Chapter 416: Sacking of Toledo Part II
Having secured the entrance of the Castle within the city of Toledo, Berengar waited for his mounted infantry to arrive. When the men finally caught up to the cavalry, they immediately advanced down the narrow stone halls with rifles in hand and bayonets affixed. Berengar proceeded calmly behind them with his revolver safely stashed away in his holster.
The Mounted Infantry swept through the halls, ruthlessly gunning down any man to get in their way. After every shot fired, they would lift the bolt handle and rack it back before placing another paper cartridge in its chamber; after seating the round, they would push the bolt back home and prepare to fire on the next target that got in their path.
The Knights of Castile bravely defended their master"s abode as they tried to hide behind the corners and ambush the oncoming Mounted Infantry. Still, it was to no avail; the moment they slashed their blades forth, they were easily deflected by the 10-inch bayonets fixed to the side of the infantry"s bores.
After the swords were deflected, a round was fired through the torso of the Knights, and their insides were torn apart before being spewed out the other side of their armor, mercilessly reaping their souls like wheat to the scythe. The soldiers confidently reloaded their weapons as they led their Monarch across the Castle"s vast interior.
Despite conflict appearing in every corner of the Castle, the Austrian Soldiers found themselves well protected with their armor and sustained few if any casualties. Instead, piles of heavily armored knights riddled the halls as their blood flowed onto the cold stone floor.
Eventually, Berengar and his soldiers reached the Great Hall where the King of Castile sat upon his Throne; oddly enough, there was not a single hint of fear on his face; instead, it was tranquil as if he had come to peace with his fate. Berengar and his soldiers cautiously approached as they secured the room from the few remaining bodyguards of the Castilian King.
Upon seeing the devil in the flesh, King Fransisco de Trastámara gazed upon Berengar with disdain as he boldly spat upon the floor in front of him before speaking his mind.
"So you are the Austrian upstart who challenges the authority of G.o.d! I did not expect you to have such a regal appearance. I suppose it is true what they say; Lucifer was indeed the most beautiful among the Lord"s creation!"
Berengar immediately felt sickened upon hearing such a remark and instead stepped closer to the King of Castile before making his demands.
"Your Army is defeated, yet the people of your city remain intact for the most part. I suggest you surrender, or else I will be forced to engage in unnecessary cruelty towards you, your family, and your people..."
However, the King of Castile"s expression did not change; there was no hint of dread or fright in his eyes, only disgust. As if the very existence of Berengar was an insult to his pride as a natural-born monarch. Thus it was no surprise when he began to insult Berengar to his face.
"You are no King, Berengar von Kufstein! You are a lowly Baron who does not know his place! Without your advanced technology, you would be nothing! I wonder what the price was for you to obtain such limitless knowledge? Tell me did you sell your soul to Satan? For what? Temporary power on this mortal plane?
I pity you; no matter what you achieve in this world of ours, ultimately, you are destined for an eternity of h.e.l.lfire and torment. Whereas I, and my family will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, through his divine will, we have led our people in this life and will do so in the next! The right to rule is not determined by your strength but by G.o.d himself! Do with us as you please; you will only be ensuring greater d.a.m.nation for your wretched soul!"
Berengar had a twisted expression on his face as he heard such insults to his power and authority; he knew that in history, the Spanish were among the most fanatical Christians on the planet, who were willing to destroy valuable knowledge if they believed it had offended their G.o.d, yet to meet such zealotry in the flesh was genuinely irritating.
With this in mind, a malicious grin spread upon his lips as he decided to toy with the religious fanatic sitting in front of him. Berengar slowly stepped closer to the Throne; with each foot gained, the sound echoed throughout the stone corridor as if it was thunder.
As he finally reached the Castilian King, Berengar grabbed ahold of the man"s neck and slammed him to his knees before stepping on his skull and forcing him to kowtow before him. He began to taunt the religious Monarch with the anecdote of his personal experience with the so-called afterlife as he did so.
"I am sorry to be the one to inform you, but there is no G.o.d; Heaven does not exist nor does h.e.l.l. There is only life and death. Thus, I hope that you remember when you find yourself in the next life, that I, King Berengar von Kufstein, was the one who sent you there. I truly hope that you are born in the lowest rung of society as an impoverished member of the common people who you claim to have divine rule over so that you will know the pain and suffering of your people first hand."
After saying this, Berengar kicked the man onto the floor, where the King of Castile gazed upon him with bitter hatred. As the man struggled to his knees, he then looked up to the heavens and performed the sign of the cross, saying one last prayer before he embraced the cold hands of death.
As he did this, Berengar circled to the man"s back and pulled out his revolver, where he pressed it to the back of the man"s skull. Before the King could finish his prayers, Berengar pulled the trigger and sent him to the afterlife.
Blood and gray matter sprayed onto the floor as the man"s body collapsed; with an indifferent expression, Berengar holstered his pistol before giving out an order to his nearby troops who witnessed his speech and vicious manner.
"Find the King"s family, and eliminate them after you have done that sack the city for all it is worth. Anyone who attempts to resist is to be killed on the spot. "
After saying this, Berengar sat upon the Castilian Throne with a look of disgust on his face towards the corpse that lay before him. He began to mutter under his breath a single sentence, which sent chills down the spines of the few men of his who were near enough by to hear it.
"One down, two to go..."
It was exactly as Berengar had said, the young King of Austria planned to eliminate all three Kings of Iberia and their families. In doing so, he would be plunging the Catholic Realms of the Peninsula into utter chaos, buying him the much-needed time to arm and train his Granadan allies so that they would be capable of winning Reconquista without further intervention from Austria and Byzantium.
Throughout the rest of the night, cries echoed throughout the city as the Army of ten thousand men tore it to pieces, taking every bit of gold, silver, and precious stones they could find, mercilessly skewering anyone who resisted with their bayonets.
The Royal Family of Castile was found hiding in a secret room and were gunned down where they stood. As for Berengar, he gazed upon a map of the Iberian Peninsula where he stuck a boot knife into the location that marked the City of Zaragoza.
His next target was the Kingdom of Aragon; after all, the house of de Trastámara ruled over both Castile and Aragon, with King Fransisco de Trastámara and his family dead, his relative Felipe now had a claim to his territory, and Berengar intended to execute him before he could seize power for himself.
With the Army and Royal house of Castile Annihilated, Berengar had dealt a mighty blow to the Iberian Union in the initial stages of the War. He suspected that the Portuguese and Aragonese Kings would pull back at least one Army that pressured Granada to defend their territory. Thus he would have to move swiftly to eliminate his next target.
A messenger hawk was sent back to the frontlines of the Granadan defense, informing them of the swift victory that Berengar had achieved over the Castilian Crown and the result that had occurred. In the coming days, the various forces throughout Christodom would come to learn of what had happened to Castile and begin to fear the power of the Austrian Army and the brutality of its Monarch.
For if Berengar did not even treat the lives of his peers with the respect and dignity they were afforded, who would he not eliminate in his pursuit of power? For now, the war in Iberia continued to wage, and it was far from reaching its peak intensity.
---
If you want to support me so that I can commission art of the characters in my novel, as well as maps, coat of arms, and other vital ill.u.s.trations, please visit my Patreon page at
of the art will be released within my discord server for free.