Imperial Elite

Chapter 36 Today's Bonitania is truly unfamiliar.

For an ordinary person, if they travel from London to Edinburgh and then change their name to something more low-key, they will be very difficult to find.

The tricks that Dorne's mother and her lover used were far too simple, even clumsy, for both Scotland Yard detectives and agents of the Home Intelligence Service.

However, it's a bit too high-end for ordinary people. After all, ordinary people don't have the money to buy a poorly made fake document and rent a luxury apartment in Edinburgh.

So, in the eyes of Scotland Yard detectives and agents of the Local Intelligence Service, you must be Teutonic spies to be able to do such a thing!

Given the importance attached to these two individuals, the detectives immediately transported them to London for interrogation after their arrest.

According to the experience of agents from the Home Intelligence Service, spies are like cockroaches; by the time you discover one, there's already a whole nest out of sight.

So these two Teutonic spies must have had accomplices. After pinning them down in the interrogation room, the agents immediately began questioning them: "I advise you not to refuse a toast only to be met with a brick. When did you start your covert operations in London? Who is your superior? Who are your subordinates? How do you make contact? Tell us! Tell us all so we can all relax a bit."

When questioned by Scotland Yard detectives and agents of the Home Intelligence Service, Dorn's mother and her lover, though pale with fright, repeatedly insisted on their innocence.

"Detective! Detective! You've arrested the wrong person! I'm really not a Teutonic spy. This is the first time in my life I've left London. I've never even seen a Teuton before. How could I be a spy! Detective, you've got the wrong person!"

However, they had seen plenty of stubborn guys before. Amidst the shouts of the two men, "Stop! Stop! You've arrested the wrong person! I'm really not a Teutonic spy! If you don't believe me, go ask around in East London! Many people near White Castle know me!"

The Scotland Yard detective sneered, "Hmph, living in the neighborhood near White Castle, huh? Your boss is your landlord, isn't he? You've hidden it quite well, but these little tricks won't work on us. He's right next door! Not going to confess, huh? Come on! Show us your talents!"

At the detective's shout, Scotland Yard detectives and agents from the Local Intelligence Service began to demonstrate to the two men the craftsmanship that had been passed down from the Middle Ages in Bonitania.

During the talent show segment, an agent from the local intelligence agency remarked with a sigh, "Ah, you guys are really lucky to be born in such a good time. Times have changed. Some traditional crafts are no longer allowed. I don't know if this kind of civilization is a good thing or not. Otherwise, they would have confessed to the pear torture long ago. Ah... We in Bonitania are just too civilized and too progressive!"

Then, halfway through their talent show, when these two guys, who even confessed to wetting the bed a few times as children, started admitting, "Yes, yes, I am a Teutonic spy. I go to the Thames Estuary every day to scout out the fleet's movements," a Scotland Yard detective rushed in with a newspaper.

"Wrong, wrong, guys, these three are definitely not Teutonic spies."

As he spoke, the detective showed his colleagues in the interrogation room the newspaper in his hand, as well as the orders from above.

"We're overthinking it. One of them absconded with her husband's pension, abandoned her child, and ran away with her lover. Another drove that poor child out into the street and refused to send him to an orphanage. The last one was just seducing another man's wife. They really weren't Teutonic spies."

Just as the atmosphere in the interrogation room became somewhat awkward, an agent suddenly went berserk and rushed towards the guy who was flirting with a married woman, yelling, "How dare you! How dare you!" As he spoke, his fists, as big as casserole dishes, rained down on the guy.

As he was being pulled away, the agent was still waving his fist and yelling, "My brother is in the Somme! My brother is in the Somme!"

The long night had barely begun when Scotland Yard delivered a report to the Office of War Information.

The wartime information office quickly revised the report slightly and handed it over to major newspapers.

"I want this report to appear on the second page tomorrow, you know what I mean?"

Although the deadline for submitting the newspaper and typesetting was fast approaching, the wartime news bureau was in charge, and the editors had no choice but to start re-typesetting with bloodshot eyes.

So the next morning, when Joe arrived at the officers' mess hall yawning, the officers in the mess hall stood up and applauded as soon as he entered.

This treatment, as if Joe had performed the feat of parachuting into Germania the previous night and shaving off the Teutonic Emperor's mustache, left Joe somewhat bewildered as he looked at the officers, unsure of what had happened.

Then Cecil, who had been discharged from the hospital and returned to the team at some unknown time, walked out from the crowd.

"Joe, you did a great job!"

"what?!"

It took Joe a while to realize that the reason he received such treatment this morning was because he had adopted Dorn.

Of course, if it were simply about adopting Dorn, then he wouldn't have received this treatment.

The key point is that just one day after Joe placed that missing person ad, Scotland Yard announced in the newspapers, 'Caught! Caught! We've caught that slut who abandoned her husband and children, and her lover!'

In contrast to Scotland Yard, the announcement from another department was far more significant.

The wartime cabinet announced, at the suggestion of the Minister of Pensions, with the approval of the Privy Council and the signature of His Majesty King George, adjustments to the Pensions Act of 1884 and the Royal Pensions Order.

Effective immediately, the first priority recipient of the pension will be the children of the fallen soldier. If the children of the fallen soldier die prematurely during the period of pension payments, the corresponding pension will be reduced accordingly.

Although no one wants their family members to receive compensation, after all, who wouldn't want to live if they could?
However, the amendment to the law also gave these junior officers some peace of mind about the lives of their children should they die.

So who was the person who pushed for the amendment of this bill?
Of course, it's Joe Harrison, the super-powerful fighter.

Joe was thus treated like a hero in the camp.

Faced with his comrades' flattery, Qiao Youlei could only swallow his tears. "Damn it, you guys can't do this! I've made such a huge mess, and you're changing the law and privately reprimanding me? This isn't like you guys..."

Today's Bonitania is completely unfamiliar.

What are you going to do next? You can't just give me another promotion and a medal along the way, can you?
Of course, just like everything else in the world, some people are happy while others are sad.

After the newspaper published the changes to the method of receiving the pension, some people immediately became defensive. They felt this was a slander against their character. "We're not planning to abscond with the money, so why are you guarding against us like this?!"

How can an isolated case represent all of us? Your behavior is absolutely despicable!

Just like when they scattered white feathers before, this group once again took to the streets to protest this shameless bill amendment.

Although it was almost the same group of people who took to the streets, the situation was somewhat different from when they distributed white feathers before.

When they were handing out white feathers, the police avoided them, fearing that these girls might suddenly decide to give themselves a white feather too.

In that case, between a 100% certain death in the community and a possible death in battle, the only option was to gamble that one would not die in battle.

But this time, facing the same group of people, the police rushed forward wielding batons. Clearly, at any time, the flesh and blood of carbon-based life forms are at a disadvantage in a contest with batons.

The minor incident quickly came to an end as the detention center filled up.

Lawyers were delighted, as the off-season for the legal profession seemed to finally be over.

While the lawyers were overjoyed, His Majesty George was caught in a dilemma.

At breakfast this morning, the Prime Minister brought a report to His Majesty George. Upon seeing that the report was written by Winston, His Majesty George's face darkened as he looked at the Prime Minister.

It felt as if His Majesty was eating when the Prime Minister released a long string of pungent, flammable greenhouse gases right next to him.

"Wonston sent you as a lobbyist?"

His Majesty George, unusually, did not reach out to take the report handed to him by the Prime Minister.

“No, Winston has an idea, but it involves the War Department and the training and equipment development of the new service, so I have to present it to His Majesty.”

The Prime Minister held the report in his hand, a somewhat amused and exasperated expression on his face.

"He even had his secretary shake me out of bed in the middle of the night last night to look at this report."

Upon hearing that the Prime Minister had been shaken awake from his bed in the middle of the night, His Majesty George, who usually maintained a stern expression, couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's something that guy is capable of doing."

Now that the Prime Minister has seen it, His Majesty George has decided to see what Winston is up to.

In fact, before 1915, His Majesty George and Winston had a good time together, or rather, before the disastrous defeat in 1915, His Majesty George thought Winston was 'energetic and insightful'.

Even after the gunshot in Golden Valley, Winston, as First Lord of the Admiralty, tacitly approved the serious violation of the law by ordering the navy to begin mobilization without authorization from the King or Parliament.

Until that disastrous defeat caused an uproar in the country, His Majesty George was forced to remove Winston from his title as First Lord of the Navy and have the Prime Minister reshuffle the cabinet.

It was only then that His Majesty George noticed another characteristic of Winston besides his 'energetic and insightful' qualities: 'recklessness and refusal to listen to advice'.

While Winston may have his unique strengths in certain areas, His Majesty George felt it best to disregard Winston's opinions when it came to military matters.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister should be aware that Winston requested an audience with him after returning to London, but was refused, since the Prime Minister was in his office at the time.

Considering that the Prime Minister knew all this but was still willing to hand over the report to him, His Majesty George reluctantly began to read Winston's report.

After reviewing Winston's report, His Majesty George quickly finished reading it and then found himself in a dilemma.

After that crushing defeat, His Majesty George was not prepared to listen to any more of Winston's military advice, not even a little bit.

However, after seeing that the report mainly targeted Joe, His Majesty George wavered somewhat.

After all, Joe is someone everyone knows how reliable he is.

If Joe continues on this path, His Majesty George even feels he should knight him, recognizing his contributions to the Empire with a title of nobility.

Furthermore, Winston's establishment of an armored training unit to advance personnel training and tactical exploration within the armored forces seems perfectly reasonable, giving the impression of being quite stable and without any major flaws.

His Majesty George put down the report, looked up, and gazed at the Prime Minister.

What do you think of this report?

The Prime Minister hesitated for a moment. He sensed that His Majesty seemed to want to agree to the plan, but also seemed to have some resistance in his heart. However, there was nothing wrong with the plan itself, so he felt that he could give Winston a push.

“I think it’s feasible, and even if problems arise, it won’t affect the continued production of old tanks. The armored training company itself can also be deployed to the battlefield. I discussed it with the Minister of the Army last night, and he also thinks there are no problems.”

Upon hearing the Prime Minister's words, His Majesty George did not hesitate any longer.

He beckoned, picked up a pen from the silver tray brought by a servant, and signed his name on the report.

"Since we're going to establish an armored training company, we also need to speed up the reorganization of the heavy machine gun regiment."

"clear."

After receiving the report and exchanging a few words with His Majesty, the Prime Minister left the palace and returned to Downing Street.

After returning to his office, he signed the report. Following the simplified procedures of the wartime cabinet, all that was needed next was for the Minister of War to sign the report, which would then be converted into a document and put into action by the Ministry of War.

Then the document got stuck with the Secretary of the Army.

Looking at the report, the Secretary of War was so angry he wanted to strangle Winston. Why did he have to submit the report now of all times? Did he think I was a Teutonic?

He had already completed the organization and personnel arrangements for the reorganization of the heavy machine gun regiment into the Royal Tank Regiment, and had also placed some of the old London Union Jack candidates in place.

While I can't guarantee a 100% chance of returning alive, we're definitely much safer than the regular soldiers on the front lines, almost as safe as the pilots.

But now Winston has created an armored training company for developing new tactics and evaluating tanks, which is undoubtedly the safest unit to stay in the rear.

If my old friends find out, how am I supposed to face them in this industry after this...?

Looking at His Majesty George's signature on the report, the Secretary of War gritted his teeth and read out Winston's name, "Winston..."

(End of this chapter)