Tyranny of Steel

With Conrad in Kufstein, Berengar felt assured that his rise to power was secure. Thus he spent the remainder of his day visiting Ludwig's office. The man was currently busy overseeing production, it had been a while since Berengar last popped by to say hello, and there was a particular reason for him to do so this time.

Berengar had devised a much smaller, flintlock revolver based on the old pepperbox revolvers; the previous pattern was too large to be kept well hidden by his agents across enemy lands, and he had wanted to fix that issue. Thus he stopped by Ludwig's office unannounced.

Berengar quickly knocked on the door, and a few seconds passed before Ludwig opened it. Seeing his old friend for the first time in a long time, a broad smile appeared on Ludwig's face before he immediately realized that Berengar had a set of blueprints in his hands.

"Oh, of course... Your excellency is here to give me more work! You couldn't bother to stop by for a drink every once in a while like the old days, huh?"

Berengar chuckled at Ludwig's response before forcing his way into the room and laying out his blueprints for the old craftsman to witness; as he did so, he responded to the older man's jest..

"I am afraid with two women and a County to run; I do not have much time to visit you; I'm sorry, my old friend!"

Ludwig immediately thought about Berengar's current lifestyle and understood his pain. Thus he pulled out a pair of mugs sitting in the corner of the room before filling them with beer; he handed one to Berengar while taking a sip of the malty liquid himself before getting down to business.

"What is it you have brought me this time?"

Berengar pointed at the design before him and said with a prideful smile on his face.

"I call it the pepperbox revolver, the old revolving flintlocks which my agents use are much too large to be properly concealed. Thus I thought of these weapons for use. Granted, their range is inferior to the other models, but as a personal defense weapon, they are more than enough firepower!"

Ludwig took a glance at the blueprints before nodding in approval

"As always, you do not disappoint with your designs."

The two men took a few gulps from their beers before discussing more matters of business. Berengar was the first to ask about his production capabilities.

"So, how is production going?"

Ludwig looked at Berengar as if he were an idiot; that question was broad to say the least and had many answers he could potentially say. As such, he asked for clarification.

"Your excellency, which production line are you talking about in particular?"

Berengar smiled before finishing off the beer in his mug; he only began to answer after Ludwig had refilled it.

"The Byzantine armor."

Hearing what Berengar was asking about, Ludwig scratched his beard slightly before answering to his best ability.

"It is going as planned, luckily the new industrial district in Innsbruck is operating at full capacity, so they have been able to alleviate the pressure on our shoulders. As per usual, the Byzantine armor will be readily available when the time for shipment has arrived. Why are you planning a visit to the Empire?"

After hearing Ludwig's question, Berengar was shocked; he indeed planned to visit the Empire, but only after he had won his war and made himself Duke, he was still a long way away from achieving such things. Thus merely shook his head as he responded to Ludwig's inquiry.

"Not at the moment, if I am to travel to the Empire, I need more prestige, or else they will try to walk all over me. One day though, I would like to see the city of Constantinople for myself."

Ludwig nodded his head in agreement; he too longed to city the legendary city for himself. However, he did not have the gall to ask Berengar to take him along for the journey when he finally went. Thus he merely toasted Berengar with his mug.

"To your future success, may those imperial bastards bow before your prestige!"

Hearing such a bold toast, Berengar merely chuckled before drinking the remainder of the contents in his mug. Afterward, he began to ask Ludwig about various questions; the two men talked for some time before Berengar bade farewell and returned to the Castle.

After entering the Castle, he was immediately notified by one of his servants that Conrad had called for a meeting in his study, and thus Berengar quickly strode towards it. When he opened the door, he saw the little brat sitting in his chair, surrounded by the other Counts, who gazed at him with worried expressions on their faces.

Berengar's face twitched when he saw the boy in his chair, this was Berengar's personal study, and the brat treated it as if it had belonged to him. However, for now, Berengar had to suppress his ire and put on a respectful facade. As such, he bowed gracefully before greeting Conrad.

"Your Grace, I came as soon as I heard. What is so important that you must call a meeting at such an hour?"

Conrad had a smirk on his face as he began to interrogate Berengar about his plans for reconquest.

"Count Berengar, exactly how long will it take you to raise an army to recapture my lands?"

Berengar could tell this little brat was trying to push him into the war ahead of schedule. Clearly, The boy was impatient and did not want to sit around in Kufstein for long. However, Berengar had no plans to march until his armies were powerful enough to sweep through the Bavarian forces, and as such, he merely smiled before giving the number he had in mind.

"Three more months and a sufficient number of men should be finished with their training. By then, we can march on Salzburg, where we will liberate it from the Bavarians. The plan from there is to seize the County of Kärnten before marching on Upper and Lower Austria."

A frown immediately appeared on Conrad's face as he heard these words; he did not desire to stay in Kufstein for three whole months doing nothing but waiting for troops to be raised. As such, he asked the question on his mind.

"How many men do you have available at the moment?"

Berengar struggled to maintain his respectful facade as he answered the boy's inquiry.

"Aside from the men necessary to maintain the garrisons in Tyrol, I can field at most 20,000 men at the moment."

Before Berengar could protest what he knew that Conrad was thinking, the boy interrupted him by asking Count Otto the same question.

"How many men do you have available at the moment Count Otto?"

Count Otto frowned while being asked such a question. However, he eventually answered.

"Roughly half that amount"

Berengar not only had one of the largest counties in all of Austria, primarily after he conquered Trent and incorporated it into his lands but also due to his growing mechanized agriculture, he could field significantly more troops than others of the same level of status. As for the Count of Vorarlberg had the lowest number of troops, as his County was much smaller than the regions held by the other two men. Conrad quickly asked the same question to which he responded.

"I can spare at most 5,000 men."

Conrad then looked at Berengar with an impatient expression on his face as he began to question Berengar's determination.

"You are telling me, a seasoned and heralded commander like yourself will be incapable of taking Austria with 35,000 men? Maybe I need to name a more experienced battlefield commander, like Count Otto as my Regent after all."

Hearing this, Berengar began to frown; this boy was starting to push his limits. Nevertheless, he kept his wits about him and thoroughly lectured the boy who would be Duke about the reality of warfare.

"Your Grace, it is a possibility to win with such a small amount of troops. However, the Bavarians will be back with a vengeance, and we will have suffered substantial losses. In my honest opinion, we should wait three months for my next division to be properly trained and outfitted before we begin our campaign. With 45,000 - 50,000 men in total, we will stand a much better chance of winning this war with minimal casualties. I urge you to be patient; wars are not won overnight!"

The other counts quickly nodded in agreement to Berengar's terms and attempted to convince the boy to listen to reason; Otto was the first to speak on Berengar's behalf.

"Your Grace, listen to Berengar's council; he knows what he is talking about."

After hearing Berengar's reasoning and Otto's support, Conrad knew he was not going to get his wish, and as such, exhaled deeply in disappointment before accepting the terms.

"Three months! Not a moment longer! As soon as your troops are ready, I want them deployed!"

Berengar smiled and nodded as he finally convinced Conrad to go with his plan. Conrad's following words brought an even greater smile to the young Count's lips.

"With this understanding, I hereby name you Berengar, Count of Tyrol as my Regent, until the day I come of age!"

With this, Berengar had finally gotten what he wished for, and Conrad had unwittingly sealed his fate. It would not be long before Berengar and his armies marched to war, and when they did, the Bavarians would learn first hand the might of steel and shot!