Imperial Elite

Chapter 72 Killing that Lucia

As the year drew to a close in the latter half of 1917, Joe became increasingly happy, to the point that he always had a smile on his face.

It seems that Joe's bad luck ran out after the Battle of Paris, and everything has been going smoothly since he returned to London.

The organization and training of the troops went very smoothly, and the tank units have initially formed combat capability.

Like other units with the title of Guards, Joe's Guards Armored Training Regiment was not replenished with new recruits who had just completed their training in the recruit camp, but with veterans drawn from other units.

Of course, since other armored units also suffered heavy losses in the Second Battle of the Somme, there were not many experienced armored troops to be added, and most of them came from engineers and cavalry units.

Or rather, the vast majority of them came from cavalry units. As cavalry units continued to shrink, the War Department found that having cavalrymen stationed in trenches was far less beneficial than having them drive tanks.

As a result, a large number of well-trained, or rather, experienced cavalrymen who had been trained before the war were added to the armored training regiments.

This greatly shortened the training cycle of the armored training regiment.

Meanwhile, the Hound Tank also completed its first upgrade, although Joe's idea was to increase the Hound Tank's armor so that it could withstand more than just small arms attacks.

However, after calculating the armor thickness required for the Hound tank to withstand even a single 77mm cannon shot, Joe abandoned the plan.

After all, excessively heavy armor not only increases protection but also the load and failure rate of the engine and suspension system.

Ultimately, the Hound Tank only received a gearbox upgrade. After the gearbox was replaced, the Hound Tank's off-road speed finally reached 21 kilometers per hour, although the armor remained the same.

However, Joe was already very satisfied with this faster Hound Tank.

However, Joe still doesn't have a better solution than the lighting system for the time being to address the problem of ineffective command during battle.

At this point in time, although radios already existed, they were all enormous and intimidating devices. In an era before even civilian radios and broadcasts existed, it was impossible to fit those oversized radio systems into a car.

Of course, this also made Joe smell the scent of wealth again. In the future, after the war ends, he can increase investment in the radio field, make some radio stations and radios and sell them, and he will definitely be able to make a fortune.

As for the Teutonic super-heavy tank with two cannons that looked intimidating in the intelligence report, Joe felt there was no need to worry too much about it; its own failure rate would solve the problem for him.

While Joe was satisfied with the Hound tank's modifications, Captain George of the American Expeditionary Force harbored deep resentment that this faster tank couldn't be given additional armor.

Perhaps it was because after being defeated by Qiao Yi in a seventeen-on-one battle, he was then continuously beaten by the Guards Armored Instructor's men during the exercise.

Captain George felt that tanks should have the thickest armor and the most powerful guns, and that mobility was basically fine, since even mechanized infantry that used trucks for simulated training couldn't run very fast in the mud.

However, Constantine, a trainee from the Lucia military government, has a completely different view on this point.

As part of an agreement with the Luzanian military government, the government sent a company of cavalry officers to Bunitania for armored training and to prepare for the delivery of tanks.

As a formidable figure who had enlisted as a cavalryman in 1914, had fought against the Teutons on the Eastern Front, and was currently wreaking havoc on the Sultanate before arriving here, earning three St. George Crosses, the commander of this unit, Constantine, with his rich combat experience, completely disagreed with Captain George's opinion.

After receiving training with Royal Fist and Hound tanks, Constantine believed that the best approach would be to mix tanks with high mobility with those with heavy firepower and thick armor.

Let the heavy tanks tackle the tough challenges, while the faster light tanks are responsible for harassing the flanks and tearing apart the enemy's lines.

Constantine and George frequently argued about this clash of ideas.

Constantine, who was only allowed to receive the Royal Fist MK-5 tanks according to the agreement, was very envious of the fast and slender Hound tanks.

George, on the other hand, has always believed that it would be even better if the Royal Fist MK-5 could bring back those canceled weapons.

Joe had absolutely no intention of getting involved in this debate.

They simply subjected the two men to fair beatings during training.

This led the two officers, one from the United States and the other from the Lucia military government, to agree that Professor Joe was a bad guy.

Besides the military, Joe's younger siblings also got along well with the orphans of his comrades who had been adopted by Joe.

It's even a bit too good.

Although Joe had warned them beforehand not to put the woman's sack on their head.

As Joe's status rose, he began to have countless ways to put this woman in a miserable situation without him showing his face.

All it takes is a hint to her employer to get a paid journalist to publish some baseless rumors in the newspaper, and that would be enough to ruin the woman's life.

But Joe's younger siblings and the orphans did it anyway.

On a rainy night, they put the woman's sack inside, then hung her upside down on a street lamp.

These guys' plan went very smoothly and was executed flawlessly. The only minor flaw was that they hadn't found out that their operation would take place right downstairs from the local police chief's house.

To cause such a scene downstairs at the bureau chief's house is not just slapping the woman's backside, but slapping the bureau chief in the face.

Local police quickly focused their attention on these self-proclaimed best bastards from the Bunitania Party. Fortunately, Joe is not the same Joe he used to be.

Joe now has many friends, including one of the aristocratic gentlemen who has expanded into the Special Logistics Company and has a special relationship with the York police force.

So the matter ultimately ended with Joe taking two days off to return to York.

This trip to York also made Joe feel that these guys had an excessive amount of energy. If it weren't for the dangers of being a soldier, Joe would have liked to send them to military academy so they could be exposed to some discipline.

But now, all Joe can do is pull out his belt and let these guys get a bit of a violent vibe.

Besides a harmonious family life, Joe's career as a capitalist was also thriving.

By manufacturing hardware parts for in-vehicle communication systems and other tank-related projects, Joe made a fortune.

However, Joe wasn't always so happy; the armored personnel carrier project, based on a heavy off-road vehicle chassis, didn't go so smoothly.

Although CEO Joe was able to pull out some strange and unusual designs from his crotch to push the project forward, the sheer number of new designs and technical solutions plunged the eight-wheeled armored vehicle project into development hell.

As a result, Joe had to swallow his pride and go to Winston, saying that although the eight-wheeled plan was progressing slowly, it would be a great pity to give up. This plan could be converted to civilian use in the future and would not be a complete waste. However, for the needs of the war, we should simultaneously develop a simpler six-wheeled plan to meet the needs of the war.

Winston originally intended to refuse Joe's suggestion.

Because the cabinet was not interested in Joe's armored personnel carrier plan, especially since Joe's plans were consuming valuable aircraft engines, even though Joe promised to replace these expensive aircraft engines with diesel engines once a suitable oil extraction machine was found.

However, the cabinet never believed that these "Joe's big toys" were of any use.

It wasn't until Joe dragged Winston to Rolls-Royce's testing grounds and used the chassis of that half-finished, half-finished eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier to tow a six-inch cannon and a group of engineers, taking Winston for a lap and a half through the muddy testing grounds, that Winston's opinion of this "Joe's big toy" changed.

As a colonial empire, Bonitania has always faced the problem of how to effectively establish transportation and governance across its vast territory.

Although Buntania has gained control of the sea, the situation on land is no less complex than that at sea.

So often, the people of Buntania face a dilemma: if they don't build roads, their goods can't be transported out, and their own goods can't be sold in. But building roads... that's no small amount of money. Although Buntania has plenty of gold and silver, it can't afford to spend it like that.

The large number of colonies awaiting infrastructure construction has become a major headache for the Bonitania government.

But Joe's eight-wheeled truck with off-road capabilities gave Winston a new idea: road repairs are expensive, but trucks are cheap.

The local governors might not be able to raise the money to build roads in those colonies and would have to ask London for funding, but surely they could afford to buy cars?
If these cars can be put into production, then let the governors buy some cars first to get the logistics running. When we make money in the future, we can build roads and railways. That way, we won't need to allocate funds from London.
Winston selectively ignored the promising financial prospects. On the second lap, the prototype's engine overheated and the gearbox caught fire. Joe dragged him off the car and onto the muddy ground. The staff who rushed to put out the fire were clearly not dealing with this kind of thing for the first time.

While trudging through the mud, Winston approved Joe's plan to add a six-wheeled variant, and instructed Joe not to give up if he couldn't develop an eight-wheeled armored vehicle, but to turn it into an off-road truck and adopt a diesel engine as soon as possible, as this thing was much more useful than an armored vehicle.

Of course, the setback in the heavy-duty off-road vehicle chassis project does not mean that the other light-duty off-road vehicle project has encountered obstacles. In fact, this project uses a lot of mature technologies, and even the chassis and body are readily available.

When Joe brought Winston to experience the eight-wheeled off-road vehicle, Rolls-Royce had already completed ten of these vehicles, which were named "Indomitable".

Before Winston could even wipe the mud off his shoes by the roadside, Joe dragged him into an Indomitable SUV.

Besides trying to persuade Winston to agree to the six-wheeled vehicle project, Joe brought Winston here for another reason: to convince Winston to place an order for this "Unyielding" off-road vehicle.

Replace the Ford Model T currently assigned to officers and other units that require light vehicles with this more reliable and capable off-road vehicle.

Winston was initially very unhappy with Joe's clandestine approach to developing new vehicle projects. During wartime, resources were extremely scarce and should not be wasted on such projects.

Winston was even more dissatisfied after hearing that this light off-road vehicle also used an aircraft engine.

From the start of the "Bloody March" to the air campaign in Paris, the Army Air Forces suffered heavy losses in both personnel and equipment.

Especially with the United States' entry into the war, those American pilots who brought nothing but clothes now need to purchase a large number of aircraft, which makes the already strained production of aircraft engines even more scarce.

At this point in time, Joe actually used his precious aircraft engine to rig the officers' car.

Winston's volatile temper meant that even when facing Joe, he was preparing to berate him for wasting resources.

Then, Winston saw Joe skillfully reverse the car and come to an eighteen-pound cannon, attach the cannon, and start speeding around the test range.

Qiao didn't care about the muddy puddles or the waterlogged pits; he just stepped on the gas and drove right through them.

After dragging the eighteen-pound cannon, Joe had his staff hang everything they could on the back of the vehicle, from the Gallic mobile kitchen to the carriages filled with cannonball-like objects, and even a carriage full of engineers, all of which were dragged around the field.

Seemingly not satisfied with the demonstration, after circling the field twice, Joe stopped the car and had the engineers install a heavy machine gun in the back seat. He then invited Winston to try firing while moving and spraying bullets as they took a lap.

Although Winston refused Joe's suggestion that he fire a heavy machine gun into the distance from a speeding car.

However, the Unyielding SUV clearly piqued Winston's interest.

If this were just an officer's vehicle, Winston wouldn't have been interested in it, but after the vehicle demonstrated its formidable off-road and towing capabilities...

Winston became interested in the little car.

After all, although fierce trench warfare was taking place on the front lines, the transportation of supplies and the towing of heavy equipment had always been a headache.

Even now, the expeditionary force has millions of horses in service on the Old World, and in the past three years, the expeditionary force has consumed tens of millions of horses.

The cost of these horses was astronomical, and according to the quartermaster's investigation, most of the horses died because they were not properly cared for.

Although he knew about this, even though Winston was the Minister of War, he couldn't blame the soldiers on the front lines, because they were already living very hard lives and simply didn't have the extra energy to take care of these precious animals.

Therefore, if such vehicles can replace horses that are useful for any purpose and can be placed anywhere, then it would not be a bad thing.

Apart from……

"Can this thing be made without an aircraft engine?"

After getting out of the car, Winston walked around it, looking it over inside and out, and then asked Joe a question.

"The production capacity of aircraft is also very tight right now. If you can replace the aircraft engine with another engine, then I think the Army would be interested in this thing. I can also organize a test. And what is the price of this thing?"

Upon hearing Winston's request, Joe scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I can only promise that we will find a replacement diesel engine as soon as possible. As for the price..."

Joe announced a number that made Winston's eyes widen.

"Your thing doesn't even have armor, how come it's almost like an armored vehicle?!"

Joe gave an awkward smile.

"There's no way around it, the engine and off-road system are too expensive, but if production volume increases later, we should be able to reduce the price a bit."

Winston was clearly very conflicted as he watched this little vehicle that could tow field guns and all sorts of strange things around.

Then Winston thought that instead of agonizing over this himself, he should get the War Department and the Cabinet to grapple with it together. So when Joe demonstrated the Unyielding light off-road vehicle again, both the Cabinet and the War Department were caught in the same dilemma.

A versatile vehicle capable of handling heavy-duty tasks would be extremely attractive to the Cabinet and the War Department.

However, the price of such a vehicle, and the need to use aircraft engines until a replacement engine is found, made it difficult for the Cabinet and the Army to make this decision.

So after a brief consultation, the officials in the War Department came up with a "brilliant" idea.

Since Joe's armored personnel carrier hasn't been completed yet, let's make do with this small vehicle for now and let the Guards Armored Training Regiment test it out to see how well it works.

Then didn't Citibank also invest in the armored personnel carrier project?

Joe, go and try to persuade them again, see if you can get Citibank to place an order for this project.

George had only one word for Mr. Joe's new toy: "Buy!"

How could anything Teacher Qiao makes be wrong?
Constantine, who could only drive the Royal Fist and couldn't even touch the Hound Tank, was extremely envious of the wealthy and powerful George.

Especially for a vehicle that can traverse even muddy terrain with ease, Constantine felt it was perfect for his hometown.

He even once considered pooling his money with the Lucia students to buy a vehicle to transport back with the tank.

But after Joe told them the price of this light off-road vehicle, Constantine immediately said that it wasn't really that suitable for the environment in his hometown.

Despite some minor hiccups, Joe had a wonderful time in the second half of 1917. Not only was he able to go home for Christmas, but he also received his most desired Christmas gift two months before Christmas.

Because the Tsar had no money and the already collapsed provisional government was unable to pay their salaries, the women's death squad planned to disband before Christmas and then have to fend for themselves.

Even before the disbandment was announced, some members discovered that their families had already fled to Buntania and left the Women's Death Company.

Although they have been disbanded and will no longer carry out their previous missions, these female soldiers still have a problem that urgently needs to be solved.

That is, after they abandoned their mission, they could not stay here any longer since they did not have visas to begin with, and had no choice but to leave.

Lucia is now also caught in the crossfire, so where should they go? That is the question.

Just when they were feeling lost, Joe offered them an option, or rather, a job. They didn't have to go to war or leave Bonitania. They only needed to do some simple assembly work to survive in Bonitania.

Although this job would have been considered an insult in the past, now that they have prepared for the worst, the factory job doesn't seem so bad to them.

Of course, before actually accepting the job, these female soldiers also had doubts. Joe, who suddenly appeared in front of them and offered them this option, which was not the best but not the worst, might have some ulterior motives towards them.

After all, as daughters of nobles and small capitalists, they had witnessed firsthand the fates of the beautiful female workers and serfs in their homes or on their farms.

Then the female soldiers discovered that the situation was not quite what they had imagined.

First of all, the working environment that Joe provided for them seemed to be slightly different from the factory working environment they knew. When did the factory become so bright and clean?
Secondly, when did factory benefits become so good? An eight-hour workday with weekends off—does such a job actually exist?
And although the dormitories Joe provided for them were not as good as their old homes, they were still much better than the conditions in the military camp and on the battlefield and on the ship.

After a brief period of adjustment, some of the female soldiers began to wonder if they should try to contact their families and bring them back from the chaos in Lucia.

After all, although life here can't compare to that of his own estate, at least he doesn't have to worry about ending up on a streetlamp or at a shooting range the next day.

Some female soldiers began to wonder if they should try to develop a relationship with Old Joe that went beyond friendship, since their hair had grown out and they were quite pretty, and Old Joe wasn't bad-looking either, so they should try to make their lives easier.

Elena, who was previously the second-in-command in the company, was a typical example of someone who held the second idea.

Because of her familiarity with Joe, and because she was originally in charge of these female soldiers, Joe continued to let Alina manage them after recruiting them.

In addition to renting a separate apartment for Elina, they also provided her with a car.

Of course, as a manager, one must take responsibility for management.

In addition to controlling the factory's production and procurement, Elena would take the train every weekend to report to Joe on the factory's production and personnel situation for the week.

Elena cherishes this job very much.

After all, before Joe intervened, some of the female soldiers were already discussing whether or not to pursue that ancient traditional profession. Customs officials offered some of them a pound per session in exchange for a moment's rest.

It was only out of their aristocratic pride that they did not accept the offer and instead sought other solutions.

So every weekend Elena would arrive in London early and wait for Joe to get off work outside the barracks.

Because of the nature of Joe's job, he often had to work overtime, and Joe's overtime meant that Catherine would also have to work overtime, which is how Elena met Catherine.

As for this slutty woman named Lucia who came to report to Joe every week, Catherine held her nose up and whispered in Gaulish terms to Elena about her personal moral character and appearance on their first meeting.

However, as someone born into a noble family, Elena, like most Lucia nobles, could understand some Gaulish, especially the swear words.

Elena, who understood what Catherine was saying, glanced at Joe and realized that Joe hadn't understood what Catherine was saying at all. He even asked Catherine in confusion why she suddenly spoke Gaulish.

Elena, without hesitation, retaliated against Catherine in Gaul.

For a moment, Elena and Catherine were smiling and interacting as if they were best friends who hadn't seen each other for years, leaving Joe completely bewildered and marveling at how small the world is.

Elena and Catherine have expelled each other from the community several times.

However, Catherine had the advantage of being close to the source, which made Joe very happy in the second half of the year.

Elena, on the other hand, felt that she hadn't originally intended to do so, but since he had scolded her like that, she had to take some concrete action.

Unfortunately, due to Catherine's position as her secretary and Catherine's strict surveillance, Elena, who only came to report on her work each week, had not yet had the opportunity to seize the chance.

Until this Christmas, because Catherine's family lived in London, Joe gave Catherine leave so she could go home for Christmas and visit the female soldiers.

Just as Joe thought, no one could resist this kind of soft marketing. They put several photos of female soldiers wearing stockings assembling blades in the newspaper ads, designed the logo to feature long legs in black stockings, and printed "smooth as silk" on the boxes.

These double-layer blades instantly became a case of supply falling short of demand in the market.

Joe even began to consider whether to hire more female workers to expand production capacity, or to wait and see, since there were several governments in Lucia now, and it looked like a civil war was about to break out.

Instead of hiring local Bunitania women now, he should wait until the civil war starts and then continue to recruit the noblewomen who have escaped.

After all, even with this kind of soft marketing, problems will arise if quality control is not strict.

When the train arrived at the station, Joe walked out of the station to hail a taxi, only to find Elena waiting for him outside.

Not having to take a taxi is certainly a good thing, but today, Elena, wrapped in a leather jacket and wearing black stockings, looks particularly stunning, and it seems she's even wearing makeup.

This puzzled Joe, but after Elena explained that it was part of her preparations for Christmas, Joe understood.

After all, it's perfectly normal for women to wear makeup during holidays.

Soon Joe arrived at his factory. After inspecting the factory, he found that the female soldiers were maintaining it very well. He then gave bonuses to the female soldiers who were working overtime on the last day before the holiday and wished them a Merry Christmas.

Joe was taken to Elena's office, where she said she needed to report on the accounts.

Joe originally felt that since the business had only been operating for two months and it was just before Christmas, there was absolutely no need for this.

It wasn't until Elena closed the door that she opened the leather jacket she was wearing on Joe.

Beneath the leather jacket was a red satin ribbon forming a key protective belt.

"you……"

Before Joe could recover from the shock of the Red and White Battle and begin to organize his thoughts, Elena walked up to him, took his hand, and tore off the red ribbon tied into a bow.

"Merry Christmas! Do you like this gift?"

Just as the key defenses crumbled and were about to inflict core damage, a scream suddenly rang out outside Elena's door.

A female soldier stood outside the door, looking at Joe and Elena in surprise.

"Looks like I've come at the wrong time..."

Just as the female soldier, with an awkward yet polite smile on her face, was about to close the door...

Elena rushed to the door like a cheetah and dragged the female soldier into the office.

"No, you came just in time."

Just when Qiao was having a great time, Erich's life wasn't so pleasant.

Before reaching St. Petersburg, Ehrlich's offensive was like a hot knife through butter, easily shattering the defenses of the Russian left-wing government.

Even in the first week of the attack on St. Petersburg, Ehrlich, who had acquired the new toy of half-track armored vehicles, was able to easily break through the defenses of the Russian left-wing government.

Because the Lucias lacked, or rather, had no effective anti-armor weapons, Ehrlich found the same thrill in these half-tracks that Joe had given them when he dominated them in Paris.

Especially after replicating Joe's tactics in Paris and using a battle group composed of half-tracks and other armored vehicles to provide close-range fire support for the Storm Commandos.

Ehrlich quickly achieved an effective breakthrough in the defenses of the Lucia left-wing government.

The only things that could stop Ehrlich's advance were the bridges over the canal and the Lucia naval warships that were hiding in the canal and waging guerrilla warfare.

After destroying the naval fortress, the war navy originally intended to send warships to destroy the Baltic Fleet's last resistance.

However, what they did not expect was that the Baltic fleet, which had retreated into the canal, seemed to have no intention of coming out, and had densely packed the mouth of the Neva River with mines.

After sinking a destroyer, they discovered that the sheer number of mines was impossible to clear, they couldn't get in, and the Baltic Fleet couldn't get out either. Moreover, their artillery support had hit friendly forces several times.

The navy then began its return voyage, leaving the remaining tasks to the Teutonic army.

Then this siege, which was originally thought to be over quickly, began to become long and bloody, just like the great war itself.

When Erich attempted to break through and divide the besieged Lucias using Joe's script from the Battle of Paris, the Lucias began to employ the tactics of the Teutons in Paris.

They began night raids on the Teutons in an attempt to recapture the positions they had taken during the day.

Moreover, in hand-to-hand combat, these Lucias were far more difficult to deal with than the Gauls.

The Teutons had to kill every Lucia in order to capture a position, and the next day they would face even more Lucia.

Although the Teutons were able to adapt to this bloody fighting, the snipers lying in ambush in the ruins of buildings caused them great distress.

These snipers would appear like cockroaches, ambushing the Teutons from any possible location.

Officers were their favorite targets; on one occasion, the Crown Prince was almost assassinated by a Lucia sniper while inspecting a military hospital.

The captured Lucia sniper was not even as tall as his rifle, and several Teutonic officer identification tags were found on his person.

Although the sniper was ordered to be hanged almost immediately, this did not affect the morale of the Lucia.

Instead, more snipers began appearing behind the Teutons, attacking officers and logistics personnel or any Teutons they could see. Judging from the supplies found on these bodies, these snipers had never intended to return alive in the first place.

With the war at this point, all the Teutons involved in the siege of St. Petersburg believed one thing.

That means they can take over St. Petersburg, but before that, they need to kill every Lucia in the city.

(End of this chapter)