Imperial Elite

Chapter 44 Forward! Forward by any means necessary!

"why me?"

Even with the best expression management skills, Joe couldn't control his expression at this moment. Looking at the Prime Minister in front of him, Joe's face was filled with shock and disbelief.

"Why an armored training company? We only have one company, yet we're being sent to save Paris?"

Upon hearing Joe's question, a man in a general's uniform stood up from his chair and walked over to Joe.

"It was my decision to send you to Paris. The reason is simple: right now, you and your armored training company are the most suitable, and they are the only unit we can mobilize."

"you are?"

"I am Robertson, the Imperial Chief of Staff."

Upon hearing this name, Qiao felt a deep sense of respect.

Joe had heard of him; Robertson, who had risen from private to lieutenant general, was considered one of the smartest men in the army.

Chief of Staff Robertson explained to Joe why a mission like saving Paris had fallen to him.

A month earlier, the Royal Armored Regiment, which had been reorganized and expanded, had been deployed to Arras to assist the Gauls in launching the Nivel Offensive. At this time, the Royal Armored Regiment was already deeply involved on the front lines and could not be redeployed for the time being.

The situation was similar for other troops on the front lines. Large-scale troops could not be deployed quickly, which could also affect the logistical supply of the Gauls.

While small-scale troops can move quickly and do not require much logistical support from the Gauls, their combat effectiveness is insufficient, and sending them in would be like a drop in the ocean.

Only Joe's armored training company was the perfect size and length, allowing for rapid deployment to the front lines while minimizing resource consumption. Even if the Gauls couldn't supply them, the Bunitania Expeditionary Force could provide them with a separate supply line without consuming too many resources.

At the same time, given that Joe was an armored company with thirty tanks and his past record, the general believed that even if Joe couldn't turn the tide of the war by destroying the Teutonic command post as he had done at the Somme, he could at least buy the Gauls some time to reorganize their troops and defenses.

When Joe heard General Robertson pin his hopes on his armored company, he realized that the situation might be even worse than the Prime Minister had just said.

So just how bad is the situation?

"It's probably worse than you can imagine."

Upon hearing this, Joe was still hesitating, wondering if he should find an excuse to push away the task that should be done by the Empire's First Baturu, not by himself, the Empire's First Sachima.

Joe then heard General Robertson say to him.

“I know this mission is crazy and unreasonable, but it’s the only thing we can do right now. From now on, I will promote you to Provisional Major in the Brittany Army, and the armored training company you command will become the core of the Paris Task Force. Now you can make any requests you have, and we will do our best to meet them.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao knew that she had no room to refuse. Even if Qiao had the thickest skin, she couldn't bring herself to say no now.

After a moment's thought, Joe began to set his conditions.

"Infantry without tanks are just a bunch of pathetic worms waiting to be slaughtered, and tanks without infantry are like sharp knives without scabbards. I need a sufficiently elite infantry unit to cooperate with the armored training company in combat."

Just as General Robertson began to consider which unit to reinforce Joe, His Majesty George, sitting in the corner, suddenly spoke up.

"Let the Guards go to Paris with you."

As he spoke, His Majesty George stood up from the corner and walked toward Joe.

"Currently, the Imperial Guard Grenadier Regiment guarding the palace has one ceremonial company and another company that has just completed its reorganization and replenishment. Both of them can be reinforced into the Armored Training Company."

Before George could say anything after hearing what His Majesty said, the Prime Minister spoke first.

"Your Majesty! It is a tradition for the Imperial Guard Infantry Division to serve as the ceremonial force guarding the palace..."

Before the Prime Minister could finish speaking, His Majesty George interrupted him.

"A hundred years ago, when the Imperial army defeated the Emperor and his old guard at Waterloo, the guards were on the battlefield that decided the fate of the Empire, not standing idly in front of the palace gates. But now..."

His Majesty George took his marshal's sword, decorated with ivory and gold, from his belt and handed it to Joe.

“We need another James to create a turning point in our campaign.”

After shoving the marshal's sword into Joe's still-dazed hand, His Majesty George patted Joe on the shoulder.

"The Empire awaits your valiant fight, and I, too, await your victory."

Joe felt as if he were holding not a marshal's sword, but the unbearable weight of his own life.

Faced with His Majesty George's gaze, Joe was momentarily at a loss for words.

But Joe knew that if he didn't make his request now, it would be too late after he left.

So Joe took a deep breath and continued, "To cooperate with the Gauls, I need some people who understand Gaul, and if possible, I need an air force squadron to scout the Teutons' movements. I also need intelligence from the front lines; at the very least, I need to know why the war has developed this way..."

His Majesty George and the wartime cabinet granted almost all of Joe's requests, whether it was assigning a flight squadron to Joe's Paris task force, having the Overseas Intelligence Service provide Joe with information on what was happening on the Gauls' front, or Joe's wish to provide the two Guards Grenadier companies with enough trucks for rapid maneuverability.

The only request they didn't fulfill for Joe was that the navy could send destroyers or gunboats into the Seine to provide artillery support to the Paris task force if needed.

This wasn't because the cabinet was stingy, but because spies reported that the Teutonic war navy seemed to be making moves again. After the last fierce battle, the Royal Navy now had to concentrate all its forces in the North Sea to prevent the war navy from trying to break through the blockade once more.

At the same time, although the situation is deteriorating, it has not deteriorated to the point that the Gauls would allow the Bunitania gunboats to enter the Seine.

After fulfilling almost all of Joe's requests, the Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff also demanded that Joe and his armored training company arrive at the London docks by midnight that night.

There, the navy had already prepared ships for them, and two companies of guards grenadiers and other supplies would be waiting for them.

They would then land in Calais and take a train to Paris. The Bunitas Expeditionary Force had prepared a military train for them, and the Overseas Intelligence Office and the Expeditionary Force Intelligence Section of the Bunitas Expeditionary Force would continuously transmit intelligence about the Paris region to Joe.

As for the squadron that Joe had promised, they would coordinate with the Gauls to deploy the squadron at or near an airport in Paris before Joe arrived.

What happens next is up to Joe.

As Joe left 10 Downing Street with a stack of files, a brand-new major's uniform, and the marshal's sword given to him by His Majesty George, he felt as if he were trapped in a dream from which he would never wake up.

The last time Joe felt this way was when he learned he had been assigned to the engineering corps.

Sitting in the same car he had come in, Joe opened the stack of documents, wanting to see what had happened that led to the Teutons breaking through the Gauls' defenses in one fell swoop.

Two months ago, under the orders of General Neville, the Gallic Army, with 53 divisions and 1.2 million men, supported by 132 brand-new Schneider I tanks, launched a full-scale offensive against the Teutons.

Before the war, General Neville believed that the deployment of so many tanks would replicate the success of the Bunitanias at the Somme. He also believed that not only did they have more tanks than the Bunitanias, but the troops they deployed were all veterans who had been trained at Verdun, unlike the Bunitanias who could only deploy inexperienced recruits.

Meanwhile, the combined forces in this battle will be fifty-three divisions against thirty-eight divisions, giving us a clear advantage! If nothing unexpected happens, they will break through the Teutonic defenses within 48 hours.

Then, just as they had predicted after the Battle of the Somme, they brought the war to Teutonic territory, bringing it to a complete end in 1917.

Then, predictably, things took an unexpected turn. The Gauls did indeed replicate the Bunitanias' performance at the Battle of the Somme.

However, it wasn't the part where Joe got lost, causing the Teutons to retreat 15 kilometers in a single day, but rather the part where the Bunitanias ran headfirst into the iron plate on the first day.

On the first day of the battle, the Gauls, who crashed into the Teutonic defenses, suffered nearly 1 casualties, and the Schneider I tanks, which were on which the Teutonics had placed high hopes, were easily destroyed by the Teutons.

On the first day alone, 63 of the 132 Schneider tanks were completely destroyed.

In the following eight days, the Gauls lost more than 100,000 men and almost all of their tanks.

This offensive was not halted by the Gauls' commanders, but rather, despite the heavy losses, the front line remained unchanged. Many companies that had survived the brutal meat grinder of Verdun were completely destroyed by the Teutons in this attack.

The Gallic soldiers, whose morale was already low due to the brutal Battle of Verdun, began to feel that this was not an attack but rather that they were being sent to their deaths.

The offensive naturally came to a halt when desperate soldiers began to refuse to obey their officers' orders to carry out this almost suicidal attack.

Soon, as seeds of despair began to sprout in the army, protests first broke out in the 2nd Infantry Division, and then the wave of protests and riots swept across almost the entire Gallo-British Army.

Mutinies broke out in more than half of the Gallic infantry divisions. Soldiers refused to obey officers' orders, and many units even began to march, demanding that the government end the war. They no longer wanted to be slaughtered like sheep in a slaughterhouse of machine guns and heavy artillery.

Many soldiers even took off their uniforms and abandoned their weapons at night to secretly desert the army.

Although the Gallic government reacted almost immediately by dismissing General Neville, who had launched the offensive.

He also sent a new general to negotiate with the soldiers, hoping to quell the mutiny before the Teutons could react.

However, the Teutons reacted much faster than expected. Before the new Gallic commander arrived, the Teutons launched an attack on the Champagne province, where the Gallic army's defenses were weakest and morale was lowest, and which was only 100 kilometers from Paris.

At this time, due to the impact of the mutiny, Paris could only mobilize two divisions.

The report concludes by showing that, as of the moment it was submitted, Paris was urgently mobilizing forces, including gendarmes, police, and even firefighters, to rush to the Champagne department in order to rebuild its defenses.

After closing the report, Joe felt like his head was about to explode.

When Joe heard that the Teutons had breached the Gauls' defenses, he realized that things might be bad, but he didn't expect them to be this bad.

I put down the report in my hand and watched the lights of London gradually disappear behind me.

Joe slumped back in the limousine, utterly exasperated. Damn it! The Teutons had timed this perfectly! How did they do it?!
Now, a revolution has broken out in Lucia on the eastern front, rendering it unable to launch an offensive, while a mutiny has occurred among the Gauls on the western front...

Ugh... I just wanted to survive this war, is that so wrong?! Damn it! Why is everything in the Old World always so terrible!

Looking at the few dim stars in the dark night sky, Joe couldn't help but wonder how the Teutons had made such a decision in such a short time and launched such a successful attack, breaking through the Gauls' defenses.

A week ago, the Teutonic General Staff.

The Teutonic Chief of Staff and the Teutonic Emperor were still somewhat incredulous as they looked at the reports from the frontline reconnaissance teams and spies about a mutiny in the Gallic army.

After all, before the war, the Gallic army was known as the best army in the Old World. Although the Teutonic army pushed the front line to Gaul itself after the war started, neither the Teutonic officers nor the soldiers dared to underestimate the fighting spirit of the Gallic soldiers.

The soldiers' tenacious performance impressed the Teutonic officers, who remarked that if the Gallic troops of forty years ago had possessed such fighting spirit, they would not have won the war so easily.

This very unit, which had fought them to the death in the trenches for three years, has now mutinied.

Both the Teutonic Chief of Staff and the Teutonic Emperor found it somewhat unbelievable.

The Teutonic Chief of Staff was worried that this was a trap and wanted to wait and see, since the situation was developing in a direction favorable to the Teutons after the revolution broke out in Lucia.

The Teutonic Emperor, however, thought differently. He believed that since a turning point had appeared, they should act decisively and seize the opportunity.

The current situation is similar to that faced by his ancestor Frederick during the Seven Years' War; the country has reached a dead end.

Although the army made some progress on the eastern front and conquered Wallachia by the end of the year, the empire was unable to quickly obtain supplies from Wallachia due to the country's terrible transportation conditions.

The blockade imposed by the Bunitania Navy has led to severe shortages of supplies and even food in the country.

In the past winter, people even had to eat turnips as a staple food, so much so that this winter of hunger was called the "Winter of Turnips".

Along with the "Winter of Turnips," strikes and protests became more frequent, and anti-war sentiment spread through society like a plague.

Although the military believes that the current situation can be maintained and that they still have a chance of victory.

However, the domestic situation was already extremely precarious. If sufficient victories could not be achieved on the battlefield, the possibility of a revolution or rebellion breaking out domestically, similar to that in Lucia, could not be ruled out.

After all, the Social Democratic Party, which was the largest single party in the Imperial Diet at this time, had already split, and the left-wing elements who hoped for a ceasefire had split the party.

They may then split the country, just as they split a political party!
Just when the empire was on the verge of collapse, a change occurred in Lucia, giving them the possibility of escaping the predicament of fighting on two fronts. Therefore, they had to seize this opportunity and launch an offensive.

Under pressure from the Emperor, the Chief of the General Staff agreed with the Emperor's view. However, because the Somme and Verdun campaigns last year had consumed too many of the Empire's resources, they could not launch a full-scale offensive this time, but only a regional attack.

Although he did not have high hopes of breaking through the Gauls' defenses, the Teutonic Chief of Staff, adhering to the Teutonic rigor, carefully assessed the Gauls' situation and chose the Champagne province as the point of attack.

The terrain here is flat, and it's also the closest place to Paris. If a breakthrough is made, this is the fastest place to reach Paris.

Meanwhile, having learned from the experiences of the Somme and Verdun, the Teutonic Chief of Staff, in addition to deploying the Stormtroopers to undertake the task of breaking through the Gallic defenses, also...

They also mobilized the last two cavalry divisions on the western front that still had horses and had not been reorganized into infantry divisions, preparing to penetrate deep into the Gauls' territory after breaking through their defenses.

Although not holding high hopes for the attack, the Chief of the General Staff still wanted to remove the troops of the emperor's youngest son, Joachim, who had just gotten married and was serving in the cavalry, from the attack sequence when allocating troops before the battle.

However, the Teutonic Emperor prevented the Chief of the General Staff from being transferred.

“Since the founding of the empire, my ancestors have fought alongside soldiers on the front lines. Although times have changed and I can no longer fight alongside my soldiers, at least let my son take my place and advance with them.”

The Teutonic Emperor, looking at the oil painting of Frederick the Great sitting by a broken wall hanging in the General Staff, said, "Perhaps he could be the first to enter Paris."

Since His Majesty the Emperor has said so, the Chief of the General Staff naturally will not go against the Emperor's orders.

Then things took an unexpected turn. The once impregnable Gallic defenses crumbled like a sandcastle under the Teutonic offensive.

I thought I was being led into a trap, but instead I found a windfall.

This unexpected success, and the feeling of punching cotton, left the Teutonic General Staff in a state of initial euphoria and bewilderment after the initial shock of "I haven't even done anything, how did you fall down?"

Immediately begin mobilizing troops to widen this gap further. Even if they cannot completely shatter the Gauls' defenses, they should at least reach Paris and force the Gauls to withdraw from the war, just as they did in the last one.

In order to buy time for follow-up troops, the Teutonic General Staff issued orders to the two cavalry divisions that had broken through the defenses and were now charging into the rear.

"Forward! Forward by any means necessary! Until you can plant your flag on those two iron towers!"

(End of this chapter)