Tyranny of Steel

Berengar awoke the following day with three beauties in his arms; on the right side of his bed was none other than Honoria; as for the other two women, they were huddled together on his left side, and they were Kawhihta and her younger sister Ojistah. Seeing that he had taken in two colonial concubines on this journey to the new world, Berengar was quite pleased with himself.

After all, this meant that every time he visited his colony in the so-called Vinland, he would have two beautiful young women to service him during his time spent in the settlement. He began to wonder if he should make a similar policy per every colony he established in this world.

Honoria opened her mint green eyes at this moment and gazed upon the scene with a wicked smile on her face. She immediately whispered something into her husband's ear that made his heart freeze.

"So... What are you going to reward me with for keeping this little sub-harem of yours a secret from the others?"

Berengar honestly did not know how to respond to this; he never planned to tell his wives about the concubines he kept in his colonies. It was something that they didn't need to know. Of course, Honoria found out; such a thing was not easy to hide for her when she acted as the captain of the vessel currently responsible for ferrying troops and supplies to the new world. 

Now that she knew, he could either buy her silence or let her spill the beans, which was not the outcome he desired from this little escapade of his. Thus he immediately began to think of something to reward her with but was utterly at a loss. Eventually, he could not help but ask the woman directly.

"Just what is it that you want?"

Honoria bit her lip before expressing what she wanted in return for her silence on this matter.

"I want to go exploring; after you have established a fleet capable of ferrying men and supplies to the colony without me, I want you to allow me to take my girls and sail across this new landmass and see what treasures I can uncover!"

Berengar's first instinct was to reject such a notion; piracy was one thing but allowing her to explore the Americas by herself and her crew was a hazardous task. However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he could agree to these conditions.

After all, plenty of famous men in his past life such as Ponce de Leon, Hernan Cortez, and Francisco Pizarro had explored vast swaths of territory and even toppled empires with only sailing vessels and primitive firearms. 

In comparison, Honoria and her girls were much better equipped; as long as they kept their wits about them, they could easily survive the dangers of the new world. After careful consideration, Berengar agreed to his wife's terms.

"Alright, if you swear a vow of secrecy on my current and future colonial concubines, I will allow you to do as you please. However, any information you come across must be sold to the Austrian Crown! I don't want this information being leaked to any other Kingdoms..."<br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

Honoria smiled when she heard that her blackmail had succeeded and quickly nodded her head with an emphatic expression.

"Of course, I will oversee my girls and ensure that they don't do anything stupid. You know damn well I am not above executing one of them if they happen to do anything detrimental to the Kingdom of Austria!"

This statement had brought a sense of calmness to Berengar's otherwise restless heart; he could ill afford to allow the information of the New World to leak to his rivals and allies so soon after its discovery. He knew that Honoria would take the necessary precautions to ensure that the existence of this land and all others would remain an Austrian secret. 

Having agreed, Berengar sealed it with a kiss as he leaned over and passionately intertwined his tongue with that of his wife's. The couple continued to make out for some time and, in the process, ended up waking the native girls next to them. When they gazed over at the scene, they were reminded of what they had done yesterday and immediately felt a burning desire in their hearts. 

Thus Berengar, Honoria, and the two native concubines entertained each other once more. By the time the four of them were done with their activities, it was close to noon. Though it wasn't the regular morning exercise routine that Berengar went through, it was more than enough to sustain him for that day. 

After they had completed their actions, Berengar got dressed and exited from his cabin, where he immediately noticed that the fortress had begun to be retrofitted, the crude log cabins were in the process of being replaced with precise timber frame houses in the style commonly found throughout Germany. 

The large felled tree trunks used to crudely construct the cabins were being recycled into expertly crafted timber frames by the Army engineers. As for the foundation of the structures, they were made via a combination of coal-fired clay bricks and type M mortar which was imported from the fatherland. 

In the end, solid structures that would last the test of time would replace the frontier-style log cabins and form the fortress's interior, barracks, a chapel, houses for officers and long-term residents, even a tavern was in the process of being constructed within the settlement. Aside from the Type M mortar, all of the resources for making these buildings could be found within the immediate vicinity of the settlement. 

When Berengar witnessed these plans in place, he had a broad smile on his face; he kept smiling as he strolled through the fortress; after stepping upon the ramparts, he noticed that another group of army engineers had begun teaching the native workforce how to create a four-field system, with draft horses and a steel plow. 

After the fields had been plowed, they would be appropriately seeded with a horse-drawn seed drill. The fact that Berengar had brought over the necessary equipment to mechanize his colony's agriculture via animal power from the start was a big plus. This meant that he could easily use a small labor force for farming large swaths of land. 

Though he would not be able to implement the use of combine harvesters for the time being; such innovations could be fielded in the coming years when larger cargo ships capable of ferrying vast amounts of animals were constructed. 

Thinking upon this fact, Berengar shifted his gaze towards the coast and noticed that the crude dock that had been established was being expanded into a much larger port with the intent to accept multiple large vessels for future efforts. By the time the frigates had been retrofitted into ironclads, they would be able to dock successfully in the colony.

Frankly, Berengar's current ship designs were limited by cargo capability; even his clippers would not be able to carry much to and from the new world. He needed his Dominion class ships to come into fruition if he wanted any massive expansion into the new world. 

However, those all-steel ships were still a few years away from being constructed. Thus he was left with warships and clippers to transport goods across the Atlantic. For the time being, Berengar would use the limited cargo capacity of his Warships to ferry men, supplies, and livestock over. The need for secrecy was paramount, and Berengar would only trust his military to keep it that way. 

Having gazed upon the improvements that were taking place in his Colony, Berengar felt satisfied with the results; in a few months, this colony would look like an actual Austrian Town. With this in mind, he climbed down from the ramparts and noticed a team of jaegers was about to set forth from the settlement. 

Berengar took this opportunity to step forward and speak with the men, where they immediately jumped to attention and saluted their King. After seeing the appropriate response, Berengar responded in kind before questioning them about their task.

"Are you departing from the fortress?"

The squad leader immediately nodded his head before responding to his King.

"Yes, your majesty, the various Jaeger squads who have arrived are being deployed for the search of valuable resources. Our objective is to travel into the unknown and seek out granite to begin building proper fortifications instead of these poorly constructed timber walls that we currently have!"

Berengar immediately nodded his head in response; the sooner proper walls could be constructed around the settlement, the better. After reflecting upon his knowledge from his past life, he quickly began to issue an order to the men.

"Hand over your map; I have received intel from the natives that might be valuable for your search."

The squad leader did not hesitate and handed over his map and pen; it was a relatively crude map based upon scouting reports from the Marine Reconassaince teams and information that had been traded with the native tribes.

Berengar made a rough estimate of a granite location which he knew about from his tenure living in the State of New York during his previous life, before marking a red x. He then handed the map back to the officer and said with a stern expression on his face.

"You may find what you are looking for in that location; however, what lies between here and there is a mystery to even me. So keep your heads on a swivel, and don't be afraid to shoot anything that poses a threat, understood?"

The soldiers immediately nodded their heads in response to their King's statement.

'Yes, sir!"

Berengar left one final remark before allowing the men to begin their journey.

"Alright, you boys, come back safe; I don't want to ferry a body back to the fatherland! Hail victory!"

The Jaegers immediately threw up their salutes once more before responding to their King in kind.

"Hail victory!"

With those words spoken, the Jaegers began to enter into the unknown, searching for valuable resources. Whether or not they would return to the settlement, and with viable intel remained unknown. However, their journies and what they encountered on them were sure to be legendary.