Tyranny of Steel

Far away from the fatherland, in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula, deep behind enemy lines, a young soldier stood on lookout within the watchtower of his encampment. His orders were to keep an eye out and immediately report any sighting of Spanish troops. 

This young man was merely 18 years old, and had only recently begun military service in the German Army as part of his military conscription. The reality was with that Germany did not have the means to facilitate the massive influx of troops resulting from their recent unification, and thus a lottery system was used to dictate which young men they drafted into service.

Unfortunately for Private Adrian Winterlinger, he was one of the unlucky few to be selected into armed service. After graduating from infantry school, he was immediately deployed to the Iberian theatre where he just so happened to be stationed in a mine behind enemy lines. His job was dreadfully boring mostly, and the majority of the men within this encampment spent the days playing cards and drinking. 

However, recently the alert status was raised, and rumors of a Spanish attack were widespread. Though being honest, Adrian did not know what High Command was thinking. During such an intense period, they had not only evacuated the miners, but left a small portion of troops behind to fight against any possible attack. What madness had overcome the Field Marshal to think such an idea was favorable? 

Thus, he sighed in defeat as he pulled out the canteen attached to his combat belt and took a long swig. After returning it to its proper place, he picked up his binoculars and gazed into the distance for the eleventh time in the past hour.

However, this time, something was different. In the distance was a shimmer that he could not immediately identify. However, as he focused his vision through the binoculars, the shimmer began growing in size until it reached clarity. A shock appeared on the young man's face as he froze on the spot. 

A massive Army was marching towards the German encampment. He did not know just how many men were within the sea of shimmering iron, but he knew it was not something they could easily combat. Thus, he quickly gained control of his panicked state and rang the bell within the watchtower, signalling an enemy army was approaching. 

The soldiers in the camp below all panicked as they rushed towards the earthen fortifications of the encampment and gazed over the neatly placed sandbags. When they saw what had awaited them on the horizon, they quickly donned their helmets and loaded their rifles.

Those few men who were lucky enough to man the Mk2s quickly began inserting the rounds into their weapons to prepare for the oncoming attack.  Soon, the officer in charge of the camp came out from his command post and began addressing the troops.

"Hold the line until I give the order to retreat. Any man who falls back before the order is given, I swear I will shoot you myself!"

Such a threat immediately sent a tingle down the spines of the men present. Were they seriously going to stand and fight? Just when they were thinking this, the roar of cannon fire filled the air, and several dozen cannonballs fell down from the sky into the entrenched position. The soldiers of Germany quickly scrambled into their fortification and responded to the Spanish armies' attack with one of their own. 

With the commands being issued by the local artillery officer, the battery of six guns loaded their 7.5cm shells and fired off a barrage towards the advancing army. Adrian gazed through his binoculars into the distance to see the shells explode upon the enemy forces, engulfing the Spanish Army in flames, and shrapnel alike. 

Want to see more chapters ? Please visit p a n d a - n o v e l ,c o m One could hear the bloodcurdling screams resound in the distance, and despite this, the enemy was undeterred. As the Spanish cavalry charged, they were met with the fire of the mk 2 Schmidt guns, which fired hundreds of bullets from their muzzles as the minutes passed by.

The Spanish Cavalry were being cut to pieces and despite this, the army still rushed forward in a suicidal charge, knowing full well the camp and its defenders did not have the ammunition to completely defeat them. A single battle cry filled the air as the Spanish soldiers rushed into the gunfire.

"God, wills it!!"

At this point Adrian had shouldered his rifle and fired upon the advancing forces, however in the next moment he saw a cannonball rapidly approaching his watchtower where he quickly jumped out of the windowed area and landed into a cart filled with wheat below.

Just as he escaped the impact, the wooden watchtower splintered into fragments. Had he not escaped the moment he did, he would be dead.  Adrian quickly recovered from his shock as an allied soldier pulled him from the cart and dragged him into the trenches.

"Keep firing private! If you want to live, you must keep firing!"

Adrian did not hesitate and quickly racked back the bolt on his g22 rifle, ejecting the spent cartridge, where he pulled a spare from his web gear and inserted it into the chamber before closing the bolt home and aiming his rifle at the oncoming enemies. He did not hesitate to pull the trigger, claiming the life of the oncoming Spaniard. Just when the enemy reached the borders of the encampment, the whistled resounded and the following orders were given.

"Retreat, abandon the camp!"

The German soldiers were completely shocked to hear this order, but did not hesitate to follow it. After all, tens of thousands of men were rushing towards their position and they had no hope of victory, thus they quickly fled the scene. 

Not long after this, King Felipe rode on horseback into the encampment as his men lifted their weapons in the air and screamed in joy at the victory. The Spanish Monarch had a wide smile on his face as he addressed his troops.

"Men of Spain! Today, we have gained a magnificent victory. The enemy has stolen from us a valuable stockpile of saltpeter and we have just reclaimed it! This resource can cripple the German stranglehold over gunpowder, and allow our forces, and those of our allies, to properly fight back against the heretics who inhabit our lands! Today, the soldiers of Christ claim victory over the German Empire! Death to Berengar the Accursed!"

In the distance, the German Commander gazed upon the scene through his binoculars and had a wicked grin on his face as he saw King Felipe instigating the hostile chant. With a single phrase, he condemned the Spanish Army to their fate.

"Do it!"

With those words spoken, the nearby sapper pressed the plunger on his detonator, which had an underground cable leading into the mines below the encampment. The detonation travelled throughout the wire until it reached the hidden explosives buried deep within the mines next to all the saltpeter. 

As Felipe was enjoying his victory with a wide smile on his face, several dozen tons of TNT were detonated, and when combined with the pressure of the mines, and the concealed saltpeter ignited an explosion so large it created a mushroom crowd. In an instant, the Spanish King, and most his army were engulfed by flames, and incinerated from this world, leaving nothing behind, not even their bones. 

The German soldiers ducked behind the trench line as the shock wave of dirt and debris flew over their heads, thoroughly destroying the backup camp several kilometers away from the mines. After it was all over, the Commander raised his head and gazed at the massive crater that existed where the mine used to be. A fiery cavern was all that remained of the one proud saltpeter deposit. 

The German soldiers raised their heads in shock and dusted themselves off. They could not believe such a massive explosion had occurred. Had they not ducked under their fortifications and wore their steel helmets, they very well may have passed away from the shock wave.  Silence filled the air as the German Army gazed upon the destruction wrought by their hand. In the end it was only broken by the mad cackling of the Commander.

'My God! Such devastating power, truly, only the Kaiser could envision such a thing! Send a messenger to the Field Marshal at once, inform him that the King is dead, and most of his army is with him. The time to reclaim Al-Andalus is now!"

Agent Jurgen was quickly handed a message and given a horse to ride back to the Capital of Granada. The entire time he rode, he gazed off towards the direction of the crater in shock until it was no longer visible. He could not believe mankind could make such a destructive weapon, let alone that he was able to bear witness to it. In the following days, a new war would begin, and Iberia would once more be completely embroiled in conflict.