Tyranny of Steel

While the Department of Defense belonging to the Kingdom of Austria had begun to test the next-generation weapons designed by their sovereign. The Research and Development Department was working on an exciting piece of artillery.

Having received field reports from the lack of support to light infantry units behind enemy lines, Jakob Schmidt, the son of Ludwig Schmidt, had come to the logical conclusion that a form of lightweight and maneuverable artillery capable of being rapidly deployed by a small team of infantrymen needed to be developed.

He had delegated the responsibility of his Department to the development of Berengar's next-generation weapons designs entirely. At the same time, he worked with his father to develop a new weapon that could be used to fulfill the demands of indirect fire and support.

At the moment, a small prototype was sitting on the floor of Ludwig's workshop; it was the 7th prototype designed in the past few months since Berengar left for the war in Iberia. Past designs included miniature cannons that could be taken apart and carried either by horse or on the back of multiple soldiers.

However, these devices proved during testing with Mountian Troops to be exceptionally heavy and took far too long to deploy effectively. Thus the idea of a pack howitzer was immediately scrapped. Instead, the current prototype in the hands of Ludwig and Jakob was a 27-inch steel tube in a form that was oddly reminiscent of modern mortars from Berengar's past life.

This Mortar included a base plate for use as a standard infantry mortar that could be quickly detached to lighten the weight. To use the weapon without the base plate, the gun had a handle bolted onto the barrel, and the soldier's foot was used to stabilize the weapon. This lighter-weight variant was designed for use with light infantry and commando units.

Depending on whether the base plate was used, This Mortar weighed anywhere from 15 to 40 pounds and fired a 60mm high explosive projectile that had an effective range between 2,187 and 3,500 yards. Of course, this was just a prototype, and it was far from being feasible for actual service.

Still, the concept was in place, and a prototype had been made. Thus Jakob and his father both had broad smiles on their faces as they gazed upon this brilliant weapon. The old engineer grasped his son on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm proud of you, boy! I thought you were mad when you suggested that we try something other than a lightweight variant of a traditional field gun. However, if this weapon works as well as I think it will, we may have just provided a sufficient level of force to our troops stationed behind enemy lines!"

Jakob smiled as he heard his father's praise; throughout his entire life, he had sought to succeed the older man in his endeavors; over the past five years, he had seen his father go from working on trebuchets to breechloaders. The rapid ascent in technology that Austria had progressed to was unfathomable to his young mind.

There was only one man responsible for such a thing. It was King Berengar; without his educational reforms, young men like Jakob would not have the mathematic or scientific knowledge to figure out how to make such advanced weapons.

A rising portion of the population was educated to a substantial degree, and brilliant minds were constantly working on expanding upon the knowledge provided to them by their King. Although Berengar was viewed as an intelligent man whose intellect was equal to none within the Kingdom of Austria; he was not omniscient, and thus there were plenty of brilliant minds within the millions of people who inhabited Austria who could add to the ever-increasing pool of knowledge.

These two men had contributed substantially to the development of arms for the Kingdom of Austria. Though Ludwig was getting on in years, he was happy to know that his son could continue his legacy and aid the young Monarch in his pursuit of power. Thus, Ludwig began to speak to his son with some difficulty.

"My boy, I had seen you grow from a gifted but foolish child to a brilliant young man; when you were a kid, we had nothing, and I could barely afford to feed you and your brothers. If not for King Berengar and his educational reforms, I am sure that you would never accomplish much in life.

However, look at you now; you have become the head of the Research and Development Department of the Royal Armory! I am proud of you son, I won't be in this world for much longer, but I am happy to know that his Majesty will have someone greater than myself to rely upon in the future..."

Jakob had a bitter smile; he was all too aware that the likelihood of his father living much longer was slim; he was already an elderly man and considered exceptionally old in this era. Though there had been a rapid increase in medicine, and health it was unknown just how much that would affect the average lifespan. With a smile on his face, Ludwig began to lecture his son further

"You are a man now, Jakob; it is time for you to get married, and have a child of your own. I don't want to die before I meet my grandkids you little bastard!"

After saying this, Ludwig lightly smacked his son across the back of his head breaking the solemn atmosphere that had previously stifled the air. Jakob laughed lightly as he recovered from the impact. Due to his father's actions, his family had become noblemen, even if it was among the lower families.

He could finally marry a nice noble girl and start a family. He had been so obsessed with work that he had utterly neglected any form of social function for several years now.  Ludwig wore a toothy grin upon seeing his son's reaction as he asked his son an important question.

"Now, my boy, is there any girl who has caught your fancy? I can pull a favor with the King to put in a good word for you!"

Jakob was shocked when he heard this; since when did his father and Berengar have such a good relationship? He was unaware that in the early days of Berengar's ascent to power, the two men were drinking buddies.

While he knew that his father had acted as the best man at the King's first wedding, Jakob had assumed that this was simply because Berengar had no friends. This was partially accurate considering all of Berengar's friends were also his subordinates aside from Hasan.

After thinking about it for a few moments, Jakob realized that he knew virtually no women, and the ones he did know were already married. Had he really spent his early adulthood absorbed in education and employment? Upon seeing the stunned look on his son's face, Ludwig's expression sank before he dared to ask the question on his mind.

"Boy, when was the last time you talked to a woman?"

An awkward smile appeared on Jakob's face as he openly admitted his borderline celibate lifestyle.

"It has been at least two years..."

Ludwig immediately slapped his forehead as he thought that he had completely and utterly failed as a father. After doing so raked his fingers over his bottom eyelids before coming to a decision.

"Alright, I'm a noble now, so it looks like I'm going to have to find you a wife! You're incapable of doing it yourself. Boy, consider this my last gift to you before I depart from this world!"

Jakob was stunned to see his father willing to go through so much effort so that he could have a grandchild before his death. After all, his brothers were still reasonably young as Ludwig had them late in life. Thus the older man truly believed that his firstborn was his only hope to see such a thing before he passed.

Before Jakob could interrupt, Ludwig pulled out a bottle of whiskey that Berengar had gifted him earlier in the year; it was aged for five years and was among the first batch of Berengar's distillery. There were very few of these bottles in existence, and most of them were stashed away in the cellar of the Royal Palace.

Ludwig immediately popped open the bottle and poured himself and his son a glass of the fragrant substance.

"Boy, I'll have you know that the King owes me a favor; after all, if it weren't for me, he would have died at mining town! Well, technically, it was that redheaded lass of his who informed me, but still, I was the one who was able to alert Eckhard to muster the militia! I will call in this once-in-a-lifetime favor in an attempt to get him to use his kingly influence to find you a beautiful and well-behaved bride.

After all, our family is wealthier than most of the Dukes nowadays! You may not be the best-looking man in Austria. Still, when I die, you and your brothers will be among the wealthiest; that alone can probably help you marry some woman from a declining noble family, especially with the King's support!"

Jakob thought about his father's gesture for a moment before he noticed a severe flaw in this plan; as such, he quickly voiced his concerns.

"But father, there are no declining noble families in Austria! With his Majesty's reforms, even those impoverished noble houses have gained significant wealth through the ownership of their lands!"

Ludwig smiled once more with his signature toothy grin before raising his voice in objection.

"Who said anything about marrying an Austrian woman? There are plenty of impoverished noble families in the neighboring Kingdoms. I can get his Majesty to give us a much more prestigious title and a plot of land in Switzerland with enough coercion!

After all, plenty of noble houses have been wiped out in the region from the War of Independence, and Berengar is still distributing their lands to men of merit from our Kingdom! You wait, boy, our house will rise, and perhaps we will even get a new surname befitting of nobles such as ourselves!"

Jakob stared at his father in disbelief before a wide smile appeared across his face. As he did so, he envisioned himself as a mighty Count, or Perhaps a Duke, with several factories under his command and multiple beautiful wives. He nodded his head before responding to his father's bold claims as he thought about this.

"I agree with this vision of the future!"

Ludwig chuckled before slapping his son on the back; as he did so, he left a parting piece of advice to his son.

"Good, now make sure to work hard because all of the benefits that I provide our family will fly out the window if you don't prove to be of equal use to our King!"

Jakob gulped down the saliva pooled in his mouth upon hearing these words; after doing so, he quickly got back to work on his mortar design while his father gazed upon him with pride.

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