Imperial Elite

Chapter 70 Qiao, does the princess want to?
Just as Joe was preparing to meet the Tsar, the Lucia Left Government was also preparing for its final defense in St. Petersburg.

The Teutons did not stop after capturing Tallinn, but continued their advance toward St. Petersburg.

Although the Lucia provisional government was overthrown, the Teutons did not give the left-wing government a chance to regroup and continued to launch a full-scale offensive.

Therefore, overthrowing the provisional government did not change the situation in Lucia on the battlefield, and the war situation continued to deteriorate visibly.

Faced with the ever-approaching Teutons, there were initially two opposing voices within the left-wing government.

One view holds that if St. Petersburg cannot be held, they should move the capital back to Moscow and abandon St. Petersburg to allow the revolution to continue.

Another viewpoint argues that if they flee now, no one will believe them anymore, which would be the death of the revolution. Rather than fleeing to Moscow, they should stay in St. Petersburg. Even one more day of perseverance would be a new record and breakthrough for the left-wing movement, inspiring other comrades around the world to continue the fight.

However, with the fall of Riga, and the establishment of contact between the southern military government and Buntania, which gained some international recognition, the southern military government's forces continued to approach the city that the world longed for.

The left-wing government quickly realized that if they wanted to maintain their legitimacy, they could not retreat from St. Petersburg now.

Because most people don't understand any theories, they simply feel that the military government has seized the place they've always dreamed of, while the left-wing government has lost their capital. In this chaotic situation, it's self-evident who they should follow.

After rejecting the plan to abandon St. Petersburg, the left-wing government began to organize defenses in St. Petersburg.

On the bright side, St. Petersburg, as the capital of the Russian Empire, not only had a large pool of human resources, but was also one of the few industrial cities in Russia.

Furthermore, due to its large working class, it is one of the cities with the highest level of support for the left-wing government.

As the left-wing government resolved to defend St. Petersburg, large numbers of workers were organized to build fortifications around the city in their spare time, while factories began operating around the clock to produce weapons for the defenders.

However, the Teutons did not give the left-wing government much time, even as the left-wing government was organizing its defenses in St. Petersburg.

Ehrlich's rapid armored assault battalion also received reinforcements and supplies after the capture of Riga.

For Ehrlich, the biggest difficulty in fighting on the Eastern Front was not the Lucias. In fact, with the Tsar's abdication, the Teutonic advance gained considerable support from the locals along the way.

Among these people, besides nationalists who wanted independence and some opportunists, there were also many Teutonic Lusians who felt a sense of familiarity with Teutonic officers like Erich.

Because Lucia and Teutons had a long honeymoon period in history, when the Seven Years' War was about to end in defeat, it was the new Tsar, a fan of Frederick, who rebelliously switched sides, abandoning all the lands he had gained from the Teutons during the seven-year war and joining the Teutonic camp, that saved the then-weak Teutonic Empire from destruction.

Going back further, the first great emperor in Lucia's history, the one who seized this land from the Lake Kingdom and established St. Petersburg, had an extraordinary personal relationship with the Teutonic King at the time.

He traded a guard of “giants” over two meters tall for the Teutonic King’s Amber Room, renowned throughout the Old World.

Furthermore, as the Teutonic and Lucia Empires expanded, they also divided up the Republic of Lehia, which stood between them, three times, until they completely incorporated it into their territory.

In addition, the Tsars of all dynasties were very close to the Teutons, and many Teutons could always be seen in the Tsar's court.

As a result, many Teutons who were not doing well in the Teutonic community, or even lower-ranking nobles, would choose to try their luck in Russia when they were desperate, or simply come to Russia at the high salaries offered by the Russians.

Although they have lived in Lucia for a long time, and even their descendants have never returned to Teutonic after birth, they still speak Teutonic very poorly.

However, in their own minds, these people are still Teutonics, only temporarily residing in Lucia.

They were among the most heartbroken by the deterioration of relations between Lucia and the Teutons, which escalated to the point of armed conflict.

But now things are different. Since their mother country, the Teutonic Kingdom, has attacked, they have nothing to hesitate about. Helping their country win the war is the most important thing now.

As a pioneer, Erich often encountered Teutonics on the road who carried Teutonic flags, spoke broken Teutonic, and claimed to have come here many years ago.

Now that they see the motherland's troops arriving, they feel they must do something, which is why they risked coming here to wait for the troops.

Then he began to tell Ehrlich that there were Lucias lying in ambush somewhere ahead, and that if Ehrlich did not want to fight them, there was a small path that could be bypassed.

Apart from the Teutonic people who brought their own food, most of the Lucias they encountered along the way seemed indifferent and apathetic.

Apart from the Lusians in the cities who seemed to have a strong opinion about their occupation, the Lusians in the vast Lussia countryside did not seem to have any particular opinion about their offensive.

Out of curiosity, Ehrlich, with the help of a translator, asked the Lucias living in the countryside why they were so indifferent to their arrival.

Then Ehrlich received an answer that made him feel as if he were in the Middle Ages.

“Fathers, let us support and protect the Tsar, who was blessed and protected by God and was Lucia’s rightful protector. But now that the Tsar is gone, who should we protect?”

This answer even made Ehrlich feel that the Empire's occupation of these lands was a good thing for the people there.

However, compared to the bewildered Lucias, the vast land of Lucia became Erich's biggest obstacle to his advance.

Not only did Lucia use a different gauge for its trains than other countries in the Old World, but supplies and troops brought from the mainland also had to be transferred at the border before they could continue to be transported.

Besides the railways, the roads also made Erich suspect that the Lucia had given up on road maintenance after the Middle Ages.

These unpaved dirt roads turned into muddy puddles during the autumn downpours, deep enough to swallow soldiers' boots.

The advance of Ehrlich's rapid armored assault battalion turned into a nightmare from which he could not wake up.

Sometimes, due to poor road conditions, Ehrlich had to set up camp on the spot and wait for supplies to be brought up from the rear.

At the worst point, Ehrlich waited on the road for three days, and the hungry soldiers in the entire camp began to consider whether to go into the forest to hunt bears before the supplies, three days late, finally arrived.

But all of this improved after they occupied Riga.

As an important naval base for the Lucia Navy in the Amber Sea, it has good hydrographic conditions, although the Lucia Navy damaged some port facilities during its withdrawal.

However, this did not prevent the Teutons from establishing a supply point here and transporting supplies to their troops by sea.

Although the War Navy was unable to destroy the native fleet of Bonitania, compared to the Baltic Fleet of Lucia, the War Navy was like a visitor from the Zentradi, possessing an overwhelming advantage.

With the arrival of large quantities of supplies, Ehrlich also received orders from the General Staff to advance along the coast and open the road to St. Petersburg. The capture of St. Petersburg would be the last major campaign for the Reich on the Eastern Front.

In order to accomplish this task, the General Staff also sent Ehrlich some new toys. Twelve half-tracks equipped with armor and machine guns or 37mm anti-tank guns were given to Ehrlich to strengthen the offensive and conduct combat tests.

Just as Erich was examining these large gray toys that had just been written on the cargo ship...

Joe got out of the car and looked at the passenger ship in front of him.

Although the wartime cabinet told Joe that he didn't even need to say anything to the Tsar, the fact that Joe went to see the Tsar was the greatest significance of the matter.

From both a diplomatic perspective and within the framework of the Bunitania government, nothing Joe said to the Tsar had any real value, as Joe had neither the status nor the authority to do so.

In diplomatic settings, Joe's role was akin to that of a vase in the Prime Minister's office—a beautiful decoration.

But Joe is currently the most famous officer in Bonitania, the savior of Paris. The whole Old World knows that Joe is a super fighter. Anyone who knows that Joe is present at a diplomatic event will wonder if Bonitania might send Joe there.

So even though Bunitania didn't intend to do anything on the eastern front, sending this signal made the Teutons worry that Bunitania might do something on the eastern front, so they kept more troops there, even if it was just an extra division. That was a huge win for them.

Moreover, Joe's meeting with the Tsar would not overly provoke the military government, which had already reached a cooperation agreement with them, because they had sent people to receive Joe's training.

All Joe needs to do is state that he is simply meeting the Tsar as a military representative according to military protocol. After all, the training team sent by the military government can see where Joe is going.

So there won't be any problems.

The Prime Minister felt that it would be no more difficult for Joe to do this than going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes.

But when Joe got out of the car and walked into the dock, he found that the situation was slightly different from what the Prime Minister had said.

According to the Prime Minister, all Joe needed to do was go in, meet the Tsar, chat about the weather, then say goodbye and leave.

But to complete this task, Joe first needs to see the Tsar.

Qiao Gang presented his identification and permission from Downing Street to customs officials and walked out of customs.

Before he could even board the passenger ship, Joe was stopped by a group of women with short hair.

Although the women were not carrying weapons, Joe realized from their uniforms and the smell emanating from them—the kind of smell only veterans who had rolled in piles of corpses on the front lines could give off—that these women must be the Tsar's guards.

So when these women asked him questions like where he came from, where he was going, how many acres of land he owned, and how many cows he had, he was met with their inquiries.

Joe readily answered that he was Joe Harrison, Colonel of the Bunitania Regiment, and that he had come to pay a visit to the Tsar on the orders of the Prime Minister.

According to the Prime Minister, logically speaking and according to diplomatic protocol, these women should have been allowed to enter at this point.

Even if the Tsar wasn't prepared to receive guests today, he should have led Joe to the reception room, served him tea and refreshments, and asked him to wait a moment.

If we were to follow aristocratic etiquette and be more particular, we should send someone like a butler or another person to chat with Joe, so that he wouldn't get bored while waiting in the drawing room.

But the reality was quite different. One of the women, wearing a second lieutenant's epaulettes and a poorly fitting uniform that looked like elephant skin on her, with a few stubble hairs growing on her shaved head, couldn't hide her beauty. She looked Joe up and down, her gaze lingering on the medals on his chest and then on the marshal's sword at his waist, before leaving a curt "Wait here" and turning to walk into the ship.

There was no tea or snacks. The women didn't even invite Qiao onto the passenger ship to avoid the storm. They just left Qiao on the dock, letting him enjoy the sea breeze under the curious and wary gazes of the female soldiers around him.

This treatment left Joe completely bewildered. "Wait a minute," he thought, "even if I'm not a formal diplomatic official, they don't have to treat me like this. These Lucias are so incredibly rude!"

Or should I leave?

Standing on the dock, looking at the passenger ship in front of him, this idea flashed through Joe's mind.

After all, according to the Prime Minister, he is now representing the face of Bonitania.

It would be a disgrace to Bonitania to leave them stranded on the docks like this.

But if I just leave like this, what if I send out some wrong signal and end up having to go to Lucia to fill in the gaps?
Looking at the cargo ship in front of him, Joe was now extremely conflicted.

What Joe didn't know was that the woman who had just asked him to stay and wait was also struggling with her own dilemma.

As a woman who had been educated in the Old World, she had always been very dissatisfied with the poverty and backwardness of Lucia, so when anti-Tsarist demonstrations broke out in St. Petersburg, she joined them without hesitation.

Subsequently, with the establishment of the provisional government, women's death camps were formed. Out of love for her country, she also enlisted and kicked the Teutons in the backside on the battlefield.

Then things started to get weird.

First, they were transferred back to St. Petersburg to guard the Winter Palace. Then, Ms. Tanga, who had recruited them, announced a provisional government and gave them a difficult task that could affect Lucia's future. She would only tell them what to do if they agreed to join the mission.

Faced with such a task, they naturally did not refuse. After they all joined the mission, they learned that their task was to secretly move the Tsar's family abroad.

Since the navy is no longer reliable, they have to take the risk of sending the Tsar's family to the Lake Country and then from there to Bonitania.

She didn't quite understand why, now that the Tsar had stepped down, they still needed to send him away.

However, she still carried out the order with the other female soldiers, kicking up some bandits and militiamen who tried to intercept them, and escorted the Tsar's family to the Lake Country.

The royal family of the Lake Kingdom then dispatched a ship without hesitation to take them to Buntania.

Then, after they boarded the ship, they learned that shortly after they left, another revolution broke out in Lucia, and the provisional government was overthrown by the left-wing government.

Almost all the members of the assault battalion and women's death squad who remained in St. Petersburg were killed in action, and the left-wing government issued arrest warrants for them and the Tsar's family.

Now that there was no going back for Lucia, Ms. Tangya, who believed she had always been fighting for Lucia, became despondent. Like any Lucia who felt hopeless about reality, she began to lock herself in her cabin and drink heavily.

As Ms. Tangya began to indulge in a life of debauchery, the women's death squad that had escorted the Tsar also began to drift into confusion.

Although they were traveling with the Tsar, the task was assigned to them by the Provisional Government, which also organized their group. Therefore, while they showed some respect for the Tsar, theoretically, their relationship was more like that of escorts than bodyguards. However, if it was an escort relationship, the Provisional Government had now collapsed, and the new left-wing government was issuing arrest warrants for them. They were now unsure of what to do.

If Ms. Tang Ya doesn't lock herself up and drink heavily, then everyone just needs to follow her instructions.

But now Ms. Tangya only does three things: get up, drink, and sleep, completely giving up commanding the troops.

So now the whole situation has become very strange, and nobody knows what to do.

When asked, Tang Ya only offered drinks to those who came to ask. When asked, the Tsar said, "I have no opinion on the current situation. I have already abdicated. I will listen to you."

As was customary, the woman knocked on Ms. Tang Ya's door first, but there was no response.

Pushing open the door, a strong stench, a mixture of alcohol, sweat, and some other strange smells, hit her. Tang Ya was lying on the bed as usual, sprawled out, with a half-empty bottle of liquor hanging from the floor in her hand.

Clearly, Ms. Tang Ya, who is currently fast asleep, cannot offer her any help. In fact, if Ms. Tang Ya were to appear at a diplomatic event now, it would either damage national dignity or provoke the other side.

Seeing that Ms. Tangya could not offer her any help, the woman went to see the Tsar to inquire about his views on the current situation.

Upon hearing that Bonitania had sent someone to see them, the Tsar and Tsarina's eyes immediately lit up. However, when they learned that the person who came was only a colonel and had no other entourage, they were surprised.

The light in the eyes of the Tsar and Tsarina disappeared. The Tsarina sat in her chair without speaking, while the Tsar casually waved his hand, indicating, "You decide."

Seeing the ball finally kicked back to her, the woman kept a straight face and left the Tsar's cabin.

Although she desperately wanted to scream, the woman told herself, "Elena, you are a noblewoman. You can't give up now. You have to figure out how to get through this."

Just as Elena began to ponder how she could gracefully complete this meeting, her mind raced as she recalled how her parents had handled similar situations in the past.

Elena saw several female soldiers running excitedly to the ship's side, their faces beaming as if they had heard that someone was handing out free food on the street.

"What are you guys doing?!"

Already feeling annoyed, Elena instinctively shouted when she saw the excited female soldiers.

"Sir!"

Although the troops have been in disarray for some time due to the collapse of the provisional government and Ms. Tangya's laxity, the lingering influence of Elena, as a disciplined force, remains.

Upon hearing Elena's question, the female soldiers immediately stood at attention.

"What's going on? Do you guys even look like soldiers anymore?!"

With a stern face, Elena walked up to the female soldiers.

Although they were startled by Elena, the female soldiers were now able to answer her boldly, as military discipline had been lax for some time. Unlike before when they wouldn't dare to breathe when faced with such questioning, they were now able to answer Elena with more courage.

"That's Joe, Joe is on the dock right now!"

"Joe?"

Elena was a little confused. The Britannian officer on the dock, named Joe, did have a few medals, but was it really necessary to have such a thing?
"It's that Joe."

The female soldiers gestured as they explained to Elena.

"That guardian of Paris, Joe Harrison, who led a regiment to drive away 600,000 Teutons!"

It wasn't until then that Elena realized it was Joe. No wonder he looked familiar!
The next second, Elena, who was already conflicted, became even more conflicted. She hadn't put on makeup today, and she was even dressed very casually. She had also been very rude to Joe just now. Would this leave a bad impression on him?

Although Lucia wasn't as well-informed as other parts of the world, it was still a place where someone like Joe could single-handedly defeat a Teutonic army of 600,000.

The Lucias had naturally heard of it; in fact, during the formation of the assault battalion and the women's death camp, Joe was always brought up repeatedly.

Because of these incredible achievements, Joe gained a new group of fans in Lucia without his knowledge.

Overwhelmed with surprise at seeing her idol, who had seemed so distant, suddenly appear before her, Elena realized a possibility.

Is it possible, just a possibility, that Bonitania sent Joe to see the Tsar to prepare an expeditionary force to help His Majesty restore the Tsar's country, since His Majesty the Tsar is, to some extent, a relative of His Majesty George?

Thinking of this, a glimmer of hope welled up in Elena's heart, and she quickly ordered, "Go! Quickly prepare a reception room and bring out all the good things! I'm going to see His Majesty the Tsar again!"

A few minutes later, Joe, who was getting impatient from the wind on the dock, felt that he had wasted his time coming here today and that he might as well just go back to Downing Street and report that the Tsar would not see him.

After all, I'm very busy right now. Besides training the troops, I also have to be involved in the projects I'm working on with Rolls-Royce.

Standing in the cold wind on the dock was completely outside his plans. Besides, even if he went to Buckingham Palace, he wouldn't be left waiting at the door without an appointment. There was really nothing to say about a deposed tsar treating him like this.

Moreover, the female soldiers on the ship who were looking at him as if he were something rare made Joe feel uncomfortable.

Just as Joe was about to turn around and leave, he had only taken two steps when he heard a series of hurried footsteps and a somewhat anxious voice behind him.

"I apologize, Lord Qiao, for keeping you waiting."

Joe turned around and saw that the female lieutenant who had been wearing an ill-fitting military overcoat had now changed into a dress and was running towards him quickly.

Joe stopped and looked at the female lieutenant running towards him. After the female lieutenant stopped in front of him, before she could speak, Joe calmly said.

“I do not hold a noble title, so you don’t need to call me Lord.”

These words caused a fleeting look of embarrassment to cross the female lieutenant's face.

“I apologize, Mr. Joe, for the poor hospitality. The Tsar is ready to see you now.”

Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with standing on the dock in the wind for a while, he was relieved to see that he would soon be able to complete his mission.

Joe nodded to the female lieutenant.

Then he followed the female lieutenant into the cabin.

As soon as Joe entered the cabin, he frowned slightly. Curious female soldiers were watching him from almost every corner. The fact that such a disorganized and undisciplined state could appear in the guards around the Tsar could indeed say something.

But on second thought, Joe realized that it was quite remarkable that even after the Tsar abdicated, he still had such a large guard escorting him to Buntania.

Soon, led by the lieutenant, Joe saw the Tsar, or rather the Tsar's family, in a room that looked like it had been a ballroom before.

Although the Tsar and Tsarina were dressed in magnificent robes and maintained their composure, a hint of anxiety and unease could still be seen on their faces.

Clearly, their experiences during this period had put a lot of pressure on them. In contrast, the two princesses and princes did not show as much anxiety. They only showed some curiosity and impatience, as if they were forced to perform.

Upon meeting, after Joe paid his respects to the Tsar, the Tsar first congratulated Joe on his victory in Paris, and then the conversation naturally turned to the Teutons.

The Tsar asked Joe how he had managed to defend Paris with just one regiment and repel the Teutonic army of 600,000.

Without much thought, Joe told the truth, saying that he was just lucky. The air force happened to discover the Teutonic logistics node, and the Gauls defended it so well that he had the opportunity to hold Paris. Moreover, the Teutonics were not as many as 600,000 as the news said; they probably deployed less than 300,000 troops in the entire campaign.

Even so, I still had a very difficult time playing.

Upon hearing Joe's words, the Tsar showed no displeasure; instead, he raised his glass to toast Joe's honesty.

After Joe raised his glass to the Tsar and took a sip of the liquid in his glass, only to be choked and cough uncontrollably by what he couldn't tell was either wine or industrial alcohol, the Tsar smiled and asked Joe a question.

What are Joe's thoughts on the current situation on the Eastern Front?

Upon hearing the Tsar's words, although the Prime Minister had told Joe before he came that he could say whatever he wanted, Joe felt that he should not give the Tsar the wrong signal.

Joe then stated that he had no opinion on the Eastern Front, as he had never seen a Lucia before today and knew nothing about it, so he had nothing to say.

Upon hearing Joe's words, the Tsar nodded, indicating that he appreciated Joe's honesty. However, there was one thing Joe hadn't told the truth about: he wasn't completely ignorant about the Eastern Front. When he refused to lead a 100,000-strong task force to the Eastern Front, Joe had analyzed that if he led the team there, he would not only have to face attacks from the Teutons but also from the Lusians.

Joe's ability to make this judgment suggests that he is not entirely ignorant about Lucia.

Upon hearing the Tsar's words, alarm bells immediately went off in Joe's mind, and he put down his cup to take his leave.

However, just as Joe put down his cup, the Tsar suddenly spoke to him.

"If you are willing to lead troops to the eastern front and help me restore my country, I can marry my daughter to you. Although a princeship is unlikely, a dukedom is still negotiable."

As the Tsar spoke, he pointed to his daughter.

When the Tsar said this, his daughter and Joe looked at him in shock.

"Your Majesty, you have had too much to drink and need to rest."

Although it was unclear how the Tsar knew about this, Joe immediately stood up from his chair upon hearing the Tsar's words.

"I'll visit you another day."

The Tsar looked at Joe and smiled.

"I know this suggestion is rather sudden, but you still have time; you can take your time to think about it."

After speaking, the Tsar nodded to Elena, who was standing to the side, her face also filled with shock.

“See Mr. Harrison off for me.”

After bowing to the Tsar, Joe immediately fled the reception room as if escaping.

Even in Joe's wildest imagination, he never imagined that the Tsar would make such a suggestion to him.

Although after calming down, Joe felt that the Tsar's proposal was somewhat like trying to get something for nothing.

But...she's a princess, and she is indeed quite beautiful...but this is just getting something for nothing...

"Colonel Joe! Colonel Joe! Please wait!"

It wasn't until they had walked some distance that Joe snapped out of his daze at Elena's calls.

"This is not the way to leave."

"Oh, sorry."

Joe, realizing he had gone the wrong way, smiled apologetically at Elena.

Then, in silence, the two walked towards the disembarkation.

After the Tsar's unexpected proposal, the silence became unbearable for Joe, so he took the initiative to break it.

"You didn't encounter much trouble escorting the Tsar here, did you? I didn't expect that he would still be allowed to retain his guards after his abdication."

Upon hearing Joe's words, Elena turned and glanced at him.

“We are not her guards; we are just ordered to escort him away from Lucia.”

"what?"

(End of this chapter)