{Outside of Caen}
*BOOM*
The cannons began spewing out dark smoke. The Calvados army were familiar with the cannons as they were becoming common on the European battlefield. However, these cannons were different compared to what Europe had seen before. They were larger and stronger, firing a round of small iron balls which flew through the sky into the enemy soldiers.
Blood and flesh began to fly everywhere. Horrific screams filled the once silent battlefield. Bones, shattered and flew meters behind the owner. Limbs were torn off everywhere, the metallic smell of blood filled the air. The Manche soldiers felt terrified at first by the mangled bodies, but soon regained composure as Alart began shouting his orders.
"MEN, AT THE READY" Alart shouted to all his men which were lined up with a depth of three men.
"AIM"
"FIRE!"
Musket balls flew through the air towards the already battered lines of the enemy. The remaining men in the front line fell over after the bullets pierced their torso and heads. One unlucky soldier had his nether regions blown off from the bullets impact.
"This... Why.. Why! What are those blasted weapons and why are they decimating my army!" The count of Calvados watched as his battle-hardened soldiers began to retreat.
Most of Calvados' cavalry were immobilized due to their charge since the enemy was only holding what looked like wooden sticks. When they got closer, the grape shots turned their bodies into mush.
With the retreat, Alart ordered his cavalry to chase after the routed enemy before they ran back to the walled city. Hundreds of horsemen with spears rushed towards the defenseless enemy, cutting them down without mercy unless they surrendered.
Blood painted the green fields of Caen. After just two an hour and a half of fighting, silence once again filled the air. The Calvados losses were staggering compared to Manche. Out of 3000 soldiers, 1900 perished, 820 severely wounded, and the rest captured compared to no casualties from Manche's side. The count was killed by the chasing cavalry. Finally, Caen would be in the hands of Victor.
His army now moved closer to the city and gave an ultimatum to surrender their city or they will perish. Reluctantly, the people decided to open after seeing the head of the decapitated head of their count and the captured soldiers. In a ordered column, they marched into the city.
Elsewhere, throughout Normandy, 300 men were spread out to every city with a major noble. Their job, use the new Molotov weapons that Victor made, to burn down their homes. They walked into each city under the guise of merchants. Their first stop was an inn so that they could create an alibi if needed before attacking the castles and palaces.
Under the dead of night, in the city of Rouen, a group of soldiers snuck out of the windows of their inn before making their way to the castle. They carried bags of Molotov, so they had to be careful. The reached an area they could throw their bottles of death at. They lit the first one using a torch they found. The clay bottles flew before shattering on the roofs close to the castle. Their contents flying everywhere and igniting. It did not take long before all the bottles were thrown and they quickly fled from the scene of the crime.
The flames began to spread across the homes, as bells began to ring across the city and guards frantically racing around trying to evacuate the city. When the lord heard the commotion, he made preparations to leave the now burning city.
Throughout Normandy, a similar scene was unfolding. Cities were being burnt down and the once pitch black night sky was stained crimson with smoke covering the city from the moon and stars. It was the signal of a new beginning in France. One without the nobility of the past.
~~~
{Austria, HRE}
Away from France and in a certain Archduchy resides a 24 year old man looking out the window of his palace. This man is the King of Spain and the future Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles von Habsburg. His black hair shone in the moonlit sky. He looked tired from moving between Germany and Spain, Though he had the responsibility to rule both.
*Knock* *Knock*
Soft knocks on his door broke the silence of his candlelit room.
"Come in" He spoke with a stern tone.
"Your Majesty, our spies in France have reported the strange movements of the new French King." A young attendant walked in and kneeled.
"Oh?" Charles' raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Continue on"
"He seems have left the palace many times undercover and when he returned, they saw strange reforms across the city."
"What are these reforms you speak of?" Charles was now very interested by these reforms the child king was spreading throughout his kingdom."
The attendant continued, "Well, he declared the creation of a 'police force' and to keep cleanliness in Paris. He also had a strange object on wells that brought up water to his people,"
"Oh, how interesting, tell them to bring me a drawing of this object next time." Charles waved his hand at the adjutant who bowed before walking out.
Charles looked back out to the sky and began mumbling, "Victor huh, I wonder what you will have in store for Europe. Will it be a peaceful France, or the same which eyes of Naples."
He stood up and walked to his bed and laid down, "I hope I don't have to see you as my enemy, young one." He closed his eyes and drifted off.
~~~
{Paris, France}
"Achoo.." Victor rubbed his nose, 'Is someone thinking about me?'
Right now, Victor was finishing up his plans to rebuild Paris with concrete and add a sewage system which could further the city's development. His first plan was to bar carriages from residential streets and only allowing them on main roads. This way, he could clear congestion and any accidents. Secondly, he was thinking of setting up a type of trolley system to help people in the far ends of town connect to those in the middle. To do this, he would need to cut evenly distanced grooves which only the wheels of the trolley carriages could go in from one end of the city to the other. For the carriages, he would have them pulled by a couple of horses while the carriage was large enough to hold 20 people. He decided, at the beginning to commission 10 of them to bring move the people and make it cost only 1 copper.
Victor looked satisfied. He wanted Paris to be the envy of Europe. It has already been a few weeks since the pumps have been built across the city. The people were happy because of all the care Victor gave to them by making it easier to get water. Victor also told them to boil water, though he did not specify why since he did not want want to be burned at the stake. The Catholic Church still had a lot of influence since the reformation was still young. But, he still pushed forward to modernize Paris. He wanted to establish schools for commoners, but that had to come after the nobles were rooted out of France.