Imperial Elite

Chapter 10 is very inspiring!

Not sleeping all night and drinking heavily is clearly not a combination that can make a person energetic.

When Qiao opened her eyes again, she was not only hesitant but also a little dazed. For a moment, she even wondered if she had traveled through time again.

If I were to time travel again, my conditions this time wouldn't be very good.

Looking at the iron gate, iron windows, and iron chains in front of him, Qiao rubbed his head and sat up from the ground, trying hard to recall what he had experienced before he blacked out.

At first, they were just drinking at that bar, and then it seems that some sweetheart spread the word that someone was treating them to drinks.

As a result, the bar started to get more and more crowded.

There's nothing wrong with having a few more people in the bar; it's just one more mouth to drink, and Qiao doesn't care about that little bit of money at all.

Joe's indifference doesn't mean the military police are indifferent.

As the bar filled up, the drunken soldiers naturally attracted the attention of the military police.

As the soldiers in the bar sang off-key renditions of "On the Ilkley Swamp," arm in arm, raising their glasses and shouting slogans like "For the King and the Country!" "We will survive!" and "I'll go back and get married after this battle!" the military police, drawn by the noisy bar, pushed open the door.

Even though the soldiers were drunk, they didn't do anything outrageous. The soldiers felt that they were just having a few drinks and having some fun in the bar, and the military police had no reason to interfere with them.

But the military police saw it differently. Drunk soldiers, a whole room full of them—what were they trying to do?!

The military police immediately ordered the soldiers to leave the bar in an orderly manner and return to their units to report for duty.

Originally, things had progressed to this point without any negotiation.

But some guy, whether out of sheer malice or she was just plain stupid, shouted in the crowd, "This is Joe Harrison, the hero of our time, treating us trench warriors to drinks. What business is it of yours, you red-hatted guys? Go back to the streets and shovel horse manure!"

Upon hearing this, the military police wearing red hats immediately became enraged. "Although I wear a red hat, it doesn't mean you can call us 'Red Hats'! What's the difference between this and pointing at a Black person and calling them 'Nigger'?!"

So the military police went into the crowd, trying to find the guy who had spoken, while loudly demanding that Joe, who had treated them to the meal, step forward.

This sparked public outrage.

Originally, because of the stingy wages of the War Ministry, although wine in Gaul was much cheaper than in London, drinking was still an 'occasional enjoyment' for the soldiers.

Now it's rare to find someone offering free drinks. It's not like being a priest who makes you listen to him ramble on for hours, and there are no other strange requests. You just pick up your glass and drink.

The military police actually dared to cause trouble for such a kind-hearted person? Brothers, let's get them!
And so a bar brawl broke out instantly.

At first, due to the disparity in numbers, the military police were brutally beaten by the drunken soldiers.

However, as the military police arrived soon after, the drunken soldiers gradually became unable to cope.

At this point, even if the military police suppressed the drunken soldiers, it would have nothing to do with Joe, who was sitting in the corner chewing on bacon with a glass of wine.

After all, these military police officers didn't know who Joe was, so they just arrested anyone who dared to lay a hand on him.

However, after realizing they couldn't defeat the military police, some clever person shouted, "It doesn't matter if we get arrested, at least we can get Joe out! Don't let the Red Hats catch Joe!"

After he shouted, several drunkards immediately grabbed Qiao and prepared to take him out.

So Joe, who had been hiding in the corner, was exposed to the military police. Now that he was exposed, the next thing to do was to smash his battlefield spirit with three blows and declare, "Sir, I'm one of our own."

Joe finally remembered how he had been locked up here and sighed.

It's a pity. Joe thought he had transmigrated again and become an Oblivion hero or a Dragonborn or something, but he just ended up in the military police's detention room.

However, Joe wasn't worried at all about being arrested by the military police.

After all, he had only been buying drinks for people at the bar. He hadn't argued with any officers, made any anti-monarchical remarks, or even thrown a punch. He was sure he would be fine.

And even if something really happens, that would be even better.

After all, drunken disorderly conduct is not punishable by execution; it usually results in stripping one of their military status, imprisonment for a year or two, and a fine.

This wasn't even a punishment for Joe, who wanted to leave the front lines; it was more like a reward.

Having figured this out, Joe found a more comfortable position to sit in his small, dark room and waited for the military police to come to him.

I'm so ashamed that I ended up assaulting a military policeman because I treated someone to drinks. The military court must punish me severely and swiftly!

The thought of possibly being stripped of his military status made Joe sadly hum a song in the small dark room.

Just as Joe sat on the ground humming "It's a long way to Tipperelli," Major General Parker was in a bad mood.

Since the troops had now withdrawn to the rear for rest and reorganization, Major General Parker's adjutant quickly located the soldiers who had participated in that battle.

Then Major General Parker's adjutant discovered that the report not only did not exaggerate the achievements, but actually included quite a lot of them.

Joe, in the first engagement, used a shovel and a revolver to wipe out half a squad of Teutons. After the first battle, he quickly reorganized them and put them into a firm defense.

And even excluding the Teutons who charged in the first wave, the Teutons in the second wave of attack were definitely more than just an infantry company; dozens of them were killed by those four machine gunners alone.

What? You're asking how we, with only about thirty people, managed to withstand an attack from so many Teutons?
Of course, it's a bomb! Use a bomb!

Corporal Joe planted bombs in the trenches and then led us to retreat to the rear of the trenches for defense. Hundreds of Teutons were killed by the explosives in the trenches alone.

After questioning the soldiers who had experienced the battle and receiving the same answer, the adjutant relayed his findings to Major General Parker.

This left Major General Parker completely baffled. These days, everyone inflates their battle records, or at least embellishes their reports. Why would anyone discount their own battle report?

Although it was incomprehensible, a corporal temporarily took command of the remnants of the front line, withstood an attack from an enemy force several times larger than himself, and even annihilated the enemy.

Such achievements are certainly worthy of a medal.

A Victoria Cross, the highest military honor, might not be quite enough, but a Medal for Distinguished Conduct would certainly be a good fit, and his rank should be adjusted accordingly.

The reason we didn't promote him to sergeant last time was because there wasn't enough time. Now we'll make up for it. This guy used to be a factory owner, so he should have some education. Let's use a battlefield assignment to send him to the rear for a short-term training program. He can become a second lieutenant!
Following the traditional Bonitania custom of turning a funeral into a celebration, Major General Parker quickly submitted Joe's medal application and promotion report.

After spending a day dealing with paperwork related to troop replenishment, Major General Parker finally received a report from the military police.

When Major General Parker saw the report, his face turned green.

Gathering in a group to drink excessively and assaulting military police—either of these two offenses is enough to warrant arrest and a hundred or eighty lashes.

If someone commits both of these offenses, they certainly cannot remain in the military; they must be expelled from the army swiftly and severely.

The Bonitania Army is not a dumping ground; we don't need undisciplined guys like this.

However, upon closer inspection of the report, the person who started this whole thing, Joe Harrison, is revealed!
I just submitted the report today!
If this gets out, what will the higher-ups think of me?!
Thinking of this, Major General Parker immediately stopped eating, put down the report in his hand, and walked out of the division headquarters towards the military police camp.

There must be some misunderstanding here, and I must get to the bottom of this!

Just as Major General Parker was about to approach the military police to try and build rapport, Marshal Haig was looking at a report in front of him with a troubled expression in the expeditionary force headquarters.

The expeditionary force's three-day attack could hardly be described as highly effective; it was more accurate to say that they suffered heavy losses.

Three days have passed, a full three days. Let alone breaking through the Teutonic defenses or forcing them to transfer troops from Verdun to reinforce the Somme.

Apart from a few minor breaches, the Teutonic defenses were basically intact!

If the fighting continues like this, Marshal Haig doesn't know if the Teutons can hold out, but the expeditionary force certainly can't.

The divisions that launched the initial attack have now basically lost their combat effectiveness and must withdraw to the rear for rest and reorganization. However, recruiting soldiers in the rear is not as easy as it was a year ago, and the cabinet ministers are considering whether to start mandatory conscription to fill the gaps at the front.

Therefore, we must find a way to break the stalemate on the front lines. We don't need to achieve a resounding victory, but at least we need to achieve something, so that we can at least have a point of view to declare victory and that the battle has achieved its purpose.

Otherwise, with so many people dead and no results to show for it, even if His Majesty doesn't cause trouble for him, his grandfather in the cabinet won't let him off the hook. His family's children are really in the expeditionary force.

Given the current situation, it is clearly unlikely that infantry can break the stalemate.

Secret weapons are necessary. Last month, those secret weapons, known as "water tanks," arrived in Gaul under the guise of a heavy machine gun regiment.

Marshal Haig had seen those steel behemoths and believed that deploying these mobile fortresses to the battlefield would change the current stalemate.

The problem is that nobody knows how to use this thing, even though the soldiers who operate these "water tanks" have been training on home soil for the past year.

But looking at the innocent stupidity on the soldiers' faces, Marshal Haig knew that sending this force to the battlefield would have a much lower chance of breaking the stalemate than the possibility of him making a fool of himself.

Therefore, before deploying this force to the battlefield, one must include some distinguished veterans and officers within it, at least to ensure that the force understands what the battlefield is like, before sending it into battle.

However, deciding which people to remove becomes another problem.

This unprecedented new equipment also means that no one knows which unit in the existing forces would be more suitable to draw personnel from.

After much deliberation, Marshal Haig decided that since no one knew anyway, he would draw some troops from every unit, including cavalry, artillery, infantry, and engineers, to fill the gaps, hoping that someone would be suitable.

Having made his decision and instructed his deputy and staff to prepare the list, Marshal Haig then began reviewing the reports on medal applications.

After that guy named Joe was pushed out last time, news came that His Majesty liked him very much, was very interested in him, and that the people had a good impression of Joe's image as someone who had worked hard to achieve success despite his humble origins.

Therefore, the Minister of the Army stated that, in order to improve the support for the military, from a propaganda perspective, medals could be awarded more to people from lower social classes like Joe, which could also alleviate some of the tensions.

Despite the Minister of War's statement, Field Marshal Haig had no intention of backing down.

After all, medals symbolize the honor of soldiers. If a medal is awarded to a deserter or a shameless criminal, it would tarnish the glory of the empire.

Then, Marshal Haig saw a familiar name in the medal application.

Joe Harrison? Didn't that guy just get a medal? What did he do this time?

Although Joe himself really didn't want to write the report, so the report was extremely brief, basically just stating who went where and who they killed.

However, Major General Parker, who wanted to turn a funeral into a celebration, had his adjutant write a slightly polished report, which he then attached and submitted.

Marshal Haig quickly finished reading the two reports.

Although Marshal Haig had met many people during his long military career, from cowardly deserters to fearless warriors, he had never met someone like Joe who performed heroic deeds and then disappeared without a trace, keeping his achievements hidden.

It's not easy to come from a lower class and still have the virtue of humility. This medal must be awarded.

Field Marshal Haig picked up the reports from the two medal applications and handed them to his adjutant. "Send the reports to London. The Minister of War said that His Majesty is interested in this Joe. Let His Majesty see what his warrior has done this time."

As the adjutant received the report, Marshal Haig suddenly thought of something else.

“I remember this Joe. Before joining the army, he was a factory owner and an inventor. He should know a lot about machinery. And he was an engineer. Let’s transfer him to the heavy machine gun regiment. Forget about field assignments. Nobody knows what this new branch of the military is like. Let him receive short-term training and then make him a full-fledged second lieutenant.”

(End of this chapter)