Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sighed heavily as he brought his young son Alexandros towards his mother. The woman's eyes were red and puffy. Evidently, she had been crying for some time because of the boy's actions. However, after a thorough scolding, Alexandros was ready and willing to build a relationship with his biological mother. He awkwardly hugged the woman and apologized for making her cry, the sight of which brought a smile to both Berengar and Linde's faces.

"I'm sorry, mommy... Please don't cry!"

Despite his kind words, Honoria could not hold back the tears in her mint green eyes, and instead embraced her baby boy and apologized to him for her own selfishness.

"I'm sorry, Alexandros, I should have been in your life more! That changes now. I promise to be a proper mother to you!"

Berengar nodded his head in approval before joining in. He took both his third wife and their son into his arms and made a solemn vow to the two of them.

"From now on, I promise to spend more time with the two of you as a family!"

Such a remark caused Honoria's tears to dry, and instead a pretty smile formed on her face as she nodded her head in silence. The emotional scene was cut short as Yasmin appeared with her newest child in her arms. She had given birth to a baby girl, who, much like her older brother Ghazi, had a blend of Berengar's features, and her own. The child's name was Zara, and though she was born only recently, she had a curious glint in her amber eyes as she gazed upon the strange scene that was unfolding in front of her.

Berengar had seen that glance before, in the eyes of his oldest son, when he was still an infant. In his mind, it was a sign of hyper intelligence. Still, he would not know for sure until the girl grew up. He hurried to his fourth wife and their baby girl, kissing Zara on the forehead before hugging onto Yasmin's waist. 

Yasmin knew Berengar was acting so shamelessly because he was trying to divert her attention from the scene that had just occurred. She was not so easily deterred and immediately asked the people present about what had transpired.

"Is everything okay? I heard some crying, so I came to check on you guys..."

Honoria nodded her head in response with a wide smile on her face, while petting the hair of her son.

"Everything is fine now..."

Yasmin was curious about what had happened, but she had other things on her mind. Ultimately, she left things be. If everything had already been resolved, then it was not her place to interfere. A seductive smile formed on the woman's lips as she teased her husband before departing.

"Oh, Berengar, I was just about to feed Zara. If I have some leftover, you're more than welcome to claim it for yourself." 

Berengar was immediately interested in following the woman, but decided not to when he realized he had just patched things up between Honoria and her son. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head before rejecting the offer.

"I'm afraid that I have other matters to attend to..."

A disappointed expression appeared on the Moorish beauty's face as she nodded her head in defeat.

"I see..."

After saying this, she departed from the area where she fed her newborn daughter. As for Berengar, he spent the rest of the afternoon taking a break from his work, and spending time with Honoria and Alexandros. The boy had never experienced such a carefree setting with his parents before, and was excited beyond belief. 

After all was said and done, Berengar retired to his office, where he drafted designs for two new Vessels. If his Army would soon enter the era of the Great War from his past life, then he needed to improve his navy as well.

Berengar knew it would take at least a year of consulting with his best Naval Engineers to perfect the designs he had in mind. An armored frigate was one thing, after all, it was just an ironclad sailing vessel. However, the creation of massive warships was something entirely different. 

Berengar was not a naval engineer. Instead, he came from a civil engineering background with a minor in mechanical engineering. He had studied some ships from the library of the US Naval Academy when he was visiting an old acquaintance, but he could not design a perfectly functional battleship simply from memory. 

However, he had the basis of designs in mind, and with the capabilities of his Naval Engineers, such as the old shipwright Evio, who had learned the principles of mechanical engineering from Berengar's tutelage, and those beneath his command, it was possible in the next five years to have a small fleet of battleships supported by battlecruisers and light cruisers. 

The quintessential design that would allow these major ships to function was the invention of the steam turbine. Until now, Berengar had used traditional multi-expansion steam engines to power his fleet. However, that would change. The steam turbine was exactly what it sounded like. It was a steam powered turbine engine. 

Berengar wanted a battleship that would rule the waves long after his death. For this, a single ship came to mind. The Bayern-Class Superdreadnought was a Battleship created by the German Empire in Berengar's past life during the Great War. Since Berengar would not have to worry about things like submarines or aircraft during his lifetime, he did not bother going with a more advanced battleship like the Bismarck. 

In this life, the Bayern-class Dreadnought would be referred to as the Linde-class Battleship. It was a behemoth of a vessel with a length of 180 meters. It had a beam of 30 meters and a draft of 9.39 meters. Three steam turbine engines, three propellors, and fourteen water-tube boilers powered this dreadnought. The ship had a speed of twenty-one knots and a range of five thousand nautical miles. The armament consisted of 8 × 38 cm (15 in) SK L/45 (4 × 2) naval guns, 16 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns (16 × 1), 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 (2 × 1), and 5 × single 60 cm (24 in) torpedo tubes.

It had 350mm of armor at the belt, 400mm of armor at the conning tower, 100mm of armor at the deck, and 350mm of armor at the turrets. One of these vessels required 1,271 men to operate. Such a behemoth would rule the waves for decades. 

In support of these massive battleships, Berengar planned a class of battlecruisers, which he referred to as the Henrietta-class battlecruisers. These would be based upon the uncompleted Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser from Berengar's past life. These vessels were designed in 1916, but were never actually finished. 

The Henrietta-class battlecruisers would have a length of 227.8 m, a beam of 30.4 m, and a draft of 9.3 m. They would be powered by four steam turbines and four propellors, while being supported by thirty-two boilers. They had a speed of 27.3 knots and a range of 5,500 nautical miles. 

The armament of the vessel consisted of 8 × 38 cm (15 in) SK L/45 naval guns, 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 naval guns, 8 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 naval guns, and 3 × 60 cm (24 in) torpedo tubes. The armor of the vessel was 300mm on the main belt, 80mm on the deck, 270mm on the turrets, and 150mm on the secondary battery. 

The third and final class of vessels Berengar had planned for his new era of naval dominance was a new light cruiser known as the Adela-class cruiser. This vessel was based upon the Königsberg class cruisers that were in use by the Imperial German Navy during the Great War of Berengar's past life. 

The length of the vessel was 151.40 m, it had a beam of 14.20 m, and a depth of 5.96 m. The vessel was powered by 2 steam turbines, 2 screw propellors, and 12 water-tube boilers. It had a speed of 27.5 knots, and a range of 4,850 nautical miles. 

The proposed vessel was armed with 8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, 3 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns, 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes, and 200 mines. The armor of the ship has 60mm at the deck, and 60mm at the belt. 

Berengar intended for these three ships to enter production in a couple of years at the most. He did not expect them to fully replace his current fleet of ironclads until another five years. After all, he currently had many shipyards across his Empire, and his ability to produce vessels was expanding yearly. 

Of course, Berengar did not expect to be fighting submarines or aircraft in his lifetime. Because of this, he had not chosen more advanced designs like the Bismarck class battleship, which was filled with Anti-aircraft guns. Instead, he expected these vessels to carry on German Naval dominance throughout the rest of his life. 

The young Kaiser had no way of knowing that another person had reincarnated into this world on the other side of the planet and was forming the Japanese Empire while he dwelled on these thoughts. He could never expect that he would run into a fleet equal to his own in the next few years. When that moment occurred, it would undoubtedly spark a naval arms race between the two mighty Empires.