Imperial Elite

Chapter 77 Difficult Decision

Among the many benefits of becoming a colonel, the most obvious is that, unless absolutely necessary, Joe no longer needs to personally lead his troops into battle as before.

However, this also brought some disadvantages, the most significant of which was the lack of radio.

So after assigning the task, Joe had to patiently wait for the troops he sent out to report back on the situation at the front.

This was undoubtedly torture for Joe.

However, unlike infantry regiments, artillery regiments, or even cavalry regiments, Joe's regimental headquarters, as the commander of an armored unit, was also a combat-capable armored company, or rather, Joe's regimental headquarters was the most capable company in the entire regiment.

This prevented Joe from becoming too anxious during the anxious wait.

The Imperial Guards Fusiliers reached Albert smoothly. Although most of the troops on the entire front were retreating, the infantry regiment stationed here, after receiving orders to defend Albert, still managed to repel two Teutonic attacks and prevent the Teutonics from cutting off the last retreat route.

When the Royal Guards arrived, the regiment was struggling to defend the town against the Teutonic third attack.

After the battle ended, this regiment, which theoretically consisted of three infantry battalions, had fewer than a hundred men still breathing, including those lying on the ground.

According to the major who now commands the infantry regiment, which has been reduced to a company, the Teutons have been attacking the area since daytime using every means possible, including poison gas, and artillery bombardments have been coming every so often, leaving them no time to rest or repair or strengthen their fortifications.

The Storm Commando, whom they used to only see occasionally on the battlefield, had been seen several times today.

The only reason they were able to hold out was that, as an infantry regiment, they had two machine gun companies equipped with water-cooled machine guns, and the city, as one of their logistical hubs, also stored a large amount of ammunition.

The heavy machine guns deployed throughout the city fired like a deluge, which is why they were able to hold out until now.

The Teutons not only launched a fierce attack on the city, but also tried to bypass Albert, cut off his rear access, and surround him as well.

These Teutonic troops, attempting to bypass Albert, unsurprisingly ran into a battle group dispatched by Joe, composed of dismantled Guards Panzer Training Regiment.

As a result, fierce battles broke out in the fields and woods surrounding Albert.

Unlike most other units, the Guards Panzer Training Regiment, even when it was just an armored company, had always won one victory after another against the Teutons, each time defeating a much larger enemy force and having seen all sorts of elite troops.

In addition, both officers and soldiers had a good survival rate, so when the Guards Armored Training Regiment's combat group was deployed to the battlefield, even if the Teutons outnumbered them, they were still able to survive.

Under the command of officers and sergeants who had fought in the first Battle of Paris, the Guards Panzer Training Regiment had a significant psychological advantage.

Meanwhile, the Teutons on the other side were also in high spirits.

By 1918, the psychological pressure and deterrent effect brought about by the first appearance of tanks had long since passed.

When the General Staff issued ten K rounds, which were theoretically capable of penetrating tank armor, to every soldier participating in the war, the Teutonic soldiers, who theoretically possessed anti-armor capabilities, were no longer as afraid of these steel behemoths as they had in the past.

Meanwhile, thanks to their brilliant victories in the East, the addition of veterans from the Eastern Front, their near-capture of Paris last time, and their easy breach of the Bunitania's defenses since the start of the campaign, they had achieved a great victory in the East.

This made these Teutonic veterans, who had also been in the trenches for several years, realize one thing: they now really had a chance to win the war.

As long as we keep moving forward, the road to victory will continue to extend, so we can't stop!
So when these troops collided head-on with Joe's forces, the Teutons showed no fear whatsoever, and instead did everything in their power to inflict damage on Joe's troops.

And these Teutons quickly discovered an effective tactic: the K-bomb, although it was no longer effective at penetrating the armor of the Hound tank.

However, the tracks used to shoot at the Hound tanks still have a chance of breaking them, thus paralyzing these tanks that move around the battlefield as nimbly as rabbits.

Theoretically, having your tracks broken is not a big deal.

After all, tank crews are like truck drivers in this era. Putting aside their driving skills, they will at least be able to fix any minor problems with the vehicle.

Especially something as seemingly minor as a broken track is like a truck driver changing a tire – a mandatory skill that a three-person crew must pass an exam on.

However, if the tracks are broken on the battlefield, the situation becomes very troublesome.

If you're lucky, the Teutons on the other side, for various reasons, haven't yet equipped themselves with 37mm anti-tank guns, or they don't have large-caliber artillery.

Then all I need to do is pray to the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Mother that this armor-piercing bullet from the Dunts cannot penetrate me.

Then they would hold out until their allies drove the Teutons out of the battlefield, at which point the crew could get out and repair the tracks, and then leave this place of sorrow amidst the taunts of their allies.

If you're unlucky, the Teutons on the other side might happen to have an anti-tank gun, or their tanks might be in a bad position with some very angry and high-spirited Teutons nearby.

So this unfortunate crew had to choose between staying in the vehicle and fighting to the death, or abandoning the vehicle and trying to escape the battlefield.

While the Teutonic ground forces launched a fierce attack, the killing in the sky did not stop at all.

After suffering heavy losses on the first day, the pilots of the United States learned their lesson.

Realizing the vast gap in aerial combat skills between themselves and the Teutonic pilots, the United States Air Force issued an order prohibiting them from challenging Teutonic ace pilots.

Unless all five planes in their squadron attack the same red-painted ace.

So just as Joe was leading his regiment to clean up the mess for a combat group that had kicked a hornet's nest and been soundly beaten by a group of Teutons with several anti-tank guns.

Joe then witnessed an aerial battle taking place in the sky.

A red-painted Teutonic fighter chased a reconnaissance plane into low-altitude airspace. The reconnaissance plane seemed to have spotted Joe leading armored troops on the ground and chose to fly over Joe's head.

Faced with the reconnaissance plane's actions, Joe understood that the unfortunate fellow was trying to use ground firepower to escape the pursuit of the Teutonic fighter.

So Joe didn't have much to say. He called out and grabbed the machine gun, ready to help the unlucky guy who was being bitten by the ace pilot.

However, just as Joe was about to fire, the red-painted fighter jet suddenly abandoned its pursuit of the reconnaissance plane and made a strange maneuver to evade two fighter jets that were diving towards it.

They then shot down a third aircraft in a brief head-on confrontation.

After dodging the attacks of two more fighter jets, it shot down the first fighter jet that had launched a dive while circling.

Seeing that two planes had been shot down in a short period of time, Joe sighed that his uncle was still his uncle and his second uncle was still his second uncle. At the same time, he immediately ordered the people in the regiment who were driving the Unyielding Off-Road Vehicles to follow the black smoke from the plane crash and rescue people.

Just as Joe gave the order, the red-painted Teutonic fighter shot down its fourth fighter.

Seemingly enraged by the loss of four teammates in such a short time, the last fighter rammed into the red-painted Teutonic fighter.

However, it seemed that this was the same thing the red-painted fighter jet had faced many times before. The red-painted fighter jet once again skillfully dodged the impact of the other fighter jet and shot it down as it flew past in front of it.

After shooting down the fighter jet, the red-painted Teutonic fighter did a somersault in the air to show off its paint scheme to the troops on the ground before turning around and leaving the airspace.

Joe, left on the ground, sighed, thankful he hadn't been assigned to the Air Force, otherwise he'd probably be walking by now.

At the same time, Joe felt that the plane looked familiar, like the red fighter plane he had encountered in Paris that shot down two Gallic fighter planes.

If it were him, Joe could only say that this guy's skills had become even more refined in this war.

While Joe was lamenting, the men sent out to rescue the downed pilot returned. Unfortunately, only one of the five men survived.

Faced with the pilot who looked as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant, Joe said that according to the rules, he should send him back now, but he was in a hurry to save the situation, so he would have to stay with him for a while and he would send him back after the battle was over.

Upon hearing that Joe was going to kick the Teutons in the ass, the pilot, who had just experienced a plane crash, immediately exclaimed, "Give me a shotgun, I want to go kick the Teutons in the ass too!"

Joe didn't have a shotgun, but seeing how energetic the pilot was, he smiled and pulled out a pistol, handing it to him and saying, "You're a pilot, your battlefield is in the sky. Leave the ground matters to us. This pistol is for your self-defense."

After everything that had happened, when Joe returned to Gaul, he bought another pistol and carried it with him along with the pistols that the nobles had given him.

Make sure you can fire eighteen shots in a row when needed.

Seeing how energetic the pilot was, Joe gave him his newly bought pistol.

However, this pilot clearly didn't know the meaning of contentment. After accepting the pistol from Joe, he still insisted, "I've been trained too. Give me a rifle, and I can fight too..."

However, halfway through his sentence, the pilot suddenly seemed to notice something, staring at Joe and scrutinizing him before asking him a question in a tone that was three parts expectant and seven parts uncertain.

“You look familiar… I think I’ve seen you somewhere before. You wouldn’t happen to be… Joe, would you?”

Upon hearing the pilot's question, Joe smiled and extended his hand to the pilot.

“If you’re talking about Joe, the one who went to Paris, then it must be me.”

The pilot immediately shook hands with Joe excitedly and said that the pistol Joe gave him would be his family heirloom from now on.

Then, on the way to the battlefield, Joe learned that the pilot's name was Karl Spaatz, and like most Citizens officers, he was a West Point graduate who had begun flight training in 1914 and had arrived in Gaul as one of the first pilots earlier that year.

In the previous two days of fighting, Karl shot down a Teutonic fighter, which is why Karl decided to lead his squadron to attack the Teutonic aircraft that was chasing the reconnaissance plane during today's combat patrol.

Seeing Karl's frustration, Joe poked his head out of the turret, patted him on the shoulder, and told him not to be upset. He said that even a more skilled Gallic pilot wouldn't fare well against these red-painted guys, let alone Karl.

Then Joe told Karl about his brush with death in Paris, which made Karl marvel at how these red-painted Teutonic pilots were a bunch of aerial thugs.

Joe deeply resonated with Karl's sentiments, even though he hadn't experienced the Teutonic Air Force's horrific bombing raid on Paris.

However, Joe, who had been repeatedly tormented by the Teutonic air force to the point of exhaustion, also told Karl that it was fortunate that airplanes were still a novelty. If the war had been delayed for a while longer, and airplanes had been developed further, he probably wouldn't be able to march so openly during the day like he does now, given the lack of air superiority.

Joe and Carl then began discussing the capabilities of the Air Force. Carl quickly remarked that Joe truly lived up to his reputation, possessing such a deep understanding of the Air Force; if he hadn't been initially assigned to the Army, the air combat situation would likely be very different today.

Joe could only chuckle at Carl's remark and then change the subject.

However, the pleasant chat did not last long. Joe had Karl retreat to the off-road vehicle behind his tank. The battle group commander, who had just kicked a metal plate and lost half of his tanks before hastily retreating from the battlefield, appeared in front of Joe with his battle group.

Faced with the frustrated commander, Joe did not reprimand him, but comforted him, saying that anything can happen on the battlefield, and there is no reason why you can only fight others but not others can fight you.

We learned our lesson this time and will be more careful next time.

After comforting the commander, who looked as dejected as when Karl had just been rescued, Joe had him get into an Unyielding off-road vehicle and lead him to the location where they had just encountered the Teutons to check on the situation.

Carl expressed his utter incomprehension of Joe's actions, such as driving a car to the front lines to scout out enemy positions.

After all, this kind of thing was far too dangerous, and Carl couldn't understand why Joe, as a colonel, would personally go to scout out enemy positions.

In response to Carl's doubts, Joe said that everyone only has one life. If the soldiers are willing to obey his orders and go to the battlefield, how can he be an officer if he doesn't even have the courage to go out for reconnaissance?
After saying that, Joe stepped on the gas and drove the commander, who looked like he had failed an exam and was about to listen to the teacher explain the test paper, to the front line to check the situation.

Carl, his face filled with astonishment, watched Joe disappear into the woods.

With the off-road vehicle, Joe's reconnaissance went smoothly. Thanks to the high mobility of the off-road vehicle, Joe completed the reconnaissance before the Teutons could react. He also took the opportunity to review why the commander had kicked the iron plate – due to his lack of observation.

If the Teutons were in a village, it would be quite normal for them to hide their anti-tank guns inside houses or behind piles of wood, making them difficult to spot.

However, it's a bit hard to believe that you didn't notice that these Teutons simply hid their cannons in the ditch and didn't even have time to cut some branches for camouflage.

Watching the Teutons on the battlefield inspecting the tanks that had been destroyed or abandoned, Joe stepped on the gas and drove back to the regimental headquarters.

He summoned the vehicle commander and platoon leader, squatted on the muddy ground, drew a terrain map of the battlefield with a twig, and assigned tasks.

Joe returned to his vehicle, number 101, waved, and shouted, "Armored, advance!"

Amidst the roar of engines, Joe led his regiment and the heavily damaged battle group back to the battlefield.

The Teutons clearly did not expect the Bunitania's counterattack to come so quickly. Some of the curious students who were studying the tanks were even shot down by machine guns before they could return to their lines.

The anti-tank guns hidden in the woods were also targeted one by one by the tanks that deployed from the flanks.

Joe quickly defeated the Teutonic troops here. Because Joe arrived so fast, he also captured the commander of the Teutonic infantry battalion, a Teutonic major who was in a Hound tank when he arrived at the battlefield, studying what it was.

Faced with the defiant major, Joe didn't say much and, after the battle, escorted him back with Carl.

Although Joe personally led his regiment to act as a fire brigade near Albert, Joe's troops still suffered heavy losses in the fighting near Albert.

Although the task force's defenses were rock solid under Joe's command, the Teutonic offensive continued to crash against their lines like waves.

The losses of the Guards Armored Training Regiment, which was conducting mobile and offensive defense, were within Joe's expectations, but the losses of the Guards Fusiliers Regiment completely exceeded Joe's expectations.

In just two days of fighting, the Imperial Guards Fusiliers Regiment lost more than half of its troops in the urban warfare. Even the armored battalion reinforced by the 1st Tank Regiment, which was equipped with Royal Fist tanks, lost a company of vehicles in the battle.

If it weren't for the devastating power of the self-propelled artillery company's six-inch guns in urban warfare, a single shell could have vaporized an entire Teutonic infantry platoon.

This allowed the Imperial Guards Fusiliers to have a chance to catch their breath during the battle.

If Joshua, who was stuck at the edge of the encirclement, was already suffering so much, then the troops trapped in the pocket by the Teutonic offensive must have been in even greater distress.

At that time, the only way to enter the encirclement was Highway 929.

The road was now crowded with soldiers rushing to escape this hellish place.

Even if the road were still under the control of the Bunitania, General Rawlinson would have no way to get supplies into the encirclement.

The roadside was littered with abandoned artillery pieces, heavy machine guns, and other heavy equipment that was difficult to carry. Dead horses lay in the roadside ditches, their eyes, covered with flies, staring blankly at the sky, seemingly not understanding why they had ended up like this.

The road was crowded with soldiers who seemed like zombies, and only the occasional artillery shells could stop them from retreating.

After the shelling ended, these soldiers would immediately rush onto this road and retreat south.

The only thing that could distinguish these zombie-like soldiers from corpses was not that they could still move, but that when they heard a soldier wounded by artillery fire cry out for help, a few people in this endless column would take off their uniforms, piece together a stretcher with their rifles, and carry the wailing wounded soldier away.

After Albert held on for five days, even Joe couldn't keep going.

Joe didn't know how many people had retreated through this area, or how many were still in the encirclement. All Joe knew was that if they continued like this, not only would the Guards Flintlock Regiment be wiped out, but the entire Guards Armored Training Regiment would be lost here.

Unlike in Paris, where the Gauls could be sacrificed while armored battle groups provided fire support from the rear, here Joe didn't have any units that could act as cannon fodder to draw fire for him; all his troops had to fight on the front lines.

Even with an advantage in equipment, continuous combat inevitably results in both combat and non-combat losses.

In particular, the Indomitable off-road vehicle, which is responsible for doing the hard work, also succumbed to this harsh driving environment.

The Harrison differential that Joe devised couldn't withstand such harsh driving conditions.

With excessive wear and tear on the gears, many off-road vehicles broke down on the battlefield.

This highly integrated differential was impossible to repair on the battlefield, so Joe had no choice but to destroy the off-road vehicles and abandon them.

Apart from the Unyielding off-road vehicle, the Hound tank, although it could still be barely operational after emergency repairs, was in much worse condition and could no longer run wildly across the fields of Gaul like a rabbit being chased by a dog.

However, since many troops were still trapped within the encirclement, Joe wanted to move the First Armored Regiment, which had been in reserve, to the front line to launch a large-scale counterattack with the remaining troops.

Joe anticipated that this counterattack would buy the troops in the encirclement two more days, after which even if Joe held on for two days, he would not be able to hold out any longer and would have to retreat.

Of course, procedurally speaking, this decision couldn't be made by Joe, so Joe wrote a report after a long time and handed it to General Rawlinson, hoping that General Rawlinson could make this difficult decision.

After receiving Joe's report, General Rawlinson was also at a loss when faced with this difficult decision, after all, there were still at least 50,000 men in the encirclement.

These 50,000 people lacked ammunition and food, and had almost no vehicles of any kind. Using this road, they had virtually no chance of completing their evacuation within two days.

However, issuing such an order to abandon the surrounded troops would certainly leave a stain on one's professional resume and could even affect one's future promotion.

After all, launching an offensive and losing tens of thousands of men is a completely different concept from abandoning tens of thousands of men within an encirclement.

General Rawlinson immediately forwarded the report to Field Marshal Haig, wanting him to make the decision.

As for why he didn't use a telephone, a method that could get results quickly, it was because General Rawlinson needed to keep a report and instructions on file. Otherwise, why would Joe, when faced with this problem, not just make a phone call or even send a messenger to ask for instructions, but instead submit a handwritten report?

Everyone knows that Joe is notoriously averse to writing reports, and he even hired a secretary to write them for him.

So, while Joe waited anxiously for orders to begin the counterattack...

Joe's report once again entered the bureaucratic process typical of Bunitania.

Just as Joe was anxiously waiting for a decision from above, Erich, who had received clear orders, finally saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris again.

Erich finally breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Paris again.

Looking back at the last three heavy tanks that were still operational, Erich was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

It's impossible to say you hate a heavy tank that can crush everything.

Although the Gauls deployed artillery on the front lines in an attempt to counter tanks, Erich's combined arms system, learned from Joe during the previous Battle of Paris, easily crushed the Gauls' resistance.

After all, the Gauls' 75mm field guns had already proven in the first year of the war that they were no match for the Teutonic 105mm howitzers.

Meanwhile, the attacks by Gallic tanks on the battlefield in the past few days have also proven that only heavy tanks can fight against heavy tanks.

The two super-heavy tanks that appeared on the battlefield, accompanied by the Gauls' light tanks, greatly shocked Erich.

If it weren't for the fact that there were too few of these two multi-turreted super-heavy tanks, and that one of them broke down just five minutes after being deployed, leaving it helplessly raging in place.

However, the remaining tank, with the support of the other light tanks and infantry, still managed to destroy three Emperor-class tanks.

If it weren't for Erich's superior skill in using half-tracks to thwart the attack, the Gauls' offensive would have almost succeeded.

However, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say that Ehrlich was particularly fond of these super-heavy tanks, given that their failure rate was... rather excessively high.

They marched for eight hours a day, and about half of that time was spent either repairing vehicles or repairing roads.

Since these super-heavy tanks had almost no chance of flipping over again after they overturned, Ehrlich now had to send engineers to build a temporary road for these tanks when the Emperor's super-heavy tanks were on the march, in order to prevent these precious super-heavy tanks from being lost due to the foolish reason of overturning during the march.

This slow march even reminded Ehrlich of the Sultan's siege of the city of Constantinople, where, it is said, the Sultan built roads as he marched to deliver cannons to the city.

However, they have now arrived at the gates of Paris again, and the troops on their flanks have once again captured Le Bourget.

Once the vehicles are repaired, they will launch an attack on Paris early tomorrow morning.

This time, Joe wasn't there to help them.

(End of this chapter)