Imperial Elite

Chapter 79 The Most Dangerous Man in the Old World

As the Teutonic offensive in Amiens began to falter.

Joe was finally able to give the armored forces a short rest.

After several back-and-forth runs on the front lines and firefighting efforts in Amiens, even though the crew members could still hold on, the tanks were basically at their limits and needed maintenance.

In fact, due to the Teutonic offensive, Joe now has an additional batch of Royal Fist tanks equipped with Hound tank turrets and Hound tanks equipped with Royal Fist tank turrets.

Although tanks inevitably suffer losses in urban warfare, Joe's armored forces were able to control the battlefield for most of the time, so most of the tanks destroyed by the Teutons could be towed back to see if they were still worth repairing.

Given the intense fighting situation at the front, in order to restore the tanks' combat effectiveness as quickly as possible, and considering that the turret rings of the two types of tanks are basically the same and many parts are interchangeable, the logistics personnel directly adopted the method of direct replacement to quickly repair these tanks.

With all this cobbling together, Joe was finally able to maintain the structure of the armored forces.

However, even those tanks that were never destroyed are now in very bad condition. They can start successfully every day, and the engine doesn't shut off before returning to camp. The clutch can also be engaged normally. When the drivers get out, they wish they could give the tank a good thrashing.

If they still had the strength to climb out of the car by themselves at that time.

Because the Teutonic offensive was relentless, the armored soldiers often had no time to return to base for resupply, except when replenishing fuel and ammunition.

Especially after the Teutons devised Molotov cocktails for anti-tank purposes, the already tense urban warfare, which had the armored forces on edge, became even more intense.

Although most of the buildings in Amiens had collapsed, this did not stop the Teutons and Buntanians from fighting over every inch of land in these ruins. Even a cast-iron bathtub on a high building would be fought over repeatedly by soldiers from both sides because of its commanding position and bulletproof properties.

In this battle where several companies could die over a bathtub, no one knew which Teutonist had come up with the brilliant idea of ​​the Molotov cocktail.

Simply ignite a bottle filled with gasoline and shredded rubber, attach a tinder cap to the bottle opening, and throw it behind the tank. The burning liquid will drip down the tank's cooling grille onto the engine. The high temperature will melt the pipes, burn out the bearings, and thus disable the tank.

Even if it's not thrown behind the tank, but rather onto the tank turret or in front of the tank, the burning liquid can still interfere with the crew's ability to operate the vehicle. The burning liquid that seeps into the vehicle can even force the crew to abandon it.

Such an efficient attack method has only one problem.

That requires a brave warrior to slip through the infantry surrounding the tank and throw the Molotov cocktail onto it.

Fortunately, the Teutonic Army may lack many supplies, but what they have in abundance are brave men who dare to approach the tanks and throw Molotov cocktails at them.

The fear that a Teutonic soldier wielding a Molotov cocktail might suddenly appear from the ruins and throw it at them kept all the crew members on edge after entering the war zone.

In addition, after one attack, a battle group may have to fight in several places in succession to drive those fanatical Teutons back.

Therefore, when the crew returned to the rear, most of the crew members were exhausted and fell asleep right near the tank after leaving the vehicle. Some even fell asleep inside the tank.

Even though the environment inside the tank was not suitable for human habitation, the fleas and bedbugs could not wake them from their sleep.

Even General Rawlinson, who commanded the Battle of Amiens, admitted that Joe's armored forces played a crucial role in containing the Teutonic forces in Amiens, so he approved Joe's withdrawal and rest.

However, just as Joe had withdrawn the armored forces to the rear to rest, Marshal Haig made a phone call to Joe's office.

"Report to the Expeditionary Force Headquarters in Montreux immediately, right now!"

Since the marshal had given the order, Joe naturally could not refuse.

Fortunately, although the Guards Panzer Training Regiment had almost lost all of its Unyielding off-road vehicles, the railway to Amiens had not been cut off by the Teutons, and they could still reach Montreux by taking a little risk.

Although the Teutons were unable to cut the railway line, they never gave up their attacks on it.

Therefore, for safety reasons, Joe brought along a squad of mechanized infantry to prevent any accidents while traveling by train.

Of course, given Joe's rank, he would be able to travel on an Army Air Force plane if summoned by the Commander-in-Chief.

However, considering that the air environment was more dangerous than the ground, Joe decided to take the military train.

With his high-level access, Joe quickly booked the military train he would be taking, a train that carried both passengers and cargo.

They were responsible for transporting new recruits and supplies to Amiens, and then transporting wounded soldiers and equipment that needed repair, such as destroyed artillery, to Calais.

Because the war is still ongoing, even though Joe, as a temporary colonel, should theoretically have his own compartment, the railway department, after trying its best to coordinate, could only provide Joe with an extra ordinary passenger car compartment.

Having a carriage is something that makes it hard to say whether the railway has improved or reduced its own benefits.

After receiving the railway's arrangements, Joe figured he was going to go with about ten people anyway, and he would go with even more people.

Why not take a few more people there to relax, as a little treat for your hardworking subordinates?

After all, according to Joe's understanding of the rear, the farther away from the front line, the better the environment, the more food, and the more relaxed one can be.

So, with the idea that going alone or in a group was the same, and that everyone had worked hard for so long, Joe took the medal application list submitted by his subordinates before setting off and selected another group of meritorious soldiers to go to Montreux with him.

Just as Joe led a large group of people onto the train, he was unaware that someone had already set their sights on it.

As one of the first units in the Teutonic Army to undergo mechanization, Holtz's armored hussar company was considered one of the elite units in the Teutonic Army.

Although under the leadership of Company Commander Hans, they did not do anything in the Battle of Amiens like they did in Paris, such as planting a flag on the Eiffel Tower, which would have prompted the General Staff to issue a batch of First-Class Iron Crosses in one go.

However, the fact that this unit was able to enter and exit Amiens several times, and even launch a surprise attack from behind the Bunitanian troops after the vanguard arrived in Amiens, assisting the main force in entering the city, made the Teutonic commander remember this unit.

However, as the General Staff shifted its focus to Paris, the commander began to feel the pressure.

However, as a typical Teutonic commander who received military training from a young age, this general was prepared to cause the Bunitanias some more trouble.

So the general set his sights on the railway that was transporting supplies to Amiens every day.

Given that the previous artillery barrage and bombing had not been very effective, the Gallic railway workers were able to quickly complete the repairs to the railway.

The general was no longer willing to continue this ineffective operation. Instead, he planned to send an elite commando team to hijack a train, derail it, and use the train itself to block the railway.

Faced with those carriages weighing tons, the Gallic railway workers surely wouldn't be able to complete the cleaning in a short time, would they?
To accomplish this mission, the troops sent out must be elite enough. So, who is the most elite commando team in the Amiens Group?
So, unsurprisingly, the task fell to Holz's armored hussar company.

Holz didn't have any particular thoughts after hearing about the mission.

Although he had never done anything like hijacking a train, Holtz didn't mind gaining some new life experiences.

But when, as planned, the friendly forces opened a gap in the Bunitarian defenses to let them through, Holz discovered that Company Commander Hans had gotten lost again!
He and most of his company have now lost contact with Hans.

But things have already come to this point, so even if Hans disappeared, or even if two Hans appeared in front of him, he still had to do it.

Holtz, who had taken over command, led his troops to the planned hijacking point, ready to take action.

Meanwhile, Joe had already led the meritorious soldiers and the wounded soldiers waiting to be transferred to the rear onto the train.

If it were any other officer, leading a large group of seemingly able-bodied soldiers onto the train at this moment, people would definitely make snide remarks if they saw it.

But when they saw that the people on the platform were Joe and other armored soldiers, the wounded soldiers greeted Joe warmly.

After all, when they were defending Amiens, they had seen Joe lead armored units in counterattacks when they were being routed by the Teutons.

After waving to the wounded soldiers, Joe boarded the train and laid down three rules with the veterans he had brought along to relax: first, they could drink, but not get drunk; second, they couldn't provoke the military police or fight with other troops; and finally, if they needed to find people in special professions in Gaul, they had to go in groups and be mindful of the time.

Because Joe didn't know why Marshal Haig had summoned him there, or how long he would have to stay.

So Joe made a deal with them: whatever they did there, except to avoid trouble, they had to meet at the train station they arrived at four hours after they arrived.

Faced with such relaxed discipline, the soldiers immediately began to praise Joko as a kind and considerate man!

Then the soldiers in the carriage began to exchange information, trying to find out from the rumors that they were going to go there or which girl they were looking for.

The train, which had just departed, suddenly began to slow down, which puzzled Joe.

After all, they've only just left Amiens, and even if the train broke down, it shouldn't have happened here.

So Joe immediately sent a soldier to the front of the vehicle to see what was going on.

However, shortly after the soldier left, as soon as the car stopped, Joe heard gunshots outside.

"Enemy attack! Prepare to fight!"

Joe immediately drew the revolver that had been with him for a long time. If it weren't for the fact that drawing the marshal's sword in the carriage might accidentally injure his own men, Joe would have even drawn the sword.

Meanwhile, a Citibank reporter, huddled in the wounded soldiers' carriage, was pulling out his camera from his luggage with trembling hands, preparing to take pictures.

The Citibank reporter initially thought he was incredibly unlucky.

According to the original plan, he was supposed to take the train to Paris to report on how the American Expeditionary Force defended Paris. However, he was attacked by the Teutonic Air Force just as he arrived in Amiens and was waiting to change trains at the station.

After a burst of gunfire, he and his three companions fell on the platform. Except for him, who was lucky enough to still be breathing, the other three were buried in Gaul.

After spending a few days in the hospital, he was allowed to be sent back to Calais with the wounded soldiers and then return to Buntania.

This reporter was extremely frustrated by the experience of having to leave before even having done anything or taken a single photo.

After all, he had traveled for half a month by ship to the Old World, not just to go back like this.

So when gunshots rang out outside the car, the reporter, thinking that since he was already there, this might be the only time he could get some news, immediately took out his camera and, while everyone else was lying down away from the windows, he took the initiative to lean against the window and start taking pictures.

Then the reporter looked outside and immediately became excited; a group of Teutons were attacking the train.

Although the reporter was also on the train, it didn't stop him from snapping photos of the Teutonics. And when gunshots rang out on the train, the reporter became even more excited.

After all, seeing the Teutons was just to have photos to report back to the newspaper office, but the sound of gunfire on the train meant that someone was fighting back, and there's more to the story here!
There are stories and photos! It was worth the trip.

Then the reporter, from the best vantage point on the train, witnessed a train battle that was far more thrilling than any Western movie.

The Teutons wanted to board the train, but the Buntanians guarding the train wouldn't let them on, or even let them get close to the train.

As the two sides reached a stalemate, armored vehicles guarding the railway line quickly arrived, and the Teutons began to retreat. As the Teutons retreated, the guards on the vehicles also rushed off.

At this moment, the reporter saw a colonel, who was holding a gun in his left hand and a sword in his right, like a pirate from a legend, personally leading the charge.

The reporter thought the colonel was incredibly handsome and took many photos of him.

With the Teutons who attacked the railway driven out, the trains soon resumed their journey, and the reporter who had just taken many photos took out his pen and began to sit on the bed and write his article.

However, while writing the article, the reporter felt that he had seen the colonel somewhere before.

After the reporter was taken to Calais and then took a boat back to Buntania to meet up with the other staff members stationed in Buntania, the reporter didn't go to the hospital for treatment. Instead, he handed his manuscript to the editor, saying, "Quick! Review it! This is definitely interesting!"

While the editor reviewed the manuscript, the reporter also rushed into the darkroom and personally developed the photos.

As a professional journalist, despite the injury, the reporter's hand remained steady, and the photos taken were all very clear.

In his photos, you can even see the Teutons charging at the train, and the colonel who looks fierce, wielding two guns and swords.

The reporter selected a few photos that he thought were good and handed them to the editor to use as illustrations for his news articles.

Upon seeing these photos, the editor chuckled and said, "Who was attacked and managed to fight back? Isn't that Old Joe?"
What? You're asking who Old Joe is? Immortal Old Joe, the defender of Paris, the war hero of Brittany—you don't even recognize this person? What kind of news are you making?

It's good that you sent me the photos first. This article still needs to be revised, otherwise readers won't like it. Do you have any other photos of the Teutons? Don't choose close-ups, choose photos where there are many of them. For Old Joe's photo, choose the one that looks like he's leading the charge alone.

By the way, the title should be "The Most Dangerous Man in the Old World"—that title is sure to go viral! Go to the hospital and get treatment; just wait to win the prize money this time. With this photo, you might even have a chance at the Pulitzer Prize.

At this moment, Joe had no idea how the Citizens reporters were planning to fabricate stories about him. Right now, Joe was in Marshal Haig's command post, looking at the map in front of him with a headache alongside Marshal Haig.

The cause of the headache is also very simple.

With the Teutons going all-in on Paris, even with the support of the Americans, the Gauls are now struggling to hold on. They hope Marshal Haig can lend them a hand immediately.

Marshal Haig was at a loss, facing the Gauls who were fighting the Second Battle of Paris.

In 1914, the Buntanian Expeditionary Force fought on the Marne River near Paris. In 1917, the Buntanian Expeditionary Force's Paris Task Force fought in Paris. Now it's 1918, and the Gauls' Paris is in danger again.

After so many years of war and so much money spent, what have the Gauls been doing?

Although they had a lot of grievances against the Gauls, given the current situation, they had no choice but to help them out.

But the problem is how to pull it.

The US has deployed 400,000 troops in Paris, and they are now retreating steadily. Clearly, this is no longer a time when simply assembling another Paris fighting group can solve the problem.

Even if the force were larger, they would still encounter the same problem as before when they only sent a Paris battle group: an overly long supply line would overwhelm the expeditionary force's logistics.

Therefore, Marshal Haig was prepared to continue using the strategy that the Buntanian Expeditionary Force had been using since the Teutons launched the Battle of Verdun in 1916: if the Teutons attacked Paris, they would attack from the Somme!
However, there is a small problem here: as the war has progressed, they have already fought two battles on the Somme.

The results of the two battles were similar: both sides left a trail of corpses in the Somme region, but the battle lines remained largely unchanged.

The only time there was a major shift in the battle lines was when Joe fought in the Somme, in addition to his performances in Paris and Amiens.

Although Joe's rank would normally be too low to participate in this level of meeting, as the person in Bonitania who understands armored warfare best, Joe would definitely be the armored spearhead of this offensive, paving a path for the expeditionary force to advance.

So Joe was also summoned to the command post by Hague to participate in the formulation of this counterattack plan.

In fact, before Joe arrived, Marshal Haig, the General Staff of the Expeditionary Force, and the General Staff on the mainland had already studied several plans.

The two most important options are to launch a counterattack from Amiens, recapture Saint-Quentin, and then flank the Teutonic Paris group.

If the Gauls could cooperate with them to launch a pincer attack, they would create an unprecedentedly large encirclement, annihilating all of the Teutons' main field forces in one fell swoop, leaving the Teutons without any soldiers to fight.

However, this was extremely difficult. When the battle began, they not only had to quickly defeat the Teutonic battle group that was attacking Amiens, but also immediately launch an attack on the Teutonic army's main force.

Joe was stunned when he heard about this ambitious plan.

Just looking at the ambitious advance distance on the map, Joe felt that they should at least deploy an army-level armored group to have any chance of completing this plan.

Sending his exhausted crew and tanks that are already on the verge of major repairs to carry out this mission is impossible unless his best friend can send him a powerful weapon like the Emperor Venom Blade through a dream.

Since flank attacks on the Teutonic Parisian group were impossible, Marshal Haig had another plan: to attack the Teutonics' flank from the low-lying countries occupied by them along the coastline, delivering a left hook to the Teutons.

The Teutonic forces in this direction are relatively weak, and launching an attack from here could almost immediately halt the Teutonic offensive against Amiens.

However, it would be difficult to provide support to the Gauls who were desperately defending Paris, unless José could quickly break through the Low Countries and bring the war to the Teutonic homeland.

This route not only has a considerable attack range, but also has a huge obstacle blocking their way.

The Hindenburg Line, which the Teutons had built over many years, was located at the end of this route of advance. Only by breaking through this line could they bring the war to the Teutonic homeland. This was no easy route either.

Looking at these two routes, Joe raised his head and looked at Marshal Hag, speechless with a thousand words to say.

Neither of these two paths is easy, but among the many counterattack options, this is currently the most reliable one.

After some thought, Joe said that he preferred to launch an attack along the coastline rather than attack the Teutonic army.

However, Joe also described the current state of his troops. He couldn't say they were in high spirits; they were simply exhausted, especially with the heavy consumption of technical equipment. The entire task force was in dire need of replenishment.

Marshal Haig said that Joe need not worry about troop replenishment. While the cabinet was studying the plan, all the replenishment of supplies and equipment was already being prepared. A batch of Hound tanks is currently unloading in Calais and will soon be able to replenish Joe's troops.

Seeing that this was a good opportunity to make exorbitant demands, Joe immediately continued to make his requests without any hesitation.

Joe suggested that there are many canals connecting the Low Countries and the Teutonic Kingdom, so in this case, could the invincible home fleet provide some support?

We don't expect to be able to get a battleship or something similar, but getting some destroyers or something like that wouldn't be too much to ask, right?
After all, even the smallest pipe on a naval warship is larger than the pipe on a tank.

Marshal Haig responded to Joe's suggestion that while he couldn't make the decision, it wasn't something that couldn't be studied.

Finally, Joe stated that the biggest problem with delivering such a left hook to the Teutons was that the troops were currently suffering heavy losses. Therefore, Joe hoped that the troops could rest for at least a week while they replenished their equipment. Furthermore, since both regiments had been decimated, Joe needed more troops to bolster the offensive.

At the same time, in order for the armored forces to advance quickly enough to break through the Teutonic defenses and penetrate deep into their territory before the Teutons could react.

So Joe needed trucks, a lot of trucks, to transport the infantry who were assisting them in the operation, as well as supplies for the armored forces.

Of course, once they reach the canal zone, they can also solve this problem by sea.

Marshal Haig agreed to most of Joe's proposals, but the rest period was limited to three days, and Joe's task force was about to leave Amiens for Dunkirk to prepare for the offensive.

In order to complete this offensive, the cabinet promoted Joe's rank again. At the same time as Joe received the temporary rank of Major General, Field Marshal Haig also handed over command of the Second Panzer Regiment and the newly formed Third Panzer Regiment.

In this offensive, Joe not only had almost all of the armored forces of Britannia under his command, but also the Guard Division, composed of the Guard Fusiliers Regiment and the Cold Creek Guard Regiment, was also handed over to Joe's command.

Marshal Haig gave Joe only one task: to break through the Teutonic defenses for the Bunitania Expeditionary Force, and then push as far as possible; the rest was up to Joe.

Although the plan has been roughly finalized, an offensive of this scale will certainly require a lot of staff work, as well as tons of reports and plans.

After all, the timing and location of each unit's attack need to be planned in advance. Especially once Joe starts his charge, it's necessary to coordinate which units will follow up with his attack to prevent Joe's assault on the defensive line from turning into a trap.

Faced with this seemingly endless paperwork, Joe felt a wave of dizziness. Although he had the help of the regimental staff, the staff at the regimental level was clearly not enough to handle this scale of work. Joe could only quickly ask Catherine for help.

Catherine, who hadn't seen Joe for some time, was still very worried about Joe's condition, despite reading in the newspapers about the bravery of the troops fighting on the front lines. The truckloads of wounded soldiers being brought back from the front, and the terrible conditions they described, made her extremely concerned.

Especially after seeing the local newspaper's reprint on page six praising Joe's bravery in single-handedly launching a counterattack against a group of Teutons attacking a train, he was quite frightened by the news and began to wonder if the war had deteriorated to such an extent that even Joe, as the commander of a tank regiment, had to launch an attack on foot with his sword.

So when Catherine saw Joe at the train station, she immediately looked him up and down carefully. She was relieved to find that Joe was just a little unkempt and had a long beard, but no freckles or sores on his body.

Then, as Joe drove, Catherine's anxiety subsided and she became excited to see Joe again, and with Joe perfectly fine, her hands began to wander.

At first, Catherine Joe wanted to refuse him because they were on the street and she had a lot of work to do.

However, as Catherine lowered her head and began to drain souls, Joe, who was under a lot of pressure, immediately drove the car into a side alley and began to resolutely use his Harden ability to deal with Catherine's soul drain and Death Coil.

Finally, after a considerable amount of time had passed, an exhausted Joe drove to Marshal Hag's headquarters with Catherine, who was also unsteady on her feet and had sprayed some perfume on her clothes.

Faced with the pile of documents in front of her, Catherine looked at Joe, then at the pile of documents, and seemed to understand why Joe had suddenly shaken her over.

After glaring fiercely at Joe and spitting out "You promised me you'd hire a few more secretaries" through gritted teeth, he rolled up his sleeves and began working on the documents.

Faced with a mountain of documents, Joe felt that even if he had another Catherine, it still wouldn't be enough, but Joe couldn't find a suitable secretary right now.

Although Joe had considered asking Elena and the others for help, he quickly abandoned the idea after a brief thought. After all, the most important thing for a transactional secretary is to understand the procedures of the Bonitania bureaucracy.

The group of Lucias were clearly unfamiliar with this, and if they were called over, Catherine would likely not only be unable to help, but would also have to spend time teaching them how to do it, making her even busier than before.

To ease Catherine's burden, Joe could only roll up his sleeves and continue with the advisory and clerical work.

After three hellish days, Joe finally helped Marshal Haig complete these hellish paperwork tasks. After finishing the work, Joe and Catherine rushed back to their assigned room, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep without doing anything.

While Joan was asleep, George had been suffering from insomnia for several days in Paris.

As commanders of the expeditionary armored forces, George, like Joe, was tasked with being a fire brigade, moving around wherever needed during defensive battles.

However, with the Teutons having committed almost all of their mobile forces to Paris, George faced unprecedented pressure.

Almost every few minutes, the defenders would report an emergency, requiring armored units to launch a counterattack.

With the defensive line retreating to the south of Paris, it has now become very difficult for armored forces to launch a counterattack.

Both sides focused all their efforts on the twenty-odd bridges over the Seine River. It would be difficult for the Teutons to break through, but it wouldn't be easy for George to do the same.

In addition, the Teutons found some boats on the north bank of the Seneca River and tried to build pontoon bridges to cross the river from time to time. This kept George and his armored troops busy running around, and they were also wondering how George had managed to hold the line. This urban warfare was just too difficult.

(End of this chapter)