Tyranny of Steel

Lieutenant Herman von Habsburg stood within the ranks of the Second Brigade of the First Corps of the Imperial German Army. The Imperial German Army operated under the modern concept of a Brigade Combat Team. Meaning that each brigade was capable of supporting itself in any conflict. After all, a unit of roughly five thousand German soldiers could defeat most enemy forces in this world.

A Brigade Combat Team made use of two infantry battalions: a cavalry battalion, an artillery battalion, an engineering battalion, and a support battalion. Because of this organized structure, the First Corps of the Imperial German Army had dispatched its individual brigades across the Lowlands to secure different objectives. Currently, the Second Brigade was passing through a small town on the borders of the Duchy of Burgundy.

It had been years since Herman's father, the infamous Count Lothar, was executed for his treasonous acts. Though he had never forgiven his elder sister Linde for betraying her family, the young man held no grudge against her husband, the current Kaiser of the German Empire.

At first, Herman despised Berengar and held him responsible for his father's fate, but as the years passed, and Innsbruck became a major manufacturing city, the noble house of Habsburg-Innsbruck had risen to heights that Lothar would have never dreamt of. This caused the young man to view his brother-in-law in a different light.

Linde was the Second Empress of the Reich, and Herman's elder brother Liutbert was a wealthy businessman, who had made a fortune for himself presiding over Innsbruck and its massive industrial sector. With feudalism being a distant memory, Liutbert's direct control of the city vanished, but the Habsburg name still held monumental influence in the region.

As for Herman himself, he had gone through the route of military service. When the German Cadet Corps was established, he was among the first to enter its ranks. It was because of this he was given a head start in military leadership, and found himself becoming a commissioned officer without needing to go through the Academy.

Currently, the young man, who was not even twenty, was marching through the lowlands on his first military campaign. At the moment, the Duchy of Burgundy held control over a large chunk of the lowlands, which were populated mostly by Ethnic Germans. Though Herman had initially expected stiff resistance from the local population, reality was something else entirely.

As Herman marched through the border town, it surprised him to see that the people were not fearful of him or his fellow soldiers. They did not hide in their homes and wait for the army to pass, nor did the parents cover their children's eyes in fears that the sight of the enemy army might traumatize them. Instead, they gathered in the streets and greeted the German Army as if they were liberators, come to save them from their primitive feudal existence.

The town folk gathered and cheered as the German Army continued to march on. Herman could hardly believe his eyes. Weren't these people Catholic? Were they not supposed to be brainwashed into hating the Reich? Why were they so happy about this annexation?

The truth was that although the people of this region were still officially Catholic; they had long since been influenced by German propaganda efforts. Since the Unification of Germany a few years prior, the Kaiser had invested heavily into funneling propaganda into the lowlands. Though Berengar was the one to sign off on this propaganda mission, it was the brainchild of Adela who worked hard to see the people of the lowlands converted to the German Reformation in secret.

The usual means of leaflets were useless among a population that could neither read nor write. Thus, Agents of the Reich had infiltrated every town and city across the lowlands, and spread word of the German Reformation, and what life in the Reich was really like.

By the time Berengar's troops invaded the region, the people were already willing to accept their annexation. The only thing standing in the way of the Kaiser's will were the local lords and their garrisons, who refused to give up the wealth and power they possessed.

However, there was only so much they could do when faced with the overwhelming will of the people they ruled over. There was also the fact that German artillery was so overwhelming they could bring down a castle's walls with a single barrage. With the armies of Burgundy still abroad, nobody was willing to lift a finger to save the power that the Burgundian noble houses still held in the land.

A young girl who was in the middle of her teenage years held a basket of flowers in her hand, and was now handing them to the German Soldiers who passed her by. Despite her kindness, not a single soldier had accepted her gift. After all, they were still wary of the locals because they had heard stories about false gestures like these leading to the deaths of soldiers in the Iberia theatre.

The girl was getting depressed after another soldier passed her by without even looking at her. When Herman saw this, he sighed before stepping out of formation, where he stood in front of the girl. He wore a warm smile on his face as he opened up his hand and expressed his gratitude towards the girl.

"Did you pick these yourself? They're lovely. Might I have one?"

The girl instantly blushed when she saw the handsome young man accept her flower. She quickly recovered from her stupor and nodded her head in silence before handing Herman a white flower, which he pinned to his tunic. With a smile on his face, Herman thanked the girl for her kindness.

"Thank you, I shall cherish this gift... Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to formation."

Once Herman had accepted the flower, the other soldiers sighed in relief, knowing that it was not a trap. Since an officer had taken the initiative to accept the girl's gift, nobody would complain if the rest of them did as well, and because of that, every soldier who was on the far left of the formation would receive a flower until the girl ran out.

It was not just this unit that had encountered a situation like this. All across the lowlands, the people greeted their German occupiers with open arms. Many of them believed it was only a matter of time until this day happened, and were patiently awaiting it.

While the Reich had been rapidly modernized, to the point that even the poorest of its citizens lived better than the nobility of the neighboring realms, the lowlands were the one speck of German soil that was left out of the prosperity. Naturally, the people were aggrieved by this loss when they heard of how the German people east of the Rhine lived.

Herman was thinking about this as the Second Brigade came to a stop in the village. Their objective in coming here was to force the local Lord to surrender, and recognize that his lands had been annexed by the German Empire. Naturally, while Herman was interacting with the flower girl, the Colonel in charge of the Second Brigade had sent a messenger to negotiate with the local lord.

Like the barbarian that the feudal lord was, he reacted to the German demands, severed the head of the messenger before throwing it over the walls. The moment German blood was spilled on foreign soil, the gloves came off, and the Artillery battalion quickly set up their guns outside the castle's walls.

It was Herman's job to shoo away the local townsfolk, so they did not get caught up in the conflict. He wore a friendly smile as he pushed the townsfolk away.

"Return to your homes, your Lord has chosen death rather than submission. This will be over shortly. I promise you that if you return to your homes, this skirmish won't affect you."

The townfolk nodded and accepted this condition. The German soldiers appeared to be treating them cordially, so much so that they were actually concerned about the safety of the locals. This was a kindness afforded by the Reich exclusively to ethnic Germans. Without incident, the town's folk took shelter in their homes, though they shivered in fright when the explosive found of the cannons roared in the air.

A single barrage was all that was necessary to bring down the gatehouse. Allowing the German soldiers to rush through with their bayonets affixed. Herman had returned to the front lines and was at the head of the charge, as he aimed the sights of his G22 rifle onto his first target and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

A volley of rifle fire pelted the front lines of those foolish defenders who dared to block the path of German vengeance. After the enemy vanguard was annihilated in a single second, the remainder of the garrison cast their primitive weapons aside and allowed the Germans to advance into the castle unhindered. The Burgundian Lord's men had given up on him before they could even attack the enemy.

Before long, the foolish nobleman was dragged to his home, and brought before the Colonel, who simply smirked at the bastard as he drew his P25 pistol from its holster and plugged a round in the man's skull. There was no need for such foolish nobility in the Reich.

With this Lord's execution, the German armies were quickly on the march once more. Though this town had been secured for the Reich, there were plenty of others that needed to be annexed. Thus, the ten brigades of the First Corps were constantly on the move as they rapidly secured the lowlands, and dethroned the Burgundian nobility who reigned over them.