Tyranny of Steel

Months had passed since the Teutonic Order began its battle at the Eastern Border. On the other side of the world in Egypt, Arethas had pushed the Mamlukes back to Alexandria, seizing the city of Alexandria was of significant cultural importance to the Byzantine Empire. After losing it, the Emperor had personally sent his most excellent General to reclaim it. The rest of the territory would have to follow the recapture of the ancient city.

Arethas and his army were currently stuck outside the city of Alexandria, the siege had been going on for two weeks by now, and Arethas was starting to become impatient. What he needed was superior artillery.

However, he was armed with a few small bronze cannons. Because of this, he could not regularly bombard the city; instead, he had to maintain these cannons in fear that they might rupture from overload.

Because of this, the siege was going much slower than it usually would. After his first battle with the Mamluke's Arethas realized the need for field artillery; after all, Berengar's forces had been largely successful because of this. As such, he desired to get his hands on some field guns and use them to bring down these walls.

Since the first battle to recapture Egypt after centuries of being in the hands of other Empires, Arethas had sent word back to Andronikos, who was living in Constantinople, ordering the man to travel to Kufstein and negotiate with Berengar for the purchase of cannons.

Today Andronikos finally arrived within Kufstein, and as Berengar was eating breakfast with his family and guests, a servant approached him and whispered in his ear. After doing so, the man placed down his silverware and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

Afterward, he stood up from the table abruptly and alerted Linde and Honoria as to the presence of the Byzantine envoy.

"It would appear that Andronikos is here to discuss business. Lady Valeria, I do not want any confusion to occur from your presence, so I would humbly request that you sequester yourself in your room for the time being."

Honoria quickly understood Berengar's intent, she had started to suspect that Berengar knew her identity, and as such, she nodded and smiled before departing.

"Of course, anything for you, your grace."

With this, Honoria fled to her chambers and hid from the Byzantine Envoy, though she did not know who Andronikos was, as she had never come into contact with Arethas' subordinates. She was aware of the difficulties if the envoy from the Empire learned that she was hiding in Kufstein under a false identity. 

After Honoria had vanished without a trace, Berengar ordered one of his servants to take her plate away and clean up the table.

"Get rid of Valeria's dishes, and make it seem like she was never here, and quickly!"

Hearing this, the servants immediately bussed Honoria's spot while Berengar entered the Great Hall, where the man named Andronikos was waiting patiently. As for Linde, she stayed in the Dining Hall with Henrietta and continued her meal. The moment Berengar saw the man, he opened his arms wide and approached the man giving him a friendly hug.

"Andronikos, my friend, it has been some time since I last saw you. Tell me, what is so important that you must travel all this way to Kufstein?"

Andronikos accepted the friendly embrace before the two men distanced themselves from one another. After doing so, he informed Berengar of his reason for visiting.

"My friend, the last time we saw each other, you were merely a Count, now you are a mighty Duke. I am genuinely impressed with your growth. As for why I am here, The reason is strictly business.  the Strategos wishes for me to negotiate the purchase of artillery. I know you won't sell us the magnificent guns you use in warfare, but indeed you can create something fitting for our Empire to use against our enemies?"

Hearing this, Berengar scratched his chin for a few moments; if he wanted a powerful ally in the East, he would need to arm them with some form of artillery that was better than what was currently wielded by the feudal world. 

After thinking about it for a few moments, he got a brilliant idea, and as such, he clasped Andronikos' shoulder with a friendly smile on his face.

"I have a design in mind, but it has yet to be put into production. I promise you it will be more advanced than anything used by your enemies. However, these things are not easy to produce. I will need to set up an entirely new production line. For rapid transportation, I  will need to establish it within a city closer to the Empire. It will take me some time to accomplish this."

The design Berengar had in mind was none other than the Falconet, an early cannon design from the renaissance that was used extensively by the European powers. It was slim, relatively lightweight, made of cast iron, and fired a one-pound projectile. It was also capable of firing grapeshot if necessary, grapeshot being a far more primitive version of the canister shot that Berengar fired from his artillery.

This would be an enormous benefit in field battles against the Empire's enemies. Still, if Berengar went to war with the Byzantines, it would prove to be entirely ineffective against his 12 lb cannons. With this, Berengar could advance his allies to the East and curry their favor.

Andronikos was incredibly excited when he heard this news, and as such, he bowed respectfully to the young Duke of Austria.

"You have my gratitude; tell me how much such weapons would cost?"

To this, Berengar began to act casually as he swiped his hand to the side.

"Think nothing of it; I understand you are in a bitter campaign to reclaim your lost territory. I will gift the first batch of cannons to you as a token of my friendship, and if you require more, I will provide as many as you need.

As for their cost, you do not need to worry about such a thing; I am sure the wealth you gain from Egypt and Cyrene will be more than enough to cover the matter of debt you will owe me after your campaign is finished. 

If you so desire, we can outfit your troops with as many arkebuses, pikes, and armor they need to accomplish this objective as well, under the same conditions, of course."

To the Empire, this could be considered an enormous favor. Though the Empire was wealthy, affording to outfit an army with new and modern equipment was a hefty price, something they could not easily do while engaged in a war with the Mamluke sultanate.

At most, they could buy a few batches at a time, but Berengar was offering to fully equip their army with modern equipment effectively for free, at least for the time being. When they finally won the campaign and gained the territories of Egypt and Cyrene, the Empire would be basking in more wealth than they had in the past 800 years. 

By then, they could quickly repay the debt they owed Berengar in one giant payment. It was an attractive offer, but Andronikos did not have the power to negotiate such a monumental decision. As such, he quickly began to address Berengar's recommendation.

"I will have to ask the higher-ups about this. I do not have the power to make such a decision."

Berengar merely smiled and nodded as he heard this and responded in a friendly tone.

"I understand, do convey my message to your superiors with haste. In the meantime, I will begin the construction of the production line and begin to produce the weapons. If you do refuse my kindness, we can always sell the cannons and equipment to you upfront!"

Berengar's kind words held a hidden meaning; by saying they would be refusing his kindness, he was implying that it would harm diplomatic relations with Austria; after all, it would be seen as an insult by Berengar. This minor threat was laced into his otherwise kind words, and though Andronikos did not realize it, the Emperor surely will when he heard these words.

Though Berengar would make a vast sum trading these weapons to the Byzantines, he could care less about this, if the Byzantines were to accept his offer, there was only one thing Bernegar would ask for as payment for their massive debt that would accumulate throughout their war with the Mamluke Sultanate, and that was Princess Honoria's hand in marriage. 

The desire for a swift victory in North Africa after decades of battling a stalemate with their enemies would hopefully be enough for Andronikos and Arethas to convince the Emperor to agree to Berengar's terms, and in doing so, they would fall straight into his trap. 

Berengar could consider the weapons and armor he provided to the Byzantine Empire's massive army as the dowry for Honoria, and the debt would be squared the moment they got married. To him, this was the perfect way to establish a long-term alliance with the Byzantine Empire while also cementing his Dynasty's claim to the Empire as a whole. 

More importantly, this would break the alliance between France and the Byzantine Empire. This was Berengar's true objective with his plans regarding Honoria. France was a neighbor that a united Germany was destined to clash with in the future. 

If Berengar did not wish to fight a two-front war, he would need to break the alliance the French had with the Byzantines; this was critical to his plans for the future. Germany had always suffered due to its geographical position as the center of Europe in his past life. Many wars had been lost because they were forced to fight on two fronts. 

By establishing an alliance with the great power in the East, Berengar could ensure his flank was secured to focus on his future enemies in the west. Thus while Andronikos left the Castle of Kufstein and began the long journey back to the Empire, Berengar was smiling. If all went as planned, he would have dealt a significant blow to his future enemies without anyone even realizing it.