Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar was fighting his war against the Catholic world, and Itami sought dominion over the Korean Peninsula, the German colonies grew and expanded as more young men and women were selected to settle into the New World.

Aside from the pre-existing colonies of New Vienna, New Swabia, Berenstadt, and Neu Hafen. The Germans had founded colonies in what, as once known as Florida and Texas, in Berengar's past life. These settlements were connected to the rest of the colonies by trade through the sea, and after some small skirmishes with the locals, these colonies had begun to thrive.

As for New Vienna, it was no longer a small colony of a few hundred men and women. It was the largest colony in the new world, with over ten thousand German families living within the settlement. Day-to-day life was peaceful, thanks to the skilled diplomacy of Arnulf von Thiersee. The local tribes rarely found fault with the Settlers of New Vienna and they coexisted in peace.

Cobblestone streets stretched throughout the city limits, and frachwerk houses littered the landscape. The fields made use of the horse powered machines that Berengar had invented long ago, and were filled to the brim with crops. One thing was certain: New Vienna was not lacking when it came to a food surplus. Still, under the orders of Arnulf, the food was carefully stored in case of a bad winter, and any excess was sold to the neighboring native tribes at a fair price.

As a colony on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, the latest advancements in civilization had yet to reach the shores of New Vienna. Because of that, there was a distinctive lack of industry. Instead, the colony relied on both animal and water power to accomplish their daily tasks.

Though the Colonial Expeditionary forces existed to defend the area, militias had popped up in the various small towns that existed outside the city of New Vienna. The expansion of the German Colony had been negotiated with the native tribes, and Arnulf had paid a fair price for the land.

This was something that upset many of the settlers who believed in the fatherland's propaganda, who told them it was their divine right to conquer and settle the new world to the fullest extent. It was because of this that several men were gathered in the local beer hall where they drank their fill while complaining about their lives.

"Who the hell does the Grand Duke think he is? You all know I make a living by hunting animals and selling their hides! I went out to my favorite hunting spot yesterday and got myself a fucking bear! However, when I brought it back home, Arnulf and his cronies seized the pelt from me.

Why would he do such a thing? Because apparently I was hunting on Mohawk lands! What lands? These filthy savages don't even have the concept of land ownership in their tribes. I swear to god, that fucking bastard's whore of a wife is influencing him to act against the interests of the German people!

I'll tell you what, if the Kaiser knew about this injustice, he would do something about it! I hear the other colonies are able to fully expand as they please, and if the natives kick up a fuss, they just deploy the Colonial Expeditionary Corps to deal with them. What the hell have the five thousand cunts who were sent to New Vienna done in the past few years aside from enforcing Arnulf's laws that favor the natives?"

Multiple men drank from their beer glasses and nodded their heads in agreement with the hunter's words. There was a rising sentiment of disagreement among the colonists with the pacifistic approach Arnulf had when it came to expansion.

Though the tribes prospered alongside the German settlers with Arnulf's peace, many of the more nationalistic Germans were offended that they simply weren't taking what they needed by force. It was because of this that another man was quick to voice his discontent in addendum to the hunter's tale.

"Yeah, I had a similar problem. I was fishing north of where I normally do, and I caught a dozen fish in one day! However, when I returned home, they were confiscated because apparently those fishing grounds belonged to one of the native tribes, I can't remember which. I mean, let's be honest, all of these savages look the same.

Fuck, I spent all day catching those fish, and that bastard Arnulf gave them away to the natives. What the hell kind of bullshit is that? If you ask me, it is his native wife who is influencing him into favoring those savages. I mean, some of the things he has done as colonial governor are borderline treasonous.

For example, did you hear about the price that Arnulf paid in order to settle the lands that the town of Adelstein was established upon? I heard it was an outrageous sum of goods, and he voluntarily gave them over to the natives in exchange for ownership of the land. What the hell? This goes against everything the Kaiser has said about colonization of the new world. We are not supposed to be negotiating; we are supposed to be conquering!

That colony down south, what is it called Lindeburg? The one between here and the colony of Neu Hafen? Yeah, I heard they wiped out the natives in the area. Apparently, those savages attacked one of the colonists, and as a result they went on a campaign of extermination, wiping out every native within a thousand square kilometers. That's what we should be doing!"

The man was referencing a Colony that had been established in what was previously known as Florida in Berengar's past life. Shortly after the German Colonials settled the land, there was an incident where a young girl was kidnapped by a local tribe. She was horrifically abused during her captivity, and when the Germans found out what she had suffered through, they went on a rampage, slaughtering every tribe they came across.

To the German people of the new world, this fierce retaliation was a statement. German citizens were untouchable, and if any harm came to them, the full might of the German Expeditionary Corps would befall any tribe unfortunate enough to have angered the Reich.

However, Arnulf's reaction to this news was a statement of condemnation. Something that many of the citizens beneath his governance were deeply upset about. After hearing rumors of what the girl had gone through, half of the settlers in New Vienna had the urge to go out and fight the nearby natives, who had nothing to do with the incident.

All of these thoughts were going through the minds of the men as they got drunk and voiced their complaints in the only place they knew it was safe to do so. Ultimately, the hunter who originally complained about his pelts being stolen voiced an idea that would change the landscape of North American politics for decades.

"It is obvious that Arnulf cares more about the wellbeing of the natives than he does about the Kaiser's will or the glory of the fatherland. I say we round up everyone who despises the current order and march north, where we will establish our own settlement. One that is truly loyal to the Kaiser. A colony that is not afraid to fight with the natives for control of this bountiful land. For Kaiser and Fatherland!"

At first, there was utter silence when the men heard these words. After all, despite their grievances with the current political situation with the nearby tribes. New Vienna was an extremely peaceful place, where the quality of life was the highest in the New World. If they gathered up their families and left, it would be a difficult few months, or even years, before they reached the level of luxury they lived in now.

However, the more they thought about it, the more they realized there were hundreds of citizens like them who were pissed off about the peaceful policy with the natives, and the fact that new land was negotiated for instead of taken. If they all worked together, they could make a better life.

In the end, the will of the kaiser was the deciding factor. These men felt that Arnulf was disloyal to the Kaiser's vision of a manifest destiny, and they would rather die before being disloyal to the man who made all of this possible. Thus, every man in the beer hall shouted their support for this plan and elected this hunter their new leader.

In the next few weeks, a thousand families would depart from the colony of New Vienna and head north to the lands that were once known as Ottawa in Berengar's past life. Where they would found the colony of Berenwalde. It would be the first time since Berengar's rise to power that two German territories would come to arms with one another, as a brief colonial dispute would follow the annexation of Algonquin lands.