhafen? Scouts have informed me that it is a town fortified using an elven star fortress.”
The Empress chuckled.
“An elven fortress? Yes, we shall start there. Raze it to the ground, do not spare a single inhabitant!”
Hans saluted her.
“Yes ma’am!”
|
|
|
Imperial artillery rolled into position hundreds of yards away from the star fortress of Kopfhafen, a town of less than three thousand people, not including the eight hundred strong garrison and five hundred men from the retreating Bickenstadt forces. Thirty thousand soldiers of the Grand Imperial Army surrounded the city, cutting off any supplies it could have gotten.
Imperials stood around the city, gripping muskets nervously. The fortress town of Kopfhafen looked sturdy, and the thirteen thousand defenders were motivated and angry at their loss. They gripped their muskets with grim determination, eager to defend their province from the slaver scum.
Their artillery crews checked their guns and measurements before loading their guns, ready for the extended bombardment that was about to commence. After getting to go-ahead from his commander an artillerist placed the lit linstock to the borehole.
Boom!
Explosions rocked the surrounding area as dozens of artillery emplacements erupted in smoke. Cannonballs slammed into the defenses, smashing through palisades and cracking stoneworks. All the defenders could do was watch the Imperial bombardment and pray to their gods that the cannonballs missed them.
The bombardment continued for an hour, however, the defenses held strong. Even though small portions of it had been collapsed, climbing over the rubble would still funnel the attackers into kill zones where they could be shot at from every side.
A thousand veteran Imperial knights wearing full enchanted plate armed with muskets and longswords stood tall and confident in front of the fortress. Behind them were thousands more soldiers dressed in the traditional dark purple gambeson of the Grand Imperial Army, each one armed with a musket and bayonet.
A horn blew behind the forces and the army cheered before surging forwards. The armored men lead the charge, their enchanted plate protecting them completely from nearly anything the defenders could throw at them.
As they ran forward the parapets erupted in smoke and a split second later an iron hail rained down on the attackers. Bullets pinged off enchanted armor harmlessly or hit unenchanted gambesons, punching straight through any regular soldier unfortunate enough to get hit.
The Imperials jumped down into the ditch and ran as hard as they could, hoping to run through the kill zones fast enough to avoid as much lead as possible. The defenders fired down as quickly as they loaded, barely even needing to aim at the massive horde of charging Imperials.
The Imperials formed a rough firing line and fired at the defenders, killing dozens at once and keeping the rest of their heads down. The lines reloaded as knights rushed forward with longswords drawn, clambering over shattered palisades and up crumbled stone.
A bayonet flew down at a knight and he batted it aside before lunging forward and impaling his attacker through the neck and ripping it out the side. The knights pushed forward, carried by the weight of thier armor and the men behind them. Bullets continued to bounce off enchanted plate harmlessly, though they were absolutely beginning to feel the kinetic transfer.
The knights pushed back the defenders through sheer weight and momentum, easily smashing through the lightly armored defenders. A bayonet scraped off the chest of a knight before its wielder had his arm cut off, with his head following soon after.
Regular Imperial troops followed after the knights, providing support and weight behind them, as well as keeping heads down by firing a constant stream of lead at the defenders. A group of Bickenstadt defenders managed to knock over a knight and drag him into their formation, dedicating a full four man team to hold down his arms and legs.
Another man drew a long, thin dagger and thrust it in between the gap in the knight’s armor, piercing his throat. He jiggled it around and the knight sputtered and gagged on his own blood, only stopping after he had fully stopped moving.
Over the course of thirty minutes nearly two hundred defenders had been slain and five hundred attackers had lost their lives, including just thirty knights. A horn blew in the distance and the Imperial troops began to retreat, running as quickly as they could while the defenders fired into their backs.
The defenders cheered as the last of the Imperials clambered up out of the ditch, however this was simply a probing assault. There would be more, and there were thousands upon thousands more attackers ready to throw themselves against the walls of Kopfhafen.
The defenders cleared the bodies off of the parapets and began to work towards repairing the gap when more cannons began to fire. A soldier carrying a large slab of stone dropped as a cannonball took off his head, his body ragdolling down and rolling to a stop at the bottom of the fortress.
The bombardment would continue for hours, and after that was done, the first serious assault would begin.
|
|
The Empress was looking over a map of Bickenstadt, considering what she wanted to do after the inevitable fall of Kopfhafen. Hans stood across from her, leaning against the table on his palms.
“Should we take Bickenstadt after we mop up the remaining elven fortresses?”
The Empress considered it for a moment before shaking her head.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“No, we do not have the manpower to take Bickenstadt. It’s too well defended, and we could not fully cut off the supplies coming from the sea.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
The Empress smiled.
“We will burn the countryside to the ground. Make them feel the cost of rebellion, starting of course with Kopfhafen. We will slaughter them down to a man, and then knock down everything left standing. We will salt the earth as we leave, so that nothing will ever live there again.”
Hans nodded.
“There is certainly merit in that idea, yes. Despite the cruelty, it sounds like will be effective.”
“Yes. Ideally, when the news of our infernal march through the countryside reaches the men besieging Citadel Frederick, they will have many deserters. Nothing puts the fear of the gods into a man’s heart quite like cruelty.”
Hans nodded.
“Then that is what we will do, ma’am.”
The Empress smiled.
“Starting with Kopfhafen.”
Hans crossed his arms and nodded.
“Yes, starting with Kopfhafen. It should be relatively easy. We should have it taken tomorrow.”
“Excellent.”
|
|
|
|
Bullets flew through the air and small balls of cast iron were thrown in great arcs. The grenades burst and men went flying, killed through sheer concussive force. Knights rushed the gap and spread the defenders out, completely impervious to their attacks.
Bayonets scraped off of enchanted plate and longswords bit into lightly armored Bickenstadters. They were steadily pushed back as the Imperials surged forward, killing everyone they could. Soon, the defenders were fully pushed off of the walls, and the Imperials cheered as they fired down on the running men.
The Grand Imperial Army pushed into the town itself, taking each building one by one. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers flooded into the town, waves of purple uniforms crashing into the inhabitants, killing everyone and everything they could.
The Empress stood on the walls, waving her flag back and forth high up in the air, laughing with a shrill, cruel cackling.
“Kill them! Kill them all! Do not spare a single man, woman, or child! Make sure the traitors know the cost of rebellion! The cost of being a race traitor!”
The Imperials cheered and redoubled their efforts, kicking down doors and slaughtering entire families at once. Men, women, and children alike were all slaughtered without mercy. An old man tried to run from some soldiers when he was shot in the back, dropping like a rock and slowly bleeding out on the road, unable to move his atrophied muscles as the life drained from his back.
Entire families were lined up and shot against the walls of their homes, killed alongside the soldiers who tried to defend them. Homes were lit on fire with people blocked inside, and soldiers stuffed their pockets with any valuables they could get their hands on.
The town was being looted before being razed to the ground. The Empress stood on top of the walls, waving her flag and cackling. She smiled and took in a deep breath, turning to the man next to her, Hans Volkner.
“Mmmm, I haven’t smelled a burning town in quite some time. You start to crave it after a while.”
She laughed raucously, enchanting Hans completely and utterly.
“It smells like victory!”
She laughed harder, eyes wide and full of cruel enjoyment.
“Kill them all! Spare not a single man!”
|
The town of Kopfhafen was systematically destroyed by the Grand Imperial Army over the course of a couple of hours. Soldiers dismantled the walls brick by brick and piled bodies high in massive pyres, which they lit on fire once they reached capacity.
The Empress sat atop her horse, smiling brightly.
“This went well. Let us see if we can repeat this process all across this blighted land. Then, we move on to Waffenstadt. And to every single town in Leibenstadt that collaborated with the Baron.”
She drew her sword, the legendary, slightly curved paramerion Steel Slayer, and yelled to her soldiers.
“I want everyone who has even seen the Baron to be killed! Anyone with an even vaguely positive opinion of him! Know that it is he who has brought this upon his people! This is the price of rebellion!”
She tilted her sword forwards, leaving behind a great crackling streak of electricity as she sliced the air with the god enchanted sword.
“Onwards! To glory!”
Her men all shouted at once in acknowledgement. Now that the town was fully destroyed, they formed columns and began to march, joking and laughing to each other all the while, morale sky high from their victory, and pockets full of plundered valuables.
|
|
|
|
February 4th, 1664. Leibenstadt.
The Baron watched solemnly as a group of five men walked to a wall, hands tied behind their back. In his hand was his saber, resting on his shoulder. Next to him were ten soldiers of his beloved Klarwasser regiment, each one shouldering a musket. Behind them was a massive crowd of soldiers, watching on with interest.
The five men lined up against the wall, facing the men holding muskets. The Baron took a deep breath before speaking.
“Erik Hafnon, Dietrich Kesselbach, Otto Schötze, Hans Leibsönne, and Erik Jaeger, you have been caught committing the crime of desertion.”
One of the men yelled, a look of desperation in his eyes.
“Sir, please! My family is from Kopfhafen! I need to make sure they are safe!”
The man next to him yelled as well.
“My family is in the neighboring town of Niefdorf! It’s just a few dozen miles away! I must warn them!”
The Baron closed his eyes and shook his head. They were all soldiers of Klarwasser regiments, people who were supposed to be the most disciplined and well trained men in the army. He hated to execute them, but an example had to be made. He was just glad it was only five men.
“You are deserters, you have left your post without orders, risking the lives of the men you call brothers. Erik Hanfon and Otto Schötze abandoned their watch in the middle of the night, something which could result in a slaughter of our men, of your comrades in arms.”
The men cried and begged for mercy, and the Baron watched on, face stoic and hard. He raised his saber in the air.
“For the crime of desertion, you have been sentenced to death by firing squad.”
The men cried out harder and struggled against their bonds. The Baron dropped his saber and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Fire!”
Shots ripped through the five men, and they all dropped like puppets with their strings cut. Their comrades made sure to aim carefully, even though they were deserters, they were still brothers, so each man died near instantly. The Baron took in a deep breath and turned to the rest of his army.
“This is the price of desertion! I hope that the rest of you will not be as stupid as they were. Your families will be protected by our comrades to the north, simply put your faith in them, and finish your duty here. With a little bit of effort, we shall be marching back home in just a few months!”
Some of his men, the more zealous of the bunch, cheered. The rest followed suit, but a little quieter and unenthusiastically.
The Baron returned his saber to its sheath and shook his head as he looked at the dead men.
“Give them a proper burial. They may be deserters, but they are still Klarwasser men. They deserve it.”
He left the scene and entered his tent, flopping down on the cot inside, utterly exhausted. He really wished he didn’t have to oversee executions, but that was part of his job, being the leader of the army.
He needed his men to understand that their chances of getting away were little, and the price high. He rolled onto his back and covered his eyes with his forearm.
“It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth...”