Chapter 202: Cripple

"They picked up the ice," Voss muttered.

When the mercenaries crossed the frozen lake earlier, they had seen the huge chunks of thick, shattered ice surrounding the hole where the Swabian soldiers had fallen.

Reischach had ordered his strongest soldiers to pick up those heavy slabs of frozen lake water.

Now, the front row of the rebel shield wall held blocks of solid ice in front of the steel.

When the rifles fired, the conical bullets easily pierced the metal shields. But many of the bullets stopped when they hit the ten-inch thick blocks of solid ice.

The ice shattered and cracked. It absorbed the deadly force of the Swabian weapons.

"Keep marching!" Reischach’s voice boomed over the groans of his dying men. "Their thunder is weak against the frozen water! Push them into the gorge!"

The shield wall advanced again. They stepped over the bloody snow.

Forty paces.

"Brandt! Fire at will! Do not wait for the volley!" Voss screamed. "Tell the men to aim for their legs! Aim for the gaps!"

The Swabian line erupted into continuous gunfire. Small pockets of smoke puffed out from the line as individual Jaegers reloaded and fired.

Some bullets found their mark. They blew the kneecaps off Spanish pikemen and caused them to drop their heavy ice shields. But there were simply too many of them.

The exiles pushed forward with the desperate momentum of a cornered beast.

Thirty paces.

"They are too close, General!" Hans shouted. He stepped in front of Voss and raised his mace. "If they hit the gun line, our shooters will not have the space to swing their maces!"

Though Voss had planned for a perfect firing squad, the sheer stubborn willpower of the Spanish infantry was closing the distance.

"Maces to the front!" Voss roared. He abandoned the rifle strategy. There was no more time to reload. "Drop the guns! Draw the steel! Prepare to brace!"

The front two ranks of the Jaegers threw their expensive Pattern-3 rifles directly into the snow. They reached down to their belts. They drew the short steel maces.

They stepped forward. They formed a thin line of charcoal wool against the approaching wall of wood and steel.

Twenty paces.

The rebel mercenaries let out a battle cry. They threw their heavy blocks of shattered ice into the snow. They raised their crude iron swords high into the air.

They abandoned the slow march. They broke into a full, sprinting charge right at Voss’s face.

"Hold the line!" Voss screamed. He raised his mace as the wave of angry mercenaries crashed down upon them.

The collision was deafening. Steel clashed against steel. Men screamed as the two armies smashed together on the freezing clearing.

Voss ducked a wild swing from a Spanish pikeman. He drove the iron head of his mace straight into the man’s stomach. Blood sprayed across Voss’s face, warm and sticky.

"Die, heretic!" an Austrian rebel screamed. He lunged at Hans with a spear.

Hans caught the wooden shaft with his left hand. He swung his mace with his right. He buried it into the man’s neck.

The mercenaries pushed the Swabian soldiers backward, step by step. They moved closer and closer to the impassable rocks of the narrow gorge.

Voss pulled his mace out of a falling rebel. He breathed heavily. He looked over his shoulder.

The steep rock wall was only ten paces behind him. The three immense traction engines were parked right there. They were useless now.

"General!" Hans yelled. "We are getting pushed into the rocks!"

Voss gritted his teeth. He parried another sword thrust. He was entirely surrounded by the bloody melee.

"Hold your ground!" Voss roars. He kicked a mercenary in the chest.

But as Voss looked past the fighting men, right at the back of the rebel army, he saw Baron von Reischach sitting on his horse.

The old noble was not looking at the fight. Reischach was looking out at the narrow, winding trail leading up into the high peaks, just past Voss’s traction engines.

And Reischach was smiling.

Voss quickly glanced over his shoulder. He looked out at the open trail hidden by the alpine fog.

"What is coming out of the fog?" Voss gasped. His heart stopped in his chest as he stared at the white horizon.

Hans kicked a rebel away and quickly turned his head. Brandt also paused. He wiped a splash of blood from his cheek.

Out on the freezing, open mountain pass, the fog slowly parted.

At first, it just looked like tall shadows moving against the swirling snow. But then, the distinct shapes of steel armor and tall pikes broke through the mist.

One by one, heavy columns of armored infantry glided out of the white haze, marching down the steep, narrow gorge.

There were easily over ten thousand of them. They entirely blocked the horizon and trapped Voss’s Jaegers against the flat clearing.

"Those are not Swabian reinforcements," Hans whispered. "General, look at the yellow and black banners on the pikes. That is the Duke of Alba’s main host..."

After hearing such words, the entire Swabian frontline seemed to freeze. The rebel mercenaries also slowed their pushing. They parted like a red sea to let their old noble ride forward.

Baron von Reischach rode his heavy warhorse right to the front of the bloody melee. He ignored the dead bodies under his horse’s hooves.

He raised his broadsword and pointed it at the sweeping army arriving from the pass. He let out a roaring laugh.

"Surprised, General?" Reischach bellowed. "Did you think King Konrad was the only one who could make powerful friends?"

"You made a deal with the Spanish Emperor?!" Voss shouted. He spit blood onto the snow. "You sold out your own homeland to a foreign crown just to get back at Swabia?!"

"I am saving our homeland!" Reischach roared back. His face twisted in anger. "The Duke of Alba and I made a simple pact. He gave me the vanguard and the men to trap you on this frozen rock. Once we wipe out Konrad’s commander and steal your rifles, the Spanish will help me take back my lands! I will rule them as a true lord again, the traditional way, with swords and real knights!"

This was a huge ambush designed to cripple the Swabian military leadership and steal their technology...