Imperial Elite

Chapter 74 We are armored soldiers, born to go to hell.
As the war entered its fifth year, the veterans of 1916 and 1917, who had experienced the bloodshed in the trenches of the Western Front, once again sensed an ominous atmosphere.

As large numbers of new recruits and supplies arrived at the front lines, their meals began to become more luxurious. These veterans, who had experienced brutal battles, knew that a cruel future awaited them.

In fact, intelligence that the Teutons had shifted to a defensive posture on the eastern front and that a large number of their troops were beginning to move to the western front had been delivered to the high-ranking officials of Bunitania and Gaul long ago.

Even without this intelligence, it was an open secret that the Teutons were preparing to shift their main force from the Eastern Front to the Western Front after the Tsar was overthrown and the Provisional Government collapsed.

The only worrying thing is when the Teutons intend to do this.

Originally, with the Teutons preparing to transfer their main forces from the eastern front to the western front, the leaders of both the Buntanian and Gaulish sides were wondering if there was any way to avoid being hit by the Teutons' full force.

After all, the Teutons had already suffered such a devastating defeat when they were fighting on two fronts.

Now that the Teutons have concentrated all their main forces on the western front, it's really hard to say how well they can fight.

But soon the leaders of Bonitania and Gaul painfully discovered that there was nothing they could do anymore.

Given the current situation in Lucia, sending an expeditionary force would not only make it difficult to contain the Teutons on the eastern front, but would also likely draw them into the Lucia civil war.

Now the Lusian left-wing government has been severely damaged by the Teutons, and the military government has begun to besiege the city of world desire. The Teutons have just announced that they have liberated the Cossacks from the brutal rule of the Lusians.

These Cossacks have now established the Republic of Kiev. Although this country does not have a Kiev and is not a republic, it does not prevent them from occupying a large fertile area in western Kiev, which has become a buffer zone between the Teutons and the Lusians.

Sending an expeditionary force to the Eastern Front under these circumstances was certainly not a wise move.

Therefore, launching an offensive on the western front before the Teutons could complete their preparations, disrupting their plans, and defeating them before they were ready, as was the only option in past preventative warfare.

However, after everything that happened in 1917, General Henri, the Lion of Verdun, the defender of Paris, and the commander-in-chief of the Gallic army, felt that launching an attack rashly would not be a wise thing to do.

Even after the Gauls had recovered for more than half a year, with improved supply levels and Henry meeting the soldiers' leave requests, and more importantly, Henry requiring all soldiers on leave to take the route from Le Bourget to Paris, they were able to get leave.

The soldiers were shocked by the devastation in Le Bourget and Paris.

In the past, when the Teutonic artillery bombarded the rear, some soldiers, who had come to the rear on leave, were quite annoyed by the stark contrast between the untouched rear and the front lines, as well as the civilians' complete ignorance of the war. They would mutter under their breath that they hoped the Teutonic bombardment would destroy a couple more houses, so that these guys who didn't know what war was like would experience what life was like on the front lines.

But now, seeing the silent Le Bourget and the ruins of Paris, these soldiers began to feel a sense of guilt for what they had done in their previous mutiny.

This sense of guilt somewhat restored the morale of the Gallic troops; at least for now, no unit would refuse to rotate to the more dangerous trenches for a change of guard.

Meanwhile, the FT light tank, which made its debut in the street fighting of Paris, encountered some difficulties in mass production after six months of production due to the destruction of the Paris industrial area by the Teutons, and the Gauls also made some adjustments to the prototype vehicle after problems were found during testing.

However, the number has barely reached three digits.

Since no one in the Gallic army had any actual command experience with this entirely new equipment, General Henry organized these tanks into two regiments.

One regiment was left to reinforce the defenses around Paris to prevent the Teutons from breaking through again and causing another Battle of Paris, while the other regiment was reinforced in the Verdun direction.

The regiment that remained in Paris was commanded by Jean-Pierre, a former cavalry commander who had distinguished himself in the Battle of Paris, while the other regiment was commanded by Charles André, a former subordinate of General Henry who had been captured by the Teutons at the Battle of Verdun.

If there was anything that brought General Henry any solace amidst the brutal Battle of Paris...

That is, Charles, who was captured at the Battle of Verdun and was presumed dead, successfully escaped during the Battle of Paris and, taking advantage of the chaos in the Champagne region, successfully returned to Gaul.

Although it was somewhat difficult to put the two-meter-tall Charles in an FT tank that was almost as tall as him, officers were scarce at the time, and Charles was very interested in armored forces.

Charles thus became the commander of the Second Gallic Tank Regiment.

Because the Gauls were in poor condition, and the Caucasians at this time were basically a group of rookies who lacked both experience and equipment, the Bonitanes, who were in slightly better condition, did not choose to launch another attack after the Second Battle of the Marne.

Instead, they began to reorganize and reorganize their troops in preparation for a large-scale Teutonic offensive.

So, right after the New Year, Joe and the Guards Armored Training Regiment were deployed to Gaul to continue their adaptive training behind the front lines.

This transfer order made Joe somewhat unhappy. Although the battle before Christmas almost made Joe feel the same pain the Emperor suffered at Waterloo, after resting and avoiding the pressure of large-scale battles, Joe began to feel great.

Unlike the somewhat reserved Catherine, these Lucia women are unrestrained, the kind who are super Lucia, ready to go anytime, anywhere, and get started on the spot.

Just as Joe was unlocking new achievements everywhere, London ordered him to lead troops to Gaul, which made Joe somewhat unhappy.

After all, these Lucia women were real female soldiers with combat experience in the past, but now they are female workers, so they obviously cannot go to Gaul with Joe.

Especially after Elena learned that Joe was going to Gaul, she expressed her strong protest through her actions against Joe's behavior of going to Paris alone without taking her.

While giving Joe a hard bite on the chest, Elena also made him understand why Cossack cavalry were once hailed as one of the best cavalry in the Old World; Elena's horsemanship was truly remarkable.

Fortunately, although Elena and the others couldn't go, Catherine, as Joe's secretary and an unofficial civilian employee in the military, would definitely be going.

There was one thing Joe didn't understand: why did Catherine have such a keen sense of smell in London, a place with terrible air?

After meeting in the office, while tidying up the documents, Catherine suddenly became alert and started sniffing around. Without saying a word, she pushed Joe onto the table, pulled open his collar, and saw the teeth marks on his chest.

Before Joe could figure out how to explain this, Catherine demonstrated to him that the Brittany knights were no less skilled riders.

At that moment, all Joe could do was exclaim, "The free market is truly... wonderful!"

However, the free market wasn't so great either, as Catherine started working two jobs for Joe.

Catherine's work efficiency has dropped considerably, but Joe can understand that.

After all, even clerical work requires physical strength, so the matter of finding another secretary was once again put on the agenda.

Joe originally wanted to find one from among the Lucia female soldiers, since the paperwork wasn't actually that complicated.

However, Catherine strongly opposed this, so the matter was dropped before they set off for Gaul.

Along with the Guards Armored Training Regiment, George's armored brigade also set off. With the support of his financial resources, George's armored brigade had by this time acquired all its equipment and had initially acquired combat capability.

The other two tank battalions, although their personnel had completed training, were still waiting for their equipment to arrive in full.

After all, even with the support of financial power, the factories in Bonitania could not simultaneously meet the needs of the Bonitania Army and the all-consuming American Expeditionary Force.

Just as Joe set off, Constantine also left London with his armored company, preparing to join the military government's siege of Constantinople.

However, before leaving, as Constantine boarded the ship with his troops, Joe gave Constantine an Indomitable light off-road vehicle.

He patted Constantine on the shoulder and told him to be careful on the battlefield and try to survive, as the great battle was almost over.

However, while Constantine thanked Joe, Joe sensed something else in Constantine's smile.

After arriving in France, Joe's life did not change much.

After the troops were stationed near Boway, Joe's job continued to be training the troops every day and communicating with the engineers at the Rolls-Royce factory via email.

With the eight-wheeled chassis project hitting a bottleneck, Rolls-Royce engineers are frantically catching up on the six-wheeled chassis project, which has been restarted, and they expect to be able to produce a prototype chassis for testing in March.

Meanwhile, since there were no suitable diesel engines on the market, and almost all diesel engines were too large to be installed in vehicles, Rolls-Royce decided to develop its own diesel engine that could be used in light vehicles.

Even though he was behind the lines, Joe could feel the atmosphere at the front gradually becoming tense.

The most obvious example is that, even though this place is far from the front line, Joe has seen air battles break out in the airspace here several times.

Joe didn't know whether the Britannian Air Force was intercepting a Teutonic reconnaissance plane or their bombers.

Meanwhile, the Teutonic General Staff was making final preparations for the attack.

While the troops transferred from the eastern front were resting and replenishing, they also had to decide on the main direction of their attack.

Everyone knew this would be their last chance. If they could seize it, they would become military strategists and great men on par with the emperors. Even a thousand years from now, people would still remember that they had once again unified the Old World after the Roman Empire.

But if they fail... I'm afraid there won't be another Lucia suddenly turning against them to help them out of the quagmire of war.

So the Teutonic General Staff pulled out all their resources: newly trained armored hussar companies, stormtroopers accumulated over the past few years, elite armored units, and seasoned infantry divisions.

And there were those terrifying Krupp cannons and the knights who ruled the skies.

This is a powerful force, but the only problem is where they will use these troops.

Verdun was the first to be eliminated; it was too far from Paris and was already heavily fortified.

Then it was a choice between the Somme and Champagne.

Theoretically speaking, if they launched an attack directly from Champagne at this point, they could take Paris in the shortest possible time.

But the defeat in the Battle of Paris last year still haunts me.

Extensive forward reconnaissance by the air force, along with intelligence, has confirmed that Joe's newly expanded regiment is currently near Paris.

Although the Teutonic General Staff prepared not only super-heavy tanks for this battle, but also armored trains and railway guns.

However, the Teutonic General Staff ultimately felt that the problem needed to be analyzed more specifically to find a more reliable solution.

And so two months passed.

As March arrived, following the large-scale troop movements and replenishment of supplies at the start of the new year, both sides remained inactive for an extended period.

Although they knew the Teutons would do something, the troops not stationed on the front lines inevitably became complacent.

Even Joe's armored training regiment is now in a relatively relaxed state, with soldiers and officers allowed short leave to rest at Webb, next to the base, during the day and return to the base before dark.

However, this relaxation caused a minor friction between the Armored Training Regiment and the Citizens Armored Brigade.

The reason for the friction is simple: although both the Armored Training Regiment and the Armored Brigade are equipped with Unyielding off-road vehicles, the Armored Training Regiment regards the Unyielding off-road vehicles as a substitute for armored personnel carriers, so most of the time these vehicles are parked in the warehouse.

Only a small number of vehicles are used by logistics and clerical staff.

However, the armored brigades were clearly different. As long as the vehicles could be driven, the people of the Banner didn't mind driving them around. They could even drive their tanks out under the pretext of adapting to the Gallic roads.

Since tracks and wheels are certainly faster than walking, whenever the Bunitas came to Webo, not only were the bars full, but even the most enthusiastic and open-minded Gallic women were all taken by the Caucasians.

This behavior of taking more than one's share greatly displeased the people of Buntania.

In addition, the people of Buntania have always thought that the Americans’ uninhibitedness is somewhat rustic, while the Americans think that the people of Buntania are too pretentious.

However, due to the fact that in the past, the Britannians could always easily beat the Americans during training, and there was even a saying that one step could defeat five people, the Americans were very unhappy about this situation where they could only shut up if they couldn't beat them.

Now that they've finally seized the opportunity, Citibank certainly won't let it slip away.

This naturally led to some minor frictions between the two sides, much to the annoyance of both sides' gendarmes and the local Gallic police.

Joe was aware of this and had discussed it with George, trying to resolve the issue by prohibiting people from driving themselves and requiring them to use a shuttle bus instead.

However, the effect was not significant. The Americans always managed to come up with various ways to use vehicles from the military for transportation.

Meanwhile, since it was no longer so convenient for the Citizens to travel to Webber, they began harassing the nurses at the field hospital near their base.

This made Joe think it would be better to send them to Webber.

Anyway, on this morning when she hadn't bothered anyone, Joe woke up and started thinking about what to eat for breakfast.

Joe heard the hum of an engine in the sky.

Having been used to this kind of sound during the recent air battle, Joe, carrying a toothbrush and a water glass, went out of the room to see what was happening outside.

Joe looked up and saw an overwhelming expanse of iron crosses in the sky.

The next second, Joe threw down his water glass and toothbrush, rushed back into the bedroom, scooped up Catherine who was lying on the bed, kicked open the door, and ran outside. The sudden commotion left Catherine, still confused about what was happening, waving her little fists and complaining. She wasn't fully awake yet and told Joe not to cause trouble.

But the next second, the sound of an explosion outside the window made Catherine scream and hug Joe tightly.

In the basement of the house, amidst the sounds of explosions, the shaking of the house, and the dust falling from the ceiling, Catherine trembled uncontrollably, as if she had turned on a vibration mode.

The Teutonic bombing came and went quickly. As the explosions subsided, Joe released Catherine, who was still trembling and too weak to stand, and left the basement to inspect the troops' losses.

Although the Teutons who bombed at dawn flew very low, the accuracy of their horizontal bombing and the weight of bombs that the air force could carry meant that the air raid only caused Joe some minor trouble.

Some warehouses storing spare parts and fuel were destroyed, some tanks need repair, and some, whether you call them unlucky or lucky, are now able to receive treatment at the nearest field hospital.

The troops largely retain their combat capability, except that the telephone lines at their base were cut in the recent bombing.

However, the telephone line being cut had little impact, as Joe's regimental headquarters, being a regimental-level unit, had a radio station.

Joe was able to contact his superiors via radio.

Then Joe discovered that, in order to ensure the quality of radio communication, he had set up the radio station in a barn on a nearby hilltop, which served as the highest point in the area.

However, this high vantage point was too conspicuous, so it naturally did not escape the Teutonic bombardment.

However, it wasn't a big deal, since the Guards Armored Training Regiment had Indomitable off-road vehicles. Joe grabbed a messenger and told him to drive to the nearby Expeditionary Force headquarters immediately to see what had happened and what he could do now.

They then began to organize troops and prepare to go to the battlefield.

After the initial chaos, the Guards Armored Training Regiment, composed almost entirely of veterans, quickly completed its combat preparations.

Joe even had time to drive over to the nearby Citizens Expeditionary Force armored brigade to see what was going on with them.

Although the armored brigade of the US Expeditionary Force was composed entirely of new recruits, under George's command they were able to restore order in a short time. However, it would take a little longer for the Guards Armored Training Regiment to complete its combat preparations.

Although the armored brigade of the American Expeditionary Force did not fall into chaos, their radios were also destroyed in the recent air raid.

So now George can only do what Joe did: send a messenger to contact his superiors to see what's going on.

Around noon that day, the messenger brought back the message.

As expected, the Teutons launched a full-scale attack, but what Joe hadn't anticipated was...

The Teutonic offensive was so fierce that in just one morning they had carved a huge breach near Arras, defeating three divisions of the Bunitania expeditionary force. Now the Teutons are marching toward Amiens.

Once the Teutons capture Amiens, they will not only cut off the vital supply lines for the Bunitania expeditionary force, but also sever the most important land transportation links between the expeditionary force and Paris.

However, due to the chaos at the front, even Marshal Haig was unaware of what was happening there.

But the order given to Joe was clear: go to Amiens immediately to stop the Teutons from taking over the area.

Joe was not surprised by the order.

Armored forces are like frontline fire brigades, and Joe, who once passed through Amiens by train, knew how important Amiens was.

However, just like before, before heading to Amiens, Joe left behind a special logistics company to challenge the quartermasters, in case one of the quartermasters was not clear-headed and did not understand what the highest supply priority meant.

At the same time, Joe also left Catherine at Boway.

After all, Joe wouldn't need to handle paperwork anymore if he went any further back.

Catherine was in a panic about Joe's departure, having just experienced a bombing. She didn't want to leave Joe, but she was also afraid to go to the front lines.

It took Joe ten minutes of kinetic calming before things finally calmed down.

Although the distance from Bowen to Amiens is only about 60 kilometers, Joe, not wanting to waste precious motorcycle hours, decided to take a military train to Amiens.

As a battlefield firefighting force, when Joe arrived, there was a military train parked at Boway's train station to quickly transport Joe and his troops to any location on the front line to put out fires.

It didn't take long for Joe to lead his troops to Amiens.

Upon arriving in Amiens, Joe immediately noticed something amiss. As a crucial logistical hub for the Bunitania Expeditionary Force, Amiens was never undefended.

Furthermore, the train station, which was now under military control, left a deep impression on Qiao when he passed through it last time, with its orderly management resembling a factory assembly line.

But now even the train station in Amiens is in chaos. When Joe's First Battalion arrived, it took them two hours to unload the trains and have the military train return to Bowen to bring over the remaining three battalions and one company.

This inefficiency greatly displeased Joe, so after unloading the train, Joe, with his troops, prepared to find the commander in Amiens and ask him to send some people to manage the chaos at the train station, so that even if reinforcements arrived, it would delay their arrival.

But Joe soon discovered that the chaos at Amiens train station was justified.

Because just before Joe arrived, some damn Teutons actually stormed into Amiens.

Although there weren't many people who rushed in, only about a company's worth, their vehicles were fast, and they were maneuvering on unpaved roads.

They stormed into Amiens before the defending forces could react, and the patrols, armed only with rifles, were clearly no match for the Teutons who had machine guns and cannons mounted on their vehicles.

Although these Teutons left after making a quick charge through the city, they unfortunately fired a shot into a window of a building while they were charging through it.

The shell did not cause any serious consequences, except that General Hunter, the commander of the Fourth Army, who was preparing to evacuate, was knocked unconscious by the explosion.

As an army with a complete system, it is not a big deal for a commander to be temporarily offline, as the position can be filled by the company commander.

Unfortunately, the general's chief of staff was waiting for him in his car downstairs when the attack occurred.

Although he miraculously survived the machine gun fire, the chief of staff, who had gone to accompany General Hunter on his sick leave, would be unable to command operations for some time.

Further down the line, the command company should be taken over by the commander of the 6th Infantry Division.

However, at this time the 6th Infantry Division was still on its way from the front to Amiens. The last order the general gave before he fell into a coma was to order the troops that had collapsed under the Teutonic offensive to retreat and regroup.

Faced with this situation, Joe was completely stunned.

Yes, we're the fire brigade, but you didn't say it was a reactor core meltdown.

Damn it, the Teutons accomplished their mission of breaking through the defenses and assassinating their commander in just one morning. Who would believe there wasn't a traitor in that?!
There are bad guys in the military!

Faced with this situation, Joe quickly made a judgment: they absolutely could not stay in Amiens to defend; to withstand the Teutonic attack, they had to launch a counterattack to buy time for the other troops to regroup.

Otherwise, if the Teutons had charged in like that, Amiens would definitely not have been able to hold out.

Although things were in chaos in Amiens, Joe was still able to contact Marshal Hag by phone.

After reporting the current situation to Marshal Haig and stating his judgment, Marshal Haig fell silent.

"You know that the Teutons on the other side have at least one army, right?"

Although Marshal Haig couldn't see it, Joe still nodded.

“I know, but if I don’t go, the Teutons will definitely invade Amiens. Even if they can’t take Amiens, we will definitely not be able to withstand it if they can just cut off the railway for a short time.”

After Joe finished speaking, Marshal Haig paused for a moment.

"What do you need me to do?"

Upon hearing Marshal Hag's words, a smile appeared on Joe's face.

"Quickly send someone to take over command here and rebuild the defenses. I don't know how long I can hold out. You know there's at least a Teutonic army on the other side."

"The new commander is on his way, and..."

After Marshal Haig put down the microphone and said something to the person next to him, he continued speaking to Joe.

"I will send the 1st Tank Regiment and the Guards Fusiliers Regiment to support you... Hold on."

"Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"

After hanging up the phone, Joe immediately began to prioritize his own supplies, requisitioning trucks in Amiens and taking all the ammunition and fuel he could use and carry from the expeditionary force's warehouse.

As darkness fell and the last self-propelled artillery battery finished unloading in Amiens, Joe briefed all the officers at the train station on the current situation.

"Simply put, just like last time, we must face the Teutons, who have an overwhelming numerical advantage, and try to buy them enough time. Otherwise, once they occupy Amiens, everything we've done in the past will be for nothing! Now, who has a question?"

As soon as Joe finished speaking, a captain raised his hand.

"explain."

Joe nodded to the captain.

Where are we going? How long are we going to hold out?

"do not know."

Qiao Yi shrugged.

"The front line has collapsed, and we don't know what's going on there. All we have to do is push forward until we encounter the Teutons, and then just hold our ground."

Upon hearing Joe's words, the captain whistled.

"What a great job! What are we waiting for?! Let's go kick those Teutons' asses!"

The surrounding officers laughed and shouted along with the captain.

Go kick their asses!

Soon after clarifying their objective, the Guards Armored Training Regiment began to advance northward.

Since they didn't know what was ahead, they were trying to avoid running into the Teutonic ranks.

Joe sent out a mechanized infantry company in Unyielding SUVs to scout ahead.

Not long after, the mechanized infantry company encountered a group of infantrymen marching toward Amiens.

The soldiers were disheveled and covered in mud and gunpowder, looking like a group of survivors who had narrowly escaped some kind of event.

Seeing the mechanized infantry advancing behind them, the disheveled infantrymen waved to them, signaling them to stop.

"Don't go any further. That place is full of Teutons. It's no different from hell now."

The mechanized infantrymen sitting in the vehicle pointed to the guard badges and armor badges on their helmets.

"We know we are armored soldiers, born to go to hell."

Seeing the mechanized infantryman who seemed so calm that he didn't look like he was going to the battlefield, the soldier took out a grenade from his waist and handed it to him.

"Take this, you'll need it."

After the infantryman handed over his remaining grenades, the man behind him also took out some useful odds and ends and gave them to the soldiers in the vehicle.

Soon, the mechanized infantry company encountered several more groups of infantry. Compared to the first group of infantry they encountered, these soldiers who were walking behind looked much more disheveled, and some of them even looked like a group of walking corpses.

When these soldiers saw the mechanized infantry advancing towards the front lines, they all showed surprise on their faces, seemingly not understanding why anyone would be heading there at this time.

Further ahead, when the mechanized infantry saw a group of panting Teutonic soldiers appear in front of their vehicle headlights, the battle broke out.

(End of this chapter)