Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 95 Returning Home in Glory, Recruiting Talented Individuals

Lelouch, dressed in an overcoat that obscured his identity, walked out of Vienna train station, accompanied by Captain Crozier and two burly guards, looking travel-worn.

He himself was empty-handed, while his three attendants carried luggage filled with gold and silver coins.

These attendants were all on the train in Munich because they had started their vacation earlier than Lelouch, who picked them up halfway through the journey.

Although working overtime with his superiors would mean losing a few days of vacation, Lelouch was always generous, and his entourage was well-fed and clothed. Everyone was happy to take on the job, treating it as a vacation.

There was a row of horse-drawn carriages at the entrance of the train station, all of which looked quite nice, but there wasn't a single car or diesel locomotive carrying a gas cylinder.

Oreo is also an oil-poor country, and after the war started, it was also blockaded, and could only buy a little bit of civilian gasoline from neutral Romania.

Lelouch and his party had no choice but to board a carriage first.

"Sir, where are you going?" the coachman asked, cracking his whip and turning back. The Demanians and Oreos spoke the same language, so there was no communication barrier whatsoever.

Not wanting his itinerary to be restricted, Lelouch casually asked, "Are there places to buy cars and gasoline in Vienna right now?"

The coachman's face immediately fell a little, but he still answered the question: "Yes, there is, but it's expensive. Gasoline can only be obtained on the black market. A day's driving in a car is enough to cover my carriage expenses for half a month."

Lelouch knew it wasn't proper to ask about buying a car in front of the coachman, so he gave Klose a look and tossed him two gold marks: "Take us to the place to buy a car."

The coachman's eyes lit up instantly. Two gold marks were enough for him to earn three days' worth of earnings. If he were to calculate net profit, he would need to work for at least a week (net profit would have to deduct the cost of the horse's feed).

He immediately raised his whip: "Sir, rest assured, I will take you to the Daimler showroom on the Ring Road right away."

Upon hearing the name "Ringway," Lelouch's heart skipped a beat. But the coachman's words were too ambiguous, so he had to press for details: "The Daimler showroom? Do Viennese people buy Daimler too? Not Škoda?"

The coachman was taken aback: "Skoda? Skoda doesn't make cars. Oh, after the war started, they did manufacture cars for the Empire, but they made 'Laurent & Clement' cars, which are much worse than Daimlers, and hardly anyone buys them."

Lelouch then realized that he had remembered it wrong.

Skoda often touts itself as a 130-year-old car company, having started manufacturing cars in the late 19th century. But in reality, it's only a century-old car company, having acquired Laurent & Clement in 1925 after the end of World War I.

Thirty years prior, "Lauren & Clement" was merely a self-employed personal brand, and its quality and reputation were not particularly well-received by Viennese.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage traveled along the ring road, first passing through a Gothic-style architectural area familiar to Lelouch, and then stopped in front of a building that resembled a department store.

"No. 1020 Huancheng Avenue..." Looking at this address, Lelouch realized that he had felt a sense of familiarity when he heard the place name earlier.

Because number 1010, not far away, is this body's alma mater, the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.

Lelouch couldn't help but recall the era before he transmigrated, when he studied and worked in a provincial capital in southern China. There was a university in that provincial capital called Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts. The province's first Porsche 4S store was located on the left-hand side of the academy's main gate, and later the province's first Ferrari dealership was located on the right-hand side of the academy's main gate.

Sure enough, in any era, the area in front of art academies is always a hub for luxury car showrooms.

Having traversed half the globe and a century, it remains the same.

However, Lelouch is here to buy a car now, so he won't be returning to his alma mater for the time being.

The group disembarked from the carriage, and the guards helped them carry the money as they went straight into the Daimler showroom.

The showroom was deserted; there were hardly any people there. It was wartime, after all, and almost no one was buying cars.

It was rare to see a young customer come in, so the showroom manager greeted him politely: "Sir, are you here to look at cars or to place an order?"

Lelouch pointed to the Daimler prototype in front of him: "I need it urgently. I need this prototype. Fill up the gas tank."

Showroom Manager: "This is the luxury model, it costs 33,000 marks, but this is a demo car and can't be sold. Besides, gasoline is hard to come by right now, it's all rationed..."

Before Lelouch could even speak, Klose chimed in, "Our commander is a colonel from an allied nation. He's here in Vienna on a secret mission. You should apply for permission right away."

The showroom manager glanced at him up and down. Since there were no customers today, he made an internal call: "Mr. Porsche..."

A few indistinct voices came from the other end of the phone, seemingly indicating no intention to approve, and the showroom manager was about to hang up.

But when Lelouch heard the words "Mr. Porsche," his ears naturally perked up, and he reached out to stop the manager from taking the microphone.

"Mr. Porsche, the head of Daimler Vienna? The same Mr. Porsche who designed the race car to compete in the Prince Henry Cup a few years ago?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the microphone, as if someone hadn't quite grasped the situation, before a soft "Mmm" came through: "And you are...?"

Lelouch was very straightforward: "You may not know me, so let me introduce myself. I am Lelouch von Hunt, from the Kingdom of Baria, a colonel and commander of the 6th Army of Demania. My family also owns several military industrial enterprises in Baria and Biligin."

I've heard that Mr. Porsche has designed many racing cars. Perhaps we could get to know each other sometime; maybe we could have more opportunities to collaborate.

Ferdinand Porsche, sitting opposite him, remained silent for a moment before saying, "Colonel, you may not know this, but I am now not only the head of Daimler Vienna, but I have also been given a new assignment by the Imperial Munitions Ministry. I will soon be concurrently serving as the Technical Director of the Power Project at the Škoda Arms Factory..."

The other party phrased it tactfully, but the meaning was clear: it was impossible for them to be poached. The Oreo Empire's Quartermaster Department had already given Skoda a task: to develop a specialized heavy artillery tractor, specifically one with strong climbing ability.

Currently, on the southern front and in the Carpathian Mountains, the Empire's heavy artillery units are severely hampered by their poor mobility, especially in mountainous areas where they cannot be moved even by a large number of draft horses.

Historically, the real-life example of "a thousand men dragging a heavy cannon up a mountain" occurred during Austrian military operations.

Unfortunately, Porsche has never been able to complete this project in its history.

Finally, in the latter half of 1916, Porsche heard that the Bretonnian army had deployed tanks, a new weapon, on the Western Front. Out of curiosity, he went to learn about this new invention.

He was then greatly inspired and thought of using a tracked structure to improve the climbing ability of the tractor. Finally, he rushed to produce a half-track heavy artillery tractor for use by the Austrian army.

It was after that project passed acceptance that Porsche was posthumously awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the Technical University of Vienna, in 1917, even though he had never formally pursued a doctorate.

It was only after that that he was qualified to be called "Dr. Porsche" by later generations.

As a military enthusiast in his previous life, Lelouch was naturally familiar with Porsche's achievements. Upon hearing Porsche mention the need for a "heavy artillery tractor with strong climbing ability," he quickly thought of tanks and tracked vehicles.

Lelouch's eyes lit up; these two needs perfectly aligned: although it would be more than a year before the Burgundians could actually build tanks, he already had a concept of what tanks were. With just a little guidance and reminder, they could benefit both sides.

So he said without any hesitation, "I actually have some insights into high-powered vehicles with strong climbing ability. Perhaps we can exchange ideas sometime. I will provide the concepts and ideas, and you can provide the research and development."

I'm not forcing you to leave, but if you're willing to take on some side jobs, it would be mutually beneficial for allied military enterprises to learn from each other. Let me write down your phone number; I'll call you back when I have time.

Porsche, on the other end of the phone, was full of doubt, but since the other party had put it that way, he figured a technical cooperation was possible, so he accepted it.

Since a collaboration was planned, a prototype vehicle was certainly not a problem. After Lelouch handed the microphone back to the showroom manager, Porsche gave him a few more instructions.

The showroom manager then hung up the phone: "35,000 marks, take the demo car directly, and fill it up with gas. If you need to refuel while you're in Vienna, you can come here; we have some in stock."

Lelouch waved his hand, and Klose took a bag of gold coins, 50 coins per bundle, for a total of 40 bundles. He counted out 5 bundles of change and handed the remaining 35 bundles to the other party.

Lelouch only plans to drive this car for a short while. After he leaves, he'll leave it with his brother-in-law's relatives in Vienna. They can pick him up when he comes to Vienna for business in the future.

In the future, when Lu Luxiu goes to fight on the Eastern Front, he will definitely be frequently traveling to Vienna, so having a vehicle will be very convenient.

……

With Daimler, it would be much easier to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, none of Lelouch's close associates could drive, so he, as the commander, had to drive himself.

These days, driving is a skill, and he wouldn't be able to drive if he hadn't learned from Yin Maiman for a while.

However, since he no longer needed the two guards to carry the gold coins, Lelouch was too lazy to bring so many people. He simply gave them a bundle of 50 gold coins, found them a place to stay, and arranged their accommodations.

Lelouch, accompanied only by his follower Klose, drove past the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and headed towards the city tax office.

"This is where I used to go to university."

"Oh, sir, your grades must have been excellent back then. Many times, I thought your math skills were simply terrifying." Klose said with a hint of flattery and teasing.

"Tell me something you don't know."

Lelouch smiled smugly and pressed the accelerator again. The road was empty, and they arrived in no time.

Lelouch drove the car directly into the courtyard of the Vienna City Tax Office. The guards saw his Daimler and immediately stood at attention without asking any questions.

Instead, Lelouch rolled down the car window and asked, "Excuse me, is Mr. Guilford from the tax office here?"

The security guard answered respectfully, "It's on the third floor, in the tax collection office. Oh, sir, could you tell me your identity so I can register you?"

The security guard didn't even dare to ask him to write it down; he just asked him to give a brief report, and then wrote it down himself.

“Lelouch von Hunt, he’s my brother-in-law, here to visit relatives.”

Lelouch didn't make things difficult for the other party. He answered as he got out of the car, then shook his trench coat and went straight upstairs, leaving Klose to watch the car and the money.

The security guard went back to the reception room to register the visitor's information, but as he was writing, he suddenly realized that the visitor's name looked a bit like the summons information he had received before.

"Lelouch Hunt...isn't that the name of Chief Guilford's brother-in-law who went missing and was summoned for draft evasion? But how come there's a 'Feng' in his name? And he's made a fortune? Could he have done something shady?"

In this era, there is no such thing as cross-border archival cooperation.

If someone does something great abroad, unless it becomes a household name and makes it into all the newspapers, nobody in another country will know.

After struggling for a while, the security guard finally dialed the police.

(End of this chapter)