Imperial Elite

Chapter 173 An Unpleasant Christmas
Overall, Old Joe had a pretty good impression of the Italians.

After all, back in the days when Wagner recruited globally, Joe had recruited a number of elite Italian mountain infantry.

These elite Italian infantrymen were hardworking and had excellent tactical skills, which made Old Joe fully understand why the Emperor had specifically recruited skirmish troops from here—firstly, because these guys were incredibly accurate shooters.

And the food these guys make actually tastes pretty good.

Of course, there was a slight disagreement between the Italians and the Gauls regarding food.

Italians believe that many of the world-famous dishes that the Gauls consider to be world-renowned were copied from them.

It's understandable that people would try to make a little bit of whatever tastes good. But it's unbearable when people learn something from another country and then claim it as their own traditional cuisine. If they weren't outmatched, the Italians would have declared war on Gaul long ago for the sake of truth and justice.

Of course, they did declare war on Gaul afterward, but the entire Italian army couldn't defeat more than a dozen Gallic infantry divisions, which also confirms from another perspective that good food is indeed only for the strong.

Originally, Italy had virtually no place in Old Joe's strategic plan because of the Teutonic Kingdom in between.

After all, the Mediterranean is basically Bonitania's territory, but even though Bonitania has joined NATO, it does not allow Old Joe to interfere with the command of the navy.

Therefore, Old Joe basically treated Italy as a nobody.

However, after Old Joe launched Operation Vulture, as NATO forces began to roam the Alps, they not only came into contact with the local Balkan people who were dissatisfied with Lucia rule, but also entered Italian territory for some reason.

Then the reports from the front-line troops made Old Joe realize that there were quite a few differences between the Italians he knew and the Italians he knew.

Their fighting ability, while not bad, was simply too low.

In several encounters, these Italians either retreated en masse and launched a rearward charge, or raised their hands to show their love of peace.

This clearly demonstrates the superiority of the Teutons, who would fight to the last man even when surrounded.

Old Joe also discovered that although Italy had created the world's first far-right government, its leader, Benito, did not have the same charisma as a head of state, capable of inspiring youth members to crawl under tanks with bombs.

Not only did they lack such appeal, but there were also left-wing guerrillas in Italy who used the most radical means to resist Benito's rule.

After getting to know them a little, Old Joe found that Italy was really interesting.

In the industrial areas to the north, left-wing guerrillas sang "Goodbye, Girl" while carrying rifles and fighting against their leaders, while on the islands to the south, conservative gangs opposed their leaders.

This vibrant scene of life and everything thriving made Old Joe think that since Italy was such an easy target, perhaps he should do something about it.

For example, they could open up another battlefield to deplete the Teutonic forces. In any case, fighting across the entire Alpine region and supporting the Italian guerrillas wouldn't consume much of their own resources.

These guerrilla groups were able to cause a lot of trouble for the Italians, and even bring the Teutons to the forefront, just as they had done in the Northern Dark Continent.

It just so happens that it's winter now, not a suitable time to launch a large-scale military operation, but a very suitable time to start causing sabotage.

So Old Joe sent his special envoy to Italy to see if the left-wing guerrillas and southern gangs were willing to cooperate with him and cause trouble for that leader.

In response, Old Joe was willing to provide limited military support in addition to equipment and training.

With Joe's activities becoming increasingly active, the Führer did not have a happy winter.

Although Holtz, in the name of the Armed Guard, presented the Führer with a fortress-like mansion called Eagle's Nest, located in the Alps, this did not improve the Führer's mood.

The head of state declared a state of general mobilization and began to expand the scale of conscription. He even recruited many volunteers from other countries, just like Wagner, to form the Viking Division, an armed guard.

However, the defeat in the Northern Campaign forced the Führer to begin preparing to form the Northern Army Corps. At the same time, Old Joe's forces ventured into the Alps and began guerrilla warfare against him, which made the Führer even more distressed.

Although this action did not completely cut off the oil supply between the Teutonic and Lucia military governments, it did effectively affect the efficiency of the oil supply.

At the same time, although a high-pressure stance was maintained domestically and propaganda consistently claimed that the Teutons had won again, the brief fall of Vienna and the flames of war in the south were things that the propaganda minister could not conceal, no matter how eloquently he spoke.

Even after the Germanic events, the Führer had thoroughly purged the Imperialist faction, or rather, under the pretext that these people were trying to destroy the Teutons, the Führer had stuffed all dissidents into concentration camps.

However, as the war reached a stalemate, the Führer began to feel that resistance forces and groups were emerging within the country.

This made the leader begin to doubt whether he could truly trust the National Defense Forces.

Therefore, in this year's budget, the head of state once again increased investment in the armed guard, preparing to continue supporting the expansion of the armed guard.

At the same time, in order to increase manpower, the Führer ordered the Wehrmacht to recruit soldiers from Poland and Germany, and prepared to incorporate some Polish and German troops into the Wehrmacht's command structure.

Meanwhile, the more reliable Teutonic lads will serve in the Armed Guard.

As for what the Polish Germans think, that's not important. The Polish Germans now only have one choice: to follow him to the bitter end.

During the internal adjustments, the Führer's hatred for Old Joe intensified. If it weren't for Old Joe, he would have already seized Bohemia. Not only would Poland and the East have been occupied by the People's Revolutionary Union, but the flames of war would have already spread to the territory of the People's Revolutionary Union.

In the past, the Führer would have wanted to defeat Old Joe on the battlefield, and then, just as he had done during the march on the Rhine, use this victory to proclaim the superiority of the Teutons.

But now the Führer only wants to get rid of this troublesome Joe. So after the Christmas banquet, the Führer summoned his confidants and told them that Joe had become a major obstacle on the Empire's path forward, so they had to find a way to get rid of him.

The head of state's confidants looked at each other in bewilderment at his proposal.

After all, almost everyone had been dealt with by Joe, and everyone wanted to get rid of him, but this matter was somewhat difficult.

After a brief silence, Holtz asked in a low voice, "Your Excellency, do you mean... assassinate him?"

"Assassination, assassination, any method will do, you guys think of a way!"

Faced with the leader's order, the confidants began brainstorming.

Ultimately, after a brief discussion, the Führer's confidants unanimously agreed that there were essentially only two ways to deal with Old Joe: either, after discovering Old Joe's location, have the Air Force conduct another carpet bombing raid.

Solve his problems with a terrifying bombing raid by the Teutonic Air Force, or...

Should we hire a female agent to poison Joe? After all, everyone in the world knows that Joe is a bit loose-lipped, so if we create an opportunity and send a beautiful woman loyal to the Führer to poison him, wouldn't that also be a chance?
After thinking it over for a moment, the leader said that both methods were good and that they should start preparations immediately.

Then, just a second before the meeting adjourned, the Führer suddenly asked Holz a question.

"What has the late emperor been doing lately?"

What the late emperor has been doing lately is a taboo question in Teutonic society since the Germanic events.

Although the royalists did not directly use the late emperor's name during the rebellion, what they planned to do after seizing power was something even a three-year-old could understand.

Therefore, while purging royalists, organizations such as Abbeywell also sent agents to monitor the exiled emperor.

If the late emperor had not still wielded immense influence while having lost the ability to intervene in the Teutonic situation, the Führer would have already taken a final solution against him.

However, now that the Führer feels that there seems to be a problem with his rule, he thinks that it might not be a good thing to leave such a person who has a huge influence on the Teutonic Kingdom in exile abroad.

Seeing the leader's cold gaze, the confidants were stunned for a while before someone whispered, "Since the start of the war, the late emperor has been living in seclusion, refusing to see any guests."

"Seclusion, seclusion is good!"

The head of state stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the huge decorative flag in the hall.

"The international situation is so dangerous now. It would be too dangerous for both the late emperor and us to let him continue to live in exile. Let's rescind the exile sentence and let him return home."

The leader turned to look at his trusted confidant.

"We must properly settle the late emperor and give him the treatment befitting royalty. I think Eagle's Nest would be a good place. What do you all think?"

Faced with the head of state's seemingly questioning tone, but which contained no real inquiry, everyone nodded in agreement, indicating that they should indeed welcome back the late emperor.

Like the president's Christmas, Old Joe's Christmas was not very good either.

The women were very unhappy with Old Joe's decision to send the kids to Citibank.

Especially as he grew older, and because Old Joe had not updated his guards, they were no longer the same as before, able to run around with him.

This made the women even more dissatisfied with Old Joe.

Why not take them out? They say it's for their safety, but actually they just think they're too old.

Although Old Joe hasn't updated his guards or secretariat, who knows what he's thinking?

So the atmosphere at the Christmas dinner was anything but festive; instead, it was rather somber. This oppressive atmosphere made Old Joe, who had just returned from Bohemia, feel that he might as well spend the holiday with the young men instead of going home.

At least the young men will raise their eggnog and wish themselves a happy holiday.

Fortunately, not everyone treated Joe coldly. Joe's legal wife, who was younger than him, did not turn him away like the others after the dinner party. Instead, she pulled Joe, who had not returned for more than a year, into the room.

In the middle of the night, Old Joe, sitting on the toilet, lit the cigarette he was holding in his mouth with slightly trembling hands.

As he exhaled a puff of smoke, Old Joe looked up at the ceiling... Sigh... Time waits for no one... How did I end up like this?

Just as Old Joe was reminiscing about the past, there was a knock on the door in front of him.

"Joe, are you alright? You've been inside for a while now, and I can smell smoke in your mouth."

Hearing the knocking, Old Joe raised his hand and rubbed his temples.

Sigh... These are all mistakes I made when I was young. Even the Teutons aren't as difficult as them.

Although I was already thinking of giving up, a man can't say no.

So the next day, when Old Joe opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling, he was glad that he had survived.

But when Old Joe struggled to sit up in bed and saw his wife wearing a sexy nightgown and his mother-in-law, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Um, can we have breakfast first?"

Two days later, as Old Joe boarded the command post bound for Bohemia, he felt that nothing in the world could possibly be more difficult for him.

Is there anything in the world more difficult to manage than my own terrible family?!

Back in Bohemia, Old Joe was seething with anger. At this time and in this place, who was the best person for him to vent his frustrations from home?

Old Joe turned his gaze to the Teutons, thinking that he naturally had to have a good talk with the Führer. If it weren't for the trouble he was causing, would he be in this situation?
However, Old Joe doesn't really have any good methods to directly attack the Teutons right now. After all, he did everything he could before Christmas, and now he can only do some minor skirmishes at most...

As Old Joe was looking at the map, at the permanently neutral country on it, he suddenly had a brilliant idea.

As is well known, the Teutonic Emperor has been hiding in a permanently neutral country ever since he abdicated.

Although he abdicated, the emperor still wielded considerable influence over the Teutons. He even stepped in to help the Teutons through two economic crises, and there was a royalist rebellion in the Teutons before the war.

In that case, could I invite the Emperor to visit NATO?
Even if the emperor doesn't say anything, the mere fact that he's visiting NATO is enough to send a serious political signal.

However, there is a small problem here: after the emperor arrived in the permanently neutral country, he hired a mountain guard.

These mountain guards are arguably the most professional mercenaries in the world; even the Pope employs them as security personnel.

Historically, this guard, with only 42 men, fought to the death against thousands of enemies, resolutely upholding the contract to protect the Pope.

It is an extremely professional and dedicated team.

(End of this chapter)