Imperial Elite

Chapter 63 Target: Veterans Home
Many years later, when Joe heard the sound of cannons on the banks of the Thames, he couldn't help but recall that morning in Paris when he was subjected to a sudden barrage of Teutonic artillery fire.

Just as dawn broke, after enduring a whole night of harassment from the Teutons, the soldiers stationed near the Strasbourg Avenue blockade thought that it was now daylight and even the Teutons should quiet down for a while.

The Teutonic artillery fire rained down on the blockade line near Strasbourg Avenue, as if it were free.

This was not the first time Joe had experienced a large-scale artillery bombardment. He had experienced several Teutonic bombardments while on the Somme, so when the Teutonic shells fell this time...

Although Joe's vision was still very blurry, he remained completely calm.

This wasn't because Joe had confidence in the quality of the Gallic architecture. Based on Joe's observations over this period, most of the buildings in Paris, apart from newer structures like the train station and the Eiffel Tower, were quite old.

Specifically, most of them were built during the reign of the emperor who is now lying in the Invalides.

In a sense, this is called architecture being the living history of a city; without these ancient buildings, how can we show that we live in an ancient city?

Of course, in reality, this is because rebuilding a building is much more expensive than renovating it, and ordinary citizens cannot afford that much money.

However, this is not the reason why Qiao was so calm, and why he didn't even want to run away, even though he wanted to have a sip of the freshly brewed black tea.

As someone who had actually been shelled while crouching in a trench, Joe knew very well that shelling was usually small-scale and you didn't have to run away, but large-scale shelling meant you couldn't escape.

Even if you're crouching in a ditch, there's still a chance you'll be killed by a single shot.

In the no-man's-land, some lucky ones managed to survive two rounds of shelling and return to their own positions.

So it's just a shelling, there's no need to run.

But Joe felt he didn't need to run, while his officers didn't think so.

Ever since they saw Joe stand still without flinching or even trying to dodge when the Teutonic planes swooped down and strafed them, Joe's men all thought that Joe was the epitome of a warrior.

Moreover, it's just that Joe was born in the wrong era. If he had been born in ancient times, he would have at least been a Crusader King, if not a seat at King Arthur's Round Table.

In general, it's the kind of game where Brittany has a stone of courage, and Joe Harrison has eight-tenths of it.

So when he saw the Teutonic artillery fire raining down outside the Gare du Nord in Paris, the explosions roaring like thunder, buildings and streets collapsing amidst the deafening roar, the streets a scene resembling the end of the world, Joe was still sitting in that comfortable-looking armchair, slowly sipping a cup of black tea.

Joe's officers all thought, "That's Joe for you, he's got guts!" At the same time, they swarmed forward and hurriedly lifted Joe up, carrying him and the chair into the subway line 4 platform under the Gare du Nord in Paris amidst Joe's protests.

After placing the chair on the platform, they helped Joe back onto it. At the same time, they didn't forget to move a table from the closed ticket counter in the subway and put the pot of black tea that Joe had just brewed, as well as the map and other things that were on Joe's table, on the table.

Joe was somewhat amused and exasperated by his subordinate officer's decision to shove him into the subway to avoid shelling without explanation.

Although Joe, holding a cup of black tea, couldn't see who the officers were who had escorted him to the subway station, he calmly said, "Don't be so nervous. If it's my turn to die, one of the Teutonic's randomly fired shells will land in the subway entrance, and then another shell will blow up the subway entrance."

Upon hearing Joe's words, the officers who had escorted him to the subway station turned green with anger.

After experiencing this hellish war, even those who were least willing to go to church before the war now silently make the sign of the cross on their chests when they see icons.

If someone said something ominous in the trench, before the guy could finish speaking, a sergeant would hit him hard on the head, then make him knock on a piece of wood and sprinkle salt behind him.

I'm afraid this guy's jinxed words might actually bring up all this nonsense.

But now that Joe is saying this, who would dare to knock Joe on the head?

So the officers could only glare at Joe with barely suppressed anger.

After Qiao finished his cup of black tea and put it down, he looked at a secluded corner, as if they were standing there, and continued, "I know you mean well, but we still have a battle to fight, so let's finish this pot of tea and go back to the surface."

Seeing Joe speaking to the open space, the officers covered their mouths and swallowed back what they wanted to say.

Why aren't you saying anything? Is there a problem?

It wasn't until Joe looked at the open space and spoke again that a lieutenant, unable to bear it any longer, whispered something.

“Sir, we are here, and... we know you can’t see right now.”

Hearing the sound from behind startled Joe.

"Shh!"

Joe turned around and looked in the direction of the lieutenant who had spoken, whispering, "When...when did you find out? Does anyone else know about this?"

Faced with Joe's astonished expression, the officers looked on with pity, as if they were doctors about to announce to a child that he only had a few weeks to live.

"Sir, we know."

As surprise flashed across Joe's face, the officers assured him that although they knew he might be blind, they were still willing to obey his command because they trusted him and believed that only he could lead them from one victory to the next.

So since Joe can't see anything now, why doesn't he stay in the safe subway and command them in the fight?
After all, those colonels or generals never went to the front lines in person, and Joe was the only exception.

Joe sighed and shook his head at the officers' good intentions.

“I appreciate your kindness, but it wasn’t those generals who led them into the battlefield, it was me who led them into the battlefield, so I have to stay with them.”

Joe reached out and touched the lieutenant's shoulder, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm just having some difficulty seeing clearly, not deaf, so please let me go back."

What Joe didn't know was that just as he was preparing to return to the ground, the Teutonic Paris battle group, after airlifting orders to the three encircled divisions, began its relief operation.

However, the Teutons did not choose to break through the Strasbourg Pass blockade controlled by Joe's Paris contingent.

In past battles, the Teutons had learned that without mobile and flexible anti-armor weapons, it was best not to mess with tanks.

Although machine guns using K-rounds or 77mm field guns can destroy tanks.

However, the former cannot effectively destroy tanks, and the consequence of not being able to destroy them upon detection is that when machine guns are firing at tanks, the tanks can simply fire a shot to send the machine gun crews away.

The latter was simply too heavy. Although this 77mm cannon was considered lightweight compared to other artillery pieces, it was still too heavy for infantry to deploy, as it required vehicles or horses to pull it.

This disadvantage in mobility, when facing the Paris battle group's self-propelled artillery which was not only highly mobile but also had superior firepower, felt utterly crushing.

The self-propelled artillery that the Paris battle group had put together gave the Teutons a shocking "Holy crap! So bread can be sandwiched between two pieces!"

Especially after capturing one of these self-propelled guns during yesterday's raid, the entire command was preparing to move the gun to the front, gathering around to examine it, and acting like a group of strange fetishists touching and handling it.

So after being thoroughly outmaneuvered by the heavy technical equipment of the Paris battle group, the Teutons realized that this Bunitania force was indeed difficult to defeat, especially now that supplies were running into problems. To try and force their way through the Bunitania's defenses would be a sign of their own incompetence.

So I'll go fight the Gauls instead.

However, defeating the Gauls was not so easy. After the Bunitania broke through a blockade on Strasbourg Avenue, cutting off the connection between the vanguard and the main force, the situation became even more challenging.

Now, the only defensive area facing the Teutons, guarded by the Gauls, was the Invalides.

If they didn't go through Les Invalides, then even if the Teutonic troops on both sides of the Strasbourg Avenue blockade started a concentric attack, the shortest route for the three encircled Teutonic divisions would be to first capture the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars, and then break through half of western Paris before they could join up with the main force.

Therefore, rather than sending three divisions to break through half of Paris without supplies, the Teutonic generals felt that capturing Les Invalides was a more realistic option.

On the bright side, Les Invalides was not only the headquarters of the Paris garrison, but also the headquarters of the Gallo army. Being able to occupy it meant that the war was basically half won.

The bad news is that, as the last bastion of Paris, the Gauls' defense of Les Invalides was not perfect, but it was more than adequate.

Perhaps because the Paris National Guard and Territorial Army lacked specialized technical personnel, General Henry crammed most of the heavy technical equipment—field artillery, heavy machine guns, infantry trench snipers—here as if it were free.

While the Teutons might have been able to laugh at the average performance of the Gallic infantry in the Battle of Paris, they certainly couldn't laugh at the Gallic 75mm field guns.

As the first nation to develop cavalry artillery and, with its unique tactic of attaching bayonets to cannons, almost swept across the Old World unchallenged, Gaul never relaxed its research and development of artillery.

So when the war started, the Gauls developed the world's best 75mm field gun, which, when handled by skilled gun crews, could fire an astonishing rate of twenty rounds per minute.

This speed is even faster than the rate of fire of some rifles.

This incredible rate of fire once made the Teutons exclaim that they were invincible.

Then the Teutons, who found they couldn't compete with the Gauls in rapid-fire artillery, chose a new path.

The Teutons switched to 105mm howitzers, using larger calibers and longer ranges to suppress the Gauls' artillery.

This "flip the table" tactic, where if you can't win, did give the Gauls' 75mm artillery a slight shock in terms of range. After all, being hit by indirect fire artillery from a distance is not a pleasant battlefield experience.

However, that was in field combat. In urban warfare, especially in complex terrain like Paris, the Gallic 75mm cannon became a terrifying force.

Although a single shell from a 75mm cannon certainly wouldn't be enough to destroy a building, it would be sufficient to take down a platoon.

Moreover, the Gauls had not only deployed 75mm cannons in the Invalides, even though the Stormtroopers, who had been scouting the front lines all night, were ready.

However, the Teutonic generals felt that they should try to minimize the threat from the heavy firepower of the Gauls and the Bonitanes, who could break out from the Strasbourg blockade at any time and put the relief forces in a fierce battle from the side, while the stormtroopers cleared the way for the troops.

The Teutonic generals chose to use all the artillery they could concentrate to bombard the Bunitania forces gathered near Strasbourg Avenue.

Even a near miss from a large-caliber artillery shell can temporarily disable those tanks, as long as these Bunitans don't cause trouble.

At the same time, the barrage from large-caliber artillery could also cut telephone lines and cause considerable trouble for the messengers.

Although the Paris metro system eventually allowed the message to reach the Bunitanias, all that was needed before that was to open a passage for the besieged troops.

Furthermore, they spent an entire night concentrating heavy artillery within the city to prepare for the attack of the Bunitania armored forces.

With the ground forces having exhausted all available options for attacking the stronghold, the task of attacking the Gallic troops in the Invalides ultimately fell to the air force.

In yesterday's battle, the Teutonic Air Force also lost one-third of its participating aircraft. In addition, many aircraft were severely damaged and would require a long period of repairs even after returning to the airfield, making them unable to participate in today's operations.

Only half the number of planes from yesterday's massive offensive took off at dawn and subsequently entered Paris airspace.

Following yesterday's large-scale air battle, the Teutonic Air Force continued to conduct large-scale sorties, exceeding Admiral Henry's expectations. Therefore, the small number of fighters conducting combat patrols over Paris could not stop the large-scale entry of the Teutonic Air Force.

Then the Teutonic Air Force began a horrific bombing campaign over the Invalides area.

Before the outbreak of war, facing the relentless advance of the Bunitaians, the Teutonic soldiers, like the military powers of the Old World throughout history, began to ponder a question.

Now that no one in the Old World can stop me, how can I get to that island?
In peacetime, landing on Bonitania is not difficult, as the shortest point of the strait is only 33 kilometers long, and on a clear day, Bonitania can even be seen directly from the Old World. However, in the event of war, landing on Bonitania becomes extremely difficult.

After all, the Royal Navy of Brittany still has some strength.

Therefore, even before the war began, the Teutons had already formed a war navy comparable to the Royal Navy in order to break the blockade of the Bunitania home fleet.

However, as frequent investors know, you can't put all your eggs in one pancake, just as you can't put all your eggs in one pancake, in order to prevent the navy from being unable to break through the Bunitania blockade during wartime.

The Teutons had been researching ways to drop bombs on the Brittanyans, besides warships, even before the war.

Ultimately, with the development of the aviation industry, the Teutons found a new answer: airplanes and airships.

At the start of the war, the Teutons began using their war behemoths, the Zeppelins, to cross the ocean and bomb directly on the mainland of Buntania.

However, although airships could drop one or two tons of bombs on the heads of the Bunitas at once, their slow flight speed meant they were often intercepted, and their bombing efficiency was not very high.

So the Teutons began to study heavy bombers again. By the time of the Battle of Paris, in addition to the Gotha G-type aircraft that could carry 700 kilograms of bombs, the Teutons also had the R-type giant aircraft, which, like the Zeppelin, could carry two tons of bombs at a time.

Since the Teutons still controlled the skies over Paris in yesterday's air battle, the General Staff decided to once again send their war behemoths, including Zeppelins and strategic bombers—originally prepared for the strategic bombing of Bonitania—to carry out a bombing raid on Paris.

The objective is to focus on the Les Invalides area, destroy the Les Invalides and the nearby Gallic defenses, and rescue the three trapped elite divisions.

The Teutons chose the Invalides as their target for an air raid for one very direct reason: from the air, the Invalides, with its gardens and independent buildings, was a very conspicuous target, located near the Eiffel Tower.

The Buntanians-controlled Strasbourg Avenue blockade, lacking many landmarks and located near Teutonic troops, made it easy for them to accidentally drop bombs on their own men.

So the Teutons thought it best to let the air force bomb the Invalides.

Although the Teutonic generals who devised this plan thought that the air force pilots wouldn't miss bombing such a large veterans' home, right?

However, due to the small size of the Invalides and the large number of heavy bombers that entered the airspace at the same time, some bombs inevitably fell in the area around the Invalides.

For example, the Popon Palace, which was occupied by the Storm Commando yesterday.

After learning of the impending large-scale bombing that morning, Holtz and the other Stormtroopers laid Teutonic flags on the rooftops of Popon Palace and the surrounding apartment buildings they occupied.

Hopefully, the air force pilots can see clearly that this is Teutonic-controlled territory, so don't fucking drop bombs here.

Of course, as a group of well-trained and experienced veterans, the Storm Commandos are well aware that although artillerymen are often your friends, you can't trust your friends too much.

It's quite normal for artillery to miss their targets.

If even artillery can miss its target, then it's quite normal for the air force to deviate when dropping bombs.

So after hanging the Teutonic flag on the roof, the Stormtroopers listened to their own hearts and hid in the basement.

At first, amidst the distant explosions and the tremors from the ground, the members of the Storm Commando were still speculating in the basement how many Gauls would be left at the Invalides after this bombardment, which was even more intense than artillery fire.

But then an explosion was heard overhead, and dust was sprayed down from the basement ceiling as a result of the violent blast.

The Stormtroopers in the basement began cursing the blind air force pilots, saying they were all bastards and that they should find out which idiot had missed the target, or they would teach that guy a lesson.

While the Stormtroopers in the basement were cursing the bomber pilots, the Gauls in the Invalides were also cursing the Teutonic bombers that were dropping bombs like crazy.

Because of yesterday's fierce air battle, Admiral Henry, who was skilled in defense, ordered the air defense capabilities of the area around the Invalides to be strengthened again.

After all, as the capital of Gaul, Gauls converted many of their naval cannons into anti-aircraft guns to counter the Teutonic attacks after the Teutons began their strategic bombardment.

Moreover, after strengthening the anti-aircraft capabilities, if needed, the anti-aircraft guns could be laid flat to be used against infantry. General Henry would naturally not let go of such a way to achieve two goals at once.

Then the Gauls went mad when the Teutonic fleet arrived in large numbers.

Theoretically speaking, the Invalides, which had just been reinforced with air defenses, should have become a crucial point in Paris's air defense and a lamentation wall for the Teutonic Air Force.

However, the reality is not like that.

Since anti-aircraft guns are mostly modified from naval artillery, when facing Zeppelin airships, these guns can also force the Zeppelin airships to climb by firing barrages, thereby reducing the accuracy of the bombing.

However, it was somewhat slow to react when facing bombers such as the R-type giant aircraft, and the anti-aircraft gun shells used timed detonation fuses.

Therefore, apart from a few rapid-fire cannons that use trigger-explosive shells and machine guns that use plain armor-piercing shells, the shells of those anti-aircraft guns are not effective at damaging high-speed aircraft.

Although the anti-aircraft positions fired shells into the air with all their might, they could not stop the Teutonic bombers from dropping bombs on the Invalides and the surrounding area.

Even the fighters escorting the bombers, along with the attack aircraft clearing low-flying targets, would directly dive and straf the Gauls' air defense positions.

Although General Henry immediately called for air force fighter support after the massive bombing of the Invalides.

However, the Teutonic Air Force's terrifying bombing still caused enormous damage to the Gallic defenses surrounding the Invalides, and even the main building of the Invalides was half destroyed in the bombing.

As the Teutonic bombers retreated, before General Henry could even begin to reorganize the defenses, the Teutonic Stormtroopers launched their attack.

Although the outer perimeter of the Invalides had been almost completely destroyed in the recent bombing.

The resistance put up by the few survivors could only have a slight delaying effect when faced with the large-scale attack of the Storm Commando.

However, as the stormtroopers approached the main building of the Invalides, a burst of fierce firepower immediately pinned these elite Teutonic infantrymen to the ground.

In addition to being the capital of Gaul, Paris was also an industrial city and the core of the Gallo-Gallic railway network.

So before the Battle of Paris began, General Henry's headache was that he couldn't find enough elite soldiers to use the weapons, rather than that he didn't have enough weapons for his soldiers to use.

In addition, the Gallic army also had requirements for its officers.

As an officer, it's not unreasonable to expect him to be able to use and maintain all the standard light weapons of the Gallic Army, is it?
As officers, soldiers have to practice target shooting every year, so it's reasonable for officers to have some requirements for marksmanship, right?

At the same time, although General Henri enlisted military academy cadets as officers in the Paris National Guard, he still kept the promising talents—the future backbone and seeds of the Gallo Army—in separate companies at Les Invalides.

On the one hand, it serves as a reserve force for the reserve force; on the other hand, it allows these promising young officers, who will undoubtedly become high-ranking officers in the future, to experience in advance how the Gallo-British Army operates, which can also be considered an early employment internship.

So when General Henry ordered his staff officers to take up arms and prepare for battle, he only had his adjutant find him a rifle. However, these companies of military cadets and their staff officers were able to choose their own weapons from the vast armory of the Gallic army.

Now that everyone can choose their own weapons, naturally no one will act like a pitiful infantryman and just grab a rifle.

They all picked up light machine guns and also hung a pistol on their belts.

If they weren't so incapable of carrying them, these cadets would have even wanted to take some rapid-fire cannons with them.

As for the problem of machine gun bullets being consumed relatively quickly, these cadets had already come up with a solution.

Anyway, if they're going to participate in a battle, it'll definitely be a defensive operation. If there's no need to worry about carrying ammunition, then they can just move a bunch of ammunition boxes to the designated firing positions in advance.

Bullets alone are not enough; we also need to prepare some hand grenades, and gas masks are also essential, in case the Teutons use poison gas.

Although those who have used Gallic-style light machine guns may have some minor complaints about these automatic weapons.

But even with all sorts of problems, it was still like a bullet-pipe system, able to "water" the Teutonic light machine guns with bullets.

So when the cadets entered their designated positions to resist the Teutonic attack, the Storm Commando members immediately felt like they had run into a brick wall.

Although the Stormtroopers were experienced, even the most experienced soldiers couldn't withstand the Gauls' bludgeoning.

Especially after the storm assault team, which was preparing to storm the Veterans' Home, was suppressed by a dense barrage of bullets fired from inside the Veterans' Home, some cadets quickly rushed out of the Veterans' Home gate and began operating the two 75mm field guns positioned in front of the gate.

Faced with this terrible start, Holtz, pinned down in the trench by machine gun fire, quickly looked around and found a gun crew equipped with mortars.

"Do you see that cannon?"

Holz pulled the two mortar crewmen over.

"Could we find a way to give them a good shot?!"

Just as Holtz was trying to break through the resistance of the Gallic cadets in front of the Invalides, General Henry was pressing a piece of gauze to his forehead.

During the recent bombing, a piece of flying glass cut General Henry's head.

It's hard to say whether General Henry was just incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky.

If he was just unlucky, if the glass had been tilted any lower, Admiral Henry would have lost his right eye.

If he was lucky, when the window was shattered by the bombs in the air raid, there was a group of people around the window, and only General Henry got a piece of glass shards on his head.

However, Admiral Henry no longer had time to worry about the cut on his head.

The recent bombing by the Teutons has already announced one thing: the Teutons will launch a fierce attack on the Invalides next.

Although General Henry had done his best to strengthen the defenses of the Invalides, based on the experience of fortresses such as Fort Dumont, even defending those permanent fortifications would result in considerable casualties for the defenders.

The purpose of the fortifications was merely to improve the exchange ratio between the defenders and the attackers. To hold this place, it would be necessary to continuously send troops here to fight the Teutons, just like at Verdun.

Of course, while figuring out how to grind the meat, General Henry picked up the phone to personally call Joe and order him to immediately launch an attack from the east on the besieged Teutons.

At this time, from this location, the Teutons had only two ideas for launching an attack.

They either wanted to break through the blockade to relieve the besieged troops, or they wanted to seize the Invalides to further control Paris, or both.

However, General Henry didn't care what the Teutons were thinking; all he needed to do was prevent the Teutons from achieving their goals.

Moreover, choosing the Invalides as a breakthrough point actually proves that they are not willing to confront Joe's Paris task force head-on at this moment. In that case, letting Joe's Paris task force compress the besieged Teutonic troops can not only relieve their own pressure, but also effectively eliminate the Teutonic forces. It seems like a win-win situation.

But when Henry picked up the phone, he found that he usually didn't want to talk to Joe directly, but this time when he wanted to, the call wouldn't go through.

There was no other way but to send the messenger on a risky trip.

For safety's sake, General Henry sent ten messengers to contact Joe.

Meanwhile, after using mortars to send away the cadets who were trying to operate the 75mm field guns at the entrance of the Invalides, Holtz ordered the mortar crew to fire a round of smoke grenades in front of the Invalides before leading his platoon toward the Invalides.

(End of this chapter)