Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar ’s armies were marching towards the Swiss and Italian borders that Austria shared with the two realms, his Navy was on a more important mission, one that Berengar had learned from the Imperial Japanese Navy in his previous life.

In Berengar ’s previous life, Pearl Harbor was a term that every American citizen knew by the time they were out of elementary school; it was a degree of defeat and humiliation that the United States had never suffered before on its homefront.

As such, Berengar fully intended to learn from the Pre-emptive strike the Japanese had taken against their rivals and utilize the same tactics to eradicate the fleets of his enemies. The young Austrian King who had yet to be coronated fully intended to take advantage of the time it took for the Holy Roman Emperor to receive his declaration of Independence by striking at the heart of their Naval support.

With this in mind, Berengar had tasked his Admiral to immediately sail the fleet to the Italian coast, where Berengar intended to attack the Venetian and Genoan fleets while they were docked in the harbor.

Admiral Emmerich was at the helm of the SMS Berengar, the first in the class of the 75 fifth-rate frigates constructed over the last year. By now, the Grand Austrian Navy had a total of 40,000 men among its ranks. Among these men, 33,750 were on board the ships as sailors, officers, or marines.

The Armada of 75 frigates had a total of 3,300 twenty-four-pound cannons capable of launching explosives shells. The sheer degree of firepower that these ships possessed was unfathomable for this day and age.

As such, Admiral Emmerich had split the fleet into two groups; the main fleet would comprise 38 frigates that would sail to the coast of Venice. The other group would consist of 37 vessels that would sail around the Italian Peninsula and strike at Genoa ’s harbors.

After nearly 14 hours of sailing at a speed of 13 knots, the main fleet had arrived at the Venetian Coastline in the dead of night. Undercover of darkness, the Austrian fleet had snuck its way into the Venetian Harbor without incident.