Tyranny of Steel

On the northwestern edge of the German Empire, there was the contested region of Frisia. Currently at the border where the Netherlands and Germany met, an emperor stood silently as he gazed through a pair of binoculars upon the construction of his mighty border defences. Surrounding this man was a contingent of officers, including a General who all scurried for the favor of their emperor.

If one were to describe the nature of these border defenses, they could refer to it as the Maginot Line on steroids. For example, the amount of steel-reinforced concrete bunkers that housed Schmidt guns, and artillery pieces across this 10-mile strip of land, was nearly a hundred. In between these bunkers was a series of heavily fortified trench systems where thousands of soldiers stood by watching, and waiting for the slightest disturbance within their vicinity.

This massive defensive complex was constructed on the Frisian Border as a way for Berengar to cement his claim over the lands he had gained in his war with Luxembourg. To the west lie the borders of the Duchy of Burgundy, which currently ruled over the other half of Frisia.

If one of the many German soldiers protecting this region were to pop up his head, he merely needed to look around and he would see a labyrinth of barbed wire, supported with randomly placed land mines.

Over the past six months, since German Unification first took place, the Mighty Emperor had done little in terms of technological advancements. However, for the sake of border security, he had made one specific invention. Land-mines, and these mines were based upon one of the most fearsome examples from his past life.

The Bouncing Betty was the nickname that the American GIs gave the German S-Mine. This weapon was buried into the dirt, and when one stepped upon its trigger, it would ignite a small explosion propelling the explosive device into the air, at roughly waist height, before a secondary charge detonated, sending thousands of tiny ball bearings in all directions.

It was an extremely lethal device, and when planted in the thousands within the Great War style no-man's-land that extended into the Burgundian territory, one could only imagine how easy it would be for the Germans of this world to repel any would-be attackers.

Berengar gazed upon this extensive border defence and smiled wickedly. He truly pitied anyone foolish enough to enter this no-man's-land, for if the landmines did not claim their soul, then the machine gun and artillery fire surely would. Having witnessed the lengths that his army was going to in order to ensure border security, Berengar proudly announced his vision for the gathered officers to hear.

"Can you imagine these defences stretched across the length of our entire Empire's borders? Who then would dare to attack us? I dare say even if the entire world rose against us, they could not defeat a united Germany!"

The officers who stood next to Berengar all had smug expressions on their faces. Their Emperor's ambitions truly had no limit. They too desired to see such a glorious future for their realm. Thus, one officer spoke his thoughts on the matter with a hint of Pride in his voice.

"Though it will take many years to complete, I am positive that our borders will be impenetrable within our lifetime. Especially when we take into consideration our enemy's lack of military technology."

Berengar merely nodded his head in silence, before turning around to gaze upon his gathered officers. These men were all veterans of his previous conflicts. Despite uniting all the German states into one Empire, the overwhelming majority of the Imperial German Army's leadership came from Austria.

This was because Austria was further advanced than the other German States in practically every aspect, especially in the procurement and training of officers. As for the rest of the German nobility who once marched to war with swords and bows, those who still wished to serve their realm were allowed into officer academies.

However, the German Empire under Berengar's reign was an absolute meritocracy, simply because these men were knights or nobles in the past did not mean it guaranteed them a commission. Should they fail to pass the academy's stringent standards, Imperial High Command would force them into an enlisted rank.

These officers, much like Berengar himself, were dressed in the newest military fashion with which the Imperial German Army was now being equipped with. These uniforms were largely based upon those used by German officers during the early days of the Great War in Berengar's past life.

Berengar, in particular, sported a uniform that resembled a German Hussar officer's attire during the First World War. There was one major difference, and that was his shoulder boards, which had insignia that reflected those which the Reichsmarschall would have worn during the Second World War. Obviously, he had replaced the nazi era imagery with his own Empire's symbols.

The lower ranked soldiers in the new Imperial German Army were equipped with uniforms based upon those issued to German Soldiers during the early days of the Great War. Atop their uniforms were a feldgrau painted cuirass, and a matching steel pickelhaube which used a feldgrau cloth cover that proudly displayed their unit number with embroidered patches.

Despite the new uniforms, the Imperial German army were still issued the same black powder weapons that the Austrian Royal Army had used during its conquest of Germany. While there was nothing wrong with these weapons, Berengar had plans to replace them soon with something far more effective.

However, now was not the time to dwell on such things, instead something else caught Berengar's interest. Just when he was thinking about concluding this visit, the bell rang throughout the encampment, signalling that someone was approaching the border. This quickly drew the Emperor and his officers to the nearest Bunker where they gazed into the distance with their binoculars.

Berengar frowned as he witnessed the sight in front of him. A group of Dutch refugees were running straight towards no-man's-land. Clearly they were attempting to flee their miserable existences within the war torn Kingdom of France. An interesting thought formed in his mind as he asked the man in charge of the Rhineland's border about the current situation.

"Is this a common occurrence?"

The General dwelled upon the question for a few moments before nodding his head.

"now and then we get people claiming to be refugees trying to enter Germany. As per your instructions, we usually only accept young women capable of marriage and bearing children. Forgive me, my Kaiser, but the thought has only occurred to me now. By introducing these so called "landmines", refugees such as these people will undoubtedly walk straight to their deaths. Should we not do something about this?"

The German Emperor nodded his head in silence as he heard this. Without a safe route to traverse, there would surely be an absurd amount of civilian casualties on the borders of Germany from any man, woman, or child foolish enough to approach his lands carelessly. Thus, after a few seconds of contemplation, Berengar issued a command.

"Foremost, fire a warning shot, so these idiots don't accidentally blow themselves up. In the future, I want warning signs posted on the Dutch side of no-man's-land, written in both the Dutch tongue and the German one, informing anyone who approaches of the danger presented with walking through the minefield.

Aside from that, I want you to construct roads that allow a safe path through the minefield. After all, we wouldn't want to deter merchants from entering our borders. However, they will have to do so at secured checkpoints.

These checkpoints should have a proper customs department contained within, who will process the lawful entry of all foreigners who seek to enter our lands, regardless as to their homeland. These Border entry points should be stationed at regular intervals across the Empire, allowing for ease of travel for those who come with friendly intentions.

Make no mistake, my previous immigration policy still stands. Only women from historically Germanic countries past the age of marriage, and young enough to still bear children, are to be allowed to migrate into Germany under the provision they marry a German man. As for anyone else who seeks asylum, repel them back whence they came. It is not our responsibility to look after the world's poor and hungry masses."

Upon receiving these orders, the General quickly motioned for the nearest marksman to fire a warning shot towards the location of the intruders. The bullet struck right in front of the closest man's feet, causing him to halt in his tracks, right before stepping into the massive minefield. After witnessing the potential migrants' hesitation to move forward, Berengar sighed in relief before giving out another order.

"Send a rider around no-man's-land to inform these people of our immigration policy and take any potential migrants through a safe route so that we may safely process them into our immigration system."

The General quickly nodded his head and dispatched the Emperor's orders. Now that they had settled this unscheduled disturbance, Berengar walked out of the bunker and back into the border encampment. Things were progressing smoothly. All across the Empire, such measures were being undertaken to ensure that Germany's borders were secured against any threat of invasion.

As an Empire embedded directly in the center of Europe, potentially hostile states surrounded the German people. Even the alliance with the Kalmar Union had the possibility of someday collapsing into open warfare. For Germany, a strong border was paramount to national security, and was critical to Berengar's plans for an Empire which endured the test of time.

Thus, he was quite happy with the results his forces had achieved so far. With the construction of the border defences going smoothly, and the National Railway in progress, the two largest of Berengar's infrastructure projects were on the path to completion, though it was likely to be several years before such a thing became reality.

With a heavy sigh, Berengar mounted his horse and rode off with his Imperial Guard. It was quite some distance from the nearest rail station, and he would need to travel some time to reach it. However, inspecting the progress of the border was something he had to do, and because of that, he had taken the necessary time out of his busy schedule to achieve this goal. What awaited him on his journey back home would forever ingrain itself into his memories.