Tyranny of Steel

Night soon descended as the sky was filled with darkness, and the stench of death permeated the small farming village where Andreas and his men had set up their line of defense. They were surrounded by an army of over a thousand Italian Soldiers, and they had less than a hundred able-bodied men at their disposal. 

The Austrian Jaegers were running low on munitions, and most of them were wounded to some degree. One thing was sure; if they remained within this village, it would become their grave. Andreas was having a serious discussion with his two Lieutenants as they tried to come up with some plan to survive. 

One of the men in question had his helmet in one of his hands and his rifle slung over his shoulder. His face was covered in dirt as he presented an idea to the other two officers. 

"We have only one option; we must launch a night raid and kill as many of their men while they sleep. We do not have enough cartridges left to sustain ourselves against another assault."

However, the other officer was against this idea; it was risky and most certainly would result in the deaths of their soldiers; as such, he began to offer his own plan of action.

"That will never work, there are too many of them, all that will do is get our soldiers killed, what we need to do is flee under cover of darkness, there's less than a hundred of us left, I say we pick up our gear, we build some stretchers, and we get our brothers out of here before we all meet our demise!"

Immediately the first Lieutenant argued against this point; there were too many valuable supplies they would be leaving behind for the enemy to scavenge if they left the field of battle. 

"You are saying that we abandon the corpses of our brothers? What about the equipment they have, their painted breastplates and helmets, their camouflage uniforms? Their Jaeger rifles!?! If such valuable equipment falls into the Italians hands, it will be used against us in the future!"

In response to this, the other officer snickered before commenting on the worst-case scenario.

"If we all die here, they will have 120 jaeger rifles and camouflage uniforms to use against us in the future. Do you want to give the Italians such firepower?" 

After hearing this, the officer who suggested a night raid gritted his teeth before bowing his head in defeat. A night raid against such a large force would not allow them to achieve victory. If they attempted such a suicidal move, they would be caught before they could kill even a hundred of the Italian soldiers. 

At this moment, a feminine voice revealed itself from the shadows, Startling the three officers as they pulled out their weapons. 

"Might I make a suggestion?"

After posing the question, an above-average-looking woman revealed herself from behind a nearby hay bale. Andreas' two officers pointed their weapons in her direction while shouting commands.

"Don't move!"

"Identify yourself!"

Seeing the frightened expressions on the officer's faces, the woman sighed heavily before reaching into her bust and pulling out a special badge. 

"Agent Artke Lientz, Austrian Royal Intelligence. Now can you put down those rifles before you accidentally blow a hole through my torso?"

Andreas sighed heavily before motioning his two officers to lower their weapons; after doing so, he asked the question on his mind.

"What exactly is one of his majesty's spies doing in an insignificant farming village like this?"

Artke frowned before responding to Andreas' question in a deflective manner.

"I am afraid that is classified; however, what I can tell you, is that if you insist on running away, there is no possibility of you making it out alive. You are surrounded, and they are expecting you to make a break for it; I know I would if I was in their position..."

Upon hearing this, Andreas frowned, he expected it would be a bloody battle if they attempted to escape, but if the enemy were anticipating them to do so, it would only lead to a massacre. As such, he relented and asked Artke what she had on her mind.

"What's the plan?"

A sadistic smile spread across the female agent's face as she revealed her dastardly plot to defeat the enemy. 

"It's simple, you have an entire village filled with hostages, release them all, and I will sneak into the Italian Camp amid the chaos, in the process I will poison their food and water supply. Tomorrow morning they will all be so sick that they won't be able to resist, and you can sweep into their encampment and kill them all."

Andreas thought about it for a few moments before he sighed in defeat.

"Very well, we will go with your plan; I will go round up the civilians; when we cut them loose, you will have your opportunity."

In response, the girl nodded; afterward, she was bound up in rope and carried off to where the other civilians were being held. Before long, Andreas soldiers had gathered the civilians in the middle of the village, where he began to speak to them in an authoritative tone of voice.

"Tomorrow morning, the Italians will attack this village, and they will slaughter everyone within it to ensure our deaths. Let it be known that I Captain Andreas Jaeger, in service of his Majesty King Berengar von Kufstein, am a merciful man; as such, I hereby release you! Go forth to your masters and seek their protection!"

With that said, the Jaegers walked behind the villagers and cut their bindings; as they did so, the Villagers immediately fled from their homes and into the direction of the Italian Camp, utterly unaware that there was a spy embedded in their ranks.  After they were out of sight, one of Andreas' lieutenants approached him while lighting a hemp cigarette.

"Do you think she can succeed?" 

In response to this, Andreas shrugged his shoulders before responding.

"I have no idea, but she is right; her option is the best hope we have..."

While the Austrian Jaegers prepared themselves for battle, Artke had successfully infiltrated the Italian Camp. The Commander of the Italian forces was shocked to see that all of the villagers were still alive and even more surprised to see that the Austrians had cut them loose. 

This made him wary, he did not know what the Austrian Captain had hidden up his sleeve, and as such, he sent a few of his forces to go scout out the village, while the rest of his soldiers sought to prepare accommodations for the villagers who were now embedded within their Camp.

As for Artke, she had already found her way into the water supply, where she took out a pouch full of white powder; this was the arsenic that Berengar so commonly employed in his assassinations. 

Her real reason for being in this village was that she had botched an assassination attempt against the Duke of Milan and fled from the nearby city. While she had escaped her pursuers, she soon found herself trapped in the village while the Jaegers fought for their very survival. 

After spiking the water containers with the poison, she soon made her way to the butcher's tent and the grain storage, where she spread the toxin to the wheat and meat supply. After doing so, she double-checked to see if she had been followed before making her way to where the rest of the refugees were located within the Camp, where she began to blend in perfectly. 

With this, the Austrians had ensured their victory, as such many hours passed before the sun rose in the sky above, it was only after it was well past ten in the morning that the Austrian Jaeger's advanced into the Italian encampment.

While the Jaegers cautiously approached the area, they soon realized that the Italian soldiers and civilians alike were sick to their stomachs, and too feeble even to stand.  With this in mind, Andreas smiled before giving his orders to his troops.

"Kill every soldier you come across, as for the civilians, leave them be!"

With this said, a slaughter began to unfold within the Italian encampment as men too weak to defend themselves were stabbed to death by the thrusts of the Austrian bayonets. Thousands of men met their end at the hands of the Austrian Ghosts that the Italians had just the day before pushed to the brink of death.

When the massacre was finished, Artke revealed herself to the Austrian soldiers; they were surprised to see that someone was not affected by the poison which had been inflicted upon the Italian soldiers and civilians. After all, Andreas did not reveal the entire nature of his plan to his troops. 

the identities of Berengar's agents were a highly regarded secret.  As such, Artke did not reveal her information to the whole company and instead saluted to the Captain as she made her request. 

"Captain, I am afraid that I require extraction. My cover has been blown, and I must confess that I have failed in my duties. I have to inform his majesty of this information as quickly as possible!"

Though the Austrian soldiers did not know who this woman was, to salute the Captain in such a manner and make such a request meant that she was most likely tied to Austrian Intelligence. As such, they did not comment on the situation at hand. Instead, they merely allowed their commanding officer to handle it. 

With her so publically asking for extraction in front of his men, Andreas had no option but to do so; the Agents of Austrian Royal Intelligence were highly regarded and could control military units if necessary.

If he declined her offer, she would simply order him to do so in front of his troops, which would be a significant blow to his prestige. The fact that she had made a request in front of his soldiers was a sign of respect. With this in mind, he nodded his head with a stoic expression before agreeing to her terms. 

"Alright, I will escort you back to the main force. However, we will be taking my route, is that understood?"

Artke saw no fault with these conditions, and as such, nodded her head in silence; as she did so, Andreas gave his orders to his troops.

"Men, recover the bodies of our fallen brothers and whatever supplies you can gather; I want you all ready to depart by noon. Do I make myself clear?"

Without hesitation, the soldiers all cried out in unison.

"Yes, sir!"

With that said, the battle had come to a close, and the Austrians did as they were instructed. While the other Jaeger units continued to battle the Italian Skirmishers, Andreas and his men would be extracting the female agent back to the safety of the main host. 

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