Tyranny of Steel

While the German Empire had invested an ungodly sum of money and resources into the creation of a new kingdom located in the Crimean Peninsula and the surrounding regions. They had invested an even larger sum into the development of its colonies abroad.

Few people in this world knew just how much money Germany had spent constructing towns, cities, farms, and military bases across the globe, but the figure was certainly in the trillions of marks. And yet, in nearly a decade, many of these colonies had paid back this debt in full, and then some. 

Gold, silver, rubber, oil, coal, cash crops, iron, copper, among countless other resources. Each colony produced something of value, which was then shipped back to the fatherland for refinement and production, where it would then make its way across the world in the form of trade. 

The wealth which was generated from this trade would then be invested into the development of the Reich as a whole, including the colonies where these resources were extracted. It was an ever-increasing profit stream. The more resources Germany came across, the more wealth that was generated. 

Naturally, this gave the Reich some liberty in how fast they could settle new lands and create new colonies. For example, at this very moment off the coast of what was referred to as California in Berengar's past life, lie a massive fleet of merchant ships which were protected by a small naval escort. 

A total of fifty Dominion II-class cargo ships were sailing towards the bay area. The goods they carried on board were specifically designed for a single purpose. The rapid establishment of a colony and military base within the west coast of Lindeheim.

With the opening of the Neuschwaben Canal, Germany now had easy access to the other side of the New World, something they planned to take advantage of in preparation for the upcoming war with Japan.

Admiral Horst Schwarz stood on board the bow of a Henrietta-class Battlecruiser as he looked through his binoculars and gazed upon the new land, which Europeans had never set foot upon before.

There was an expression of excitement on his gruff face as he gazed upon the untapped resources of the region.The Admiral quickly gave an order to a nearby deck officer, one which would change the fate of California forever. 

"Prepare the landing craft and send the Marines ashore. If they encounter any savages, they have my permission to shoot on sight. By now, they should know the colonial policy of the Reich!"

The deck officer quickly saluted his superior officer before relaying the orders to the proper departments. Within the hour, a group of landing craft which were being towed by the Battlecruiser hit the water and sped off towards the direction of the shoreline. 

On board these landing craft were a series of the newest models of the Schützenpanzer Marder IFVs known as the Ausf B. Based upon the chassis of the Panther Tank, these armored vehicles were filled with German Marines whose task was to secure the region. 

Within one of these armored vehicles was none other than Linde's little brother himself. Captain Herman von Habsburg had transferred from the German Army to the German Marine Corps in preparation for the war with Japan.

It became abundantly clear to him that in this upcoming conflict, the Marines would see the majority of the action. Thus, in the need to prove himself, he had transferred to the Corps, where he now sat in a Marder IFV with his STG 27 Automatic Rifle in his hands. Soon enough, the armored vehicle hit the shores and began to press forward. 

Naturally, the arrival of large steel warships, as well as the landing craft, and IFVs had drawn the attention of the local tribes, who raced to the coast to see just what was going on. Before long, there were hundreds of tribesman that had gathered near the coasts, and gazed upon these machines of war, as if they were witnessing the arrival of aliens themselves. 

The loud roars of the engines spooked the natives, who did not know how to react to what they were seeing. As for the IFVs, the moment they noticed the natives, they deployed the marines from the back hatch and aimed their auto cannons onto the gathered mobs. 

The Ausf B model of the Marder IFV upgraded its main turret from a 2cm auto-cannon to a 3.7cm auto-cannon. In doing so, it increased its lethality against soft targets and armored vehicles by a wide margin. 

Thus, when the IFVs opened fired on the gathered mobs, the high explosive shells practically tore the natives' bodies to pieces before the marines could even get a shot off. The savages did not even have the ability to react to these strange machines before they had already perished. With what little survives being mopped up by the marine infantry.  Herman gazed upon the utter annihilation of the locals with a stoic expression on his face before issuing orders to his troops. 

"Back inside, we will storm the local settlements and annihilate them before the main host arrives!"

With that said, the company of marines quickly piled back into the back of the IFVs, who sped up their engines and ran over the bloody remains of the slaughtered natives without the slightest bit of remorse. 

Naturally, the thunder of the guns which accompanied the large steel ships in the bay alerted the local tribes to the hostility of the Germans. Causing each local tribe to prepare themselves for war. However, what could they do against such an advanced empire? Sticks and stones had no place on the modern battlefield, something which was about to become painfully obvious to these savages. 

The ten IFVs split off into groups of three, with the command vehicle staying behind on the beach to coordinate comms with the main fleet. These three groups went in separate directions, looking to clear up the immediate vicinity of any local settlements, which is exactly what they did. 

When the first group of IFVs encountered a nearby village, they immediately came under fire from arrows, which laughably bounced off the sloped steel armor of the Marders. The response to these attacks was swift retaliation via the automatic fire of a 3.7cm flak gun, which effortlessly tore apart the grass huts, as well as those who lived inside. 

As for the German Marines, they deployed from behind the IFV and used it as cover, where a machine gunner mowed down the Natives with his MG-27, a gun modelled after the MG-42 from Berengar's past life. 

The Angel of Death had descended from the heavens, and claimed the lives of every villager, whether they be young or old, he did not discriminate. It was only after every single life was snuffed from existence did the flamethrower operator clear what remained of the straw structures with his weapon. The flames eroded away at the village and the surrounding areas. All the while, the perpetrators re-entered their war machines and headed off into the distance to kill again. 

The German death squads deployed to every village in a 100 sq km radius of the landing zone, using the same tactics. First, they would light up the village with the 37mm high explosive shells of the auto-cannon, then they would deploy machine gunners and auto rifleman to deal with the survivors, before finally using flamethrowers to burn what remained to ash. 

By the time the sun had set, thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of lives, had perished, without the Marines suffering a single casualty. It was through this fire and smoke that the bay area was cleansed of its original inhabitants, an act which made the land itself ripe for colonization. 

It was only after the all clear was given by Captain Herman von Habsburg did the ships land on the shore, whose crews immediately began the construction of a harbor, naval base, airstrip, and settlement. 

The names of these tribes would forever be lost to human history, for the Germans had massacred them without even bothering to learn such a thing. All that would be written was a small passage about the cleansing of the land and the word 'savage' being universally applied to all cultures which inhabited the bay area. 

Upon these countless graves, a massive settlement would be built, one which would one day become the pride of Lindeheim and the Reich's gateway to the Pacific. From here, trade would traverse from sea to shining sea, and the German colonists would benefit dearly from the location. 

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