Tyranny of Steel

Having agreed to Adela's request about letting her older sister stay in the royal palace, Berengar quickly turned his attention to his work, in particular the Iberian theatre. Over the past few years, urban warfare had become a significant problem that German troops faced during peacekeeping operations within the Kingdom of Portugal.

Recently, with the death of the previous Sultan, and the political purges under way, the scope of urban warfare now encompassed the entirety of the Iberian Peninsula. As a result of this, one thing became abundantly clear: the tools used by the German soldiers simply did not meet the demands of the job. 

Thus, Berengar was forced to create a new weapon to contend with this new threat. Immediately, only one weapon design came to mind. The shotgun was among the most useful tools Berengar had ever encountered in his past life, especially in combat.

During the Great War, the American soldiers used the shotgun not only as a means of clearing enemy trenches but also as a way to shoot enemy grenades out of the air. It was so effective in trench warfare that Germany had protested its use and tried to get it banned after the war was over. 

However, by the time Berengar entered combat nearly a century later, the weapon had been relegated almost exclusively to the role of the breaching buildings in urban warfare. Because of this, Berengar knew just how effective the weapon was in that role, as he had personally witnessed it.

The problem Berengar was having was deciding on a single shotgun design for use in his armed forces. Shotguns were a classification for a variety of weapon designs. Among these various designs were single shot shotguns, double barrel shotguns, pump action shotguns, lever action shotguns, semi-automatic shotguns, and even automatic shotgun designs.

Naturally, at the moment, The German Army did not have enough smokeless powder stockpiled to make a reliable semi-automatic, or automatic, shotgun. Thus, Berengar decided to use a pump-action shotgun as the basis of his new Trench Gun. However, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of pump action designs that came to mind. He was personally familiar with a few of the more popular pump-action tactical shotguns, as he owned a few during his past life. 

Ultimately, after careful deliberation, Berengar decided on the model 870 shotgun that was manufactured by Remington in his past life. The 870 was a shotgun used around the globe by militaries and police forces alike. It was also licensed and copied by other companies. What made Berengar endeared to the 870 was its durability and reliability. Unlike many of its competitors, its receiver was made of steel, not aluminum, and he had never suffered a malfunction using the ones he owned during his past life. 

The difference between Berengar's Model 1425 Trench Gun, and the model 870 was that although he used the mechanism of the 870 as the basis for the gun, the aesthetics were based upon the Winchester Model 12 Trench Gun, which was used by American forces in WWII. After all, it wasn't a proper trench gun if it did not have a barrel shroud, and a bayonet lug. Naturally, he designed the bayonet using the Model 12's bayonet as the basis. 

He planned to implement the shotguns in a 12 gauge caliber, with double ought buckshot as the primary load to be utilized in the field. The shotgun shells Berengar had in mind were based on the mil spec standard in use by the US Military. Albeit for the time being with black instead of smokeless powder. This meant shell would use nine double ought pellets that would be fired out of the smoothbore barrel and create a spread that was lethal in close quarters. 

While in his past life the US Military and law enforcement agencies adopted specialized breaching rounds that would pose no harm to a human life beyond the door, Berengar did not care in the slightest about such trivial matters. As far as he was concerned, civilian casualties were a part of war, especially when the insurgents in Iberia deliberately chose brutal urban warfare as their means of resistance.

After designing his new Model 1425 Trench Gun, Berengar stamped them with his approval. A secretary would later dispatch these designs to the Kufstein Armory, who would go about perfecting the design, manufacturing the prototypes, and testing the weapons before approving them for service. Then the weapons would either be made in house by the Kufstein Armory, or sent to one of the various other State Armories who would manufacture them for the German Army. 

As of now, Berengar need not worry about the rest of the details, instead he sat back and relaxed in his chair. He figured he had done enough work for the day, and thus, after stretching himself for a few moments, he headed towards the door. Unfortunately, the moment he opened the door to the hallway, he saw someone he was not expecting to arrive so soon.

Several hours had passed since Berengar chatted with Adela, and with the railways connecting Kufstein and Graz, it did not take long for Ava and her family to arrive in Kufstein. Berengar immediately sighed as he gazed upon the busty milf and cursed out loud.

"God fucking dammit...."

Ava frowned when she heard Berengar's response. Though she wanted to lecture him on his manners, she realized he was not the little baron's son she had known growing up. Right now, he was the most wealthy and powerful man in the world. If she scolded him, she was sure to receive a severe punishment. With this in mind, she bowed her head and responded to Berengar's vulgarity with grace.

"Your Majesty, I just wanted to thank you for your benevolence. However, if my appearance displeases you to such an extent, I promise you won't hear another word from me, so long as I remain under your care."

Berengar did not even pretend to be polite, instead he nodded his head with a stern expression before responding to the woman.

"See to it that I don't..."

After saying this, Berengar shut his office door behind him and locked it before walking through the halls as if Ava did not even exist. The woman merely pouted after he was gone. Did he really despise her so much after all these years? She knew that she made his life difficult when he was a minor nobleman, but that was a long time ago, and much had changed. Besides, it was his fault for walking in on her while she was bathing.

However, she let the matter go and sighed heavily, defeated by Berengar's impression of her. If only she hadn't married Wolfgang, and instead stuck with Berengar, then she would be the Empress right now. Life wasn't fair, and Ava knew this all too well. 

As for Berengar, he did not think upon Ava any longer after leaving her alone in the hallway, instead he sought out Adela to give her a good scolding. When he turned the corner, he saw the woman in question with a distressed look on her face. She could tell by the way Berengar carried himself that he was not pleased, which led her to the conclusion that she was too late.

"You saw her, didn't you?" 

Berengar glared at Adela before mocking her for her lack of ability to keep her promises.

"That has got to be a record Adela, six, seven hours and already you have broken your promise to keep her away from me... I honestly don't know what to say about that..."

Adela could only hand her head low in shame. She had no idea that the moment Ava entered the palace, she'd go off searching for Berengar on her own. She could only apologize. 

"I'm sorry... She ran off before I could tell her the conditions of her stay."

Berengar merely waved off the incident before responding to Adela's depressed state.

"It doesn't matter, just see to it that she keeps her distance. I do not want to have any more contact with the woman or her husband."

Adela instantly nodded her head in obedience before questioning Berengar's next move.

"So what now?"

Berengar wore a wry smile on his face as he responded to this question in a way that Adela was not expecting.

"Now... I think I'm going to go relieve some stress with my sister..."

Adela blushed when she heard this, but also felt great envy in her heart. Had she not fucked up so badly in her endeavor, then her husband would be "relieving" stress with her right now. Instead, he was disappointed with her, and went to find the woman in his harem that most closely resembled her out of spite. 

After Berengar had disappeared from her sight, Adela cursed under her breath.

"God dammit Ava!"

But it was too late. Berengar had already decided who he was going to spend time with on this night.