Tyranny of Steel

Berengar stared at the weapon in front of him with a wicked smile on his face. This was the first time in this world a military power had introduced a weapon of mass destruction. In his hands was a chlorine gas shell that had been delivered from the fatherland to the burgeoning colony in South Africa. 

Months had passed since Berengar first arrived in these lands, and by now the Colony was stable, with a sizeable port and sufficient coastal defenses. During this time, the Africans had made several small raid attempts on the fort, but the machine guns mounted on the walls had ruthlessly gunned them down. 

Recently there were reports by Berengar's scouts that the African tribes south of the Orange River had formed a great coalition, and were already marching with tens of thousands of men on his colony. To Berengar, the delivery of these new weapons had come just in time. 

Since the attack on his life by the African Goddess, he had not seen or heard of her since. Apparently, she had withdrawn, or perhaps she was limited to the areas of the mountains. Either way, for the time being, she was no threat to him or his plans. 

Honoria entered the armory, where she saw Berengar caressing the chemical shell as if it was a woman's bosom. The sick smile on his face caused a chill to go down her spine as she realized something was abnormal about these particular shells.

"Is that the weapon you told me about?"

Berengar was so enamored by his chemical weapons stockpile that he did not notice Honoria's entrance into the Armory. He quickly looked up at the intruder and wore a more gentle smile as he nodded his head.

"Yes, these shells are the new weapons. Though they are untested in the field of battle, I have high hopes for them!"

Honoria failed to understand what was so great about these weapons, as she shook her head before reminding Berengar of what was approaching.

"There is an army of fifty thousand savages heading towards the colony as we speak. Are you sure these weapons are as effective as you say they are?"

Berengar carefully placed the shell back into its container before outlying just how the weapons functioned to his wife. 

"These are no ordinary artillery shells, my love. Once detonated, these shells will disperse a miasma of poison gas, that if unprotected, will infiltrate the victim's respiratory system, lighting it aflame. Violent coughing, eye irritation, and vomiting will occur until the target finally asphyxiates. These shells not only cause certain death, but debilitate their victims until they slowly suffocate to death, making them completely incapable of fighting back."

Honoria gazed at Berengar in horror as she listened to just how these weapons of mass destruction functioned. She instinctively took a few steps back, afraid that the shells might detonate then and there, and cause her to suffer such a tragic fate. Berengar chuckled when he saw this before lecturing his wife once more.

"There is nothing to fear, my love. These shells operate with a proximity fuse. They will not detonate by mere handling of them. Besides, I have developed appropriate countermeasures for these weapons, so that our soldiers are safe from their effects. Speaking of..."

This immediately reminded Berengar of something important as he handed Honoria a steel cannister which contained her gas mask. Since he did not yet have access to aluminum, he lacked the means to create a proper container like the Germans used in WWII. However, he could replicate it with steel. It was just significantly heavier. 

The container held within it, the GM-25 Gas Mask, or so that was what Berengar labelled it as. It was essentially a functioning replica of the WW2 GM-38 Gas Mask, but with a superior filter that did not contain harmful substances such as asbestos. 

Honoria quickly followed Berengar's instructions and attached the steel cannister to her load bearing equipment, where it hung from her back gracefully. The Kaiser had already distributed gas masks, and their cannisters to his troops, and instructed them on their proper usage. Now all that remained was to teach Honoria, which he immediately put her through a brief crash course.  After a while, Berengar was approached by an officer of his Imperial Guard, who alerted him to the presence of the enemy army.

"My Kaiser, the savages are approaching! What are your orders?"

A wicked grin appeared on Berengar's face as he gave the order he had planned for some time. 

"Load the Chlorine Shells into the artillery and instruct the men to equip their GM-25 gas masks, I want this enemy army annihilated with a single battle!"

The soldier immediately saluted the Kaiser, in the fashion that was most common among the German army, before rushing towards the Colony's defenders, where he issued these orders. Soon, logistics teams rushed into the armory and carried the fifty chlorine shells out of the bunker, before distributing them to the artillery crews. 

Berengar himself climbed out of the armory, and made his way to the colony's defenses, wanting to get a first row seat to the carnage that was about to occur. Sure enough, fifty thousand plus African tribesmen were gathered outside the colony. They had short iron spears, and cowhide shields as they danced around, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. Berengar wore a wicked smile as he donned his gas mask before helping Honoria with hers. 

On one side were the African tribesmen, wearing the skin of animals, and dancing around with primitive weapons. On the other were the fortifications of the Imperial German Army, wearing modern uniforms with gas masks, while wielding bolt action rifles, static machine guns, and rifled breechloading artillery. For this endeavor, Berengar had gone all out and had ordered the deployment of the new 10cm FK 25 recoil operated artillery to be deployed on the Colony's walls. 

The German Artillery crews loaded the  105 x 504 mmR chlorine gas shells into their guns, before adjusting the range. The enemy was well within firing range, and they wanted to make sure the poison gas cloud was far enough away from their position that they were unaffected. Berengar had ordered his men to equip their gas masks merely as a safety precaution in case the winds did not favor him this day. 

Bakari gazed upon the massive star fortress, and the German defenses with awe in his eyes. He did not know how they had created such a thing in a matter of months. After all, it was a completely alien structure that he and his people had never seen before. Despite this, he was undeterred. He gave the order to attack the Colony to the men under his command without the slightest hint of fear in his heart.

"Attack the white devils, leave no man alive!"

After saying this, the horde of African Tribesmen charged head first towards the German Colony while screaming their war cries into the air. Berengar saw this, and simply sneered in disdain, though this expression was concealed by his khaki gas mask as he gave the order to launch the world's first instance of chemical warfare.

"Open fire!"

With this, a barrage of three separate batteries opened fired, as their shells travelled a distance of over two kilometers, though they could easily reach close to five. The Africans reacted to the thunderous sounds of artillery with fright in their eyes. However, unlike the stories that were told to them by Bakari, this thunder was not accompanied by a fiery explosion. Instead, a yellow-green cloud dispersed the moment the shells burst in the air. 

Bakari was in the front of the formation, and was naturally hit by the attack the moment it occurred. His eyes were itching beyond belief, as his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He and the men alongside him began to cough violently, as they found themselves incapable of breathing. He began to vomit on the floor, as he keeled over, and fell to the ground, physically incapable of standing. 

He gazed in disbelief, as he tried to see beyond the yellow-green miasma that was suffocating him, but in the end, all he could see was his life flash before his eyes, as he questioned everything he had strived for over these past few months.

He had come so far after the Germans massacred his village, and was so close to the vengeance he desired. It had been extremely difficult for him to gain his position as war chief, and before he could even attack the enemy, his life, as well as that of his grand army, was snuffed out by a cloud of poisonous gas. 

Berengar gazed upon the scene, as the fifty thousand men who had come to attack his Colony fell to the ground and suffocated. A vicious grin curved upon his lips beneath his gas mask as he witnessed the massacre first hand. The soldiers beneath his command gazed in horror at what had just occurred. They were expecting to defend their position against the large army with bullets, artillery, and bayonets.

However, what they saw could by no means be called a battle. It was not even a massacre. It was simply death. As if the grim reaper himself had descended from the sky, and claimed the lives of the enemy without effort. 

This attack would go down in history as the first instance of chemical warfare. However, it would by no means be the last. Berengar would make wide use of chemical weapons in Africa. He was not willing to expend the lives of his soldiers or the effort necessary to expel the native population.

Instead, he would enact a heartless genocide. In the coming days, word would spread of the Grand Army's defeat, and those who were smart enough to pack up their belongings and journey north beyond the Orange river.