Facing Wang Zhong’s question, the so-called “marshal” answered, “Wasn’t the only Parade Tank taken away by Her Highness the Princess?”
Wang Zhong was stunned, “That was the one? There are no other Parade Tanks?”
The “marshal” frowned, “Aside from you and Prince Ivan, nobody likes playing with that thing. It’s just you two commanding it to run around all day. It’s so loud when it’s running, and riding it is bumpy; one can bump their head at any moment. Nobody enjoys playing with it!”
The words of the “marshal” immediately received everyone’s affirmation, “Right, that thing is very loud when it’s running.”
“I rode it once and ended up with a bump-filled head.”
Wang Zhong’s mood plummeted. He had thought that this was a popular sport among the young nobles in the capital, but it turned out only the Crown Prince and his buddies liked it.
At that moment, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
Then, several trucks appeared, all loaded with Judges wearing blue hats.
Upon seeing the Judges, a noble lady started screaming, her shrill soprano numbing the top of Wang Zhong’s head.
Wang Zhong was also confused. Why had the Church decided to take action so quickly? No, that doesn’t seem right. Based on the Grand Patriarch’s intentions last night, it appeared as though he wanted to resolve the primary conflict first.
The trucks stopped behind Wang Zhong, and the Judges disembarked one by one, spreading out to encircle the mansion.
The leading Judge’s left hand was in a cast, bandaged up, and he used his remaining right hand to open the car door and got out from the passenger’s seat, walking towards Wang Zhong, “Yo, hello there, ‘Returner from Hell’.”
Wang Zhong recognized him as an old acquaintance, the Judge who had taken him to the headquarters from Bogdanovka.
“You escaped from Bogdanovka?”
The Judge smiled, “Led a group of Judges and broke out.”
Wang Zhong, “What about the other one?”
“He stayed in hell,” the Judge replied.
Wang Zhong, “My condolences.”
“No, we went to heaven to meet Saint Andrew; there’s nothing sad about it. The sad ones are these people.” With that, the One-Armed Judge nodded at the cringing dandies huddled in terror and suddenly, he laughed, “Yo, look, someone’s wet himself!”
Wang Zhong, already experiencing stress symptoms, frowned upon hearing about wetting oneself.
Following the One-Armed Judge’s gaze, he saw the dandy wearing the “marshal” uniform, who had arrogantly greeted Wang Zhong, had wet a large patch on his trousers.
“What exactly are you here for?” he asked the Judge while meticulously examining the large “map,” “Their parents were found to be spies?”
As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, a chorus of crying broke out.
The Judge shook his head, “No, we heard you were heading this way and followed. In case we arrived to find a field of corpses, we’d be able to quickly take care of the aftermath, after all, the main enemy now is the Prussians, and to resist the Prussians we must unite all the forces we can.”
Having said that, he looked at the ridiculous state of the crowd and shook his head, “Now it seems we’ve almost scared them to death. On the other hand, each of these guys has a guilty conscience.”
Wang Zhong, “What are you planning to do with the current situation?”
“I just want to confirm, you’re not planning to open fire, right? There won’t be a bloodbath here, will there? The old servant at the door said something about you coming in armed, just… a small mishap, right?”
Wang Zhong, “Yes, that old servant said those in military uniforms weren’t allowed inside.”
The One-Armed Judge frowned, “They were so brazen about it? Hey, you all! Is it a rule of this club that people in military attire are not allowed in?”
The latter was addressed to the dandies who were like frightened birds.
Someone immediately shouted, “It was Panjelie who said it!”
The “marshal” who had already mapped out his trousers screamed, “I! I was drunk and confused!”
The One-Armed Judge commanded, “Take him away for a thorough examination!”
Panjelie let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Two Judges went over to grab Panjelie, one on each side, and dragged him off.
The One-Armed Judge gave Wang Zhong a wry smile, “Since we’re here, don’t worry, they won’t be treated too harshly. So we’ll be on our way now. Remember, don’t draw your gun lightly; you’re in the eye of the storm right now.”
The Judges gathered as quickly as they had spread out, climbed into their vehicles and departed in a rush.
Wang Zhong turned to look at the dandies and found all of them sitting directly on the ground.
“You guys are such cowards,” he mocked.
“We’re not princes,” someone answered.
Wang Zhong, “Neither am I!”
The Parade Tank couldn’t be found, which made him quite unhappy, but soon a new idea popped into his mind.
After all, the tank couldn’t have been handcrafted by the Crown Prince and himself, and since a tank is such a fragile thing, there must be someone helping with maintenance.
So he asked again, “Do you know who ordered that Parade Tank?”
At this moment, the silent club steward answered, “It was ordered from the Ye Fort Joint Machinery Factory, which has always been responsible for producing various royal and inspection-specific vehicles. Now they are said to be producing the T34 tanks on the orders of the Ordnance Department.”
Wang Zhong was overjoyed, well, so the hen that lays the eggs is here!
The steward continued, “You should look for the factory’s general manager, Morozov. The design drawings and such should still be in the factory.”
————
“We indeed still have the design drawings,” replied Morozov, general manager of the Ye Fort Joint Machinery Factory, “but right now all the workshops are producing the T34, and the design of the Parade Tank is very different from the T34. If we were to produce it, we would have to stop the entire production line to adapt and retrofit, and it would affect our production progress.”
Wang Zhong: “How did you manage to make this one?”
“At that time, our factory was not operating at full capacity, and our main job was producing various vehicles for the Royal Family. So we just pulled together the strength to make one.”
Wang Zhong: “I am now requesting to stop a production line and shift to this kind of Parade Tank because its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the ordinary T34!”
Morozov frowned, “That’s impossible. We are under the leadership of the Ordnance Department, and you are just a major general. Although your military exploits are outstanding, I can’t stop the production line just because of a word from you.”
Morozov paused, then thought for a moment and said, “Well, we are, after all, a factory dedicated to serving the Royal Family. If you can issue a task on behalf of the Royal Family, I could cobble together some labor to start work.
“We can think of something about the factory building. I believe the original warehouse could be modified to serve as a factory. Now with such heavy production tasks, materials are used up quickly as they come, so we don’t really need the warehouse anymore.”
Wang Zhong: “How can I issue a task in the name of the Royal Family?”
Morozov looked puzzled: “Aren’t you a prince? Just have the Crown Princess say a word, and it’s done, right?”
“I’m not a prince. But I can have the Crown Princess say a word. May I borrow your phone?”
————
An hour later, Morozov looked at the dusty Crown Princess Olga Nikolayevna Antonovna who arrived in a hurry, then looked suspiciously at Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong was also embarrassed: “Olga, wouldn’t it have been enough to send a servant?”
Princess Olga: “I’m the most idle person in the Summer Palace at the moment, so I came in person. Mr. Morozov, here is a production task issued by the palace. We need to order a hundred Parade Tanks for the National Day celebration activities this November.”
Morozov took the document that Olga handed over and scrutinized it closely: “Hmm, the format and procedures of the document are all complete, and I will start arranging production right away. Hm? The document also has a stamp from the Grand Patriarch’s office?”
“Ah, yes, I mentioned this matter over the phone to the Grand Patriarch’s office, and they also strongly support the production of Parade Tanks. So, I got it stamped on my way here,” Olga explained with a smile. “They even said that if we’re short on workers, the church can assist the factory.”
Wang Zhong listened to this conversation, linking it with what the One-Armed Judge had said earlier.
Olga turned to Wang Zhong: “By the way, the major general is here, and he’s the most authoritative person regarding the tank’s battle performance. Why not let him offer some suggestions for improvement? Anyway, you need some time to organize the production line.”
Morozov nodded and looked at Wang Zhong: “We can make limited improvements.”
Wang Zhong: “Can we replace the sighting equipment? We’ve captured quite a few Prosen scopes, and their scopes have a ranging scale on the right edge for the main gun, which is very convenient to adjust and far more advanced than ours. Thanks to this set of scopes, the Prosen Tank Operators can achieve hits from a great distance.
“On the other hand, we can only hit the enemy reliably within a distance of three hundred meters.”
Morozov: “Do you have captured Prosen scopes?”
Wang Zhong: “I took quite a few from the remains of Prosen, but most were left in Orachi, and I only brought out a small amount.”
Morozov: “Then give them to me, and I’ll see if we can replicate them. Any other requests?”
Wang Zhong: “The reliability of the engine is too low. After about two days of fighting, it breaks down and requires a full day of maintenance.”
“Low engine reliability.” Morozov wrote this next to the design drawing, “Let’s see if we can address that. Anything else?”
Wang Zhong: “The turret gets jammed by enemy fire too easily, and the enemy has now caught on to this, basically everyone is targeting the ‘neck’. Also, the tracks are very fragile and often get broken by enemy fire.”
Morozov shook his head: “We can’t do much about the tracks being broken by enemy cannon fire, but maybe we can try to deflect the shells with additional obstacles to prevent jamming of the race ring.”
Wang Zhong continued: “Also, and most importantly, every vehicle must have a radio!”
Morozov: “Of course, it’s drawn like that on the blueprints. Every vehicle will have a radio and a Parade seat. But are there really that many nobles willing to watch a parade in a tank?”
Olga said: “I would very much like to, and I bet many young ladies would be willing as well because they all admire Duke Rocossov.”
“I see,” said Morozov with a gaze at Wang Zhong that was difficult to put into words.
Wang Zhong could only pretend to admire the scenery.