Tyranny of Steel

While Itami Riyo engaged in a campaign to destroy those who rebelled against her newfound power, Berengar was focused on the development of his Empire. The first Hydroelectric dam was being constructed, which would soon provide electricity to the city of Kufstein. As for the rest of the Empire, it was rapidly modernizing in its industrial and agricultural capacities. 

By now, animal power had largely been replaced on farms with steam powered tractors, and the cities were under reconstruction to allow for modern amenities like plumbing and other major conveniences. There were even magnificent statues made in the form of German heroes that had existed as cultural attractions. Soon, all the German cities would be as advanced as its capital. 

Before he knew it, months had passed, and Berengar received a report on his desk about the ongoing crusades. After achieving initial success in Acre, the Crusader armies had landed tens of thousands of more troops and targeted other major locations within the Holy Land. Surprised by the power that the Catholic Kingdoms possessed, the Timurid and Byzantine Empires launched a counterattack. 

At the moment, the war was in a stalemate, with a series of protracted sieges taking place across the Holy Land. Despite this, Emperor Vetranis did not officially request support from his allies. Instead, he maintained trade with the German Empire to ensure that his soldiers were equipped with the best weapons and armor that money could buy. 

Initially he would have faced resistance from the opposing factions in his court, but the threat of the crusades was too much to bear, and thus for the first time in a long time the doves, hawks, and neutral powers united to buy the weapons and training they needed to defeat their enemy. 

The idea was to hold their ground for as long as possible, and then dispatch several advanced armies to wipe out the Crusader forces. The Timurid Empire, on the other hand, had also opened up trade with the German Empire, realizing that its forces were obsolete compared to the Crusaders and their Byzantine allies. They were desperate for as many firearms, cannons, and munitions that they could gain. 

The new year was approaching, and Berengar's wives and his mistress had all given birth to healthy children. Currently they were recuperating, and because of this, Hemma had taken over temporarily as the acting head of Imperial Intelligence. This left Berengar in a state of reprieve from his wives' drama, but also a sense of irritation, as he no longer had anyone to play with in his spare time.

During this time, the Gunther Merchant Company had established a colony named Bäckerhafen. Bäcker being Gunther's surname. The colony got along well with the natives, achieving another peaceful relationship with the local population, and had incorporated them as a means of cheap labor. Because the natives of the island did not understand modern currency, they had been given food and superior living conditions in exchange for their labor. Much like the practice Arnulf had started in New Vienna. 

As for the Colony of New Swabia, Emmerich continued to wage war with the locals in a brutal campaign to establish German domination over the region. Eventually, the Locals had enough of their destruction and sued for peace. Under the direction of Berengar, a local refuge was established for the various tribes in the region currently known as the Adelheim Mountains, and acted as a reservation for the surviving native populace. Meanwhile, Emmerich conquered the surrounding regions and incorporated them into his territory of New Swabia. 

In the Settlement of Berenstadt, the colony had thrived and expanded into several smaller coastal settlements. As per the agreements with the Aztec Empire, Berengar could establish several colonies across the coastline of the region once known as Mesoamerica. The German empire's colonies had expanded and influenced the local populations. 

Though the Aztecs had lost many of their more savage cultural practices, their German suzerains, who commonly traded with the local empire and interacted with the locals, had influenced them in many aspects. German soldiers stationed in the nearby colonies were especially popular among the Aztec woman as they had a close physical resemblance to one of their most important deities.

Berengar had to respond to this by reminding his soldiers that the natives of the new world may have STDs, and that any man who contracted one would remain in the colony indefinitely, unable to return to the fatherland and spread the diseases they had gained during deployment. Despite his warning, several of his soldiers fell prey to syphilis, and because of Berengar's actions, he successfully prevented it from returning to Germany. 

Currently, Berengar was relaxing in his office after a hard day's work. In his hands was a report from his chemistry department. Aldo von Passau had discovered the means to create smokeless powder via experimentation with cellulose, which he got via the massive surplus of Hemp that Berengar's farms grew. 

In this letter, the man went to great lengths to describe the chemical process to create smokeless powder, and had experimented so much he was able to create a double-base powdered formed by mixing nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose was created via a mixture of nitric acid, sulfuric acid and cellulose and was a key component in the formation of gunpowder. 

Berengar's interests weren't in chemistry, but the practical aspects of smokeless powder. With this report, he now had the means to create more advanced firearms and artillery. Though it would be some time before he could produce such weapons in large numbers, this meant that he would soon have repeating firearms in his army, and proper machine guns. 

However, he did not immediately get to work on designing the new weapons, as there was no point until he had enough smokeless powder to supply them. Instead, he approved the spending of whatever resources Aldo von Passau and his team of chemists needed to mass produce the material. 

Berengar estimated that by the time he finally defeated the Catholic Church, which he knew would occur directly after their crusade to the holy land was over, regardless as to whether or not they won. That he would have enough smokeless powder stockpiled to begin producing more modern weapons. 

Thus, he took a swig of a drink to celebrate, as a knock resounded on his door. His brow raised in curiosity as he heard this sound and answered it with an affectionate tone in his voice.

"It's open..."

The door opened slightly to reveal the appearance of Yasmin who had a troubled expression on her face. When Berengar saw this, he immediately sat up straight and took a more serious approach to the conversation that was about to take place. 

Yasmin handed a letter over to her husband, which contained the details that were causing her so much distress. She sat down and sighed heavily as she grabbed hold of Berengar's chalice and took a sip from it without his permission. 

Berengar read the letter, and he too became sighed heavily in defeat before expressing his thoughts on the matter.

"Is your brother an idiot?"

The Princess of Al-Andalus wore a bitter smile as she nodded to her husband.

"What do you think?'

Berengar snatched his drink away from his wife and took a big gulp before quickly refilling the chalice. He could not believe the man was behaving so foolishly. He struggled to find the words to properly scold the absent man. Ultimately, it was Yasmin who spoke up on his behalf.

"What the hell is he thinking? He has finally unified Iberia under his rule, and he thinks now is the perfect time to invade Morrocco? He does realize that there are protests all across his newfound Sultanate right? If he mobilizes his forces into North Africa, the christians beneath his rule will revolt, and he will lose much of the ground he has gained thanks to your help."

According to the letter, Hasan had gotten into a petty squabble with the Ruler of Morrocco and decided to declare war against him. Why? Because he knew he would win the conflict thanks to the superior army he had. Of course, he failed to consider the internal strife that would occur the moment he moved his troops out of the cities and into another continent.  Berengar wore a bitter expression as he made a joke at Yasmin's expense.

"I'm starting to regret marrying you..."

The woman giggled when she heard this, knowing that her husband wasn't serious, it was because of this she decided to play along and hear his reasoning.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Berengar sighed once more while he revealed the thoughts on his mind.

"I realize now that I'm going to be cleaning up your brother's messes for the rest of my life..."

Yasmin could hardly contain her herself and ended up breaking into a fit of laughter. Did Berengar not realize how foolish her brother was when he married her? It was amusing that he was only realizing this now. However, Berengar had more important concerns on his mind.

"Well, it's too late now to stop your brother. I must contact Adelbrand as soon as possible, the man has been in Iberia too long, it is time for him to return to the Fatherland, I will allow him to choose a replacement who will be in charge of maintaining the peace in Iberia while your brother marches into Morrocco like a fool."

Yasmin was entertained by Berengar's response as she raised her brow in curiosity before asking the question on her mind.

"You're still going to help him?"

In response to this, Berengar merely chuckled before replying to his wife's question.

"Of course, I can't let Iberia collapse after all the blood, sweat and tears I have poured into it over the years. It appears once more German troops will be involved in Iberia..."

A pretty smile formed on Yasmin's lips as she leaned over and kissed her husband before whispering in his ear.

"Thank you for helping my idiot of a little brother... I will properly repay you later when I am feeling better..."

Berengar smiled and spoke a simple phrase when he heard this remark.

"I look forward to it..."

With that said, Berengar had once more invested a large amount of German Forces into Iberia. The measly peacekeeping forces he had sent were not enough to maintain the Al-Fadl dynasty's control over the region.