As for the civil service, Wang Zhong decided to deal with it later. He picked up the receiver again, “Connect me to my home.”
After saying it, he realized it was inappropriate to put it that way. The operator was confused, so he corrected himself, “Connect me to the Rokossovsky Estate, there should only be one in the city, right?”
“Yes, one moment please,” the operator said.
A moment later, a solemn and old voice came through, “Rokossovsky Estate, hello. How may I assist you?”
Wang Zhong: “Mikhail, it’s me. Put Liu Xia on the phone.”
“Understood, General,” the voice replied.
Even though Mikhail was the butler of the Rokossovsky family, the Duke title now rested on Wang Zhong’s brother Peter’s head, so the butler respectfully referred to him as General.
After all, Wang Zhong had become the Duke of Charon, and theoretically should have split from the family by now.
Soon, there was a sound of someone picking up the receiver, “Hello? Alyosha? What’s up?”
Wang Zhong: “Two things. Vasily is on his way to the estate, I am promoting him to be my adjutant, get a room prepared for him. Second, go to the Summer Palace now, accompany Olga for afternoon tea, and listen to her complaints.”
“Got it,” Ludmila said with a laugh, “I’ll have Mikhail prepare a place for Vasily and then head to the Summer Palace myself.”
“Be careful, it’s not peaceful out there, take enough guards with you.”
“Don’t worry, the church has provided me with so many sentries and secret watchers that I’ve started to notice them. There are many people seeking refuge near the estate, all churchgoers,” Ludmila laughed.
“I leave it to you then. Olga must have a lot of stress built up.”
“Mhm. And don’t wear yourself out either.”
Wang Zhong nodded and hung up the phone.
He said to General Sergey, “My adjutant will submit the complete requirements tomorrow, and the design bureau will be quickly set up.”
General Sergey: “What about the improvements to other weapons?”
Wang Zhong: “Make the changes according to the requirements from below. Don’t you have a department that collects feedback?”
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“We do,” General Sergey hesitated, then asked, “But how will your committee know whether what we’ve changed meets the troops’ needs? You are the finest tank commander and tank operator, so you naturally know how to modify tanks. You’ve also led the most successful defensive battles for our infantry, so you must know how to change rifles, machine guns and anti-tank guns. What about the rest?”
Wang Zhong intended to say he also knew, but he held back because even though he had read a lot about military history before crossing over, there would still be things he was unaware of—literature is no substitute for actual experience.
Besides, even those experts who specialize in World War II history have their knowledge blind spots.
Wang Zhong: “I will establish a frontline feedback center, and organize personnel to collect opinions on current weapons from the wounded and troops that have been pulled back for rest. Experienced frontline soldiers will also be involved in the final testing process.”
General Sergey nodded, “I’m reassured to hear that.”
Wang Zhong: “I must take my leave now.”
“Safe travels,” General Sergey saluted Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong glanced at the head of Ke Jing, opened the door, and left the room, meeting up with Grigori who was waiting at the entrance. He told him, “I’m making Vasily my adjutant, you don’t have any objections, do you?”
After all, it had been Sergeant Grigori who had followed Wang Zhong all this time.
Grigori laughed, “No objections, he’s already very professional at picking crap.”
…What does that mean, am I the crap? If I hadn’t fought alongside you up to now, I would’ve been angry.
Grigori realized what he said and backtracked, “Ah, I didn’t mean it that way, General, you know.”
“I know,” Wang Zhong replied, “you’re simply marveling at how well Vasily picks crap.”
“Really, he’s quite good at it, too bad being an adjutant means no more crap picking.”
Wang Zhong laughed, about to respond, when a roar came from up ahead.
“Dammit, how many times do I have to tell you before you understand! Your damn design is crap! I’ve written so many reports, been writing since the war started, all the way till now! Crap!”
Wang Zhong and Grigori exchanged glances and then both quickened their pace forwards.
Soon they realized the voice was actually coming from downstairs, right where the stairs were.
So they went downstairs, turned the corner past the stairwell, and saw a Colonel in the Air Force shouting at several engineers, “Why stick to this crap design? Are you flying the plane or am I?”
Wang Zhong stepped forward, “What’s the issue here?”
The pilot glanced at Wang Zhong, saluted after seeing his rank as a general, then continued his tirade at the engineers.
“How many times have I said your firepower configuration is not reasonable! Not reasonable!”
The engineer, clearly aware of who Wang Zhong was, countered this time with reason, “That design is for balancing! Do you understand? Balancing!”
The pilot: “You’ve balanced it alright, and we can’t hit a damn thing! Machine guns being more useful than cannons is the biggest joke of all! The joke!”
Wang Zhong interjected, “Which unit are you from?”
The pilot: “Fourth Ground-Attack Squadron!”
Wang Zhong: “Do you pilot an Il-2?”
“Yes, I’ve fought on the southern front since the war began, for five months, and went through two rear-seat machine gunners. I think I have some right to speak.”
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow, “You fought on the southern front?”
“Yes, after the war broke out, all the frontline Air Force units were wiped out, our ground-attack squadron was transferred to support the Southwestern Front Army. I attacked the Prussians for the first time on June 28th.”
Wang Zhong: “In Prosen village?”
The pilot shook his head, “Don’t know. You wouldn’t understand, General, you’re infantry; it’s hard to tell where you are once you’re up there. Maps are useless. We just fly westward and attack wherever we see Prussian troops. On the way back, we look for landmarks near the airfields. Once we recognize the landmarks, we know where we are, and then head for the airfield.”