Wang Zhong: “Good, give me the phone, I’ll sort out the transfer issue first.”
Chief Engineer Ke Jing: “Eh? But I’m a man?”
Wang Zhong stopped, staring into Ke Jing’s face and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
After glancing at General Sergey, the Chief Engineer Ke Jing stammered, “They all say that this review committee is just a rubber stamp, mainly for your convenience in finding women.”
Wang Zhong: “‘They’ who?”
Chief Engineer Ke Jing shouted, “It was said by Lady Volgakov, many wives say the same!”
Wang Zhong frowned, originally women might have been on this committee, now he could only choose men. But choosing all men would definitely lead to new rumors, such as Rocossov not liking women or something.
Having a bunch of men coming over to curry favor would be quite disgusting as well.
Forget it, he wouldn’t think about it anymore, the committee would just need to recruit talent without being bound by traditional restrictions.
Wang Zhong arrived in front of General Sergey’s billiards-sized desk: “Give me the phone.”
General Sergey picked up the receiver and handed it to him: “Just say where you want to call.”
Wang Zhong: “Hello? Connect me to General Tugenev at Military Command.”
————
At the Military Command, in General Tugenev’s office.
“From the current situation of the Prosen Army, they have just escaped from the chaos caused by partial withdrawals, but with the weather conditions now, organizing an orderly retreat is very difficult. They need a rearguard to buy them time.”
General Tugenev paused, looking at His Majesty Tsarina Olga the First.
Olga knew it was her turn to ask questions, so she stared at the map and after a moment forced out, “Where would the enemy get the rearguard troops from?”
General Tugenev: “From the rear.”
Olga pouted, “Then what should I ask here?”
General Tugenev: “That’s what you need to think about.”
At that moment, the phone on the desk rang.
“Excuse me.” After saying that, General Tugenev picked up the phone, “This is Tugenev. Is that you? What’s up? Ke Jing from the Design Bureau?”
After glancing at Her Majesty Olga the First, he continued, “Yes, I’ll prepare the transfer order. You make a list of the people you want, and where you want them transferred to. Any other requirements? Naval Infantry? Alright, alright, how many Naval Infantry? Three divisions?
I’ll discuss it with Marshal Koznetsov of the Navy.”
Olga: “It’s Alyosha, isn’t it?”
General Tugenev did not reply, pretending to focus on the call and not hearing Olga, “Alright, you hire the civilians directly, and then come to me for the procedures for hiring workers or laterally transferring them. The former head of the military academy? What do you want him for? But he’s retired, and if he doesn’t wish to return, there’s nothing we can do, you can guarantee he’s willing? Okay…”
Olga stood up, her hands pressing down on the desk, “It’s Alyosha, right?”
General Tugenev: “Yes. I wasn’t speaking to you; Your Majesty’s about to grab the phone.”
Olga: “Oh, I do indeed want to grab it.”
She snatched the receiver, “Alyosha! Why did you leave so quickly!”
Rocossov: “I am very busy. First, to the school, and now I’m at…”
Olga: “Where?”
Rocossov: “I told you not to come, it will cause trouble for everyone. And I’m about to leave!”
Olga pouted, “You won’t even talk to me, I have to deal with so many things every day, learn so many things, and you won’t even join me for afternoon tea!”
Rocossov: “I’ll have Liu Xia go to the palace and have tea with you, she can tell you some anecdotes from the battlefield.”
Olga’s pout intensified, but what she said was, “Fine~”
Rocossov: “Your Majesty is truly a wise ruler.”
Olga frowned, because it sounded a bit to her like he was saying, “Haha, you lost, I’m slipping away,” so after a brief second of thought, she said:
“When will you come to attend an imperial council meeting? The headmaster doesn’t need to come, but your committee does! You have to report to me what has been approved, right?
“Moreover, the chairman position was something I fought for you to have, you have to take me to see the approved items, I want to see their performance with my own eyes, to prevent you from deceiving me!”
Rocossov fell silent on the other end.
Olga took on an air of authority, “An answer? My subject?”
Major General Rocossov: “You’re right, once we have results, we’ll report to you.”
Olga: “You will introduce what you’ve approved to me in person!”
Major General Rocossov: “…Yes. I will follow Your Majesty’s command.”
Olga beamed with the smile of a victor, the smile she had when she won games as a child. Reflecting on it, her brothers must have let her win a lot for that smile.
She was about to exploit her advantage, but noticed General Tugenev’s scowl and changed tack: “Then I’ll wait for Liu Da to come have tea with me.”
Rocossov: “Of course, I’ll have her leave the Rokossovsky Estate for the Summer Palace right away.”
General Tugenev extended his hand: “May I have the receiver back, Your Majesty?”
“Sure.” Olga returned the receiver to the old general.
Tugenev: “So that’s the situation. You shouldn’t always call; go through written channels, you understand? If you don’t want to draft these documents yourself, find an aide-de-camp, even one for military documents and another for non-military ones.
“Ke Jing, got it. That’s all, then.”
Tugenev hung up the phone and looked at Olga, “Major General Rokossov has set his heart on being with his childhood sweetheart, Your Majesty.”
Olga, “I know. But he promised me that he would take care of me as a brother.”
Tugenev, “Historically, there has never been a Tsar who remained single, male or female.”
Olga laughed, “Rest assured, Admiral, I know what to do.”
Tugenev carefully observed her expression and laughed as well, “You are indeed very clever.”
Olga, “By the way, you just suggested Alyosha find two aides-de-camp, one for literature and one for military, right? Then…”
“You can’t go yourself. I don’t know about the quality of the shadow warriors from the etiquette hall, but after all, she’s not real. You need to stay put in the Summer Palace, especially given the current situation.”
Olga, “As a glue?”
Admiral Tugenev didn’t answer, which counted as an agreement.
Olga turned to look out the large office window at the courtyard outside, “We need to defeat Prosen quickly, or I’ll never gain true freedom.”
Suddenly, she stopped being sentimental and looked back at Admiral Tugenev, “I have an excellent maid of honor here, can’t I recommend her to him?”
Admiral Tugenev, “Then you can speak with Ms. Ludmila Vasilyevna, isn’t she coming over to have tea with you this afternoon?”
————
Wang Zhong hung up the receiver and glanced at the people around him, “Why do you all look like this?”
General Sergey, “Facing a Duke who can say ‘you are not allowed to come’ to His Majesty the Tsar, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our expressions.”
Wang Zhong, “If I didn’t say that, His Majesty would have run over here, and you wouldn’t want half the department to stop working to receive His Majesty, would you?”
General Sergey, “Indeed.”
Chief Engineer Ke Jing, “Then when… do I change the office location?”
Wang Zhong, “You go back first and arrange the follow-up work, hand over the KV improvements to someone trustworthy. Then bring your ten most admired newcomers to… it’s not decided yet, just pick the right people for now.
“The 100mm gun carrier is an emergency project, our hypothetical adversary being the enemy’s next generation of tanks.”
Ke Jing, “Are you planning to use those two hundred 100mm cannon barrels that the navy produced but couldn’t use?”
Wang Zhong, “Are there really as many as 200?”
“Yes, and the production line is still running. That cannon was produced by Factory 700 next to the Inland Sea. Currently, the production line hasn’t been converted, but it was stopped without knowing what to produce next,” Ke Jing replied.
General Sergey, “We thought about converting that factory to produce 85mm anti-aircraft guns, but the navy wouldn’t agree. They plan to mount the 100mm guns on patrol boats on the inland rivers, to go into battle with the enemy. Now if you want it, you can continue operations in that factory.”
Wang Zhong, “Won’t there be any problems?”
“Ah, you have a good reputation with the navy, they should be quite happy about it.”
Wang Zhong, “Very good, the issue with the cannons is resolved, and we can use the Ral Factory after it resumes production. Chief Engineer Ke Jing, when do you estimate the prototype can be built?”
Ke Jing, “That’s hard to say, but if mature technology is used, I guess it will be soon, maybe around April or May next year!”
Wang Zhong, “I want the prototype by February! Get it done in three months! That way we can find and fix problems earlier!”
Any new equipment is bound to be fraught with faults at the beginning; only after being used for some time and undergoing targeted improvements for the exposed issues can it achieve a reasonably good reliability.
Wang Zhong was very excited at this moment, wishing time could fast forward to February next year for him to test the prototype himself.
General Sergey, “I know you’re looking forward to it, Duke Rokossov. But things have to be done step by step; I still think you should find aides-de-camp and secretaries first, both literary and military.”
Wang Zhong, “About that…”
General Sergey, “Your committee also needs a lot of civilian staff. Even if you pull in a retired principal to serve as a civilian, he won’t be able to get any work done as a lone commander. And your committee needs a lot of people with professional knowledge and combat experience; otherwise, your reviews won’t be convincing.
“Where do you plan to find so many people?”
Wang Zhong was originally frowning, but then suddenly remembered, isn’t there a lot of junior officers from the military academies who just came to listen to his lectures? Can’t he just pick from them those with strong professional technical skills?
As for the two aides-de-camp—why doesn’t Nelly understand military affairs? If he could get Nelly to serve as an aide-de-camp, that would save a lot of trouble!
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Aides-de-camp, hm…
When Wang Zhong played Arknights, he always chose Miulsaith as his secretary, but if he used a girl—her reputation would inevitably be ruined.
It would be better to find a male aide-de-camp with proper style—
Grigori only studied until tenth grade, so he probably wouldn’t make the cut.
Vasily… he’s always nitpicking, but after thinking it over, it seemed like Vasily was the only suitable choice.
Coming from a musical professor’s family, he received a good education from a young age, completed high school before joining the army, even took college entrance exams, and had a fine handwriting—
Huh?
Wang Zhong, “Give me the phone.”
General Sergey picked up the phone and handed it to him.
Wang Zhong, “Connect me to the HQ of Kubinka’s Guards Rifle Division. Pavlov there? Tell Vasily to bring his bedroll and come to my estate. The Rokossovsky Estate.”
Pavlov, “What’s happening?”
Wang Zhong, “I’m planning to appoint him as my aide-de-camp.”
“Understood.”
Wang Zhong put down the receiver; the military aide-de-camp was settled.