Imperial Elite

Chapter 42 As expected of you, Joe!
As an adventurer who had spent half his life wandering, Baron Edmund continued to expand his investments in the frontier, even investing in a nobody who hoped to get rich by making small hardware gadgets. However, for some unspeakable reasons, Baron Edmund never ventured into the automobile manufacturing industry.

Although Baron Edmond had no interest in the automobile manufacturing industry, he was very interested in cars, not only personally participating in races but also joining a somewhat well-known automobile club.

The club then launched an ultra-luxury car called the Silver Ghost, which earned the club some minor fame.

Of course, just like most manufacturing companies, with the outbreak of war, this club also encountered a small problem: those who used to be able to buy these ultra-luxury cars had all gone to the front lines to exchange ideas with the Teutons, and no one was buying their cars anymore.

To avoid bankruptcy, the club switched to producing aircraft engines for the Navy and Army after the outbreak of war, and recently provided the Army with a batch of armored vehicles.

So when Joe asked Baron Edmund if he knew any 'friends willing to contribute to the tank industry in Brittany', Baron Edmund immediately said that he happened to be very familiar with such a luxury car manufacturer that had been transformed from a club, and could introduce him to Joe.

Upon hearing Baron Edmund's words, Joe immediately became excited and wanted to take Baron Edmund to meet his 'friend who was willing to contribute to the tank cause in Bonitania'.

Then the experienced Baron Edmund reminded Joe that getting approval from higher-ups, such as the Minister of Munitions, was not just a formality.

Joe secured the project budget and a letter of intent from the Army so they could persuade manufacturers to join the research and development effort.

Therefore, Joe's primary task now is to meet with the Minister of Munitions or the Minister of the Army to obtain the budget and intended orders so that they can move forward with the project.

Otherwise, Joe should continue to refine Fist of the Royals and focus his energy on military matters.

Of course, it would be even better if Joe could reach a cooperation agreement with him on the production of the in-vehicle communication system.

From any perspective, Joe had no reason to refuse to cooperate with Baron Edmund.

Even after agreeing to cooperate with Baron Edmund, Joe only needed to sign a few words, and most of the rest of the work was done by Baron Edmund, who was well-versed in the workings of the Bunitania bureaucracy.

While Baron Edmund was working on obtaining production licenses for the in-vehicle communication system, Joe also began to lead the 'Garage Gang' in a simple redesign of the HT-N project's tanks and update the project's design specifications.

Joe originally envisioned that this ambiguous tank from the HT-N project should weigh less than 20 tons, while continuing to use the inline six-cylinder 105-horsepower engine and matching three-speed transmission currently used in the Royal Fist tank.

Instead of the current rigid suspension that makes passengers feel more comfortable when going over bumps, it adopts a torsion bar suspension instead of the rigid suspension that makes passengers feel nauseous after last year's Christmas dinner.

Finally, an optional turret design was adopted, and a naval dual-purpose gun was mounted on the turret.

If possible, Joe wanted to equip his troops with a 3-inch rapid-fire cannon. Even with the barrel shortened and the caliber reduced, this 7.62 caliber cannon was not sufficient for the targets and fortifications of this era; it was more of a power excess.

Even if a zigzag machine gun and a coaxial machine gun are added to the vehicle, the crew can still be reduced to five people.

This greatly saves manpower and reduces crew training time.

However, in the back-and-forth with the Land Warships Committee, Joe discovered that his plan did indeed need many revisions.

First, there's the torsion bar suspension. Although from Joe's perspective, this is basically standard equipment on tanks, the Land Warships Committee believes that this thing simply cannot be manufactured.

If Joe wants to improve passenger comfort, why not consider a more practical, reliable, and technologically mature leaf spring suspension?

Although Joe felt that the Land Battleship Committee was delaying him, he listened to and adopted suggestions such as changing the suspension method based on existing industrial conditions.

So in the following period, Joe and the 'Garage Gang' revised the performance specifications of the HT-N tank.

Even after revisions, the HT-N tank still uses the same inline six-cylinder 105-horsepower engine and matching three-speed transmission as the Royal Fist tank.

However, while changing the suspension to leaf spring suspension, the weight and size of the HT-N tank were significantly reduced, requiring that the length not exceed five meters, the width not exceed two and a half meters, the height not exceed two and a half meters, and the weight not exceed 10 tons, and a rotating turret be adopted.

The crew was reduced to three people: the commander, the driver, and the gunner.

The tank's main armament was the Navy's six-pound Hotchkiss rapid-fire cannon, while its secondary armament was a defensive machine gun mounted outside the turret and operated by the commander.

Furthermore, the off-road speed must not be lower than 20 km/h.

In short, after significantly reducing the size of the vehicle, this tank was reduced from a medium tank to a light tank that is not much larger than an ordinary car.

However, after adjusting the technical specifications, Joe felt that this time they should be able to produce the product.

Then, Joe, carrying the concept drawings and design blueprints for the HT-N tank project, began to struggle with whether he should go to the Minister of Munitions or the Minister of the Army.

Theoretically speaking, Joe, as an army second lieutenant and commander of an armored training company, should have applied to the Secretary of the Army for the project.

However, given that the Secretary of the Army had a less-than-pleasant memory of being on the tanks under Joe's command during the last inspection, Joe thought, "Why don't I go talk to the Minister of Munitions?"

After all, theoretically speaking, the development of military equipment is led by the Minister of Munitions.

Compared to the Minister of the Army, whom many had met once, Joe and the Minister of Munitions were not exactly strangers, but they had never met before.

Joe didn't even know how many eyes or noses the Minister of Munitions had.

After flipping a coin twice, Joe finally arrived at the Minister of Munitions' office with the HT-N tank project information.

As a second lieutenant, Joe wouldn't even have been qualified to enter Whitehall, where the Minister of Munitions was located, but the high-ranking badge on Joe's chest changed that perfectly.

After all, so far in the war, only one person has received the Medal for Distinguished Conduct, which has been awarded twice.

This person happened to be the Director of Armored Services, which allowed Joe to enter Whitehall.

Then Joe discovered that the office of the Minister of Munitions was packed with people, just like a clinic, and that people even had to queue up and take a number to wait for their number to be called.

Just as Joe was getting a number from the Quartermaster's secretary and preparing to wait in line, the door to the Quartermaster's office suddenly opened, and Winston walked out of the office with a man.

After exchanging a few words with the man in front of his office, Winston was about to turn back when he suddenly noticed Joe standing at the door.

"Joe? What are you doing here?"

Joe looked at Winston in surprise, finding it hard to understand why Winston was here, since the last time he saw Winston was on the battlefield in Gaul.

And why is Winston not wearing a military uniform now, but instead wearing a black suit?

"I've come to see the Minister of War."

Joe looked at Winston with a mixture of curiosity and confusion in his eyes.

"And why are you here?" Winston shrugged.

"I am the Minister of Munitions."

Since Winston knows Joe, Joe, who previously needed to take a number, can now go directly to Winston's office without needing to take one.

Joe had initially worried that the people who had taken numbers and lined up outside Winston's office would have something to say about it, but when Joe walked into Winston's office, none of them said a word, and they seemed to have gotten used to it.

"Tell me, what do you want to see me about?"

As soon as Joe entered Winston's office, the smell of cigars made his nose itch slightly.

"Here's the thing, regarding the 'Advanced Battlefield Tank Project' I proposed before, I was wondering if it would be possible for the Armored Training Company to directly connect with manufacturers for design and production."

Upon hearing Joe's words, Winston frowned slightly.

As a seasoned politician, Winston's expression and eyes did not change at this moment, but in his heart, he had already lowered his opinion of Joe considerably.

Winston originally thought that even if a battle-hardened officer like Joe were to be assimilated into the Bonitania bureaucracy, it would take at least a while.

How come it's only been a short time, but Joe has already learned to snatch projects and come to me for budgets?

As a former First Secretary of the Navy, Winston knew exactly what would happen next. After securing the project budget with a low project quote and expected costs, Joe would begin pushing forward with the design and finding various reasons and excuses to change the project specifications.

Then, using this as an excuse, they hope to increase the budget and the final procurement price for the military.

Of course, when project metrics were changed before, some verification projects and designs that were abandoned 'due to technical reasons' or converted into 'technical reserves' and cost a lot of money would no longer be questioned.

As long as the report is well-written, this money will safely end up in someone's pocket.

And this is just the beginning. In addition to how the subsystems of the project can do this, how to determine certain technical indicators in the design and testing process is also a good opportunity to fill your pockets with warm money.

By the time the 'Advanced Battlefield Tank Project' goes into production, some people's pockets will probably be overflowing with wealth.

After all, as First Lord of the Navy, Winston had seen this kind of thing many times before in the Navy.

With this in mind, Winston began to prepare a suitable reason to refuse Joe and allow the Land Battleship Committee to continue to be in charge of the project.

"Is it the Land Warships Committee that's not cooperating?"

“It’s not that they’re uncooperative, it’s just that I feel their main focus is on the Royal Fist tank project. Plus, there are quite a few students from Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College in the Armored Training Company, so I think it would be faster to have the Armored Training Company take charge of the project.”

This made some sense, and Winston couldn't really refute it, so he continued to ask questions.

"So how much budget are you planning to allocate, and what will be the final purchase price per vehicle for the army?"

Upon hearing Winston's question, Joe wore a rather embarrassed expression.

"Your Excellency, Minister of War..."

"Call me Winston."

“Okay, Winston, you know, before joining the military I was a factory owner, and even after joining the military I always paid for my own inventions out of my own pocket, so I have never had any concept of budget estimation and don’t know how to do it. So if possible, could you send a finance person to help us move the project forward?”

Even Winston, a seasoned veteran, was taken aback by Joe's words.

After all, among the numerous projects in the military, Qiao was the first to proactively request that his superiors send financial personnel to manage the projects.

For other projects, let alone sending financial personnel to manage them, even if they send financial personnel to audit them, they have a million ways to fob off these auditors, not wanting others to interfere in their projects.

How come there are still people who actively want finance personnel to be involved in project management? Doesn't he know that if I send finance personnel to the project team, he will have almost no chance to make a profit from the project? Is this guy really different?
"Are you sure you want me to send a finance department to manage this project directly?"

Joe nodded vigorously.

"If we could send someone to help, that would be great. That way we could focus our energy on the tanks and get the new ones out as soon as possible. Too many people have died on the front lines. I want to end the war as quickly as possible."

Looking into Jonah's sincere eyes, which seemed to see right through him, Winston mentally slapped himself a few minutes earlier.

'Joe is such a good person, how could you think of him like that? Your heart is truly filthy!'

'You're a formidable fighter on the battlefield, and you don't embezzle money when you're back on the front lines working on projects. You just feel too many people are dying and want to end the war. Joe, are you some kind of knight who appeared out of nowhere?!'

"Okay, Joe, before I agree, at least let me see what I'm going to pay for."

Upon hearing Winston's words, Joe quickly opened his briefcase and took out the three-view drawings of the 'Advanced Battlefield Tank Project' after several rounds of revisions, along with more detailed concept drawings, while explaining the reasons for this design to Winston.

“Previous tanks were large, heavy, and slow, like snails on the battlefield. Moreover, due to the large number of crew members, they were not only inconvenient to command, but also increased the difficulty of training the crew.”

"Now that we've reduced the size, it's not only a smaller target and harder to hit in combat, but fewer crew members also mean we can operate more tanks with fewer people, without sacrificing the tank's protection, and it can even run faster."

Looking at the concept drawing of the tank on the design blueprints, Winston was once again certain that Joe wasn't trying to squeeze money out of the project, and that Joe was genuinely honest and didn't seem like a typical Britannian.

They were already preparing to disregard the Land Battleship Committee and proceed with the project independently. On the concept drawings and design drawings, Joe even marked which improvements came from the Land Battleship Committee's designs.

Furthermore, Winston, as First Lord of the Navy, felt that the tank had only one turret and was rather short, unlike the Royal Fist, which looked more like a land cruiser and was quite intimidating.

However, if it can truly achieve the designed speed of 20 kilometers per hour, then this tank can definitely be called a land destroyer.

A naval fleet consists of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, and an army has different types of tanks responsible for different tasks. This is a very reasonable and logical thing.

"It looks good. I will send finance personnel to your project team as soon as possible."

While agreeing to let Joe push the project forward on his own, Winston suspected that something was wrong with the Land Battleship Committee, forcing Joe to try to lead the project himself.

Joe had expressed considerable resentment towards them back in Gaul, which was likely due to this reason that prevented them from cooperating properly.

After seeing Joe off, Winston, sitting in his chair, felt it was time to give those guys on the Land Battleship Committee a talking-to.

The Land Battleship Committee has gone too far to push a good guy like Joe to this extent! They need to be thoroughly reformed!
(End of this chapter)