“`
When Wang Zhong came out of the major general’s office, Grigori squinted suspiciously, “The commander inside is a woman? Why do you look like you just came out of the red-light district, General?”
“Hmph,” Wang Zhong sneered, “That’s way more thrilling than the red-light district. Inside was General Chekhov, an old acquaintance of Argesukov. She approved a whole bunch of equipment for us.”
Grigori awkwardly reminded him, “I’m just a sergeant major; I don’t know so many big shots. You mention General Chekhov, and I’ve got no clue who that is.”
“A slick old fox who won’t stick to the pot but gets things done,” Wang Zhong laughed, “If it were peacetime, this kind of person could be the pillar of a department.”
Actually, Wang Zhong didn’t have much social experience, but he had seen the likes of General Chekhov in a British TV show called “Yes, Prime Minister”.
Grigori: “As long as it’s a good result, that’s what matters. Where to next?”
“To the church, for people. We need a lot of new recruits who can drive tractors to operate the machine gun tanks I just got.”
“You mean those BT1 things?” Grigori’s face fell, “What’s the use of those?”
“To serve as ammunition transport vehicles.”
“…That could work.”
The two of them walked to the main gate, one after the other.
————
By the time Wang Zhong reached the church entrance, he saw a familiar scene.
A massive crowd of young people crammed at the recruitment station’s entrance, blocking the entire street.
Grigori honked the horn like crazy to no avail; the crowd simply had no intention of making way.
Wang Zhong stood up, looking towards the direction of the church.
At that moment, some people around him recognized Wang Zhong:
“Look quick, it’s a brigadier general.”
“So what if he’s a brigadier general? St. Ye Katerina Fortress has lots of them now.”
“I heard that even the great White Horse General came to St. Ye Katerina Fortress to marry Her Highness the Princess!”
“She is now the Crown Princess.”
Wang Zhong thought to himself how fast this rumor had spread. There was no internet in this era, so how could it have spread so quickly? Last night’s event, and by this afternoon, the whole city knew about it.
What he neglected at the time was that last night, in order to have an exchange meeting, a bunch of junior and mid-level officers were at the Summer Palace. After getting pumped up at the meeting, most of them would go out drinking.
People boast when they drink, and then the gents would take home what they heard last night, telling their wives, and by the time the market aunties chewed the fat early next morning, boom, the whole city was in the know.
It’s just that quick.
Wang Zhong sighed, cleared his throat, and shouted, “Lads and lasses, make way! I need to recruit personnel for my troops!”
Some bold youngster shouted back, “Brigadier General, which unit are you with?”
Wang Zhong: “The 151st Temporary Infantry Division!”
“Pff, a temporary unit, count me out!”
“I might consider the Imperial Guard!”
“Has your unit seen combat, Brigadier General?”
“Need you even ask? A temporary unit, certainly hasn’t seen any action!”
Wang Zhong furrowed his brows, thinking to himself that these youngsters should show some respect to a brigadier general.
At that point, someone raised a newspaper high, “Hold on! The paper says the unit commanded by the White Horse General is the 151st Temporary Infantry Division!”
“What?”
“Really?”
“Isn’t the White Horse General six meters tall?”
Wang Zhong facepalmed. How had the rumor about a six-meter-tall general traveled from Shepetovka to the capital? That’s nearly 500 kilometers!
Forget it, he thought, just corral the people first. He then bellowed, “Everyone! I am the White Horse General! Although I am not mounted on a white steed right now, I indeed am. I’m here to recruit reinforcements for my division. Can you please clear the way for me to reach the front of the church recruitment point?”
Just as he finished speaking, a female voice replied, “No way! The church says we’re not old enough and won’t let us enlist!”
Her statement instantly sparked a chorus of agreement:
“Exactly, General! We’ve finished the 10th grade, we’re just not old enough!”
“I’ve got plenty of strength, General, carrying a rifle’s no problem for me!”
“I’ve never lost a fight in my village, I can definitely give those Prosen devils a good thrashing!”
Wang Zhong finally understood; these youngsters were not old enough, and that was why they were blocking the door, hoping the church would relax the recruitment age limit.
Those of age had probably registered already, then been carted off to the new recruits training camp.
Wang Zhong: “You think you can only fight the Prosen devils on the front lines? Support work is just as important. Without people to grow crops and herd, what are the soldiers on the front lines going to eat?
“The soldiers’ clothes, the ammo they fire, all need to be produced by people. These support positions are equally vital! You should go home and contribute to the war effort through labor!
“And not waste time here! It’s already August, and the harvest is upon us. No one’s in the fields to gather the wheat! Without wheat, next year we face famine. The Prosen won’t have defeated us, but we’ll lose the war to hunger just because you’re wasting time here!”
“`
The children looked at each other in bewilderment.
Someone shouted, “The newspaper says the war can be won in half a year!”
Wang Zhong was shocked, “What? Who said that? The church’s newspaper couldn’t possibly say that!”
Because the Grand Patriarch clearly agreed with Wang Zhong’s opinion yesterday, thinking the war would last three to four years.
“The Yekaterinburg Commentary newspaper said so!”
Wang Zhong frowned, not knowing which faction this newspaper belonged to, but it was mostly likely not the church.
“That is incorrect! Neither a quick victory nor a quick defeat is possible; the war will be a protracted contest of war potential.” Wang Zhong tried to make his explanation simple and understandable so that the children could accept it, “If you are one or two years away from adulthood, you can first go home and work, and then join the army when you are of age. You won’t miss the war, I promise.
Now, can you let me pass, children?”
The young people looked at one another and eventually made way.
Grigori started the car and slowly drove towards the recruitment desk, afraid of hitting anyone.
When he reached the recruitment desk, Wang Zhong said to the priest in charge, “I need recruits who can drive tractors, and I need them right away.”
The priest said, “Understood, we will select suitable candidates from the new recruits who have joined these days. However, if you are not in a particular hurry, you could wait for our training class students to graduate.”
Wang Zhong frowned, “Training classes?”
“Yes, for training urgently needed drivers and other technical soldiers. Drivers should be the first to graduate, with the first session finishing at the beginning of September.”
Wang Zhong said, “I want both. Find me those who can drive tractors first, and then I also want the graduates in early September!”
The priest looked troubled, “This… isn’t that being a little too greedy?”
At that moment, a blue-hatted Judge ran over quickly and whispered something to the priest.
The priest’s attitude changed 180 degrees immediately, “How many drivers do you need?”
Wang Zhong said, “I need three thousand.”
In fact, Wang Zhong initially wanted to ask for five thousand, but upon reconsideration, he wondered if it would even be possible to equip his division with five thousand trucks. Three thousand would have to do, and if there weren’t enough trucks, machine gun tanks would suffice.
In the history of Earth, both the Sturmtiger and the Soviet Army had used outdated machine gun tanks as ammunition transport vehicles and for other miscellaneous tasks.
After all, the tanks had already been produced, and scrapping them in the factory would consume precious working hours, a commodity every factory during wartime wished could be split in two.
After the priest recorded Wang Zhong’s request, he said, “I will do my best to accommodate it. Where should these drivers be sent?”
Wang Zhong said, “Shostka, my troops are stationed in Shostka.”
“Alright.”
With that matter settled, Wang Zhong asked Grigori, “Do you know where there’s a club that noble young masters frequent in the city?”
Grigori frowned and looked at Wang Zhong, “I am a Cossack, don’t you think this question is a bit out of my professional expertise, General?”
Wang Zhong said, “Alright…”
He scratched his cheek.
Then a young man nearby said, “Are you looking to confront the hedonistic young nobles?”
Wang Zhong said, “No, I want to find a Parade Tank and convert it into my command vehicle.”
The young man said, “Then you should go to the Novgorod Mansion, there’s revelry there every night.”
Wang Zhong asked, “Do they have tanks there?”
“I don’t know about that,” the young man replied, spreading his hands, “But you can ask the young lords there where to find such Parade Tanks.”
Wang Zhong was delighted and patted Grigori on the shoulder, “Let’s go to the Novgorod Mansion.”
————
The mansion was on the eastern side of St. Ekaterina Fortress, close to the outskirts of the city.
Grigori drove the car all the way to the iron gate of the mansion’s courtyard.
An old servant opened a small door beside the iron gate and said, “Please go back, you can’t enter here in military uniform.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhong grew furious, pulled out his pistol, and said, “I am Aleksei Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, go and ask who I killed yesterday and where!”
The old servant’s pupils dilated, “Rokossovsky?? I will report this immediately…”
“Nonsense, open the gate! Otherwise, I will suspect you are harboring spies! Don’t make me call the Judge!”
The old servant shakily opened the gate.
Grigori floored the accelerator and the car drove in.
Wang Zhong heard the old servant possibly using a telephone or something similar to inform those inside.
By the time the car reached the mansion’s main entrance, a group of extravagantly dressed dandies had already gathered at the mansion’s gate. Like the dandies associated with Argesukov, these people were all in custom-made luxury military uniforms—very well, so real military uniforms were not allowed, but ornate fake ones were, right?
“Alyosha!” The leading young master spread his arms wide; his insignia was even an imitation of a Marshal’s rank—of course, just an imitation, “You’re finally back! We were just commemorating Ivan!”
Wang Zhong frowned, “Commemorating?”
“Yes, we’ve been recalling everything about him; several ladies even cried! Come and tell us, what was Ivan like in the end? Among us, you were the last to see him!”
Wang Zhong glanced at the group and not wanting to waste even a minute with them, said, “I am here to find a tank, a Parade Tank T34, to be precise. Do you have one here? If not, where can I find one?”