Steel Empire
God is With Us

The light of dawn shone through the Castle window as Berengar quickly awoke; his son slept soundly through the night, which was a rare occurrence at this time. Therefore, the man was finally able to get a good night's rest. Seeing how he was going to be with the troops today, Berengar did not bother with his morning training and instead started wearing his military clothes. Now, its armor consisted of a blackened three-quarter steel plate that was gilded with the same gold pattern as the previous set; it came with matching gloves.

The armor set even had an armored codpiece to protect his groin and a pair of matching rondels. Of course, the codpiece was hidden under his waffenrock; therefore, he did not feel ashamed for having such equipment. Berengar also wore a golden sash on his breastplate. Black and gold armor covered his matching Landsknecht outfit; he still wore a feathered hat on top of a blackened steel cap. He wore a heavy cavalry sword based on the 1788 British pattern of cavalry swords, tied to his waist with a black leather sword belt with brass armor.

The sword itself had a gold-plated protector and a black leather handle wrapped in gold wire. The knife itself was made of Damascus steel imported from the east, originally designed to be her wedding gift, but considering it was still a few years away, Ludwig had gifted it to her for her birthday, who is in the middle of the year. Of October.

After putting on his clothes, he slipped out of his room, leaving his sleeping lover and son to continue their rest. He soon found himself in the kitchen where he prepared a set of field rations, after which he went to the castle stables and rode his trusty horse Erwin, where he put a set of two pistols inside the holster in his saddle.

After riding into the field, Berengar met Eckhard, who was already leading the infantry in their daily training. The infantry was equipped with black armor and black and gold Landsknecht suits issued to all of its troops. Nearly a quarter of its troops are equipped with the new 1417/18 Rifle, which has been re-drilled and fired to receive a.58 caliber Minie ball projectile. Because of this, part of his infantry now had the ability to attack targets beyond 300 yards. They were formed into their own rifle companies and fought alongside standard smoothbore musketeers.

The combined tactics of the rifleman and musketeer would prove to be an effective means of combat, at least until he could arrange for all his rifles to be reassembled into the new design. Over the past six months, the army has grown into a fairly professional force, with its own guardianship class consisting of a mix of knights, nobles, and commoners. Since it was entirely based on merit, anyone could become an officer with proper education and training. Since he did not have time to set up a complete military academy, Berengar had been content with choosing rare talents and training them with his vision of early modern warfare.

Eckhard saw the Viscount approaching and quickly saluted him. The army that had been deployed quickly did the same.only after he returned his respect and gave the order did the men relax

"Quiet."

Seeing all his soldiers standing in front of him, Berengar made sure to communicate his orders effectively.

"The king is dead; war will soon be upon us; I believe you all have been well trained in the last few months; thus, we will depart in a month. Right now, our target is kept secret. However, when the time to march arrives, all of you will be properly informed of our destination. So, I want all of you to prepare for the final day of our conquest! I won't lie, we'll be gone for some time, and many of us may not be back. However, for the sake of the kingdom's prosperity and your family's continued wealth, we must fight! God is with us!"

The last part was the battle cry Berengar had stolen from the Germans in his previous life. He had made sure every soldier was aware of this battle cry over the past few months, and as he shouted those words into the air, the army of several thousand people resounded by responding with the same chant.

"God is with us!"

Because of this, Berengar spent the rest of his day watching the combat drills while standing next to Eckhard, who witnessed the perfect tactical display performed. Eckhard had a worried look on his face when he learned of Berengar's plan, he and the officers already knew what was to come, and they had long enough to know what Berengar's aspirations were. Finally, the man voiced his concern.

Berengar chuckled at Eckhard's worries before putting it aside and comforting his most talented General by patting him on the shoulder.

"My old friend, what you said was true; it was definitely one of the possibilities where a war could happen. However, I don't care one bit; anyway, I have an ace in the hole."

Eckhard soon realized Berengar was referring to Linde, and he looked at her with an anxious expression.

"You're gonna use it to conspire against his father when he's besieging Vienna?"

Berengar nodded with a satisfied expression on his face, as usual in the slightest direction; Eckhard caught up with his plan. However, the words of the next old knight were unexpected.

"It's cruel, even for you."

However, what Berengar said next greatly shocked Eckhard

"That was his idea."

sighing deeply, Eckhard admitted defeat before his Master and Generals

"The two of you are really made for each other ..."

Although the old Knight had great respect for Berengar, he preferred when Berengar used the strength of his army to show his dominance on the battlefield, rather than when he conspired behind the scenes to lead his opponents into a trap.

Nevertheless, Berengar can easily manipulate Lothar and his followers into falling into his tactics with Linde's help. Therefore, he was looking forward to the upcoming war and the day that he could declare himself Count. Berengar stared at the training ground of his troops and grinned seeing that he had a good premonition of the future; if God really existed, he would have been on Berengar's side. Otherwise, why else would he be dragged into this world and placed in a position of power?