Tyranny of Steel

A month had passed since the battle with the Teutonic Order in Oberstdorf, and Berengar had spent much of this time as a much-needed vacation. His eye was fully healed aside from the fact that he was blind within it, and no longer presented a danger to his life; as such, he wore the luxurious eyepatch he had created over the heavily scarred tissue. Overcoming the loss of an eye was not an easy task, and he needed to teach himself how to shoot and fight effectively with what used to be considered his off-hand. As such, when he was not hard at work managing the realm's affairs, he was adapting to his circumstances.

After being healed, he wrote a letter to Adela informing her of what had transpired and the injury in which he had suffered, though he assured her he was fully healed, and despite losing sight in his dominant eye, he was doing quite well for himself. He made sure to emphasize the need for her to stay safe in these troubled times, and as such, he implied to her not to do anything rash due to his injury. Before long Berengar found himself looking at construction blueprints.

After the battle with Lambert, several men had suffered grievous injuries so much so that their bodies could not be identified, which reminded Berengar of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in his previous life, Berengar decided to have a monument similar to that constructed within Kufstein to represent all of the unidentifiable soldiers who had perished in his wars, as well as those who might one day go missing in action.

This was yet another of his many monuments that were undergoing construction. He had the wealth to splurge, so he felt it necessary to create a culture that honored their soldiers as early as possible. One day Germany would be united under a sense of militarism much like Prussia had done to the German Empire in his previous life's timeline.

When Berengar met with the House of Lords to discuss his new monuments, they were happy to see him. Since his injury, he had seldom left his Castle, and many of them were worried about his condition. After all, he had only left a bastard son behind, who was not legitimized... yet. When they saw the eyepatch on his face, they knew that he had suffered a permanent injury, and as such, took a moment of silence to commemorate his loss.

Nevertheless, Berengar quickly managed to convince the noblemen to take action, and as such, he displayed his plans for a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for all to see; the design was essentially a rip off of the American one, with the same words carved upon it, albeit slightly altered to fit his needs.

"Here lies in honored glory a German Soldier, known but to God."

One of the bodies of a soldier killed in the Battle of Oberstdorf who was unrecognizable would be interred within, and it would be a Grand Ceremony for all of Kufstein to be invited to attend. The cost of this monument would be significantly lower than the large bronze statues dedicated to different aspects of society that were currently undergoing production, such as the military, the labor force, and the agricultural force. It was a much more simplistic design, but it was because of this simplistic design that it was a beautiful monument in its own right.

Seeing the depiction of the monument and its cost-effectiveness, the House of Lords held a vote for approval, which was merely a formality's sake at this point since Berengar's word was still the law in Tyrol, despite the drafting of a Constitution. At the end of the day, a Constitution was a piece of paper whose principles were only enforced through military might.

Considering the Military was a branch indoctrinated with loyalty towards Berengar and the von Kufstein Dynasty, more so than the State itself, Berengar, in practice, wielded near-absolute authority. Especially when the House of Commons and House of Lords were stacked with members, Berengar approved of. After all, as the Head of State, he reserved the right to dismiss anyone in parliament and replace them with someone he saw fit.

On paper, Tyrol was a Semi-Constitutional Elective County, and as far as the people believed, this was true. In reality, it currently acted more like a dictatorship, albeit with an intricate and meritocratic bureaucracy. Berengar did not just appoint yesman to their positions; they had to have been capable in their own right so that he may delegate responsibilities; he simply appointed capable men who were loyal to him, and at the moment, they were few and far between, as such both the House of Commons and House of Lords were a fraction of the size they were intended to be.

However, there were no complaints about the establishment of this monument, and it was met with a unanimous vote by both chambers of parliament. After the vote was over, Arnulf, who was currently a member of the House of Lords, approached Berengar to check on his physical and mental health.

"Your Excellency, I was wondering how are you holding up?"

Berengar smiled and clasped Arnulf on the shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"I am doing well, despite losing the sight in my right eye. You could say I am quickly adapting to my circumstances, even if it is a bit tedious using my off hand for everything."

Arnulf smiled when he heard the good news and began to make small talk with Berengar about current events.

"Your Excellency, have you heard about the recent events in the East?"

Berengar had been on vacation until recently and had not yet heard about what had happened. As such, he gazed at Arnulf with an inquisitive gaze and asked about what he was referring to.

"I'm afraid I am unaware; why did something important happen?"

Arnulf was sure that Bernegar had spent the last month spending quality time with his family, and in his opinion, the young Count deserved a break for once; the man was practically working himself to death every day. As such, he was not shocked to know that Berengar was not informed of the current happenings in Eastern Europe. Thus he elected to inform him.

"The Golden Horde has attacked the Teutonic State, and in response, the Order has marched their armies to the East in an attempt to hold onto the territory they have gained against the Muscovites. It appears the loss of Lambert and his men has greatly affected their fighting capability."

Berengar chuckled lightly when he heard this before expressing his views.

"Good, that ought to keep them busy for some time. It gives us a much-needed reprieve so that we can focus on constructing our defenses and implementing our industrial and agricultural reforms."

Arnulf agreed wholeheartedly with this statement, and as such, he began to question Berengar's plans for the future; after all, Berengar had not shared with many people his vision for a unified German Empire, and he could not help but notice the monument said, "German Soldier" instead of "Tyrolean Soldier."

"So tell me, what do you think Duke Wilmar's chances of winning this war is?"

Berengar scoffed at the idea before saying the objective truth or what he thought it to be.

"I do not bother speculating about the future, Lord Arnulf, for the future is malleable from what we do here and now. However, I have a suspicion that the ultimate winner of this chaotic era will be a man that the higher nobility least expects. Someone who will take advantage of the weakened factions towards the end of the war to become the victor."

Hearing Berengar's thoughts on the matter left Arnulf with a lot of speculation. However, Berengar had not outright admitted it. It sounded to Arnulf like the young Count had lofty ambitions, and something deep inside his mind told him it was entirely plausible for Berengar to achieve these things. After all, the young man went from being Baron's son and heir to a Count in roughly a year.

He had stood beside Berengar as he went through this monumental transition and knew now that Tyrol's security was ensured, Berengar would undoubtedly focus on rebuilding the army and constructing defenses across the region. If the peace in Tyrol could last, Berengar would ultimately be in such a position towards the end of the war, one in which he could reap the spoils.

Of course, as Berengar had stated earlier, time was malleable, and the future was uncertain, it might be possible for an event to occur in the near future which could drag Berengar into this massive conflict far earlier than he expected. Or things could go exactly how Berengar planned. The only entity who could know the future was God, assuming he really existed.

As such, Berengar stayed with the house of Lords for the rest of his day's work, overseeing his plans for military expansion and defensive spending. The budget he had outlined perfectly took into account all of their current assets and the potential for future growth with the trade to the Byzantine Empire. Peace is always temporary, and Berengar planned to take full advantage of the time he had. As the old Roman adage stated, Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum, in translation If you want peace, prepare for war.