Imperial Elite

Chapter 40 truly made Qiao Qing suffer!
As someone with extensive tank driving experience, at least for that era, Joe knew very well that these primitive tanks, though they looked like cars or tractors, were actually quite different.

Both are oil-powered mechanical vehicles, but in reality, there are huge differences between them.

The temperature inside the vehicle after the engine starts is so high that even a blind Teutonic man could easily tell whether he was in a tank or a tractor.

In addition to the ever-increasing temperature of the vehicle body, the large gap between the piston rings and cylinder walls due to manufacturing precision issues can easily lead to blow-by, where some combustion gases leak from the gap between the piston and cylinder walls into the crankcase.

So even if a new car is equipped with an exhaust pipe to expel most of the gas outside the car, some exhaust gas will still remain inside the car body.

As the vehicle entered a muddier test section, Joe instructed Herbert to rev the engine to increase torque in order to prevent the vehicle from getting stuck. As a result, the exhaust fumes inside the car quickly became thicker.

The suffocating heat quickly caused His Majesty George and his cabinet ministers to frown.

Of course, upon discovering this, Joe immediately asked His Majesty and the cabinet ministers to stay in the commander's observation tower of the main turret. Since it was a circular observation window and located at the highest point of the vehicle, it was relatively more comfortable than other places.

At the same time, Joe also told His Majesty and the cabinet ministers that the presence of engine exhaust fumes in the carriage was normal, a defect that was inherent in the design of the vehicle, and that the situation had improved considerably after the exhaust pipe was installed.

It's barely within the range that humans can tolerate.

Although Joe said that the exhaust fumes seeping into the carriage were within the range that humans could tolerate, judging from the expressions of His Majesty and the cabinet ministers, they clearly did not think so.

However, standing in the main gun turret without a seat in a bumpy, moving tank is obviously not a pleasant experience.

In particular, the designer of this turret, when designing this turret, obviously adopted the classic "as long as it exists, don't worry about so many details, it's good enough" mentality due to the design schedule or other reasons.

In the turret's command position, there was not only no chair to sit on, but also no suitable grip or anything to hold and maintain balance.

This caused the already stiff suspension of the tank to make the emperor and his ministers, standing in the turret, frantically reach out and try to grab anything they could to maintain their balance when crossing obstacles or even just a small ditch, just like they were on a rush hour bus.

Especially after the tanks reached the designated area and began firing at the target, the gases left inside the vehicles after the machine guns and cannons fired were so pungent that His Majesty George and his cabinet ministers found them quite offensive.

It's like when a non-smoker tries to walk with a cigarette in their mouth like a heavy smoker for the first time; the thick smoke makes their eyes well up with tears, and the irritating gas makes them cough.

The ever-increasing temperature inside the tank caused large beads of sweat to appear on the foreheads of His Majesty and his ministers. Clearly, even in winter, the temperature inside the tank was rather unbearable for humans.

However, even under such torment, His Majesty George, as the emperor of the empire, still managed to operate the four-inch cannon on the main turret with Joe's guidance and help, and hit the target after firing three shots.

A cheer erupted in the carriage the moment His Majesty George hit the target, with Cecil's applause being the loudest.

However, Joe felt that Cecil's applause was less about flattering His Majesty and more about celebrating that Cecil no longer had to shake that damned turret.

Just as Joe discovered yesterday, perhaps due to the rush to complete the project and the inherent problems with the manufacturing precision, shaking the main turret of this tank is a very painful process.

Given that everyone else had their own positions, Joe had to explain to His Majesty what they were doing while also yelling at Herbert not to drive the car into the ditch.

Since His Majesty and the cabinet ministers could not personally operate the turret, the task of operating the turret ultimately fell to Cecil.

After hitting the target, His Majesty George was not overly excited. Instead, he simply said, "That's enough, Joe. I've had my experience. Send the tank back."

His Majesty spoke, and although the tanks were still a third of the way from completing the course, Joe immediately ordered the tanks to turn around and return to the starting point.

As the tank struggled to turn around, Joe began to wonder if now was a good time to start marketing his tank design.

After all, starting to promote one's own solution now would obviously seem a bit too deliberate.

But if His Majesty and the cabinet ministers get out of the car and their feet touch the ground, and the fresh air takes over the high ground, wouldn't the effect of his sales pitch be greatly reduced?

Just as Qiao was hesitating, a scream suddenly came from inside the carriage.

Upon closer inspection, Joe realized that the Minister of the Army had apparently accidentally bumped into the newly installed liquid cooling pipes on the vehicle.

Although it's called a liquid cooling pipe, it's actually not cold at all. It's filled with liquid heated by the engine and transmission, making it essentially a giant radiator inside the car.

Accidentally touching this thing is basically the same as accidentally touching a hot soldering iron.

Seeing the Minister of War's contorted expression, Joe quickly ordered Herbert to stop the car and then had the machine gunner at the rear open the hatch.

As the tank came to a stop, the hatch at the rear opened, and the emperor and his ministers immediately walked toward the hatch like pardoned prisoners. However, the moment they left the tank, they regained their composure.

Things turned out this way, which was completely beyond Joe's expectations.

After all, Joe's initial intention was simply to let His Majesty experience just how torturous this writing tank, or oven-like thing, really was, and then he would mention his own report.

If His Majesty gets angry, I can then boss those guys on the Land Warships Committee around and try to avoid going to the battlefield in this kind of industrial junk.

However, what Joe did not expect was that the Minister of War would accidentally touch the water-cooled pipe and get burned.

This thing has made the Minister of the Army resent me. Will I still be able to work in the army in the future?

With this trepidation, Joe got off the tank, intending to take the Minister of War to the camp doctor and try to get the Minister of War to accept his apology.

"Joe, come here."

However, just as Joe took a step, the Prime Minister called him back.

Upon hearing the Prime Minister call him, Joe could only hand over the task of taking the Secretary of the Army to the hospital to Cecil before coming before the Prime Minister and His Majesty.

His Majesty George looked Joe up and down again. Although a few more beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, Joe still looked radiant, as if he hadn't just suffered like them in that tank. This made His Majesty George's opinion of Joe rise again.

As expected, those who can achieve such feats are not easy to deal with. It seems that Qiao's appearance, which looks like that of a recent college graduate, is just a protective mask. In essence, this guy is a ruthless person who can command his crew to fight for several hours in that kind of environment.

It seems Winston was right about Joe this time; he's a real talent.

His Majesty George's scrutinizing gaze made Joe uneasy. After all, Joe felt that he had just made a mess of things, and now His Majesty was looking at him like that. Surely His Majesty wasn't planning to send him to the front lines immediately.

"Commanding this thing to fight against the Teutons must have been tough on you, Qiao Qing."

However, what His Majesty George said next surprised Joe greatly.

The Minister of the Army was just injured on the tank I was commanding, yet His Majesty is looking at me with a sympathetic gaze.

Just as Joe was wondering, His Majesty George nodded to the Prime Minister, who then cleared his throat and spoke to Joe.

"Actually, besides the flag presentation and medal awarding, the main reason for this visit is that His Majesty wants to see you in person. While authorizing you to form an armored training company, His Majesty also gave you the position of armored supervisor, allowing you to oversee and improve the design and production of tanks."

?

Upon hearing the Prime Minister's words, a question mark appeared above Joe's head.

This happiness came so suddenly that Joe even doubted whether what he had just heard was a hallucination caused by inhaling too much exhaust fumes in the train carriage.

The Prime Minister was not telling himself that he was not only the commander of the armored training company, but also the armored director of Bonitania.

The Director of Armored Tanks is no small position; he has the power to oversee and improve the design and production of tanks, and the extent of the vested interests behind this power is another matter.

The fact that Guang was another armored director that Joe knew on Earth, who had once swept across Europe and reclaimed his territory, filled Joe with awe for the position.

After the initial shock, Joe was initially overjoyed, thinking that those bastards from the Land Battleship Committee had finally fallen into his hands. Then came unease, as he had first been awarded a medal, then promoted to form an armored training company, and now he had become the armored superintendent.

Am I, a mere second lieutenant, worthy of the position?
So when the Prime Minister finished speaking and gave Joe a look that said, "Don't just stand there, quickly thank His Majesty for his trust!" Joe swallowed hard and spoke somewhat shakily.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty, but... why me?"

Looking at Joe, whose face was full of doubt, His Majesty George and the Prime Minister were taken aback for a moment, then looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

His Majesty George reached out and patted Joe on the shoulder.

"Don't feel pressured. We've seen your reports and designs, and we know what you've done on the front lines, so we believe you're capable of this job. Do you think you're not up to the task?"

No man would admit he couldn't do it, and seeing the slightly teasing smile on His Majesty George's sweaty face, Joe naturally patted his chest and declared that he could!

Then, in the following days, Joe realized he had patted his chest too early.

Neither the position of Armored Inspector General nor the position of Armored Training Company Commander is easy.

First, there's the position of company commander of the armored training company. I don't know if it was intentional or accidental, but although Joe became the company commander, his rank was not promoted and he remained a second lieutenant.

Joe could understand this, after all, he had only been promoted to second lieutenant a few weeks ago, and now being promoted to first lieutenant or captain was just too fast.

However, Joe was only a second lieutenant, while the Army had placed a group of captains and lieutenants into the armored training company. Judging from their ranks, Joe should have saluted them first, but according to their positions, they should have saluted Joe first.

If it were just a minor inconvenience related to military regulations, that would be fine.

More importantly, when the Ministry of War sent the list to Joe, the Ministry of War stated that these people were all elite officers and veterans of the Empire, each one of them extremely capable, powerful, and outstanding talents who could do whatever they wanted.

But the moment Joe saw these people, he wondered if he had any way to return them to the War Department without hurting their feelings.

Perhaps these people really are, as the Ministry of War says, elite officers and veterans of the Empire, but this "veteran" is perhaps a bit too much.

It's likely that when these people first went to the battlefield, they were line infantry fighting against natives who used shields and spears on the Dark Continent.

Moreover, many of these people held noble status.

The reason Joe was certain that many of these people held noble status was not because he knew anything about the noble surnames of Britannia, but simply because he spotted his former boss and investor among them, chatting happily with a group of guys who looked about his age.

As Joe's former boss and investor, this aristocrat had often boasted to Joe about his past experiences.

We fought wars on the Dark Continent, mined in the Middle East, set up factories in the New World, served our country as soldiers, charged into battle at the forefront, the cavalry captain was unparalleled in bravery, the Boer villains sniped from the shadows, and I could only return to my hometown, return to my hometown!

In short, excluding any elements that may have been artistically embellished, Joe's investors had already traveled to almost every known continent when they were young.

According to him, if he hadn't been shot in the thigh during the Second Southern Dark Continent War and forced to retire and become a wealthy man, he might still be wandering the world now.

That was twelve years ago.

Now that he's put this person under Joe's wing, Joe doesn't even know how to get along with this investor.

After all, if this investor chooses to withdraw his investment, Joe might not become penniless instantly, but he would at least struggle to make ends meet for three to five years.

What the hell was this guy who dumped this group on me? Is this some kind of armored training company or some kind of nursing home?!
These subordinates, each clearly possessing unique skills, are not Joe's biggest headache right now.

(End of this chapter)