Volume 1 Chapter 3: Strength in Numbers

This chapter may seem a bit confusing with the weaponry but I will stated this here; guns are rare in this world. Only elite units and nobles usually had guns.

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The harsh sun beat down on three hooded figures as they crossed a large stretch of sand. However they have been walking for several hours now, their water supply dried up a hour ago.

"How much longer until we reach the wall?"

This heat was excruciating for the two royals. Never before had they gone so long without drink. There was water around them, except the fact that it was salt water and undrinkable. None of them were water specialists so they could not purify the salt water.

The marshal pauses. He takes a look at a map provided by the governor. He then looks at the compass and looks at the sun. The two royals huddle with him to see what he was doing.

"Here."

He points to a spot in the ocean that juts out from the mainland. According to him this is where they were. Obviously there was an isthmus or peninsula as the bay waters to the east and open ocean to the west. However the map showed no landmass in their location.

The marshal shook his head.

"This land should not be here, this map is inaccurate. Maybe this wall is bogus."

Then they approached a sand dune and started to climb. Once reaching the top they all collectively stopped and gasped. Beyond them was a huge wall of grey boxes of various sizes and nets spread out everywhere. Many ditches were dug in the sand and strange wooden spikes and iron meshes of bars crossed together and left standing littered the landscape. A sign close to the bottom of the dune read "Achtung!" and displayed a skull inside a triangle.

"What a strange wall. Where are the guards? Where is the gate? What does this sign say?"

Andrew's second question was answered as he could see heads running down the ditches and people entering the grey boxes. Now he can see a lot of heads poking out of the ditches and a long line of poles being pointed towards him.

"Enemy magicians! Get behind the dune!"

The marshal grabbed Adriana and leapt over the dune. He was followed by Andrew. Once over the dune Andrew peered around. For a split second something reflected light to their right.

"Sir marshal, someone is over there!"

Andrew drew his staff and pointed towards a dune to their right. Adriana readied her crossbow, Andrew raised his staff. The marshal drew his greatsword and slowly advanced towards the dune.

"Show yourselves!"

No movement but the object glinted again. After a few seconds of waiting a figure emerged. The crisp blue uniform was unmistakable. Behind him several more figures emerged from the sand all holding short carbines.

The officer sauntered forward followed by a few of his soldiers.

"Look who it is, the rogue marshal and the fugitives. You have no idea what pain I went through when the inspector told me that you two slipped through my grasp."

The officer turned his left side of his face over from the shadow caused by the sun. Two fresh cuts were driven into his left cheek. Apparently failure is not tolerated.

"Oh boy was the 5th prince pissed. That one loves to suck up to his older brother."

"Sir, watch your tongue. That is our superior you are defaming."

The officer glanced back to the source of the voice. He twisted his face into a growl then turned back to the marshal.

"Listen here, I am very benevolent. Yes, yes. Give me the kids and you walk away. I will say that you died fighting for the royals. I get what I want, you go home."

"Haha."

"Hmmmm?"

"AhahahahhahahaAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The marshal started laughing and gave the officer the finger.

"Don't say I didn't try."

The officer drew his saber and charged the marshal. His squad lined up and opened fire with their carbines. The marshal swung his greatsword in an arc from his left at an 70 degree angle. The bullets ricocheted off the metal sword as he slammed the officer from above.

The officer rolled away before he could be pulverized.

Adriana's hands were shaking. Never before had she been in a situation where she needed to fight. She fumbled to draw an arrow and struggled to taut the lever. Andrew however was already in the fight. Two infantrymen drew short sabers and engaged with him. Andrew parried a stab to his abdomen and crossed blades with the other soldier. Both soldiers were quite skilled at close quarters combat. Andrew glanced at their insignias, black skull and bone cross were visible on their right arms. Both were members of the Secret Police.

Andrew backed up as soldier one threw a feint. Andrew didn't see it coming and did a full parry. The soldier one pulled back and the other one lunged at him.

He was trapped.

"Aauuughh!"

The saber pierced his left shoulder taking it out of action. He let loose a jet of magic which propelled himself backwards. The soldier lost his saber to the blast and Andrew succeeded in creating distance between him and his opponents.

Andrew glanced at the marshal. Five of the infantry were lying about dead with various body parts cleaved off. The remaining five were reloading their guns while their officer kept the marshal busy. His saber barely left a dent on the marshal's armor and he physically could not defend against his strikes. The officer was on a constant retreat with his troops. Two more were cut down as they tried fleeing the marshal's wide strike.

A slight buzzing can be heard from behind the dunes. Andrew paid not attention as he was occupied with the fight.

The soldier who stabbed Andrew attempted to free his sword which was stuck in the sand. Not letting this chance go to waste Andrew released more magic and rocketed forward. He collided with the soldier piercing his lungs.

The soldier coughed blood and remained still. The other one was charging at Andrew.

Andrew raised his sword to fight but his knees buckled. He had used up too much stamina and it drained him of all ability too fight. The soldier quickly traversed the few meters between them and stabbed at Andrew.

Andrew managed to scramble away with sheer willpower, getting sand everywhere as he desperately tried to escape.

The soldier missed a fatal blow but managed to stab Andrew's right foot.

Andrew cried out in pain and collapsed onto the sandy floor.

He felt the sword being pulled from his body and the soldier stood over him.

"I'm sorry but its my job."

The soldier raised his saber and positioned it to Andrew's neck.

Suddenly Adriana yelped and her crossbow fired. The arrow flew and hit the soldier in the right arm. The arrow was poorly taut so it didn't pierce into his flesh, had it been drawn properly it would have pierced into his lungs through his ribcage.

The soldier cried out in pain.

Andrew could not waste this opportunity and pounced onto the soldier. The two grappled and hit one another.

The soldier bashed Andrew's nose and it started to bleed. He in turn stabbed the soldier's left eye with the back of his staff.

The two continued to fight as the clash died down around them.

Bleeding from two wounds Andrew felt his energy being sapped from his body. He could sense the will to fight being drained from his enemy as well.

Suddenly the soldier stopped. A large sword was sticking through his back. The marshal had skewered him as he was fighting Andrew on the sandy ground.

"Sir, what happened?"

"The officer retreated on horses he left behind the dunes. I got all the rest. I couldn't pursue him with you injured."

The marshal knelt next to the prince and poured healing potions on his severe wounds. They started scabbing but did not close. The pain however was being suppressed.

Andrew rolled onto his back and looked at his hands. His right ring finger was covered in metal splinters. His ring had activated. This was the only thing keeping him alive during the brawl.

Without the noise of battle the sniffles of the princess could be heard. Before anything else happened a large sleek grey object drove over the sand dune. It was growling angrily and a black cross was etched into its sides. The back of the grey object opened up to reveal six men in light gray uniforms. All of them were holding guns but a few of the guns looked different from guns Andrew was familiar with. He glanced back at the grey beast, a man was looking from the top with his hands on a large black box.

A man wearing a officer hat appeared from the right side of the grey beast and took of his hat and patted it down. The man was dressed in a very stylish dark uniform with yellow dashes and stripes on his right arm. A white, black and red armband was wrapped around his left arm with the same cross as on the grey object but in a flag form (AU: not swastika but the iron cross like the German Empire flag).

The man in black put his hat back on and barked a command to his soldiers and they all aimed their weapons. Slowly they advanced until the officer raised his fist at an L shape.

"Identify yourselves!"

"How rude! You are speaking to the 4th prince of the Kingdom of Epruilon!"

The marshal brandished his weapon. Adriana ran to Andrew, abandoning her crossbow.

"Marshal please stand down!"

The marshal slowly dropped his sword and pointed it to the ground.

"Boy... erm I mean prince."

"Andrew is fine."

"Er... okay Andrew. State your business at the borders of Frankreich, show identification."

"What? Why do I need to show identification?"

Andrew took the right hand of his sister and showed the officer the ring.

"Huh?"

The two stood there awkwardly until the dark uniformed officer sighed. He waved his troops to standby and talked with the man in the left side of the grey beast. The soldier picked up a small black box and spoke into it. Then both men listened to something. They talked for a bit more until the officer walked back to Andrew.

"Um listen. I have to make a report about what happened here. My superiors want to meet with you. Please cooperate with us and this will take no time at all."

The officer glanced at the corpses and blood on the ground. Then the officer barked at his troops once more and they shuffled back into the grey beast.

After a few minutes of waiting a second grey breast appeared over the dune and screeched to a halt next to the officer. Another officer got out and made a strange salute to the present officer. The present officer got into his original grey breast and took off.

The new officer walked over to the three and introduced himself.

"Hello there I am Konrad Müller, second lieutenant of the 5th motorized division, 3rd motorized battalion, 12th regiment, 9th platoon, 5th company. Please come with me."

The marshal glanced at the two royals. One was frightened out of her mind and the other was injured too severely. The marshal decided that he had no choice but to comply on the small chance that these grey and black soldiers help them.

The three got into the back of the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 or Sd.Kfz. 251, a German half track (AU: here is link if ya want https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._251). Two grey soldier was already in there. One was clutching a wooden gun with metal markings and the other was gripping the same black box Andrew saw earlier on the other grey beast.

The object took off up the dune. The movement and speed of the object astounded the three who were in the vehicle for the first time in their lives.

The marshal tapped the floor.

"This entire beast is made of steel?!"

The soldier with the wooden gun laughed.

"This tin bucket is nothing! Wait until you see the tanks!"

"Tanks? What are those?"

"You will see."

Still amazed with the vehicle the marshal examined all things he could find. The soldier just laughed at him and responded nonchalantly. This just further stemmed the curiosity of the marshal.

The halftrack bounces a bit on small rocks jutted in the ground but it smoothly maneuvers though the sand. After driving through a channel cleared of mines and traps, the vehicle stopped at the casemates.

"So this is a bunker."

The marshal tried to recall all the things the soldier told him about.

"Yes. That is the 8.8 cm flak gun."

The soldier pointed at a large grey shell on top of the hill. Inside was a narrow beast made of steel.

Suddenly the back of the halftrack opened up.

"Come quickly."

The second-lieutenant beckoned them out of the vehicle and they walked to a large building behind the hill.

A large flag showing the same flag as on the first officer's arm was blowing in the breeze. A few officers were milling around smoking and chatting. Many were staring at the procession.

Soldiers in grey also were marching around the building. Entire formations stood attention with their officers.

"My god there are so many guns."

The marshal gasped at how many guns he is seeing. Normally guns were very expensive tools with only one-shot capabilities. Only elite soldiers and nobles use them and only for self-defense (usually).

A low rumble could be heard and a huge grey behemoth passed by followed by smaller grey tanks. Adriana froze with fear, the marshal gasped. The marshal knew how powerful these people were if they could move metal like that. The kingdom has failed several times to create metal magical beasts before. This of course was a national secret so many didn't know that they existed. The convoy passed and they were able to cross the road.

"Sir Muller."

"Excuse me, its Müller."

"Sorry, what were those monstrosities?"

Andrew watched as the tanks turned a bend and disappeared from sight.

"Ah, those were our tanks. The big one was our newest heavy tank, the Tiger I. Those other smaller ones were Panzer IIIs medium tanks."

"What is a tank? Why are they so big?"

"Well tanks are basically armored moving cannons. We need them to fight other tanks and protect the infantry. They are big to fit the armor and large gun inside."

"You mean you have larger guns???"

"Yes, the Tiger I utilizes the 8.8 cm flak cannon. I believe we passed one on the way here."

"Oh that thing."

"Anyways, please come on in."

Second-lieutenant Müller opened the door and escorted the three inside. Their weapons were confiscated (except for staffs) and they were led to a conference room. Inside was General Beck of the German high command.

He smiled and the guards closed the doors.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Old Reichstag, Berlin.

Wilhelm was exhausted. Paperwork was piling up from his numerous requests to information and reports on damage.

Based off the reports the situation was very confusing.

First of all the red flag to the East was not the USSR. They would have sent an envoy by now, the previous Russian envoy vanished with all other foreign diplomats. Wilhelm deducted that they were indeed not the USSR.

Second Nordreich is in complete chaos. Since it is to our north, the land has become an island. The problem lies in temperature. The original climate of Nordreich was very cold and bitter, this new climate was like Argentina. Even if it was still cold the temperature was way too high for this specific region. As a result there was a mass death of natives species of plant life and animals.

Third there are still signs of fascist resistance from various communities. The Minister of Education and the Minister of Propaganda are working on that.

Wilhelm picked up his phone, he pressed a button and spoke into it.

"Gertha, connect me to the Minister of Environmental Affairs."

"Right away."

There was a pause and then the phone started vibrating.

"Yes your majesty, you called?"

"Sorry to disturb you, I want to add Nordreich to your jurisdiction."

"I'm sorry what?"

"Nordreich is now in your jurisdiction. I need you to gather plants and animals and repopulate the region. It's too unstable."

"Ah, I understand. By you grace's will."

The minister hung up and Wilhelm sighed. This is not exactly the life he expected. In ways the workload is worse than in his previous life. However the decision making and potential action excites him.

Then an officer entered his room. He saluted and guided Wilhelm to the conference room.

Inside was not military officers but leaders of resistance groups. They were all nervous and anxious.

They all did their respective native salute and Wilhelm waved them off.

"Ahem... let me start with this. The civil war is ending. There are no fascist pockets anywhere. Now what to do you all of you."

A collective tenseness grows among the leaders.

"At ease, I want to incorporate all resistance cells into the Empire. As you all have been debriefed beforehand, our situation is unusual. Your allies the UK and US and not here anymore. There are strange lands beyond our borders. We all have our differences but we have spent centuries coexisting. You now have a choice; go off in this new world without us and leave yourselves at the mercy of this world's natives or join us and our bloc to preserve your people's safety from these new threats beyond imagination."

Much discussion was occurring after Wilhelm finished. Then they stopped.

For unification: Austria, Czechia, Poland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Norway

Against: France

Wilhelm expected this. German influenced nations such as Czechia and Austria were happy to join. The others were pressured by the inexplainable circumstances or persuaded by Wilhelm. He called off the conference and called over the French leader; Charle de Gaulle.

"We cannot join our mortal enemy."

"Listen to me Charle. There are lots of strange creatures in this world. France does not have the capability as of this moment to defend its self. My German troops are protecting your land. No the other way around. If we were to pull back the French will suffer. I promise to purge and disband all fascist elements."

"Do one more thing for me."

"What?"

"Restore the French monarchy."

"I can't do that. A divide in power like that will only weaken us internally."

Gaulle pondered for a moment. He was about to comment something else when his eyes went blank.

"Yes your highness, right away."

He walked off and left in a staff car.

Wilhelm was left shocked. Just moments before Charles de Gaulle was opposed to the unification. Now he just accepted and walked away.

Wilhelm returned to his room felt the air chill. He spun around until he found the source of the coldness, the mirror. He walked over and stared at himself in the mirror.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The Wilhelm in the mirror smiled. It was quite creepy. Then he spoke.

"Others can't hear me, don't bother trying to find out what I am."

"I didn't try. What did you do to Charles?"

"Nothing much. I just encouraged him to take the better option."

"What does that mean? Who are you?"

"I can't tell you that. However I will gift you this."

He points to his forehead (Wilhelm's forehead) and then Wilhelm collapsed due to a headache.

"Ahhhhhh. What the hell!"

He looked up but his reflection was back to normal.

Wilhelm blinked twice. Suddenly a loud sound blasted through his ears.

[German Civil War has Ended!]

The German Empire has taken 13 states

All resistance cells are annexed by German Empire

457288 equipment seized

"Oh what?"

Wilhelm hesitated. Then he thought the letter q. Suddenly he can see all of his national focuses. Only [Successor of the 2nd Reich] remained.

Before Wilhelm could do anything more his phone rang.

He grudgingly picked up and answered.

"Hello your majesty, this is General Beck of high command. I have just met with three individuals from the far west. They have identified themselves as the 4th prince, 2nd princess and master marshal of the Kingdom of Epruilon. Here's the interesting thing, they are fleeing from a civil war in their native nation. I tried to pry as much information from the as possible. I asked about population, economy, military and technology. When I asked them about natural resources they were quite defensive. However when I mentioned burnable black liquid they responded quite quickly. Great news Kaiser, they have oil. I strongly recommend that you invite them to Berlin and negotiate for their oil. We don't have much left in our reserve, our American lend-lease oil won't last forever."

"Acknowledged. Oil is of great importance to our Empire. The resistance has agreed to be disarmed and recruited into our ranks. Expect 4 more divisions to be mobilized in the next month. You will receive all 4 and I hereby promote you to Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich (AU: its the military governor of sorts)."

"Thank you your majesty. I will send them to you right now."

He hung up and Wilhelm slumped in his chair. Oil, beautiful oil. Lack of oil was one of the largest contributors to the fall of the 3rd Reich. He would need to secure a permanent source of oil or risk losing all of their heavy machinery.

Wilhelm sat back while disgrading the piles of papers stacked on his desk. He could only work and wait for the natives of arrive. He took a sip of tea leftover from that morning watched the sun set over the Berlin skyline.