Bernd Baltzar

Bernd Baltzar, or Bernd Balzer, is the protagonist of the manga Gunka no Baltzar. He is a major in Weiβen Armed Forces and is currently dispatched to Baselland as a military advisor and an instructor in Baselland Royal Military Academy.

Background
Not much is known about Baltzar's family. Like his students, he attended the Military Academy as a teenager, and later came to the Military University, where he met and befriended Rudolph von Liebknecht.

 Baltzar considered Liebknecht a close friend, and respected the latter for his competence. However, Baltzar disagreed with Liebknecht's plan for a coup d'e tat, and reported the revolt to the authorities, receiving protection from the government. He was also allowed to lead the suppression of the rebels, although he couldn't foresee the mass suicide of his old friends and colleagues. Six days after the suppression, he received a letter from Liebknecht, asking him to come to "the Observatory". There, Liebknecht revealed his true plan: he told Baltzar about the rebellion so that the latter could stop it, as Liebknecht never expected the coup d'e tat to be successful. He also knew that the rebels would take their own lives, as model nationalists, and supplied information to 35 newspaper agencies, spreading news about a tragedy of young and hopeful commissioned officers who cared deeply about their nation, so that the public would pressure the National Assembly to free the Weiβen Armed Forces from their control. Enraged about being used, Baltzar took out his gun and threatened Liebknecht, but Liebknecht jumped off before he could make a move. The two never met again until the events of the main storyline.

Appearance
He appears as a young officer with dark blonde hair and green eyes, and is considered to be quite handsome. Most of the time he is seen wearing Weiβen's military uniform, but when he is off-duty, he wears the standard outfit of men in the 19th century. As a commissioned officer, he always looks neat and tidy, and is rarely seen dressed improperly.

Personality
Baltzar is extremely cunning and scheming, and more often than not his slyness shows on his face. He is willing to use any method in order to achieve his goals, thus he often comes across as evil to those who aren't close to him. He is also a good actor, being able to fake any facial expression to his benefits. However, he is also loyal to his country, and he never does anything that may do harm to Weiβen.

Another notable trait of him is his ability to separate his emotions from his actions. He rarely let his feelings interfere with his logic, which makes him "an exemplary success" of Weiβen's military training, according to his superior. This ability also allow him to calmly judge his situation and make a decision under any kind of circumstances.

As a young student, Baltzar was shown to be arrogant and rowdy, and was a regular in the detention room.

Baselland Royal Military Academy Arc
After returning from a successful campaign, Baltzar was appointed as a military adviser and instructor to the Baselland Royal Military Academy. Upon arrival, he discovered the antiquated way of thinking and training, as well as outdated technology used at the academy. At the academy, the Artillery and Infantry Division were somewhat neglected, with the Artillery Division being forbidden from practice due to civilians' protest. Meanwhile, the Cavalry Division, full of noble children, was idolized and favored, despite their decrease in usefulness on the battlefield. Baltzar appealed directly to the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster to replace the academy's original equipment with Weiβen's newer and more reliable rifles. However, he was met with resistance from the administration, as well as the Second Prince of Baselland, who was also an instructor at the academy. The situation escalated when Baltzar unknowingly called the prince "incompetent" when he witnessed the latter using a whip to discipline students, which resulted in the prince imprisoning Baltzar.

Still, the prince became interested in Baltzar's proposal, and decided to test the advantage of technology and modern tactics in a shooting trial, using Baselland's convicted criminals. On one hand, Baltzar was assigned a squad of 5 criminals equipped with a set of standard equipment for Weiβen's soldiers. On the other hand, a small battalion of 50 criminals used Baselland's standard equipment and traditional formation, led by a Baselland officer. Baltzar was initially opposed to the trial, and protested to the prince, albeit unsuccessfully. Thus, Baltzar decided to utilize Weiβen's modern tactics and lead his squad to kill 15 members of the opposing battalion, which incited the remaining criminals to murder their commander and attempt to escape. The Artillery Division was able to stop the criminals' revolt. The trial ended with Baltzar's victory, changing the Second Prince's mind.

Strunz Heavy Industries' Strike Arc
Following the shooting trial, the Second Prince became fond of Weiβen's advanced weapons, and decided to buy the Strunz Heavy Industries, a company owned by Dieter Strunz's father as well as Baselland's largest industrial producer, in order to mass produce Weiβen's rifles. His decision was met with opposition from the factory workers, as well as the First Prince, who was angered at the fact that the Second Prince bought the company with funds from the Royal Treasury. Taking advantage of the workers' dissatisfaction, Rudolph von Liebknecht instigated them to form a strike and armed them with Weiβen's rifles, in preparation for military oppression from the Second Prince.

Just as Liebknecht predicted, the Second Prince formed an oppression army from the Academy's Infantry and Artillery Division. He led the oppression army himself, believing that it was his duty to suppress a revolt caused by his own decision. However, with his own experience with revolts, Baltzar feared that the Second Prince's carelessness might result in a tragedy similar to the Weiβen's Revolt 8 years prior, which was led by the very same Rudolph von Liebknecht. Despite his dislike for cavalries, he led the Cavalry Division to perform a Reconnaissance-In-Force, with the intention to reinforce the Second Prince's oppression army. While marching to the strike, Baltzar discovered that Helmut von Babbel, an honor student from the Cavalry Division, was a girl disguised as a male student, and ordered her to delay a message to the Second Prince before returning to the academy, removing herself from the frontline. Helmut initially protested, but obeyed nonetheless. Only later did Baltzar explain that he removed Helmut out of concern for her family's situation (which required her to crossdress).

Meanwhile, the oppression army under the Second Prince was disadvantaged against the insurgents' more advanced weapons, and suffered casualties. The oppression was facing an imminent defeat when Baltzar's Reconnaissance-In-Force arrived and suppress the insurgents by force. However, Liebknecht's associate had secretly taken pictures of Baltzar in action and published articles depicting him as a violent villain, igniting a public opinion warfare. In response, Baltzar utilized the funeral of students killed in the oppression, highlighting the fact that the insurgents were willing to point their rifles at children, and turned the public against the insurgents instead of himself and the Second Prince.

The Baselland Railway Company Arc
Bernd Baltzar was praised as a hero who successfully suppressed the Strunz Heavy Industries' Revolt, and was invited to the Baselland Castle to attend a medals ceremony along with his supervisor from Weiβen. However, the ceremony was a guise manufactured by Liebknecht through the First Prince in order to pit Weiβen against the Ezreich Empire, prompting the Baselland assemblymen to consider whether they would like to maintain their alliance to Weiβen, or forming a new alliance with the Ezreich Empire. The ceremony revealed two factions in the Baselland Royal Family, the pro-Weiβen Second Prince in favor of reforming the military using Weiβen's modern strategy and advanced technology, and the pro-Ezreich First Prince in favor of reducing Weiβen's influence in Baselland and allying themselves with the princes' great aunt, who ruled the Ezreich Empire.

In order to improve Weiβen's image in Baselland, Baltzar proposed the withdrawal of Weiβen's Armed Forces on the Weiβen-Baselland border, and formed the Baselland Railway Company as a subsidiary of Strunz Heavy Industry. He chose Dieter Strunz as the subsidiary's president. Baltzar then invited Dieter, his father and three of his friends (Paul, Marcel, and Thomas) to visit Wosseldorf, Weiβen's southernmost city, to find investors among Weiβen's capitalists. Here, Baltzar showed his students and Dieter's father the economic benefits of a railway network, even if it might still be used for military purposes, and convinced a reluctant Dieter to accept his role as the president of Baselland Railway Company. Soon afterward, construction of a Weiβen-Baselland railway began, and with the withdrawal of Weiβen's military, tension between the two countries dissipated, and Anti-Weiβen sentiment within Baselland saw a decrease.

The Second Prince's Rebellion Plot Arc
Baltzar returned briefly to Weiβen and received a mission to investigate a rumor that Baselland's Second Prince had devised a detailed plot to overthrow his older brother. While searching for information, he came across a ghost story told by students of the academy. It was rumored that some students came across a ghost in the form of a bloody armor, wandering the academy's North Gate. Baltzar decided to take his students on a ghost hunt. After splitting up, Marcel noticed sounds of metal clanking underground, and was kidnapped by a group of unidentified men into a secret room underneath the North Gate. Thomas and two other students from the Infantry Division who came along saw the kidnapping, but were unable to stop it in time. While one student called for the police, and the other remained to watch the secret entrance, Thomas informed Baltzar and asked for his help. Baltzar barged into the underground room alone and discovered a printing press room, whose sounds were mistaken as footsteps of an armor by the academy students. The press room was being used to print out pamphlets of a rebellion plot alleged to be designed by the Second Prince. He also found the photographer who was associated with Liebknecht from the Strunz Heavy Industries' Strike torturing Marcel to find out if anyone else knew about the underground room. Baltzar rescued Marcel and arrested the photographer, putting a stop to the underground press room.

Baltzar then confronted the Second Prince, and received confirmation that it was in fact the prince who devised the plot. However, the plot was devised 17 years prior to the story's main plotline, with the intention to help the First Prince "escape" pressure from their parents and the rest of the nobility.

Skills
From time to time, Baltzar has demonstrated that he is not only an efficient tactician and politician, but also a good soldier, with various skills:
 * Shooting: Baltzar's marksmanship is above average, capable of hitting a target approximately 400m away.
 * Combat fighting: Baltzar has shown to be very good at combat, able to take on several opponents at the same time unscathed.
 * Mathematical skills: On several occasions, Baltzar demonstrates that he is capable of calculating fast and precisely without any help from machines. He is also good at estimating distances and angles.
 * Eloquence: Most of times, Baltzar can easily influence other people with his words. Sometimes, he manipulate people into doing what he wants, but more often is to persuade them into cooperating with him or to follow his plans. While not as good as Liekbnecht, Baltzar succeeds more than the times he fails.
 * Logic: This is Baltzar's most valuable asset, allowing him to escape many dangerous situations, as well as assisting him in his rapid rise in ranks. He is quick to come up with a solution by analyzing everything around him. This skill is enhanced even further by his ability to separate his emotions from his actions.
 * Acting: Although not very often demonstrated, this skill has helped Baltzar a few times, namely when he has to disperse the protesters at the academy's school-gate.
 * Sword fighting: Baltzar appears to be somewhat skilled in swordsmanship, having used the sword efficiently on the battlefield.

Rudolph von Liebknecht
Liebknecht was Baltzar's close friend during his school days. They were often seen together, and they would often gamble on chess against each other, though it's unknown who was the better player. Their friendship was strained when Liebknecht plotted a coup d'e tat in order to free the military from the National Assembly's control. They reunited when Liebknecht came to get Baltzar out of prison in Baselland, as a result of a set-up. Though Liebknecht still considers Baltzar his friend, the latter refuses to stand by his side, and their relationship remains tensed.

Dieter Strunz
Dieter is a 2nd year in Artillery Division, in Baselland Royal Military Academy, where Baltzar is serving as an instructor. After having his first shooting practice thanks to Baltzar, he became fond of the new instructor and often follows him around, asking for advice.

Helmut Markus von Babbel
Helmut is a 3rd year in Cavalry Division, in Baselland Royal Military Academy, where Baltzar is serving as an instructor. While her first impression of Baltzar wasn't good, she was quickly win over when he helped her with her honor complex. Like Dieter, she places great trust in Baltzar.

Jurgen von Breitner
Jurgen is in the same year and division as Helmut, and is also her roommate in the dorm. Jurgen and Baltzar shares a normal instructor-student relationship, although Jurgen also seems to respect and trust Baltzar.

Thomas Rinke
Thomas is a 1st year in Infantry Division, in Baselland Royal Military Academy. Like Jurgen, he doesn't have any specific encounter with Baltzar, but seeing Baltzar saving his friend from being tortured by the instructors, he has come to trust him.

Marcel Jansen
Marcel is in the same year and division as Thomas, and is also the latter's best friend. While he was being tortured by his instructors, Baltzar, recognizing his amazing accuracy, interfered and saved him, even suggested him to be a model for other students. Although Marcel was suspicious of Baltzar at first, he later places his faith in Baltzar and follows him.

Paul Breitner
(As far as the story progresses, he isn't related to Jurgen)

Paul is in the same year and division as Dieter, and a close friend of the latter. His relationship with Baltzar is the same as Jurgen's and Thomas', however, after Baltzar stopped him from an attempt to escape enlistment that could have cost him his life, Paul has become to trust him more.

Yuri Heesen
Yuri is a 3rd year in Weiβen Military Academy. He, together with Dimo, was assigned to spy on Baltzar by the Chief of Staff of Weiβen Armed Forces. His older brother was one of Baltzar's old friends who died in the coup d'e tat, and thus he is skeptical of Baltzar's credibility. Baltzar, however, isn't aware of this.

Dimo Baumann
Dimo is in the same year and school as Yuri, possibly Yuri's close friend, as he knows about the latter's brother. He is also tasked with the mission to spy on Baltzar by the Chief of Staff of Weiβen Armed Forces. It is unknown how he personally views Baltzar.

Ryner August Winklefeldt
Prince August and Baltzar didn't have a good impression of each other, with the latter critizing the former for his methods in instructing. However, Baltzar soon proved his abilities a soldier to Prince August, and their relationship has been improved a bit, although Prince August is still wary of Baltzar.

Trivia

 * His name, Bernd, is a contracted form of Low German "Berend", which means "bold as a bear".
 * HIs last name, Baltzar or Balser, is a shortened form of the given name "Balthazar". In Christian belief, Balthazar is the name of one of three wisemen who attended the birth of Christ. However, Baltzar may also come from "Baal tas-assar", meaning "preserver of life", or "Baal shar-uzzur", meaning "protector of the king".