Tyranny of Steel

It was the dead of night as one of two German U-boats lurked beneath the surface within the Arabian Sea. In advance of the Sixth Fleet, Commander Arendt Tapphart had been ordered to annihilate what few ships the Anangpur Navy had protected their territorial waters.

The Commander lit up a cigarette as he stood within the helm of the Type I U-boat, which was essentially an improvement over the Type XXI design from Berengar's past life. The Sonar beeped continuously as it displayed several vessels in the distance. Judging from the size of these ships, they were no mere merchant vessels.

After taking a large drag from his cigarette and exhaling a plume of smoke, Commander Tapphart gave the order to begin the assault.

"Launch the Torpedos!"

The German sailors nodded their heads and saluted their commander before doing as they were ordered. With the pull of a lever, the torpedos were launched towards the unsuspected wooden sailing ships.

Within seconds, the torpedos struck their targets and blasted them into the smithereens. The fiery explosion illuminated the dark sky, so much so that those who dwelled within the coastal cities could see their light.

With this, the Anangpur Fleet was thoroughly obliterated, allowing for the Carrier strike group to progress to the Coastline unopposed. Despite sinking several vessels, the crews on board the two U-boats did not cheer. After all, sinking a primitive sailing vessel was no accomplishment. Instead, they radioed into the Carrier Known as the SMS Prinz Hans that the deed had been done.

Once the news of the Anangpur Fleet's destruction reached the Admiral aboard the SMS Prinz Hans, he dispatched his orders to the fleet.

"Begin the Assault!"

With this said, the German battleships and battlecruisers began to bombard the harbors within the coastal cities with their guns. While this occurred, forty-two different Stukas took flight, and headed deep inland towards the Anangpur Empire.

Their objective was to strike the fortresses and garrisons that the Anangpur Empire had throughout its territory. Allowing the Marines to progress to the Capital without resistance. Under the cover of darkness, their attacks were simply unobservable by any third parties who might be spying on the German attack. All they would hear were loud sirens before the detonation of explosions.

The Stukas took flight, while the Landing Craft, which carried five thousand German Marines and their armored vehicles, prepared to hit the shores. The initial wave would land the Mechanized Infantry, as well as the self-propelled artillery, while the secondary wave would land trucks filled with supplies such as bio-diesel, munitions, and rations.

Because the Anangpur Empire was not expecting an invasion, the German Marines landed unopposed, where their armored vehicles began to progress deep inland. They would not stop their conquest until they reached the capital.

Against such overwhelming Military Might, what little remained of the Anangpur Army quickly surrendered their arms, and were taken captive by the German Marines who treated them with respect. After all, German military law strictly forbid the mistreatment of prisoners, and unlike the Imperial Japanese Army, the soldiers of the Reich were instilled with a strict sense of discipline.

After speaking with Dharya Tomara about the invasion plan, Berengar had taken the next flight to the Anangpur Empire, along with his newest puppet. The two men were currently hovering over the coast of western India. Dharya was gripping the edge of his seat in terror. This was the first time he had ever travelled on a plane, and the turbulence had practically made his skeleton jump out of his skin.

While the boy was white knuckling the journey, he saw the explosions occur beneath them through the windows. Dharya could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the power of the German torpedos which sunk his uncle's warships and instantly expressed his shock.

"My gods, what the hell was that?"

Berengar merely chuckled when he heard this before responding with a confident smirk on his face.

"That would be the destruction of the Anangpur fleet. Just you wait, things are about to get a lot more exciting..."

As Berengar said these words, even larger explosions occurred on the coastline. These were the devastating blasts of the 38cm guns onboard the Linde-class Battleships which destroyed the Anangpur Harbor. The intimidating sight of his family's ports being blasted to bits by a single barrage had nearly made the young man wet his pants in fright.

He decided at that moment to no longer look out the windows, as he asked the Kaiser just what he had planned for their visit to an ongoing battlefield.

"So tell me again why we flew nearly twelve hours from the safety of your palace to an active war zone?"

A wicked grin appeared on Berengar's face as he racked the charging handle to his automatic rifle. Ensuring that a round was loaded in its open bolt chamber. After doing so, he switched the gun to safe before explaining the purpose of this visit.

"I want you to see with your own eyes what my military is capable of. I sent two battalions of Jaegers to the Capital to secure the city for the Reich in advance of our invasion. Meanwhile, I dispatched a company of my Jagdkommandos to the coasts prior to our assault to establish an airfield for our planes to land.

They have had the past twelve hours to construct this makeshift airfield, where we are about to land. Once we hit the ground, we will regroup with a Marine Mechanized Infantry Regiment, where we will ride in an IFV and witness this campaign unfold."

Dharya had no idea what any of this meant, but he had never expected he would be riding into his family's capital on the front lines of war. This was not what he had signed up for, and he wanted to refuse. However, there was nothing he could do. He was already six kilometers in the air, and there was nowhere for him to escape to.

The plane began its descent, which made Dharya grip the edges of his seat even tighter, a sight which made Berengar laugh. In the end, the plane landed on the makeshift airfield without incident, where Dharya quickly fled the vehicle before falling to the ground and spilling out the contents of his stomach.

Berengar responded to the boy's pathetic state by kicking him in the back, which forced Dharya to land face first into his puke. Dharya was about to turn around in a rage when he saw the Kaiser glaring at him.

"Get ahold of yourself, boy. This is an active war zone. The enemy could be surrounding us as we speak!"

Dharya immediately tightened his grip over his automatic rifle and took a deep breath as he looked around into the darkness, searching for enemy troops. When the German Jagdkommandos approached the landing zone from the shadows, he pointed his rifle towards them in fear, where Berengar immediately kicked the boy in the back of the knee, sending him back into his vomit.

"Oi, those are my men! Get your shit together, you fucking dumbass! You know what? I'm confiscating your weapon. You are liable to shoot my troops if you keep this shit up!"

After saying this, Berengar dragged the boy out of the filth, and took his rifle away from him, before slinging it around his back. When the Jagdkommando Captain approached the Kaiser, he saluted him before speaking.

"Sir, we will escort you to the landing zone, if you will follow me..."

Berengar nodded his head before shoving Dharya forward. As he did so, he responded to the special forces officer.

"Lead the way, Captain."

After saying this, a squad of Jagdkommandos led the Kaiser, and the Anangpur Emperor, towards the coast, where the Marines were currently landing. By the time they arrived, the first and second waves would already have control over the shores of the Anangpur Empire, and would be preparing to advance forward into the night.