Imperial Elite

Chapter 43 Shocking 1917
After receiving the approval of Quartermaster General Winston, the automobile manufacturer Rolls-Royce, which was brought in by Baron Edmund, also happily agreed to join the development of the HT-N project.

Rolls-Royce sent an engineering team to connect with 'Garage Gang'.

At this point, the entire project finally began to get on the right track.

Of course, due to Joe's behavior of running away with the project and establishing a separate central authority, the Land Warships Committee lodged a strong protest with Joe after discovering this.

However, the protest was ineffective. Before Joe could even prepare to respond to the Land Battleship Committee's protest in the manner of Zhuge Liang scolding Wang Lang, the Land Battleship Committee went silent and retreated as if nothing had happened.

This made Joe very curious about what had happened.

However, amidst the deathly silence of the Land Battleship Committee, Joe quickly refocused his attention on more pressing matters such as advancing the HT-N project and training the armored training company.

After collaborating with Rolls-Royce, the HT-N project progressed very smoothly. As a well-known automobile manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, although it also lacked experience in tank production, had previous experience in manufacturing armored vehicles and aircraft engines for the military.

This gave Rolls-Royce better experience in suspension tuning when building the HT-N prototype's chassis, and even though Joe was prepared to share the inline six-cylinder 105-horsepower engine from the Royal Fist tank.

Rolls-Royce, a company with a racing club background, made some minor adjustments to the inline six-cylinder engine, bringing its horsepower to 115, thus theoretically giving the HT-N tank an astonishing power-to-weight ratio of 12:1.

Of course, as an island nation at war, the HT-N project is affected by resource shortages from time to time because it relies on shipping for all kinds of resources. This led Joe to discover something else.

Those old nobles in the armored training company, whom he originally wanted to return to the Ministry of War, were truly a treasure trove of officers.

After receiving guidance from Baron Edmund on how to proceed with the project, Joe wondered why Baron Edmund, his investor, was already being so supportive.

So what kind of power did these people, who were able to associate with Baron Edmund, a group of old London Union Jack aristocrats, possess?

Then Joe soon discovered that as a group of old London Union Jack aristocrats, they wielded considerable power.

Their industries cover almost everything from medical communications to equipment manufacturing, including those Joe has heard of and those he hasn't. While they may not actually control these industries, the annual returns from them are staggering.

Compared to them, Joe, who once thought he should be on the streetlights, was just a poor boy who had just come to the city from the countryside.

In reality, if it weren't for the strict conscription orders and the military obligations of nobles that had been passed down since the Middle Ages, the relationship between these old nobles and the army would be quite different.

It's like the relationship between Joe and the royal family of the Lucia Empire. They both seem to be working to defeat the Teutonic Empire, but in reality, they have no connection whatsoever.

But no matter who they were before joining the army, now that they're under Joe's command, Joe, who's striving to become a capitalist, naturally wants to squeeze every last drop of value out of them.

Gentlemen of noble birth, you wouldn't want to go to the battlefield in a stuffy, hot contraption like the Royal Fist, would you?
What are we waiting for? Let's quickly help Rolls-Royce find resources so that no one has to go to the battlefield in a heavy coffin like the Royal Fist.

What? You're saying it's okay if we don't go to the battlefield?

Sure, but could you at least offer some supplies and equipment to the company?
It's tough being a company. There are only so many people in total. If you don't want to go to the battlefield or be captured by the Teutons, then we can only give you more.

With these noble gentlemen continuing to exert their efforts, the HT-N project progressed rapidly, and soon they began manufacturing technology demonstrator vehicles to test the technology of this newly designed tank!

In his dealings with these noblemen, Joe quickly discovered that in addition to providing industrial resources for tank design and manufacturing, they could also provide high-quality human resources.

As a group of nobles, even when the gentlemen went to the battlefield, they still had servants to serve them.

Of course, the army is not a kindergarten or a sanatorium, so there are rules in the army. Even nobles can only bring a maximum of two servants to take care of their lives while serving in the army.

In Joe's eyes, the servants brought by these noblemen were perfect soldiers, exactly the good sons of Brittany.

To become a nobleman's servant, one must at least be educated and literate.
On a more basic level, you can't commit crimes or have a criminal record, right?
Finally, servants are meant to serve others. Experienced servants can accomplish what their employers want with just a gesture or a glance, so their intelligence can't be low.

They also had to cooperate with other servants and follow the butler's orders to maintain their employer's mansion.

With these basic conditions, aren't they better than those recruits who cram people into the army based on the three basic criteria of being alive, healthy, and male?
Most importantly, although these people have military status, they do not occupy the armored training company's staff, which makes Qiao extremely happy, as the size of the troops can be expanded again.

Joe quickly reorganized the armored training company.

As an experimental unit, the Armored Training Company was a super-large company with eight tank squads. Each tank squad had three tanks and two mechanics responsible for maintaining the tanks. In addition, the company also had dedicated supply soldiers, conscripts, communications soldiers, and a cook squad.

This means that, in theory, the armored training company should have thirty tanks, including spare tanks, ten trucks or horse-drawn carriages for transporting fuel, ammunition and personnel, and two motorcycles or bicycles for the communications officer to contact his superiors.

However, Joe felt that such a bloated organization was clearly unsuitable for an experimental unit like an armored training company, especially since it had a very high priority in replenishing tanks.

Due to improvements and production adjustments, the company now only has six Royal Fist MK-1 tanks and three MK-2 tanks for training, with only two new MK-3 and MK-5 tanks each.

Therefore, instead of dispersing tanks into various squads and forming squads with severe tank shortages, it would be better to adjust the organization and concentrate the tanks together.

After Joe's reorganization, apart from Joe's headquarters which had three tanks, the armored training company only had four other tank squads equipped with tanks as combat units.

The others were reassigned by Joe to maintenance platoons, mainly composed of the "Garage Gang," and logistics platoons, mainly composed of noblemen, who were responsible for tank maintenance, improvement, and research and development, but did not have to fight on the battlefield.

Of course, unlike the logistics platoons of other companies, these noble gentlemen were Joe's warehouse. Whatever the company lacked, these noble gentlemen would negotiate with the quartermaster or make him pay out of his own pocket.

After adjusting the architecture, Joe even had the time to work with the 'Garage Gang' to dismantle all the weapons and armor of an MK-1 tank. After making major modifications to the engine and transmission, he turned the MK-1 into a recovery vehicle.

This way, even if another tank gets stuck in the mud, there's no need to worry about rescuing it.

Meanwhile, since it was impossible to fit a radio into a tank, Joe and the garage crew devised a light signal device to be installed in the commander's cupola on the turret during daily training.

The vehicles in the squad can communicate with each other using flashing lights of different colors, similar to naval semaphore, to give simple commands such as "Full speed ahead," "Half speed ahead," "Fire at will," and "That's friendly fire!"

Although the squads still couldn't communicate effectively, after installing the device, Joe barely had to contribute in one exercise. He easily defeated Cecil with half the manpower by relying on the cooperation of the tank squad.

After Cecil, who was cursing and insisting that Joe had definitely cheated, discovered this gadget, the light signal device was quickly installed on all the tanks.

The success of the in-vehicle communication system, compared to the optical signal device, completely exceeded Joe's expectations.

After all, when he was working with Baron Edmund, Joe only thought that this thing could be installed on tanks. However, Joe did not expect that Rolls-Royce, which was co-developing the HT-N project with him, would discover the great thing that was the in-vehicle communication system.

They immediately reported it to the Army and Navy Air Forces with which they cooperated, and after it was installed and tested, the in-vehicle communication device was immediately well received.

Because airplanes of that era were mostly in an open-top configuration, and the engines were extremely noisy, pilots and gunners usually had to shout to communicate after takeoff. In aerial combat, neither side could understand the other's words.

If this is the case with light aircraft with two seats, communication on heavy bombers with multiple crew members is even more of a disaster.

Apart from a few exceptionally talented individuals, most passengers on the plane can only communicate through gestures. After a period of time, they either become sign language masters or experts at gesturing and guessing.

The in-vehicle communication system was highly praised by the crew members who had long suffered from the inability to communicate effectively with other passengers, who said it was definitely the second best invention of the 20th century.

As for what the best invention of the 20th century was, it was undoubtedly the airplane.

It wasn't just the naval and army air forces that were placing orders; the Gauls soon discovered the new technology from the Bunitanias on the front lines, so Baron Edmond added the Gallic army air force and naval air force to their ranks.

However, due to production bottlenecks, the Gauls soon began negotiations on production licenses for the in-vehicle communication system.

If nothing unexpected happens, the revenue from the production license alone will be enough for Joe to live a life of luxury, driving a celebrity car, marrying a villa, and living in a luxury car.

Just as Joe was overjoyed that everything was going smoothly, fate dealt him a heavy blow in 1917. While Joe was sitting in the brand-new HT-N tank prototype, preparing to direct the tank into the testing range for off-road and mobility tests...

Joe suddenly received news that shocked not only him but the entire world: the Russian Empire, the main force on the Eastern Front and the one that tied down nearly half of the Teutonic Empire's forces, had experienced a revolution a few days earlier. Tsar Alexandrovich had abdicated, and the Russian Empire was dead!

1917 was not a good year for Lucia.

As the war entered its third year, the Russian Empire was visibly on the verge of collapse in the face of this seemingly endless conflict.

Due to poor industrial capacity and the disruption of shipping, many factories in the Russian Empire had to shut down due to a lack of necessary energy and raw materials, and the shutdown of factories soon began to affect transportation and agriculture.

And all of this ultimately had its effects on the soldiers on the front lines.

The soldiers who fought to defend the Tsar lacked weapons, clothing, food, and everything else they might lack.

While Joe was complaining about eating dry biscuits in the trenches, Lucia's grey beasts were figuring out how to eat a palm-sized loaf of bread for a week.

The situation at the front was dire, and the situation at the rear was no better. All major cities were lacking supplies of food and industrial goods, and rising prices made it even more difficult for ordinary people who were already struggling to make ends meet.

Although the Tsar's gendarmes were dedicated to arresting demonstrators and sending them to military camps to fight for the Tsar, they were also not hesitant to use deadly force.

However, starting in 15, worker strikes and soldier uprisings spread like wildfire throughout Russia.

Ultimately, when the Tsar arrogantly rejected the bourgeoisie's request to participate in politics and even dissolved the State Duma, the desperate bourgeoisie chose to cooperate with the Bolsheviks, who wanted to hang them from the streetlights.

As insurgent workers and soldiers stormed the palace and arrested the Tsar, who was preparing to send troops from the front to quell the rebellion, yet another crown fell in this great war.

After completing all the tests of the HT-N tank in shock, Joe realized one thing as soon as he got off the tank: he didn't have much time left.

With the destruction of the Lucia Empire, the Teutons would certainly want to do something.

We must accelerate the production of the HT-N tank.

At least getting new equipment would allow me to stay in the rear for a little longer, right?

Moreover, the new HT-N tank can reach a speed of 17 kilometers per hour even in mud, which is almost lightning fast in this era.

If I could drive this kind of tank, wouldn't my chances of survival be much higher?
However, what Joe didn't expect was that the Gauls across the strait also realized that with the destruction of the Lucia Empire, the Teutons might do something.

At this point, the western front was already secured, and a large-scale battle had just taken place there the previous year. Therefore, if the Teutons were to take action, they would definitely take advantage of the internal turmoil in Russia to launch a major offensive and force Russia to withdraw from the war.

Even from the chaotic state of the few Lucia troops fighting in Gaul, the Gauls could tell just how chaotic Lucia had become.

Given Lucia's current condition, they certainly cannot withstand the Teutonic attack.

The Teutons, who had previously fought on two fronts, could have easily beaten themselves and the Bunitans half to a pulp with just one hand.

Once they had dealt with the Lucias, the Teutons, no longer fighting on two fronts, were finally able to do what they dared not even dream of.

No! We absolutely cannot allow the Teutons to launch a calm attack on the Lucias.

General Neville, then commander-in-chief of the Gallic army, prepared to launch a large-scale offensive on the western front, as he had done in the past, in order to draw away the Teutonic forces and prevent them from launching a large-scale offensive on the eastern front.

Meanwhile, the war last year had significantly depleted the Teutons' resources, causing their defenses to retreat considerably. In addition, the rotation system at the Battle of Verdun meant that the Gallic troops were all experienced veterans.

Therefore, General Neville prepared to deploy 1.2 million men to launch a large-scale offensive to break through the Teutonic defenses.

Furthermore, the Gauls' self-developed tanks had already been deployed to the troops, and the Bunitanias had made a tremendous advance of 15 kilometers in a single day on the Somme River the previous year.

General Neville believed that they could break through the Teutonic defenses within 48 hours and successfully advance deep into the territory, eventually bringing the war to Teutonic soil and thus diverting the Teutonics' attention to the western front through this strategic offensive.

Meanwhile, in the Teutonic General Staff, the Teutonic Chief of Staff also received news from reconnaissance aircraft that the Gallic troops were being mobilized on a large scale, clearly indicating that they were planning a large-scale offensive.

However, since the second half of 1916, the Teutonic troops at the front have been strengthening their defenses. Meanwhile, after the tank crisis at the Somme, although the tanks designed by the Seventh Transport Agency had not yet been put into production, they were being tested on those tanks abandoned by the Bunitans on the battlefield.

The Teutonic troops have also been equipped with K-rounds capable of penetrating the armor of Bunitania tanks, and the frontline artillery has also been adjusted.

The 7.7 cm field guns were deployed behind some key positions to block possible tank offensives.

Since the Gauls want to come, let them come.

So, just a few weeks later, Joe returned to his barracks after finishing his trip to Rolls-Royce to cut the ribbon for the first HT-N project tank to officially roll off the production line and be named Hound, ready to begin receiving Hound tanks the following week.

Joe was surprised to find a colonel who looked somewhat familiar in the camp. Judging from the colonel's anxious and agitated expression, something serious must have happened.

"Jo!"

Upon seeing Joe, the colonel immediately grabbed Joe's arm anxiously.

"It's too late! Get in the car! The Prime Minister wants to see you!"

"what?!"

Soon, the colonel's black luxury sedan, with the air of someone who would use up all his business for the year if any traffic police dared to issue a ticket, took Joe to 10 Downing Street.

Joe, led by the colonel into 10 Downing Street, saw the Prime Minister, the Secretary of War, and other members of the wartime cabinet in a room, all of whom looked gloomy and distressed.

Even His Majesty George sat in a chair in the corner of the room with a dark expression.

The air in the room was oppressive, as if a storm was about to break.

After saluting everyone in the room along with the colonel, Joe looked at them with a bewildered expression, completely unaware of why he had been summoned there.

After the colonel closed the door, the prime minister looked at Joe and said...

"The Teutons have broken through the Gauls' defenses and are on their way to Paris."

"what?"

The Prime Minister's words left Joe somewhat at a loss. Weren't the Gauls just launching a large-scale offensive?
How come the Teutons have breached their defenses and they're still heading to Paris?

In the end what happened?
Before Joe could figure out what had happened...

The Prime Minister then came up to Joe, looked into Joe's eyes, put his hands on Joe's shoulders, and said to Joe.

“We cannot stand by and watch the Teutons occupy Paris. We cannot take even 1% risk in this matter. Therefore, we have decided to send you to assist the Gauls in defending Paris.”

"what?!"

(End of this chapter)