Tyranny of Steel

Since Berengar and his Army had departed from Parma, over a month had passed, various siege camps were set up encircling the City of Florence where the Emperor and the Medicis resided. The Austrian ’s encampment greatly resembled an elaborate trench line straight out of the pictures from the Great War during Berengar ’s previous life.

During this time, nobody was allowed to enter the city. However, Berengar had successfully exfiltrated his agents trapped in the town. It took some effort, but they were retrieved from their position without incident before the Austrian bombardment had begun.

After retrieving his agents, The Royal Austrian Army ’s cannons fired off shells at an arc, landing over the city walls and into the city, bombarding the inhabitants within. With the hundreds of thousands of people who had evacuated to the town of Florence, Berengar knew it was a matter of months before their food supply dwindled and the people began to starve.

While the siege of Florence continued; back in Kufstein, the war industry had spent day and night producing as many Needle Rifles and their paper cartridges as possible to supply the Austrian war effort, as such thousands of these rifles were now in the hands of the frontline soldiers who rested in the mud as their extravagant blackened steel armor was coated with the substance, covering their armor and attire in an earthly brown.

For the past three days, it had been raining non-stop; for the rear echelon soldiers who were still issued the flintlock rifles, they could only keep their weapons dry under the thatched coverings of the vast trench line. As for the men with Needle Rifles, they stayed in the front lines, ready to fire on any potential targets that might sally forth and attack their ranks.

Despite the weeks of constant bombardment, the city still stood, resisting Berengar ’s armies until the bitter end. As such, Berengar had taken a relaxed approach and had begun writing letters back home to his loved ones. It was a way to entertain himself during this protracted siege.