Tyranny of Steel

On the edges of the Kingdom of France, a battalion of soldiers belonging to the German Border Guard stood in their trenches. These men were not the most highly trained or even veteran forces of the Imperial German Armed Forces, but they all had a role to play. The defense of the border was paramount, especially with so many hostile neighbors nearby.

It was because of this that Berengar had set into motion the plan to create a giant border perimeter designed to eliminate any army that dared to march into German Lands. These soldiers had chosen the German Border Guard as their branch of service, likely because they did not wish to deploy to some foreign battlefield.

On the outside, it was honorable to desire to defend the fatherland from its enemies, but in the eyes of the German Army and Marine Corps, many of these men were cowards, not willing to engage in the combat that was demanded of them. Still, they were the first line of defense in case of an enemy invasion. It had been well over a year since the German Empire was unified, and with it, young men from across the Realm were conscripted into service.

The armories had worked overtime to prepare enough arms for the new soldiers, and the fruits of their labor could be seen at the border where many German men stood idly by in their fortifications. As a few soldiers were playing cards in the trenches, they gazed upon the decks the army had issued them with smiles on their faces.

Though Berengar had never served in Iraq in his past life, he had heard stories from soldiers older than him that they issued decks of cards which contained the faces of the major leaders of Saddam Hussein ’s regime.

Taking inspiration from that, Berengar had replicated that tool in this life, and issued decks of cards to the border guards, with the faces of various important generals, and figures of the Kingdom whose border they guarded against. The King in this card game was none other than Aubry, while the Queen was Sibilla. The soldiers gazed upon the French King and laughed at how feminine he looked.