Tyranny of Steel

Berengar gazed down the tangent sights of the rifle in his hands. He quickly pulled the bolt back before slamming it home. If there were a round chambered in this weapon, it indeed would have been ejected with this motion.

However, it was empty, and thus nothing had occurred. As the bolt moved rearward and forward in a smooth motion, the sheet metal dust cover attached to the bolt followed it throughout its entire journey. 

After gazing upon the pristine bluing on the steel parts of the rifle which were matched with a fine walnut stock, Berengar realized that he may have gone too far with the quality of these weapons. Regardless he was well pleased with the result of his designs that had finally made their way into the frontlines of Iberia.

This weapon was the Gewehr 22, primarily based upon the Kar98k from his previous life. Though, he had taken some creative liberties to ensure that it met his sense of aesthetics. Aside from that there were some minor functional improvements but overall it was a superior combat rifle to what his soldiers were currently equipped with.

This rifle was just one of many that had made their way from Austria's factories to the Emirate of Granada. Weeks had passed since Berengar had married Princess Yasmin, and the day for the invasion of Portugal drew near. So much so that he could not enjoy a brief period of respite with his newest wife. 

As the Royal Granadan Army became more self-sufficient, the Austrian soldiers who supported them began to withdraw back to the Fatherland. By now, all that remained of Austria's forces within the region were the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Artillery Brigade. There were also those few individuals from the Jaeger Regiment who were still operating deep behind enemy lines providing Reconnaissance to the Triple Alliance. 

In the place of the Austrians, the bulk of the Forces that would be partaking in combat operations within the Kingdom of Portugal was that of the Granadans and Byzantines. With the three nations combined, it was an army of about 50,000 men in total. While Berengar had initially planned to leave behind a larger contingent of Infantry to aid his allies, the reality was that it was simply unnecessary. 

The Kingdom of Portugal was lit ablaze from the conflict between the impoverished Portuguese Crown and the various deserters who had taken up arms as brigands and highwaymen to extort the people of Portugal for all their worth. 

Unfortunately for King Luiz, his treasury was emptied mainly by members of his Council who had fled to either Castile or Morroco to start a new life; even his Marshal had run away from his responsibilities in fear of an Austro-Granadan invasion. 

Thus Berengar was confident that 50,000 men with the support of Artillery and Cavalry would be more than enough to overcome the Army of crusading peasants who accompanied the remainder of the Portuguese Army. After all, their ranks were heavily depleted in the fight against the Portuguese deserters. 

After carefully inspecting the weapon, Berengar shoved it into the hands of the Colonel, who was tasked with leading the 1st Cavalry Brigade. The Austrian King gave his loyal officer an order as he did so.

"Ensure that our troops are well trained with these weapons before we march on Portugal. I want our cavalry to be able to shoot and reload while on the move!" 

The Colonel quickly saluted his King before responding in the affirmative.

"Yes, your majesty!"

With that said, Berengar smiled before dismissing the Colonel. When the officer was finally out of sight the Austrian King gazed upon the crates which contained weapons as a brilliant idea appeared in his mind.

Since he would be fighting this war as a member of the Cavalry, it was best to practice before the violence had begun. Thus he instantly grabbled ahold of a rifle from one of the crates; after doing so, he checked some of the nearby casks, where he found one that contained several spam cans of ammunition. 

Berengar proceeded to open these spam cans and loaded the steel stripper clips with the ammunition. Once this had been achieved, He placed the clips into his leather webgear before slinging in his rifle on his back.

Having prepared himself for the task ahead, Berengar traveled to the Royal Palace of Granada, where he entered the stables. Inside, these stables contained a Proud Iberian Stallion. One could say this blood-bay horse was a predecessor to the infamous Andalusian breed from Berengar's past life.

The young Austrian King quickly attached a saddle to the horse before placing his foot within the stirrup and dragging himself on top of it. This red horse was named Glory, and it was a gift given to him by Hasan during Berengar's wedding to the Granadan Princess. 

Berengar had owned many mounts over the years since Erwin's death at the Battle of Oberstdorf. Yet until now, he had never come across a steed as fine as this. Glory was a warhorse that was born and bred for a single purpose: battle.

After mounting his steed, Berengar rode towards the training grounds where his cavalry was getting acquainted with the new weapons. Five thousand men and their horses began to load their guns as they jumped over obstacles and fired at straw targets with their new bolt action rifles. 

They immediately ceased their activities when they witnessed their King in front of them. Berengar did not waste time; he quickly unslung his rifle, where he reached into his web gear and pulled out a stripper clip that contained five rounds of 7.92x57mm LG where he placed the stripper clip into the action of his rifle and loaded the weapon, after doing so he pushed the bolt forward which instantly sent the stripper clip fling off of the gun and onto the ground below. 

After doing this, he ushered Glory forward where he proceeded to aim the rifle, while charging towards his target, with the reins in one hand that was also grabbing ahold of the rifle's forend, the Austrian King skillfully fired his shot into the target before quickly pulling the bolt back and chambering another round. 

He fired another projectile downrange as he did so, narrowly missing his next target; he continued to ride his mount into combat while firing his five shots into their targets. His soldiers gazed upon him in awe before following suit. During this time, Berengar would spend several hours instructing his soldiers on using the new weapons and how to use them as cavalry effectively. 

By the time he finished this action, he had returned to the Granadan Palace and locked Glory away in the stables; he entered the main building to see his newest wife waiting for him. She had a warm smile on her pretty face as she quickly approached him and kissed him on the lips.

"Husband, you are finally home!"

Berengar smiled as he received such a special greeting before resting his hands around the woman's waist. It was a pity that the Invasion of Portugal was around the corner, or else he would surely take the woman on a honeymoon. 

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't taken any of his wives on such an essential aspect of their marriage. He swore then and there that he would need to do so in the future when he was given the opportunity. For now, he would have to make do and entertain his wife in the bedroom. 

As such, he grabbed ahold of her without saying a word and dragged her up to the bedroom, where the couple would engage in intimate relations for the rest of the night. After all, war was around the corner, and soon Berengar would be away from her arms. Thus he wanted to make the most of what little time he had available to him to engage in worldly pleasures with a foreign beauty. 

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