Imperial Elite

Chapter 15 These are no ordinary Teutons; we must strike hard!
Modifying a tank that is overweight, oversized, slow-moving, has its own illegal structures, lacks engine insulation, cannot exhaust fumes, has unseparated fuel and ammunition storage, no escape doors, and a chaotic crew movement system is a task with almost limitless possibilities.

After all, there was a lot of room for improvement in this tank, and Qiao was momentarily at a loss as to where to begin.

However, just as Joe was preparing to tinker with the engine, at least to add a firewall to the tank engine, which was like a fireplace and baked the inside of the tank like an oven, and then figure out how to connect the exhaust system.

This will make the tank, at least once it's in motion, look more like a tank than a damn mobile crematorium.

But despite Joe's highly practical modifications, the Land Warships Committee and the military representatives of Fox, the company that manufactured these tanks, refused to allow it.

The engineers first boasted about their string of doctoral titles, then stated that these vehicles had undergone rigorous design and testing, and that this version was now perfect, a culmination of Imperial engineering.

What is your educational background? You come here and want to modify this secret weapon of the empire? Do you have the authority to do so?
Even if we concede that we allow you to make the modifications, what if the modifications turn out badly?
Can you bear the adverse effects on the war if you modify or damage this tank? Are you capable of taking that responsibility?

Faced with this behavior of readily taking responsibility for the failure of a battle, Joe silently gave a thumbs up.

Okay, you guys are ruthless. I'll gather some materials first, and then I'll modify it when the tanks are ready to go. Is that alright?

Of course, more of a headache for Joe than these engineers who wouldn't let him touch their designs was his officer training courses.

It's possible that Joe was originally in an engineering unit.

Those who could serve in the engineering corps were mostly skilled craftsmen. Even that poor kid from a poor family was a capable technician in the factory.

In terms of social status, they were all somewhat prominent figures, so the relationship between officers and soldiers in the engineering corps was relatively harmonious, except for that company commander who was now scattered and preoccupied with honors.

The rest of the people basically served with the mentality of just being a laborer. They were like monks ringing the bell for a day, doing whatever work they were given, and doing nothing when there was no work. Getting work was a pleasure, and pleasure was a gain. As long as they were alive, they were victorious.

Therefore, Joe felt that his engineering unit represented the lower limit of the Bonitania military's management.

How the hell can you drive away the Teutons by being with this group of working-class people?

However, after Joe began his officer training, he discovered that the Royal Engineers unit he was in was actually the most harmonious unit in the Bonitania army.

According to Joe's stereotype of the military, the military is a big family, and although officers bear the responsibility of managing this big family, they will stand up and take the lead when something happens.

Just like that Soviet general during Chernobyl: "Everyone go up and shovel twice, then come down in no more than 40 seconds! The political commissar and I will go up first, then the Communist Party members, and the rest of you will follow behind. Be careful. For the Soviet Motherland!"

However, Joe's officer training was quite different. His training focused on managing soldiers by 'managing them, disciplining them, training them, and reviewing their correspondence, and, if possible, inspiring their love and loyalty.'

Joe felt that these words sounded like they were actually speaking. This kind of behavior, which tries to evoke love and loyalty in others with just a few words, is no different from freeloading.

Moreover, many people in this team were forced into battle, just like Joe himself was forced to join the army, and yet they still had to inspire love and loyalty.

Joe felt that as a capitalist who exploited surplus value, if something really happened, he would know to make the workers tighten the screws until they were smoking, and he would have to pay them extra. He didn't care how much respect they received, but at least he should treat them like human beings.

Why did things regress after we got to this unit?

So Joe began to ignore the officer training, and started to stare blankly in class, sometimes even taking a nap with his head in his hands, watching his old friend in another world, commanding infantry and armored units to conduct coordinated infantry-tank operations in urban areas.

Joe felt that he learned much more in his dream than he did in officer training. After all, just in terms of digging trenches, the Bunitas and the Kriegs were no match.

Others dig trenches so perfectly straight, it's a dream come true for perfectionists. But the trenches dug by the Bunitans... they were indeed trenches, but if an old friend saw his subordinates digging trenches like that, he'd probably pull the trigger until his fingers cramped.

Joe discovered that he could learn more in his dreams, so he took full advantage of his officer training. As soon as he entered the classroom, he would find a corner to sit in, prop his hands up on his head, close his eyes, and start watching otherworldly short films.

But Joe did this not without consequences.

The consequence is that Joe, who used to sleep too much during the day, can't sleep at night now.

Although Joe couldn't sleep, the people from the Land Warships Committee and Fox Corporation did get some sleep at night.

Joe naturally wouldn't let such a good opportunity pass him by. With the spirit of "since I'm idle anyway," Joe began to study how to improve this damn tank after everyone else had gone to sleep.

Putting everything else aside, at least make this thing look like a car, not some damn mobile oven or a penance mech.

Then, Joe, who conducted research late at night, quickly became familiar with his crew members and the other soldiers in Company C, as the only officer who would be out at night.

Originally, Joe was not familiar with the soldiers because he spent a lot of his daytime training as an officer, and officers and soldiers did not live in the same tent.

It's basically like when classmates who never talk are suddenly assigned to the same group to complete an assignment; they barely interact except when they're in or out of the car.

But things changed when Joe showed up late at night.

As a down-to-earth person, Joe used to be able to treat those rascals to drinks for a year, and now he doesn't mind helping these night watch crew members on their shifts, standing guard for a while occasionally, so that they can have a little personal time to do some naughty things in the nearby Albert, or simply find a grove of trees to let loose.

In addition, Joe, who was rich and powerful, always had some extra hobbies after arriving at the rear, and he didn't mind sharing cigarettes, candy, cookies and the like with the soldiers.

Joe quickly gained a good reputation among the soldiers due to his approachable nature, and they privately called him 'Good Joe'. However, Joe's company commander, Daniel, warned him about his popularity.

"Don't get too close to these soldiers. You're not a non-commissioned officer anymore. Getting too close to them won't do you any good. If the higher-ups find out how popular you are, they might add a comment like 'very approachable among the working class' to your file. Do you still want to advance in the future?! You're a war hero. If you perform well, you might even be ennobled after the war."

After receiving a warning from the company commander, Joe became more low-key and no longer as flamboyant as before.

It wasn't that Joe had any designs on the title, which was still far from being realized; it was simply that after the White Feather incident, Joe learned not to directly confront the organization.

While Joe humbly accepted the company commander's advice but failed to correct his mistakes despite repeated admonitions, he also discovered a talent in his own crew: the very guard who had previously stopped him from entering the camp.

Normally, as a crew member, this guy named Herbert wouldn't have to guard the gate; crew members on night duty would basically only need to watch over their own vehicles.

After all, life is difficult for everyone during wartime, especially in cities like Albert that are close to the front lines.

There were supplies, of course, but most of them were for the military, and transportation routes were prioritized for the military. Soldiers returning from the front lines, waving banknotes, could quickly empty the shelves, making life even more difficult for the local villagers.

But as the old saying goes, a living person shouldn't be allowed to die of thirst.

These local villagers quickly discovered a new path: others could make a living off the mountains and rivers, so why couldn't they make a living off the soldiers?

These locals soon discovered that, since the Bunitania Expeditionary Force was not a local force, it had no jurisdiction over them and they had to deal with the local town hall for anything.

As the first country in the world to initiate a revolution and behead its king, Gaul's municipal officials were naturally all elected by the local people.

Having discovered the methodology, the locals began to sustainably exploit the Bonitania Expeditionary Force stationed nearby.

The oil drums by the roadside are mine, and the boxes of dry rations are mine. Let me taste them first to see if they're salty enough. What? You say these are your expeditionary force's things? I thought these things were just left by the roadside and nobody wanted them.

These villagers also understood that those infantry units not only had little equipment, but were also numerous and intrusive, making them a place no one with a sound mind would go.

But places like artillery and cavalry camps are sparsely populated and have good loot, making them a great place to turn on auto-pickup.

If even artillery and cavalry units suffered this fate, their heavy machine gun regiment naturally couldn't escape it either.

After the villagers boarded the tanks and stole all the engine oil, fuel, and spark plugs, each crew began to send people to guard their tanks to prevent the villagers from taking away the "unwanted" materials again.

But Herbert was just too stubborn. Coming from an engineering family, he had a morbid obsession with orders. He said that when wiping a car, he would polish every single screw on the car until it was shiny before he would stop.

As for watching the tanks, he wouldn't let Cecil in until his shift ended, even if Cecil came.

Not to mention temporarily switching shifts with other people on duty during their shift, or going to the toilet for a smoke or something.

Even when comrades in the same tent were exchanging funny pictures, Herbert would stand up and say that their behavior violated military discipline and was unacceptable.

This made Herbert very unpopular in the army; everyone thought the guy was somewhat ill.

However, Herbert, who came from an engineering family, was very knowledgeable about mechanics. No matter what problem the engine had, Herbert was able to quickly troubleshoot and get the vehicle moving again.

This left Cecil with no way to kick the guy out of his crew.

Cecil then simply sent Herbert to guard the camp gate, so that the entire crew could avoid seeing or being bothered by him.

As for Herbert, Joe thought the guy was a real talent.

Joe initially thought that this guy was blocking him from entering because he wanted to show off his power now that he had some authority.

But Joe didn't expect this guy to be such a perfect quality inspector. If he had such a talent, wouldn't it be much easier to promote standardized production and implement Six Sigma in the factory?

If we can implement Six Sigma, then our product quality and production capacity will take off, and we'll be making so much money that we won't be able to spend it all.
Then, in their subsequent interactions, Joe discovered that although Herbert was a rigid person, he was not unreasonable.

It was as if one day Herbert discovered that Joe was measuring the dimensions of an engine, and then learned that Joe wanted to add a firewall to the engine to lower the temperature inside the car and install an exhaust pipe to vent the exhaust fumes outside the car.

The next evening, when Joe arrived at the car, Herbert was already waiting there with an iron plate and a rubber hose.

Although Herbert didn't say where he got the metal plate and rubber hose, almost every night after that, Herbert would come to their tank and try to improve it with Joe, and restore it before dawn.

It can't really be considered a complete replica, because the metal material is too heavy, and it's too tiring to move it around every night. So during the day, Joe and Herbert disguised these things as teacup racks to hold teaware and tea.

Cecil and the engineers on the Land Warships Committee praised this modification highly and said they would incorporate the design into all future tank designs.

Driving a tank while drinking black tea—what a wonderful thing that would be!

Soon, two months passed by in Joe's life of sleeping during the day and modifying cars at night.

Marshal Haig, who was suffering heavy losses after crashing into the Teutonic defenses, felt he could not wait any longer. The Teutons were no ordinary people who could withstand a large-scale offensive for so long, and he had to strike hard!
Heavy machine gun regiment, move out! Send tanks! Send the Teutons to the sky!
(End of this chapter)