Imperial Elite

Chapter 119 Citibank Trip
For the Teutonics, "The Greek Conspiracy" is a good movie.

This film brought a ray of light into their bleak postwar lives, making them feel that we Teutons can still do it!

Even a certain mustachioed man who prefers to remain anonymous and dabbles in politics on the streets is wondering if he should also venture into the intelligence field.
However, since this mustachioed man only had three thousand party members under his command at this time, he might have been at a disadvantage in the enthusiastic street political exchanges if it weren't for the support of the first party organization leader, Baturuholz.

Since the main force of the Teutonic left had already established a separate central government, the Teutonic Republican government at that time maintained a trend of suppression against the left.

However, the encouraged leftists are impossible to suppress. Yesterday we made a little effort and we have the People's Revolutionary Alliance. Today we will make a little more effort and maybe this group will be controlled by the left!
Moreover, due to the existence of the Teutonic Union of Upper Silesia, even if the Teutonic left did something big, they could simply flee to Upper Silesia, lie low for a while, and learn the latest theories and technologies before making a triumphant return.

Even with police fairly taking sides on the grand stage of street politics, the left still stands out in a frightening way.

Therefore, this man with the strange beard could only instruct Holz, the party's top leader, to develop this aspect a little.

We can't let a foolish republican government monopolize the limelight.

However, for the Teutons, "The Greek Conspiracy" was a ray of light in their gloomy lives, making them feel that they, the Teutons, could still do it!
However, for the Teutonic government, this "Greek Conspiracy" caused them a lot of trouble.

Even if this movie is entirely fictional based on facts, the Gauls don't care about that.

After watching the movie, the Gauls exclaimed, "Wow, so the Teutons had such a sophisticated intelligence agency! How come I didn't know? Tell me, are you secretly preparing for war? Planning to ambush us in the next war?!"

Although the Teutons did think so, the Gallic government, at this point, innocently acted like a lamb to the slaughter, saying, "We don't have an intelligence department."

And even if we wanted to do it, we don't have the capability, you know?
Right now, we have no people, no money, no organization. Look at us, we can't even suppress the leftists in China. Do we look like the kind of people who have the ability to cause trouble in Greece?
And what about Abbeville? We've never even heard of it.

Yes, we used to have intelligence agencies. The General Staff had the Abent Directorate, and the Navy had the N Directorate, but both of those departments were disbanded in 1919. We complied with the treaty, and that was our wish!

Faced with the Teutonic Republic government's lamentations, the Gauls thought that the Teutons might not have had an intelligence agency, but it was unlikely that the Teutons had not had an intelligence agency.

So let's continue with a major investigation.

Faced with the Gauls' extensive investigation, the Teutons were truly devastated this time.

After signing an agreement with the Lucia military government, the Teutons began preparing a Black Weapon Army under the table.

Those unofficial defense forces that went to the Russian military government under various reasons and excuses, such as art students going to sketch and gather inspiration, or mountaineering teams going on expeditions, were all part of these clandestine defense forces.

In order to conceal this black-clad defense force and at the same time gather intelligence on the military development of other countries.

Therefore, the National Defence Force established the National Defence Force Intelligence Bureau for military intelligence gathering, while also providing cover for foreign espionage and clandestine military equipment and training activities.

Some private armies, organized to fight a civil war against the left, also had their own intelligence organizations and carried out intelligence work on the eastern front on their own.

The National Defense Forces were originally very pleased with the existence of these civilian intelligence agencies that brought their own food and labor.

The empire's cause has a successor; we Teutons are indeed capable!

But now, facing the Gauls who are so eager to stir up trouble even when there's no wind, the Teutonic Army can only tearfully send these civilian intelligence agencies to take the fall.

Amidst cries of "Oh dear, these are all spontaneous acts by patriotic people; it's our negligence in management that has prevented such incidents from happening again," the situation escalated.

The Gauls found nothing, so to warn the Teutons against causing trouble, they shut down the two surviving military academies.

The Gauls believed that, barring the Teutons any idiots, the warning should carry enough weight.

However, what the Gauls did not expect was that after they forcibly closed the two military academies on the pretext that the Teutons had violated the treaty, the Teutons then sent the teachers and students of the military academies to the territory of the Lucian military government. When the schools reopened, there were many more Lucian military academy students in the schools.

Furthermore, many of these Lucia military cadets were also very dissatisfied with Bunitania and Wagner.

Originally, the Lucia military government, as a local regime supported by Bunitania, was still receiving aid from Bunitania in order to limit the development of the People's Revolutionary Union.

Theoretically, their relationship with Bonitania should be good.

However, this is not actually the case. Due to the previous supply disruptions and the current auditors, many people in the Lucia military government are dissatisfied with Bunitania and Gaul.

What exacerbated this discontent was the Paradise Island controlled by Wagner.

The location of Paradise Island itself, at the mouth of the Black Sea, is a major concern for the Lucia military government.

Then, the island was also very profitable, which made the Lucia military government even more upset.

There's a mentality where seeing others make money is more painful than losing money yourself, and the current Russian military government is in this state of mind.

Although the Russian military government's finances began to improve after the front lines were temporarily frozen, thanks to the Baku oil fields in the Caucasus region and secret investments from the Teutonic Army.

However, the Lucia military government was still very envious of the booming business on Paradise Island.

This envy naturally influenced many young officers in the Lucia military government. These young men, who had experienced previous hardships and civil wars, lamented the disintegration of the empire and the internal strife that followed the conquest of the Balkans.

At the same time, they also had a strong sense of pride, believing that Lucia and Teutons were the people in the world who understood war best.

Therefore, they have a very low opinion of groups like Wagner, who write about military contractors but are read as mercenaries.

Furthermore, the fact that Wagner was now right on their doorstep only exacerbated the young officers' resentment towards him.

So, in the mountains of the Caucasus, the Lucias and Teutons began to study what they needed and what kind of training they would use to defeat those disgusting Wagner troops.

Joe was unaware that the Lucia military government and the Teutons were conducting research on him, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared too much.

After all, learning by doing and being learned by doing have always been important components of human technological development.

Even if you are studying me, can you really learn from me and be confident that you can defeat me?

At this time, Old Joe was preparing to visit Citibank.

Joe had originally planned this visit last year, since Citigroup is an important market for Rolls-Royce and Wagner Group.

With the release of the three films, Wagner has even become a cultural icon in Citibank.

How can today's young people from Citibank present themselves as someone who keeps up with the times and comes from a middle-class family with some money?

The most standard approach is to drive a cargo version of the Unyielding off-road vehicle, wear a Wagner combat jacket, and have combat goggles pinned to your forehead.

The outfit, which makes it look like they're about to launch a surprise attack on the Teutonic positions, is currently the most fashionable look in Citibank.

Although initially, buying the Unyielding SUV was somewhat like buying movie merchandise.

But when the first farmers and gangsters got their hands on the Unyielding SUVs, they discovered that, you know what, when they needed to haul things, driving this thing was incredibly comfortable and powerful!
Even if the fuel consumption is a bit high, is that really a problem?
V6 and V8 are the real deal when it comes to aircraft engines!

At this time, due to the alcohol prohibition order already in effect, many gangs had begun to look for channels to smuggle alcohol.

In the beginning, when these gangs were transporting bootleggings from the north and south borders, they basically used whatever they had.

Besides drastically modifying vehicles to push their performance to the limit, some highly skilled and daring individuals even choose to drive recklessly on country roads at night with their headlights off to evade border police and bootlegging agents.

But soon, these gangs realized that all these fancy things were actually unnecessary.

All they needed was a rugged and reliable Indomitable off-road vehicle.

These vehicles, powered by aircraft engines, can quickly turn the police from being constantly exposed to exhaust fumes to being completely oblivious to them on the road simply by flooring the accelerator.

Even if the police block the road with their vehicles, don't panic, because the Unyielding is an off-road vehicle. As the name suggests, you only need to step on the gas, and leave the rest to the Unyielding.

Whether it's a muddy swamp or a gravel path, the Unyielding One can always break free from encirclement and suppression with the roar of its engine.

For cars that the police simply cannot stop, various gangs naturally welcome them wholeheartedly.

Compared to those large domestic ships, these vehicles that can transport them from anywhere are clearly more suitable for their needs.

For those farmers, road construction is a very expensive undertaking.

Buying a car is much cheaper, and the Buquzhe, a car that can both run and carry a lot, almost perfectly meets their needs, except for slightly higher fuel consumption.

This vehicle can even take them up mountains and down rivers; it's incredibly fun.

Therefore, the Unyielding SUV is not difficult to sell at Citibank. In fact, for a product like a car, which is discounted by 20% as soon as it's purchased, there are even cases where used cars are more expensive than new cars.

Because buying a new Indomitable SUV now requires waiting at least three months, but a used car can be paid for now and driven away immediately.

Because the Indomitable SUV is so popular, the Citizen government naturally welcomed Joe's idea of ​​setting up a factory in Citizens to produce the Indomitable SUV.

After all, more factories and more jobs mean more prosperity, and they have no reason to refuse that.

They also extended a formal invitation to Joe, hoping he could visit Citibank.

The reason for wanting to invite Joe to visit is very simple. On the one hand, as an important shareholder of Rolls-Royce, Joe is now building a factory in Citibank, so it is a very normal thing for him to come to Citibank to meet and talk.

On the other hand, after learning that Joe had recently had a minor disagreement with the Bonitania government, the Citizens government wondered if they could bring Joe to the Citizens at this time to make some military contributions.

They felt that Joe must have had the same idea.

Otherwise, Joe wouldn't have let his illegitimate son come to Citizenship and get Citizenship. Also, although the joint research was delivered, Joe didn't teach how to use it. Shouldn't we do some after-sales work now?
If Professor Qiao is willing to come, not to mention a doctoral title, a visiting professorship at West Point is not out of the question. Wagner establishing a training camp at Citibank is also something we can discuss.

And doesn't Wagner currently have gold on hand?
Britannia has very strict financial regulations, but Citibank has very lenient ones. Wagner could totally come over and run a bank.

It's all business; everything is negotiable.

Given Citibank's generosity, Joe, who had wanted to go there a year ago, felt it would be inappropriate not to go now.

So Joe boarded a cruise ship bound for Citibank.

Since this trip abroad was not for a combat mission, Joe theoretically did not need to bring any troops with him.

However, Joe's situation was rather special. Given the state of Joe's guards, which would make anyone shake their heads in disbelief, Joe had no choice but to bring everyone with him to avoid trouble at home.

Since we've already brought everyone along, we certainly can't have any discrepancies in the arrangements for boarding the boat.

At this point, Joe encountered a small problem: unless he chartered the ship himself, he had no way to take over all the first-class cabins on a cruise ship and close off the top deck.

However, chartering the entire ship and only bringing one's own guards seems a bit too wasteful.

After thinking it over, Joe decided that since they were going to charter the ship anyway, they might as well give Wagner and the other people in the research system who had been doing well recently to go to Citibank for some fun.

Such a large-scale mobilization naturally made London nervous.

Why is Wagner acting up again? Joe, are you planning to do something naughty?

After secretly inquiring and discovering that Joe was only planning to take people on vacation, London finally felt relieved.

Hey, so you're just going on vacation? I thought Joe was up to something again. Go ahead, go ahead.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened on the boat trip to Citibank.

Aside from receiving James's acceptance letter from Cambridge University while Joe was on the ship, and then having some bad excuse to celebrate, which kept Joe in bed for another day, nothing else particularly noteworthy happened.

Seemingly spurred on by those children, the women's exploitation of Joe has reached a new level, making Joe lament that she was ultimately too foolish.

Like most ships traveling from the Old World to the New World, Joe's first stop in the New World was New York.

When Joe's ship arrived in New York, he received a hero's welcome, even more enthusiastic than when he returned to London after the war.

Besides flowers and cheers, Joe simply waved his hand and elicited a chorus of screams.

After greeting the Citibank officials who came to greet him, as well as a few familiar faces, on his way to his car, Joe simply shook hands with a few people in the excited crowd outside the police cordon.

One of the women who shook hands with Joe was so excited that she fainted, causing quite a bit of chaos.

Joe was somewhat bewildered by his popularity.

Although I am somewhat famous in the world, this level of welcome is still a bit too exaggerated, isn't it?

I'm not a citizen of the United States, so why are they welcoming me so much?

At the welcoming banquet, Joe asked why she was so popular, and was surprised to learn the answer.

Because Joe is good at making money, inventing, and even fighting, aside from his slightly chaotic private life which prevents people from openly envying him, Joe is basically the kind of person every Citibank employee wants to be.

Especially with Wagner's three most recent films, Citizens feel that Joe is a genius blessed by God.

In other words, Joe was a Britannian, and Citizens had rules; otherwise, if Joe had been willing to run for president, he would certainly have become president of Citizens.

Joe was stunned for a long time after hearing that he was so popular at Citibank.

Then, Qiao nodded thoughtfully.

Oh, since I'm so popular, could I find a way to monetize this feeling?
For example, selling clothing under their own brand and collecting a "fan tax"?

Although the idea popped into his head, Joe had important business to attend to, so he decided to leave before trying to earn some extra money.

Joe still has a lot to do.

For example, since he's already in Citibank, Joe will definitely go to that white house, chat with the current Citibank president, take a picture, and so on.

Although both Joe and the Citizens President were smiling in front of the camera, Joe and the newly appointed Vice President did not have much to say to each other.

After a polite chat about trivial matters, the visit to the White House came to an end.

Besides having to go to the White House, Joe also had to deal with the conditions set by the many governors of Citibank regarding where the Rolls-Royce plant would be built.

Then everyone came to Citibank. As a soldier, it would be inappropriate not to go to West Point, right?

Since we're here for dessert, it wouldn't be right not to say a few words, would it?

Since you've already said a few words, why not give another lecture? Oh dear, we know you're very busy, but please accept this visiting professor title.

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Joe, who had only planned to make a perfunctory visit to West Point, ended up giving a lecture there after some preparation.

The lecture was originally intended for West Point students, but on the day of the lecture, the West Point cadets didn't even have a chair to sit on.

This is a lecture by Teacher Qiao; once you miss it, you won't find another opportunity. How can I not listen?

So on the day the lecture began, the largest auditorium at West Point was filled with generals and field officers; if you were a lieutenant, you had to stand with the cadets.

Faced with this situation, Joe, who originally only wanted to talk about something simple, got carried away and started talking about everything from the organization of armored forces to how to properly use them for a counterattack.

He then casually mentioned some elite combat groups breaking through the defenses and what kind of tanks and supporting vehicles were needed, before starting to review Wagner's Far East campaign.

West Point truly lives up to its reputation as a prestigious military academy. As Qiao casually mentioned the battles in the Far East, a military academy student jogged over, hung up a large map, and handed Qiao a pointer.

In short, Qiao, who hadn't prepared a script at all, talked about everything under the sun, from old men to married women.

Although Joe speaks his mind freely and goes wherever his thoughts lead him, he doesn't just talk; he's also willing to answer questions from the audience.

This gave the American officers a huge boost of confidence, as they had been asked about their experiences during the Second Battle of Paris, including being blocked by the Teutonic lines.

From tank design specifications to the current trend of building elite infantry.

In short, Joe had to end the lecture because his voice became hoarse from drinking too much water.

The Citizens officers present already had their notebooks mostly filled.

Although the lecture was over, it did not affect the group of officers who had first called him "Teacher Qiao." Since they had come all this way, they used the excuse of having to treat Teacher Qiao to a meal to drag him to the best steakhouse in the area for a private dinner.

Joe also shared some tips with these familiar faces.

"Logistics! Logistics is the key to everything. If you don't want to fight with bayonets alone, always pay attention to your logistical supplies."

After seeing his old friends, Joe also met some new faces, as Wagner's films were a complete game-changer for cinema of this era.

So after politicians and soldiers, film studios and directors also approached Joe.

I'd like to see if the two sides can cooperate.

Then these people made a huge mess as soon as they met Joe.

It almost caused Joe to prematurely end his trip to Citibank.

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Joe's lecture at West Point in 1921 profoundly influenced the development of the American Army throughout the 50s.

Prior to this lecture, the limited experience of the Citibank Army left them unsure of the future direction of the army and warfare.

Following this lecture, the Citi Army's force development and equipment design accelerated significantly.

The only problem is that the Ordnance Bureau of the War Department has some different opinions on this.

This view led the army to use some equipment that, while not terrible, was certainly strange in the early stages of the war.

——————A History of 20th Century Warfare

(End of this chapter)