Steel Empire
The War Council 2

Silence permeated the entire stale air of the war room for some time before Berengar finally voiced his concern over the coming period with a fiery speech.

"Gentlemen, we are at the beginning of a new era! The invasion of Bavaria has given us an unexpected opportunity. Vienna was besieged, and the Habsburg Dynasty was almost over. If we take advantage of this upheaval to save the youngest member of the Dynasty from the hardships he faced; we will be able to benefit from this crisis and establish a government in exile, he said, with our District as the center of resistance! Imagine a new Austria with Tyrol as its powerhouse ! In order for this vision of the future to come true, I need all of you to take this opportunity that is before us! For Greater Austria!"

Everyone in the war room of the Defense Department headquarters was an ambitious person, at least to the point that they wanted to follow Berengar in his future conquest, he said, none of them were unhappy with the plan that allowed their subordinates to seize the Duchy of Austria in the future. Therefore, when Berengar finished his speech, it was greeted with a Tyrolean Army battle cry from all the officers present.

"God is with us!"

Seeing the officers beating their chests respectfully and shouting the battle cry of his troops, Berengar was delighted; it seemed that the core of his officers had sided with him in the coming conflict. Although Berengar did not doubt their loyalty, he was a very careful person and had to prepare himself for the incident where he would be betrayed; therefore, he was a very careful person, he meticulously inspected each member of his staff before nodding in agreement. After witnessing scenes of his officers approving his plans, Berengar pointed towards Vienna on the map before sharing his plans and Linde with the high-ranking officers who were at the core of his military hierarchy. 

"Our agent had long infiltrated Vienna Castle when the City fell and the Castle with it, we predicted that Duke Dietger of Bavaria would slaughter any potential rivals for his claim over Bavaria, he said, and therefore we will smuggle Conrad out of Vienna Castle, where we will force him to make myself Regent, while we work to restore the Habsburg Dynasty to power over Austria. In name of course, of course, the real power behind the Throne is me as Regent, and by extension you all as Officers in my Army. You all do not have to worry about the success of this operation because it is left to the Intelligence Department; for your work, for your work, that will ensure that our troops are ready and assembled on our Eastern border for a three-pronged invasion through Salzburg, Carinthia, and Upper Austria! Once we seize the territory, we will unite with the Steiermark forces and march on the Bavarians in Lower Austria, which will allow us to seize Vienna, and declare our war a victory." 

Hearing Berengar's plan to invade Eastern Austria and retake it, the Officers were all impressed. By the time they are able to invade Bavarian-occupied Austria, they will have about 30,000 men. They would be able to divide their forces into three Divisions of 10,000 people each to advance at three locations, he said, each Division would have sufficient firepower to successfully defeat any troops they might encounter. 

The strategy itself was planned by Berengar, given that Eckhard was currently overseeing the troops stationed at Kitzbuhel, the young Count had to design an operation entirely on his own, which was to be expected, and as an avid strategy gamer from his past life, he was more than capable of devising a strategy. The officers comprising the core of its military hierarchy all agreed with the strategy, and although some of them added some minor input, the invasion plan was largely completed. Therefore, after a thorough discussion, the Officer was finally disbanded, and Berengar found himself alone in the war room staring at the map. One day, Austria will be his, and his plan to unify Germany into the Greater German Empire will be one step closer to reality. 

After looking through his battle plan once more, Berengar rolled up the map and hid it, where he then left the headquarters of the defense department and returned to his Castle, where he was, linde and Henrietta are waiting patiently for her to attend dinner. As Berengar sat at the end of the table, he heard Linde's feminine voice calling out to him.

"So, how's the War Council going?"

Upon hearing these words, Berengar smirked, before ruffling Linde's silk red-gold hair. After which, he sipped a doppelbock beer, filling his skull cup before replying.

"You don't have to worry too much; everything goes according to plan. Soon, we will rule this country."

Henrietta, of course, had no idea what the young couple was conspiring this time around, nor did she care. Instead, he spoke voluntarily for the first time after a while with a wide smile on his face. 

"I made a friend today!"

Hearing Henrietta openly declare such a thing brought great shock to Berengar and Linde, who had not expected her to be friends so soon after they gave her advice. They thought it would take a while before Henrietta left her comfort zone and approached the other girls in her class. Therefore, Berengar immediately took a sip from his cup before replying to Henrietta. 

"I'm glad to hear that, so who's your little friend?"

Henrietta was too eager to announce the name of her friend and how they met; therefore, she quickly began spewing out events that happened as fast as a machine gunshot. It is not that such a thing exists in this world.

Berengar nearly chokes on his beer when he hears Henrietta telling his friends about his embarrassing past, Linde. On the other hand, he grinned at Berengar's misfortune and began to encourage Henrietta to continue her behavior.

"Good, Henrietta; I remember when I first heard about your brother many years ago, the rumor that flowed back then was that he would not live to twenty, he said, and he spent most of his days lazing around and making childish gestures every time. Something didn't go his way ..."

Berengar glared at Linde as he reminded her of her original body at this time; each time he recalled those memories, he began to cringe at Berengar's immature old behavior and boring mindset. If he had not reincarnated in this body, that fool would have remained dead, and Berengar would never have been able to achieve anything significant in life. Lucky for him, he was able to rediscover his image through many difficulties, namely. Thus, the younger generation was completely unaware of its original reputation, although it had roughly been a year since the great change in its behavior.

After listening to the two girls criticize his past, Berengar coughed slightly before speaking about Henrietta's conversation about him with his friend Charlotte. 

"Henrietta, my dear sister..."

Henrietta raised her head like a little meerkat when she heard Berengar calling out to her in such a manner.

"Yes?"

Berengar took another sip of his beer before finishing his thinking; the entire scenario annoyed him.

"If you love me as your brother, you will do your best not to remind people of my shameful past ..."

Linde chuckled as she watched Berengar's sad expression; to Henrietta, she was confused; after all, it was, Berengar was the one who encouraged her to talk about information that most people did not know about her to other girls in an attempt to make friends. However, he quickly realized that he might have hurt Berengar's pride as the Count of Tyrol and began to frown before nodding in agreement.

"Okay, from now on I'll just say nice things about your past!"

Seeing that Henrietta had agreed to her request, Berengar smiled thankfully before grabbing across the table and patting Henrietta's little head while praising her.

"Good boy!"

This action, of course, brought a gentle smile to Henrietta's face as she enjoyed the affection of her dearest older brother. Linde, of course, would not miss the opportunity to make fun of Berengar and quickly muttered softly. 

"Lolone..."

This statement instantly interfered with Berengar's actions and made his face pout. Therefore, she pulled her hand from Henrietta's golden blonde hair before awkwardly eating her food. After that Henrietta starts to frown on Linde for interrupting her moment, the food continues in awkward silence as the three enjoy a gourmet meal made for them by the talented chef from Berengar's Castle.