Imperial Elite

Chapter 82 Enough people have died.
Marching through the forest belt was an extremely difficult task. Due to the poor reliability of the vehicles, Joe had already lost a considerable number of vehicles by the time he broke through the forest belt.

Furthermore, due to the extremely slow marching speed, after Joe broke through the forest belt, he found that, theoretically, he had brought the war to the heart of the Teutonic territory.

However, the Teutonic garrison still had time to build a defensive line outside the forest belt while they were crawling at a snail's pace through it.

And it seems that because they had reached the heart of the Teutonic territory, Joe's armored forces were pushed back by the Teutonic garrison in the first battle after breaking through the forest belt.

This resolute resistance surprised Joe somewhat.

However, considering that the next battle would be fought on Teutonic soil, it was not surprising to encounter this level of resistance, after all, even the Gauls in Paris had shown an amazing fighting spirit.

So after the first battle ended in defeat, Joe did not rush to continue the offensive, but instead took a short break and replenished his supplies in the forest.

The slow march through the forest belt also had its advantages, as the Royal Engineers had time to clear a temporary path through the forest belt for the troops to travel on during their advance.

This road allowed Joe to obtain a considerable amount of supplies and manpower during his brief rest period. In fact, thanks to the efforts of the logistics personnel, Joe also received a batch of Hound tanks due to the Hound tank's relatively low weight.

Furthermore, since Joe is now a major general, he basically no longer needs to personally fight on the front lines, except in special circumstances such as being suddenly ambushed by enemy assault teams or when his troops are surrounded and he needs to lead the charge to boost morale and break through the encirclement.

But the cost was that Joe was once again overwhelmed by documents and reports, from what the frontline soldiers ate today, to which good lads should be awarded medals, and how much reinforcements to ask for from above, coordinating with the infantry divisions following behind him to take over the position, or providing troop support.

A deluge of documents once again pressed down on Qiao like an avalanche.

Faced with this hell of paperwork, Joe naturally resorted to his old method, mobilizing Catherine, who was waiting in the rear, along with some medical teams.

However, the old methods that are used often will obviously encounter new problems. Back when Joe was still a regimental commander, Catherine was already overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents.

Now that Joe is basically a division commander, the increased volume of documents is making Catherine even more overwhelmed. She strongly demands that Joe hire at least one more secretary, even just one, to effectively alleviate her current situation of being too busy. She even wants Joe to bring in those Lucia sluts.

Since Catherine had said so, Joe naturally wouldn't refuse. At the same time, since there were indeed too many documents, Joe went to his angel investor, Baron Edmund, who had introduced Catherine to him, and said that there was just too much paperwork now. He asked if there were any other capable people like Catherine who could be introduced to him.

Baron Edmund would certainly not refuse Joe's request, after all, his cooperation with Joe had always been very pleasant, especially since Joe was a very trustworthy fellow who had never forgotten to give honor to those of them who were supporting the fighting from the rear since the first Battle of Paris.

At the same time, in military projects, Qiao never hogged profits; everyone shared the money.

Who wouldn't like someone who leads the fight and shares the profits with everyone, someone with the demeanor of a big brother?

Now the leader wants to help find a few secretaries to handle the paperwork. This isn't because Joe needs those secretaries' help; it's because Joe is sharing his honor.

After all, as the number one villain in Britannia, having the experience of working under Joe is a huge plus, even if he didn't work under Joe for a long time, it would still be a huge advantage for him.

Furthermore, they are now close to reaching the Teutonic homeland, and the war will soon be over if nothing unexpected happens. There are already rumors that Joe will be given an important position in the future. If we don't strengthen the ties between the two sides now, it will be difficult to have such an opportunity again in the future.

Baron Edmund has now heard some reliable rumors that, in order to resolve some historical issues and prevent Joe from getting upset, the War Department has quietly sent a field officer in charge of recruiting new soldiers to the colonies to watch blacks bar their teeth.

So Baron Edmund patted his chest and said that he would take care of such trivial matters as finding a secretary, and that he would guarantee that the person he found would be as capable as Catherine.

Hiring secretaries to handle paperwork was just a small matter for Joe during this short break; the real big problem was...

Before Joe set off from Dunkirk, neither the Bunitania Expeditionary Force nor the wartime cabinet expected that Joe would be able to break through to the border of the Teutonic Empire so quickly.

Although Joe was not entirely satisfied with the speed in the forest belt, for the Expeditionary Force Command and the wartime cabinet, who were used to trench warfare where breaking through a few hundred meters was considered a major breakthrough, this speed of advance could be considered lightning fast.

Moreover, this is being advanced through forest belts, which are clearly unsuitable for tank warfare. As long as it can be damaged, that's enough. What more could you ask for?

Therefore, no one considered one question: when Joe actually brought the war to the Teutonic Empire, in which direction should he launch his attack?

Because Joe's breakthrough point was so far away, from this position he could either advance towards Germania to strike directly at the Teutonic capital, or head south to attack the rear of the Teutonic Army Group Paris and attempt to create an unprecedentedly large encirclement.

Both are feasible to a certain extent, or in other words, because the distance is too great, the Teutons have time to react to whichever direction the military attack is launched.

However, politically, whether Joe marched into Germania or attempted to cut off the Teutonic Army Group in Paris's rear, the implications were entirely different.

This problem really troubled the cabinet ministers for several days, and they finally made a decision when the tanks sent to Joe arrived.

Joe's troops did not immediately head to Germania, but instead turned south to attempt to encircle the troops fighting in the Somme region, and incidentally, to relieve the siege of Paris.

Such a massive encirclement made Joe very worried about whether the expeditionary force could spare enough troops to fill the gaps in the battle line. He was afraid that his retreat would be cut off by the Teutons, which would be a real problem.

The wartime cabinet and Field Marshal Haig, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, were well aware of Joe's concerns, as it was indeed a huge problem.

However, if Joe were to capture Cologne, the expeditionary force could use the railway line from the Low Countries to Cologne to move troops and ensure that Joe's retreat would not be cut off by the Teutons.

In fact, while Joe was moving through the woodlands, the other Bunitas forces were also dividing and annihilating the Teutonic troops on the line after Joe broke through. They were also working hard to expand their occupied territory, and launching attacks on the railway between the Low Countries and Cologne was part of this expansion operation.

Now that the battle objective had been determined, Joe launched another attack after the rest period.

Although the Teutons were resting and regrouping during the period, they were also working hard to strengthen their defenses, cramming in a lot of anti-tank guns, and the troops that had just been transferred from Paris had a lot of anti-tank experience.

The need for homeland defense also boosted the morale of these Teutonics with their strange ideas, who were determined to resolutely keep Joe out of their territory.

Then these Teutons quickly discovered that anti-tank warfare in urban streets was completely different from anti-tank warfare in open field.

In urban warfare, two well-trained 37mm anti-tank gun teams, along with a machine gun, can block an entire street and halt the enemy's armored offensive.

However, in open field combat, these anti-tank guns, which rely on their low profile to conceal themselves and launch surprise attacks, are basically discovered and destroyed as soon as they are fired.

Meanwhile, the infantry accompanying the tanks would not give them the opportunity to throw cluster grenades and Molotov cocktails at the tanks.

Only the tactic of using K-shots to hit the tracks remained effective, but the tanks that stopped on the battlefield after their tracks were broken, serving as firing points, also caused the Teutons a great deal of trouble.

In this combat environment, only the 77mm field guns remained reliable.

With courage and perseverance, the Teutons relied on this defensive line to delay Jo for two days.

On the third day, Joe broke through the defenses, and the Teutonic troops guarding the line had no choice but to abandon it and retreat.

Without a counterattack spearhead, allowing troops to hold their ground would only result in their complete annihilation once Bonitanian reinforcements begin to encircle them through the breach.

They had already experienced this when Joe broke through the defenses of the Low Countries.

However, retreating on the battlefield is obviously more difficult than attacking, especially after the war entered its fifth year. The Teutonic Army suffered from a large number of horse deaths and a lack of vehicles due to insufficient industrial capacity, forcing most infantry divisions to travel on foot.

Although the Teutonic Air Force fought bravely as always, attempting to create an air barrier for the retreating ground troops.

However, the series of air battles and the bloody fighting in Paris left the elite Teutonic Air Force facing a shortage of pilots. Although the aces were still active in the skies, the novice Teutonic pilots could not compete with the pilots from the Bunitania, Gaul, or even the United States in terms of quality.

The latter has an overwhelming advantage in numbers compared to the former.

As news came back from the Bunitania air force, which was cooperating with the operation, that the Teutons were retreating from the defensive line, Joe immediately ordered the armored forces to disperse into battle groups again.

The number of Teutons that could be eliminated or captured in the field was the number of Teutons that could be eliminated or captured in the field.

After all, Joe had no desire to fight these Teutons in the city.

Faced with Joe's attack, the Teutonic commander immediately saw through Joe's intentions.

At this moment, the Teutonic commander immediately demonstrated his ruthless military skills. Many of the retreating Teutonic troops were ordered to immediately switch to defense and delay the advance of the armored forces at all costs, in order to buy time for the other troops to retreat.

These troops, relying on their pre-established defensive fortifications, could not withstand the attack of Joe's armored forces, let alone under such circumstances where they were suddenly required to defend.

Despite this suicidal order, the Teutonic troops resolutely carried out their superiors' instructions, using foxholes and their own flesh and blood to forcibly delay Joe's advance.

Once one unit's defensive line was breached, the nearest unit immediately switched to a defensive posture, attempting to delay Joe's advance.

In this near-desperate defensive battle, Joe systematically annihilated a significant number of Teutonic troops, some of whom were even familiar faces he had encountered during the First Battle of Paris.

However, some units managed to escape the battlefield, such as the armored hussar company to which Holz and Hans belonged.

This company suffered heavy losses in the last raid on the railway. If it weren't for Hans, who got lost, appearing at the last moment and destroying the armored vehicles that were chasing them, Holz would have been killed there.

Due to their good performance in the first phase of the battle, coupled with the fact that they had suffered heavy losses, the armored hussar company became one of the first units to return to the homeland for rest and replenishment.

Due to the severity of the losses, they were not able to participate in the first wave of support missions for the forest belt, but were later ordered to join the homeland defense line.

According to the above, the armored hussar company should act as the spearhead of the counterattack, launching a counterattack against the Bunitans after they break through the lines and pushing them back.

Then, after losing half a company in a single attack, the armored hussars company also joined the retreat.

Because the half-track was fast enough, it was never Holz and Hans, who were the fastest runners, who were ordered to resist on the spot.

If it weren't for his previous experience of getting lost eleven times out of ten during exercises, and even when he was riding in Hans's car and Hans led him astray, Holz would have suspected that Hans was deliberately getting lost.

However, after rushing into Cologne, Holtz and Hans had no time to rest before they were organized to set up defenses inside and outside the city to resist Joe's offensive.

The series of defeats changed Holtz's mindset. Of the friends who had trained with him before the war, fewer than six were still alive.

Three of them had to be discharged from the military because of their disabilities.

Of the remaining three, one was defending Tallinn alongside the Cossacks during the Lusians' fierce attack, and according to him, the Cossacks' morale was strange.

Some Cossacks seemed to have a blood feud with the Russians, able to fight them to the last drop of blood on the battlefield, while others had no will to fight at all.

The better Cossacks would fire three shots into the air when the Lussians attacked, as a warning to their allies nearby that the Lussians were coming up, before laying down their weapons and surrendering.

And those evil things, when the Lucia launch their attack, will suddenly start attacking their own friendly forces, as if they were possessed.

After the main force left, they would have needed a large number of Cossacks to maintain the front line, but the presence of these bad Cossacks has created a considerable rift between the Teutons and the Cossacks.

After all, no one knows whether the Cossacks guarding their flanks are good or bad.

This rift further weakened the unity of the coalition forces.

In short, Holz's friend felt that if the main force didn't arrive to support them soon, they might not be able to hold Tallinn.

Because the Russians even brought out their warships.

Besides the friend guarding Tallinn, the other two friends in Paris are also in a bad situation. Judging from their recent letters, they have advanced their battle lines to the eastern and western suburbs of Paris, and theoretically they have controlled most of the city. However, these Gauls just won't give up.

They fought them like madmen on every inch of land, and compared to the battles in Paris, Verdun seemed like a gentle breeze.

One of them has now had to retreat to the rear to receive treatment due to a gas attack by the Gauls.

Holz's friend thought there must be a reason for the deep pit full of bones under the Eiffel Tower, otherwise the Gauls wouldn't have gone so far as to use poison gas to attack their own capital.

This dire situation made Holtz begin to wonder if they were going to lose the war.
We had already advanced into Paris and even penetrated St. Petersburg. By all accounts, this should have been a winning situation. How did it suddenly turn out like this?
However, Holtz's mindset changed again soon after an order was issued summoning him and his armored hussars back to the city.

Looking at the massive tanks that appeared before him, like mobile fortresses, Holtz wondered if there was still a chance for things to turn around.

Meanwhile, Ehrlich, who had just received five super-heavy tanks and more than a dozen FT tanks and Hound tanks captured from the battlefield and repaired, was not so optimistic.

Compared to the eight tanks previously received, these tanks were visibly much rougher in terms of workmanship, as were the FT Tank and Hound tanks that had been captured and repaired.

Although Erich's illness had already healed by the time Joe successfully broke through the Low Countries, and his rapid armored assault battalion had even been withdrawn to the mainland as a reserve for rest and replenishment, its combat effectiveness had now recovered somewhat.

However, the thought of facing Joe's command of hundreds of tanks, while his own armored forces totaled no more than seventy, many of which were half-tracks and armored vehicles, made Erich feel that his future was bleak.

However, things had already come to this point, and faced with orders from the General Staff, Erich could only suppress his unease and begin communicating with the troops temporarily reinforced to determine the tactics for defending Cologne.

As Joe's troops brought the war to the Teutonic heartland and began to approach Cologne, it was not only the Gauls and Americans defending Paris who were encouraged, but also the Americans who felt that if they continued to persevere, Joe would eventually be able to burn Germania down.

We were able to hold out in Paris, but we don't know if the Teutons could hold out in Germania.

Meanwhile, upon arrival, the American expeditionary force, which had not yet joined the battle, and the Gauls' troops deployed in other directions, also felt that the Teutons were showing signs of weakness and that it was time to do something.

This idea wasn't just held by rank-and-file soldiers; even the high command of the Gauls thought the same way.

The Teutonic offensive in Paris has reached its limit, and with more and more Teutonic troops being redeployed, it is time to launch a counterattack.

The French Expeditionary Force and the Gallic Army then began planning a large-scale coordinated offensive with the commander-in-chief of the Bunitania Expeditionary Force, aiming to destroy at least one Teutonic army group in this coordinated offensive.

While the Gauls and Americans were gearing up for a fight, the Teutons weren't feeling so good.

The reason the Teutons were able to persevere in the face of this seemingly endless war and the scarcity of supplies was that, although the war was arduous, the flames of war had never reached the Teutonic homeland, and they had been winning victories on all fronts.

Battle reports may lie, but the front lines do not.

They saw their troops march into Paris and gain vast territories on the Eastern Front. If they held on a little longer, they would achieve the victory that was already on the horizon and become the most powerful nation in the Old World.

But just when they were winning every single game, how did the Buntanians suddenly invade their homeland? How did Cologne suddenly become a prisoner of war?!

This doubt led the Teutons to further suspect that the government was lying, that they had never achieved such great victories, that the capture of Paris and St. Petersburg were all lies.

While ordinary Teutons were puzzled by this, the Teutonic officers began to feel despair.

Just as Joe broke through the forest belt, the Lucia military government also began attacking Habsburg territory, since the majority of Habsburg's forces were fighting the Italians in the mountains.

And the Habsburgs' fragile rule over the Balkans, where the Lucia military government made rapid advances.

According to the foreign ministry, the Habsburgs are now unable to withstand this pressure, and their emperor is likely to follow in the footsteps of the Sultanate, abdicating and dissolving the empire.

This would be utterly bad news for the Teutonics.

If the Western Front, with its large troop concentration, could still hold out with manpower, and the Eastern Front, with its vast occupied territories, could buy time, then if the Habsburgs withdrew from the war, they would absolutely not be able to spare enough troops and defenses to protect the areas bordering the Habsburgs.

When that time comes, only destruction awaits the Teutonic Empire.

So they have to do something!

But what can they do?

Faced with this terrible battle situation, the Teutonic officers who wanted to do something felt helpless; they had already done everything they could.

If they can't win on the battlefield, everything is for naught. But if they can capture St. Petersburg, if they can take Paris, then everything will be different.

Perhaps... following the example of the Sultanate and having the emperor abdicate would be a good option?

After all, they did withdraw from the war after the Sultan abdicated, and now they don't seek to retain much interest on the eastern front or in overseas colonies; they only need to preserve their homeland, which is their core essence.

With this in mind, some officers began to coordinate and prepare for the worst-case scenario.

The Teutonic Emperor was unaware of what his "loyal" officers were plotting. Faced with the rapidly deteriorating war situation, the Teutonic Emperor devised many strategies, from personally leading the last of his Janissaries stationed in the capital to Paris or Cologne to inspire his soldiers to create a miracle reminiscent of the Seven Years' War.

He frequently corresponded with the Habsburg emperor, hoping he would persevere and that everything would be alright once he captured Paris.

Ultimately, the Teutonic Emperor placed his last hopes on the navy.

Their army still occupies Paris. If their navy can inflict heavy losses on the Bunitanias as it did in the last naval battle, they can at least force the Bunitanias and Gauls to the negotiating table.

Although the last bit of resources was given to the army by the Teutonic Emperor, the navy had also undergone two years of repairs. Although some ships were not fully repaired, they were at least able to charge out and fire their cannons.

The Teutonic Emperor hoped that the navy could accomplish this task and at least secure an opportunity for the Teutonic Empire to achieve a dignified ceasefire at the negotiating table.

At the same time the Teutonic Emperor gave the order, Joe had already approached the outskirts of Cologne.

Despite his experience in urban warfare, Joe would never want to fight in urban combat if he could.

The Battle of Paris had made Joe realize how difficult street fighting would be if the defenders were willing to pay the price. In particular, Joe knew very well that the Teutons in front of him were definitely not new recruits who had just picked up guns, but a group of seasoned veterans who had fought many battles in the trenches.

Moreover, besieging Cologne would not be an easy task, as Cologne is surrounded by a metropolitan area consisting of cities such as Düsseldorf and Bonn.

If the Teutons, like the Gauls before them, begin to mobilize a large-scale militia, then the difficulty of conquering Cologne will increase dramatically.

After all, these Teutons had learned to use cluster grenades and Molotov cocktails to attack tanks, and Joe felt that his troops would definitely suffer heavy losses in urban warfare under these circumstances.

So after thinking it over for a bit, Joe decided to take a risk and send someone to mess with the other party's mentality.

Joe's plan was to send someone to contact the enemy commander and tell them that he was about to launch an attack that would definitely cause a lot of civilian casualties. Therefore, Joe would leave a passage for civilians to evacuate through, and he would not attack the people and vehicles in that passage.

If the Teutons wanted to maintain their supplies, they certainly wouldn't refuse the existence of this passage.

The existence of this passage also lets those who have lost their will to fight and don't want to continue know that as long as they step onto that path, they can leave Cologne safely.

This would somewhat shake the morale of some troops whose morale was already questionable, and at the same time reduce the manpower available to the troops defending Cologne.

After all, when the Gauls went mad, they would drag both men and women out to dig trenches.

The only problem is that Joe needs someone who not only understands Teutonic but is also eloquent to go the errand for him.

With this requirement in mind, Joe searched for such talent in all the surrounding military units.

Soon a sergeant arrived at Joe's command post to report for duty. At that moment, Joe realized that it was Edward, an old acquaintance from the trench reconnaissance team, who was the first person he had commanded when he led a tank assault.

Joe didn't know that the person who came was Edward, but Edward knew that the person he was going to see was Joe. Although they had met once before, he still stood at attention and saluted very seriously after seeing Joe, until Joe smiled and told him not to be shy.

He patted Edward on the shoulder and introduced him to the people around him, saying that when he first drove a tank, Edward was his accompanying infantryman. If it weren't for Edward, he probably wouldn't have been able to sneak back from behind the Teutonic lines so easily.

Amidst the admiring gazes of those around him, Edward finally relaxed, and his muscles relaxed.

Faced with this old acquaintance, Joe also began to wonder what had happened to Edward's battlefield reconnaissance team after that.

What happened to the old Indomitable Captain who drank Gallic champagne when he wanted to get married, and to the others?

Holding the black tea that Joe handed him, Edward hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"They're all dead..."

As Edward recounted the events, Joe learned that the captain, who had been spending years in the trenches preparing to return to his hometown to get married after the war, had been shot in the head by a bullet that came from an unknown source during a break in the Second Battle of the Somme, simply standing up and stretching in the trench.

While collecting his body, Edward discovered that he had been carrying the label from the bottle of champagne they had drunk that time, and that he really intended to drink it again at the wedding.

Some of the others died in the Somme, some in the Low Countries, and the last old comrade also died three days earlier in a Teutonic bombardment.

Of the trench reconnaissance team that captured General Teutonic along with Joe, only Edward remained alive.

Although he had witnessed countless deaths, Joe still felt somewhat uneasy after hearing Edward's words.

Joe sighed, said nothing more, and simply patted Edward on the shoulder.

"I have a mission now, and it's very dangerous."

Edward shrugged.

"I'm a scout, I don't know what danger is."

Joe nodded.

"I need you to take my letter to Cologne later."

Upon hearing Joe's words, Edward's eyes widened immediately, staring at Joe with an incredulous look.

"You need to find a way to meet the highest commander on the other side and persuade him to work with us to open a passage to allow the civilians in Cologne to evacuate the city."

"why?"

Edward looked at Joe with a puzzled expression.

"Because enough people have died, this way we can have fewer deaths, and they can have fewer deaths too."

(End of this chapter)