Imperial Elite

Chapter 68, 067: Teacher Qiao is really bad!

Although the last time there was good relations between Bonitania and Lucia was more than a hundred years ago, when the Emperor and his old guard swept across the Old World, knocking down countless crowns and almost conquering the entire Old World.

Ever since the emperor was exiled to the island to live out his days, the contradictions between Buntania and Lucia as a maritime power and a land power have been fully exposed.

As an island nation isolated from the Old World, Bonitania's national policy is to absolutely not allow the emergence of a powerful force on the Old World that can effectively unify and control it, as that would be a nightmare for Bonitania.

For a land-based power like Russia, the goal of their successive Tsars has always been the same: more land, and even more land. If possible, they would like the entire Old World to be their farmland.

Therefore, this fundamental contradiction led to almost endless competition and friction between Bunitania and Lucia in various corners of the Old World and the Middle East for more than a hundred years before the rise of the Teutonic Kingdom.

Several times, just as Lucia was about to fulfill their long-cherished wish and seize the city that the world desired, it was the Bunitania-organized coalition that pushed Lucia back.

But now, with the collapse of the Provisional Government of Lucia, the rise of the Left Government, and the rise of various warlords and rebels, seeing Lucia shattered, the officials of the Bonitania wartime cabinet and the upper and lower houses of parliament are not happy.

If Lucia had disintegrated after the war, they would have at least opened a few bottles of champagne to celebrate. God love Nitania.

However, if Lucia were to completely disintegrate and descend into civil war, unable to keep its million-strong Teutonic army firmly tied to the eastern front, it would be nothing short of devastating news for Bunitania, which had fought two Somme battles in two years, and Gaul, which had just finished the Battle of Paris.

So the assembled officials in Parliament began to ponder how to ensure that Lucia could continue to fulfill his role and keep the million-strong Teutonic army engaged on the Eastern Front.

Even if those Lucias were no match for the Teutons, as long as they could keep the Teutonic army of a million men tied down on the eastern front, it would be a great victory.

Some people think that the supplies to Russia should be increased. Isn't the reason they can't hold on because they lack food and supplies? By vouching for Russia and getting the United States to increase its supplies, even if it doesn't provide bread for every Russian, it can shut up the picky city dwellers and irritable soldiers.

Others felt they should support the military government established by the original Third Army of Lucia. Since they had not withdrawn from the war, they should be allowed to continue fulfilling their obligations, given equipment and supplies, and allowed to draw the Teutons' attention.

One unnamed Minister of War even suggested that if Joe could hold Paris with a regimental-sized task force, then if we organized an expeditionary force of about 100,000 men for Joe to fight in Lucia, wouldn't that draw the Teutons' attention to the eastern front?

For a time, opinions were divided within the cabinet, and even the wartime cabinet was quite interested in the suggestion that Old Joe lead a task force to Lucia to fight the Teutons.

However, since the military plan proposed by the unnamed Minister of Munitions last time was really unreliable, and since the cabinet ministers had a good impression of the hardworking and undemanding Old Joe, they wanted to hear Joe's opinion on the plan.

He then summoned Joe to 10 Downing Street, wanting to discuss the feasibility of the plan with Joe.

At 10 Downing Street, George was stunned when the Prime Minister asked for his opinion on the plan.

No, do you have some misunderstanding about me that leads to unrealistic expectations?

I am Joe, not Joe Joe. I don't have a Stand user, I don't have Star Platinum, and I don't have 20 brothers scattered all over the world.

I almost died from the Teutonic gas when I led a combat group to defend Paris. The battle lasted for half a month, and even with the addition of two infantry battalions, the losses of the troops exceeded half.

Now you're giving me 100,000 men to fight the Teutonic army of a million on the Eastern Front? Why don't you just let me go straight to the moon?

Even if I were willing to go to Lucia, how would I deliver supplies to those 100,000 people? How should I handle my relationship with the Lucia?

How many forces have declared the establishment of a nation now?

Sending me to the Eastern Front would mean facing not only the Teutons but also the Lucias. It would be a lose-lose situation, pleasing neither side. You should find someone else to do it.

Faced with the impossibility of repeated construction and the impossibility of consolidation, which was tantamount to a chaotic order, the wartime cabinet members, including the Prime Minister, had no choice but to abandon the plan to deploy 100,000 troops to the eastern front and continue to draw the million-strong Teutonic army to the eastern front.

Of course, having met with the Prime Minister, Joe naturally didn't miss the opportunity to promote his armored personnel carrier plan.

Although Sir Cumming of the Overseas Intelligence Service had provided intelligence that the Teutons had developed armored personnel carriers, the old men of the War Office clearly had a different opinion from Joe.

Faced with the Teutonics' new toy, the old men in the War Department still felt that even if the infantrymen rode in armored vehicles, they would still be infantrymen, and their combat effectiveness would not be significantly improved. Now that the cavalrymen were fighting on horseback, what extra benefit did these vehicle-mounted infantrymen provide?
Unlike these obviously fragile armored vehicles, look at the Teutonic Knights' new tank—it's tall and imposing, even has two gun barrels! It looks incredibly powerful! So why don't you research a new tank that can counter these super-heavy armored vehicles? We can approve that project for you right away!

Joe felt that talking to the stubborn, unyielding Army Ministry staff was a waste of time, so he thought he might be able to persuade the Prime Minister to put some pressure on the Army Ministry.
Even if we don't talk about large-scale procurement, at least let me initiate a project, a small-scale procurement and equipment verification, give me some chance.

However, regarding armored personnel carriers, most members of the wartime cabinet, including the Prime Minister, shared the same view as the War Department: these vehicles do not directly enhance combat effectiveness and are merely flashy but impractical toys; it would be better to use the production capacity to build tanks.

However, as a group at the top of the Bunitania bureaucracy, the ministers of the wartime cabinet were clearly much more capable than those in the Ministry of War.

Although he rejected Joe's idea of ​​initiating an armored personnel carrier project and at least conducting small-scale production for equipment testing.

However, Quartermaster General Winston reminded Joe that although we don’t really want to equip ourselves with armored personnel carriers right now for some technical reasons, why don’t you go and talk to the Americans?
These Citizens are foolish and rich. The Army is dumping all the unwanted stuff on the front lines at clearance prices to them.

And don't let their arrogant and haughty demeanor fool you; they're actually terrified of joining the battle right now. If you use the new equipment to fool them, you're sure to succeed.

Since the Minister of Munitions has said so, the Prime Minister and other ministers have also indicated that as long as Joe can persuade the Americans to fund the project, it wouldn't be a problem for them to approve it and then put on a joint research label.

Citibank is funding this, and Steve Jobs is providing the credit. There's no risk for the three of us, so let's do it this way!

Seeing that the wartime cabinet had made such a statement, Joe, who had no way to get better terms, could only try to deceive the Americans.

Joe originally didn't want to deal with these American people, but the situation during their first meeting was so terrible that Joe felt like an animal in a zoo being watched.

So, theoretically, Joe was the chief instructor of 8,000 armored troops in Brittany and should fulfill his allied obligations to train the American armored forces.

However, Joe still used the excuse that he needed to attend officer promotion training for the time being to pass the task of training the American armored forces to his subordinates, and told them to start by learning how to drive without running over their own men in infantry-tank coordination.

When I have some free time, I'll open another armored tactics class to train the American soldiers and their newly promoted subordinates in armored tactics.

Of course, there's free time here; in Joe's timeline, it's basically until the war ends.

If Joe didn't particularly like the arrogant American man named George and John, then he could only say he disliked Douglas, who would insist on taking a photo with him upon meeting him and then shake his hand to express his admiration.

Joe really didn't want to deal with the American army, which had such peculiar characteristics. As for teaching armored tactics, well, the training ground was right next door; if you wanted to learn, go see for yourself.

Previously, Joe was indifferent to Citibank employees, but now that he has a project, as a former engineer, he naturally changed his attitude.

There was no way around it; back when Qiao was just an ordinary engineer, when he was pushing for trial production and equipment testing and prototyping, he developed an adaptable face that could switch between "I already sent the email! If you don't cooperate, you'll be fully responsible for the project delays!" and "Thank you for your hard work, Mr./Ms. X. Here, have some water. I'll treat you to dinner sometime."

So Joe changed his previous demeanor, which was like saying "The user you are looking for is not in service area," and started appearing on the training ground to observe the Citizens' troops training.

With Joe's appearance on the training field, the situation naturally changed a little.

After all, as the currently recognized master of armored vehicles, whether it was his dissatisfaction with Joe's previous indifference or his desire to show Joe that the American troops were also a spirited force and give Joe a little shock of a new world.

These Citizens all looked very energetic.

However, no matter how energetic these Citizens appeared, Joe simply smiled and remained silent, occasionally shaking his head slightly.

He looked at the US armored forces training with an expression that seemed to say, "Kid, you may be silly, but Daddy loves you."

Joe's expression naturally displeased Captain George, who was training the armored forces. The hot-tempered captain approached Joe and said, "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't stay here being sarcastic and silent."

Faced with Captain George's dissatisfaction, Joe smiled; this was exactly what he had been waiting for.

Joe smiled and said, "Your offense is weak, your mobility is poor, your formation is loose, your reactions are slow, and not a single movement is decent! You think you can go to the battlefield with this?"

This sparked public outrage.

Although Joe had a considerable number of fans in the Citizens' military due to the media's past praise of him.

After all, who wouldn't want to be like Joe, with a regiment fighting like a Teutonic army of 600,000, and even if they lacked guides, they would have a beautiful woman like 'Rose' to lead the way? This is simply the ultimate American fantasy, and just thinking about it makes these American officers feel incredibly good.

But now that their idol had made such a critical comment about them, the American officers immediately jumped up and demanded that Joe apologize for insulting the honor of the American military.

Even the Britannian officers nearby felt that Joe's evaluation was a bit excessive. These American soldiers had already trained very hard, but seeing the American officers swarming around as if they wanted to do something to Joe still made them uneasy.

The Britannian officers rushed in front of Joe immediately, blocking the American officers. After all, it was Old Joe. If Old Joe said you couldn't do it, you should just listen. What were you trying to do by surrounding him like this?!

Looking at the excited American officers, Joe felt a little regretful, thinking that what he had just said was indeed a bit too much. However, this reaction also made Joe feel that his plan was already half successful.

Facing the agitated American officers before him, Joe calmly waved his hand to signal them to calm down, and said to them, especially Captain George, whose face was full of displeasure, "I know you don't agree with what I'm saying, and coincidentally, I don't agree with your fighting capabilities either, so let's solve this like men."

Joe raised his right thumb and pointed to himself.

"I can take on all of you by myself with just one crew."

These words immediately caused an uproar in the training field.

The Citizens officers thought, "Damn it, Joe, how dare you look down on us! You wait, we'll beat the crap out of you!"
The Britannian officers, on the other hand, wondered if Old Joe had gotten up in the wrong way or eaten something wrong. Old Joe had never been so arrogant before. What was going on?

Although the Citizens' light armored company only has seventeen tanks, isn't it a bit too much for one to take on seventeen? Even if you are the immortal Joe, this is still a bit excessive.
Then, as the American officers angrily jumped into their tanks, the Britannian officers whispered among themselves, wondering what was wrong with Joe today. This behavior was so unlike him.

Of course, Joe couldn't say that he was beating them up first in order to sell armored personnel carriers to the United States, given his subordinates' concern.

So Joe simply stated that he couldn't tolerate their clumsy performance and wanted to teach them a lesson.

One against seventeen, with both sides using the same equipment, is almost an impossible feat from any perspective.

So even the taciturn Herbert couldn't help but complain about Joe a couple of times when he got into the tank.

Joe just smiled and didn't say anything in response to these complaints.

Like most newly formed technically equipped units, the US armored forces are currently in a situation where there are more people than vehicles. So after some internal selection and screening, the US officers quickly selected the seventeen strongest crews among them, ready to kick Joe's ass.

The rest of the people, along with the Bunitanians, acted as referees and observers to see how Joe could make such a boast.

Soon, as a red signal flare rose over the training ground, the two sides began their exercise.

Although the Citizens verbally warned Joe not to let them catch him, or they would beat him to a pulp, once the exercise began, George still led the newly formed light tank company to advance as a group, trying to find Joe's trail on the training ground.

After all, Joe had not only won a complete victory against forty opponents in Bourges, but had also destroyed an armored train, a feat they had all seen in the newspapers.

Even though many people believe there must be some publicity involved, it would be a lie to say they weren't flustered when they actually faced Joe.

Although theoretically it's impossible for one person to defeat seventeen people, if Joe actually did it, they would be laughed at for the rest of their lives.

What they didn't know was that as they began to advance as a group, Joe, who had gotten out of his car and was observing them with binoculars, laughed.

Joe knew very well that, without radio communication, commanding an armored force of this size was basically like a black man in a dark room making you act according to his whims.

If George were to split his troops into smaller squads and operate separately, then Joe might actually be in a more difficult position.

After all, no matter how much Joe understands tanks, he only has one cannon and can only observe one direction at a time. If he gets surrounded, even Joe will have a hard time holding on.

However, if George orders his troops to stick together, it will be much easier for him to cause trouble.

Back in his tank, Joe had Herbert start the engine and began driving toward the first ambush position.

Because he had conducted so many training sessions and drills here, Joe knew the terrain better than his own bedroom.

As soon as Joe ordered Herbert to begin maneuvering, George quickly discovered that the training grounds in the Old World were nothing like the military academies in the New World.

George, who often made spelling and grammar mistakes due to dyslexia and jokingly said he "couldn't even find a library," achieved some success outside the classroom, but only as a cadet captain. He was known in the military academy for his military posture, horsemanship, and fencing. In 1912, he represented the United States in the modern pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics, winning 5th place. He also updated the United States cavalry sword, earning him the empty title of "the best swordsman in the army."

This experience of being submissive in the classroom but assertive outside of it made George feel that as long as he didn't have to deal with paperwork like math, he could definitely make a name for himself in the Old World.

However, Joe, who appeared like a ghost from unexpected places, "destroying" one or two tanks in his ranks before disappearing, made George realize that the battlefield seemed to be quite different from the training ground, and that the world did not indeed operate according to his expectations.

When the first training round, trailing red smoke, landed next to a tank, eliminating it from the competition, George and his men thought it was normal. After all, despite their anger, it was the legendary Joe the Immortal. Having heard many tales about Joe during this time, they felt that it was perfectly normal for him to be able to sneakily destroy one of their tanks.

After all, even these tanks were designed by Old Joe, so it's not shameful for them to lose one or two.

The tank commander who withdrew from the exercise waved to the other commanders, saying, "I'm going back to get some beer. Good luck to you guys, we're going to celebrate beating Joe today."

However, as the exercise progressed, tank after tank was attacked and eliminated by Joe's elusive ambushes, and the remaining tank commanders began to feel the pressure.

Under pressure, the tank commanders nervously looked around, afraid that if they weren't careful, Joe would suddenly appear out of nowhere and fire a shot at them.

Although tension is a good thing, it can put people into a state of focus and greatly enhance their observational abilities, including vision. This is a passive skill that humans have developed over millions of years of evolution to deal with attacks from predators.

But the problem with these Citibank drivers is that they're too nervous. A dark shadow in the woods or a rock by the roadside can make them think that Joe is about to attack them.

Their uncoordinated gesticulation and loud shouting made their ranks chaotic. No one knew what the guy had seen; after someone shouted, they all frantically started turning the turret.

In order to attack Joe, they ordered the vehicles to move forward or backward to create distance from the vehicles next to them so that they could be aimed more easily.

This chaos not only prevented them from seeing anything, but also caused some drivers to become so nervous that they tried to shift into reverse before the vehicle had come to a complete stop, damaging the gearbox and causing the vehicle to malfunction and be forced to withdraw from the exercise.

As the troops continued to dwindle, the once mighty convoy of seventeen tanks was soon reduced to just three. By this time, George's face was so dark that one might wonder if he had any Black ancestry.

Seventeen tanks were destroyed without even seeing Joe's shadow. Although some of the losses were due to mechanical failures, this one-sided crushing was still unacceptable to George.

Even though he was facing Old Joe, being beaten like this was still incredibly humiliating.

Now George no longer hopes to "destroy" Joe, he just wants to at least see Joe. He didn't even see Joe's shadow the whole time, and he was just beaten down by Joe. If word got out that both sides were using the same type of tank, where would he put his face?

If it weren't for the referee team's plane in the sky and the other trainees' balloons observing the battle, George would have even considered breaking the exercise rules: if Joe fired at him, he would ignore the shell and continue fighting.

Meanwhile, the American trainees who watched the entire exercise from the sky felt that although they didn't understand what was happening on the battlefield, they were deeply shocked.

Joe's tanks almost never stopped, using the terrain to circle around George's tank group. But George's tank group seemed to be blind, unable to see Joe's location, and Joe destroyed their tanks one by one.

They were so anxious that if it weren't for the rules, they would have wanted to throw a crumpled piece of paper at George to tell him where he was.

Ultimately, the last two tanks next to George were also "destroyed" by Joe, which made George feel that Joe was targeting him. Otherwise, why would Joe leave him until the end?
That bastard Joe definitely has a problem with him.

Just as George was thinking this, he heard several gunshots behind him.

When George turned around, he saw Joe's tank had appeared on the hillside behind him, its turret pointing at him.

When George finally spotted Joe's tank, before he could even order the turret to turn, he saw a flash of light from the muzzle of Joe's tank, followed by a smoking shell landing on the open ground behind his vehicle.

Staring at Joe, who had just popped out of the turret in the distance and still seemed to have that annoying smile on his face, George burst out with a string of New World slang.

After the exercise ended, the Citizens' officers looked at Joe with even more complicated expressions, especially after learning from those who had witnessed the entire exercise that Joe had indeed not cheated, but simply hadn't seen him at all.

Unsurprisingly, after such a crushing defeat, the Citizens officers then engaged in a blame game.

Those who watched the whole thing said you guys are really bad, while the participants who were beaten so badly by Qiao said, "If you're so good, you do it yourself."

Just when the relationships among the Citizens' officers were becoming strained, Joe came to them.

Seeing Joe still smiling, George, his face darkening, could no longer contain himself. He glared at Joe and demanded, "What are you doing here now? You won, isn't that enough?"

Faced with a somewhat embarrassed and angry George, Qiao Feifan calmly said, "Losing your temper won't solve anything, and it certainly won't beat the Teutons, so don't you want to know why you lost?"

As he spoke, Joe looked around and asked, "Don't you even have chalk and a blackboard?"

Hearing that Joe wanted chalk and a blackboard, even the most slow-witted person would understand that Joe was about to start a class...

If you wanted to teach, you should have said so earlier. Did you have to beat us up first? Don't we have any dignity?!

Hey! Don't push! I want to listen to Professor Qiao's lecture from this spot!

Seeing that Joe was about to start class, even George, who had a dark expression, didn't look so dark anymore. After several officers ran over and pushed a blackboard over, he sat down in front of the blackboard, wanting to hear what Joe had to say.

After sketching a few terrain details on the blackboard, Joe began explaining to these rookie armored soldiers, whose backsides were still covered in eggshells, why he had easily defeated seventeen of them, and the importance of observing the terrain in advance, thoroughly understanding the map, and ambush tactics in armored warfare.

As Joe explained, even George, who was notoriously difficult in class, showed an "I see" expression on his face.

Although he was the fool who got ambushed in this example, George nodded repeatedly.

My face was filled with the words, "Teacher Qiao is right. So this is how armored tactics work. I'm starting to understand."

However, as Joe continued to emphasize the importance of thoroughly understanding maps and terrain, these American officers began to have a question.

Since tanks are an offensive force, it means they will not fight in familiar terrain. So how can one quickly understand the terrain conditions and maximize the combat effectiveness of the tanks under such circumstances?

As the commander of the Citizens' armored forces, when George asked this question, Joe's already smiling face widened even more. It wasn't easy... All that trouble I went through, taking on seventeen people at once, and teaching with a blackboard, wasn't it all for this?!
So Joe took out a simple three-view drawing of an armored personnel carrier and began to explain to these American officers, who were seeing everything for the first time, what infantry-tank cooperation was, what the hell infantry-tank cooperation was, and what it meant that infantry were the eyes of the tank force.

Facing Joe, who had just given them a sound beating, both George and the other officers finally understood this tactic. Oh! So this is combined arms warfare! So this is armored warfare! Teacher Joe wanted us to understand the importance of mechanized infantry in armored warfare.

If I had had the support of these mechanized infantrymen just now, would I have been beaten like an idiot by Teacher Qiao?!

That must be impossible!

At this point, the American officers naturally asked the question Joe had been waiting to hear.

"Professor Qiao, how can we obtain these armored personnel carriers and begin training them to cooperate with these mechanized infantry?"

They've taken the bait! They've taken the bait! They've finally taken the bait!
When faced with the question from the Citizens officer, Joe was so excited he wanted to slide on his knees in the living room. But as any experienced angler knows, the closer you are to taking the bait, the less you should rush things, or you'll run into trouble.

So Joe simply stated that this armored personnel carrier is the latest scientific research achievement of Bonitania, and is equipment that is more meaningful than tanks. He only revealed a little bit out of a sense of ally duty. If you want it too, then let your superiors talk to the wartime cabinet.

That afternoon, John, the supreme commander of the Citizens Expeditionary Force, knocked on the door of the Minister of War in Bonitania. Upon seeing the Minister, he immediately asked, "How much are you going to sell your armored personnel carriers?!"

Upon hearing this question, the Army Minister was completely bewildered. What armored personnel carrier? How much does it cost?
We've deployed armored personnel carriers? How come I didn't know?
After a few seconds of recollection, the Secretary of the Army remembered that because Joe was insisting on developing armored personnel carriers, the wartime cabinet had sent Joe to persuade Americans to spend money.

Unexpectedly, not long after, these rich American men came knocking on our door.

No way, Joe, how did you manage to fool me?!

Although he didn't know what Joe had done, the Minister of War, in the professional manner of a Bunitania minister, said, "Although I am the Minister of War, this is not something I can decide. In principle, I certainly support our allies in obtaining the latest and best equipment, but you should go to the Minister of Munitions, who is in charge of this."

Then, when Winston saw John approaching him to say he wanted to buy an armored personnel carrier, a smile appeared on Winston's face.

"You want to buy armored personnel carriers? Great! But instead of just buying armored personnel carriers, would you be interested in getting more involved in this project? After all, as you know, we're currently facing some production capacity issues..."

"You know who to send the bill to, and our technicians will be here by next week at the latest."

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Although some people may say that Teacher Qiao is a bad-tempered person, anyone who has ever spent time with him knows that he is a polite and humble person. Even when facing an ordinary private, he would show him the utmost respect.

We always thought that Teacher Qiao was an aristocrat, until the battle we learned that Teacher Qiao did not have an aristocratic title at that time.

Of course, Teacher Qiao sometimes wants to play pranks. If he suddenly suggests that he wants to spar with you, you should be careful, because Teacher Qiao is definitely hiding something and wants to give you a "surprise", just like when he introduced armored personnel carriers and combined arms tactics to us.

—From *The War I Know* by George Smith

(End of this chapter)