Chapter 161 Princess Olga’s Time

Saint-Ekaterinaburg, afternoon of August 7th.

Princess Olga Nikolayevna Antonovna, the second in line of succession to the Ante Empire, once again entered the office of General Turgenev, Chief of the Military Order Division of the High Command.

The general looked up and said, "Good afternoon, Your Highness. The combat office is next door."

Olga: "I was kicked out."

"Then I have no way to send you back." General Turgenev spread his hands, "Our Military Command Office is just a stamping agency. The Operations Office makes plans and we stamp them. Our real function is personnel, you Just come to us when you need to make personnel adjustments. In addition, we will also be responsible for issuing medals..."

Princess Olga frowned: "Why do I feel like you are telling me what you can do?"

"That's right. Is there any problem in explaining one's functions to the royal family?" Admiral Turgenev shrugged.

Olga: "Okay, can you..."

At this time, the staff officer opened the door: "Lieutenant General Chekhov has arrived."

"Let him come in. Your Highness, you can sit down and drink some tea." Admiral Turgenev pointed to the tea set on the table.

Princess Olga walked to the side, and Lieutenant General Chekhov came in before he could sit down.

Seeing the princess, the Lieutenant General was stunned: "Huh?"

Princess Olga: "Talk about your business and don't pay attention to me."

Chekhov saluted the princess, and after completing the duties of an ordinary soldier to the royal family, he turned to General Turgenev: "Why did you call me back? Agsukov's situation is very bad now. I, the logistics commander, If we leave, their supplies will soon be in disarray."

General Turgenev waved his hand: "Don't worry, such a large army will form inertia, and your short departure will not cause too many problems."

"Short time? How long?"

Turgenev: "That depends on how fast the Prosins move."

It took Lieutenant General Chekhov a second to realize that Turgenev would not let him go back, so he stepped forward and knocked on the table with his wedding ring: "Are you kidding me? I..."

General Turgenev: "Your new assignment is to serve as the logistics commander of the Reserve Front. It was suggested by Patriarch Belinsky. After consideration, we found that you are very suitable. What you did in Agsukov Very good, the army will definitely be able to achieve results in the reserve force.

"But because you have no military merit, there are some problems with promotion. Serving as the logistics commander of a front army does not require the rank of general. You can go to the post now and get familiar with the situation as soon as possible. We predict - er, the War Department predicts that St. The situation in Yekaterinburg will gradually become severe starting in mid-September.”

Lieutenant General Chekhov stared at the general for a while and said: "You abandoned Agsukov's heavy troop group."

"We didn't give up. We have been working hard to save it, and now we are still sending troops to Duke Myshkin, who has the best hope of rescuing the siege. It was the incompetence of the headquarters and the incompetence of the senior generals that ruined this army."

As he spoke, General Turgenev picked up his pipe and filled it with tobacco as he said: "As early as July, General Gorky Konstantinovich believed that Agsukov was in danger of being surrounded, but then At that time, the headquarters was full of optimism, feeling that as long as our new tanks were put into battle, the war would be over soon.

"So General Gorky was relieved of his post and sent to the Fort St. Andrew Front to sit on the bench. The only advantage of this transfer is that General Gorky will soon show off his talents in the coniferous forests and mountains around Fort St. Andrew, because The Northwest Front can’t stand it anymore.”

Princess Olga frowned and looked at Admiral Turgenev with a suspicious look on her face.

Lieutenant General Chekhov: "You don't need to shirk responsibility from me, Lieutenant General. Let's leave this to the historians! Where is my appointment?"

General Turgenev took out a document and threw it in front of Lieutenant General Chekhov: "It was just stamped. In addition, here is an appointment for your follower. Where are the others? Why don't you come in?"

Lieutenant General Chekhov turned around and shouted: "Rokosov!"

Olga was shocked. She stood up and looked at the door with passionate eyes.

The person who came in was a fat brigadier general.

Princess Olga hesitated and said: "Isn't that right? I remember that Count Rokosov was a tall, well-built young man. I saw him from a distance at the ball."

"Then you should be talking about my brother Count Rokosov. I am Duke Rokosov, His Royal Highness the Princess." The Brigadier said, saluting the princess and completing the courtesy to the royal family.

Lieutenant General Chekhov handed over the appointment on the desk of General Turgenev to Brigadier General Rokossov.

The brigadier general looked at it and exclaimed: "Why do you want to transfer me to the logistics force? What I study is the formulation of combat plans..."

General Turgenev: "We originally wanted you to command the troops. After all, your brother performed so well, and your father also performed very well. One can't help but suspect that this is a family inheritance.

"But Brigadier General, your exercise performance on the map is too poor. You lose everything every time. Now we can't take the risk of letting you command the troops. What if you destroy Rokosov's sign?"

The brigadier general's fat face wrinkled up: "You called me back just to prevent me from becoming a stain on my brother?"

Admiral Turgenev: "No, no, no, we think you are excellent in logistics organization, so we transferred you to a place where you can better play your strengths. After all, the main function of our military command department is personnel transfer, so that the right people can go to the right place. If you have no questions, you can go. My secretary has arranged accommodation and transportation for you." Lieutenant General Chekhov saluted the general, turned to the brigadier general and said: "Okay, let's go, brigadier general." The brigadier general saluted and followed the lieutenant general out of the room. After the door was closed by the secretary, Admiral Turgenev and Her Royal Highness the Princess were left in the room. Olga: "Is this the 'main responsibility' of the Military Affairs Office?"

Admiral Turgenev: "Yes, it is still a very important responsibility. Without us as lubricants, this huge old machine will not be able to run for a day. Your Highness, let's talk about the issues you are concerned about."

Olga: "You are sending troops to Prince Myshkin. Are you preparing to save Agsukov?"

"It is unlikely that we can save him, but we can rescue as many troops as possible. The enemy is very powerful. If we don't send reinforcements to Myshkin, we may even lose Shepetovka. After all, aerial reconnaissance shows that the enemy's 9th Infantry Army is about to move to the front of Shepetovka.

"Although the enemy's army is called this name, it is different from our army."

Olga asked again: "Will Rokossov participate in the defense of Shepetovka?"

"No, his troops will soon withdraw from Shepetovka and withdraw to Shostka. We expect him to have a month to build a defensive position here. Shostka also has a cement production plant, and there is enough cement. ”

Olga frowned: "I don't know much about military affairs, but it sounds like it's not the same place as Shepetovka?"

"There is a railway connection. After Shepetovka fell, Myshkin's troops would retreat through Shostka. In addition, there is a river in this place. It is not the flood season in September, but it is still difficult to force a crossing. General Rokossov can fully demonstrate his defensive talent here."

Admiral Turgenev explained enthusiastically.

"In addition, after the troops arrive here, we plan to ask the major general to bring his meritorious personnel to the capital. At that time, we will award him a medal and let him accept an interview with the newspaper.

"We will need these after the massive defeat at Agsukov."

Princess Olga's brows were almost twisted into knots: "Are you already planning these?"

"Yes, if the defeat is inevitable, we must prepare for the aftermath. Don't underestimate what we do. This can prevent the defeat from turning into a full-line defeat.

"The Proson Command must think that the overall situation is determined by destroying one million of us at Agsukov, but the reserve front has organized more than one million people, and there will be more in the future.

"But if morale collapses, millions of people will surrender faster than pigs, do you understand? Princess Olga Nikolaevna!"

Olga's lips trembled and she didn't answer.

Admiral Turgenev: "You have to get used to this as soon as possible! I heard that your goal is to become a female tsar like Catherine the Great, and the great emperor will not tremble his lips because of this matter."

Olga bit her lips with her teeth and forced herself to stop trembling.

Admiral Turgenev: "That's it. As the head of the military command department, I can assure you that after this, Rokossov will be adequately supplemented."

Olga: "Are you going to promote him?"

Admiral Turgenev waved his hands repeatedly: "No, although he performed very well, he was just promoted to major general. In addition, he was promoted from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general. This promotion speed is too unreasonable. We plan to promote him to lieutenant general at the end of this year.

"Not promoting his rank does not prevent us from shaping him into a war hero. If he were in the United States, he would have completely left the front line and given speeches everywhere to sell war bonds.

"But we are on the verge of national extinction, and such an outstanding general must continue to be on the front line. Of course, as a war hero commander's troops, we will give him many privileges, such as veterans who have recovered and returned to the team will try to return to the army instead of supplementing other troops.

"For example, give them slightly more technical weapons than others, and many things will become easier to operate after he returns to the capital."

The admiral stopped and looked at Olga: "When he is in the capital, Your Highness, you can accompany him more often. Of course, if your brother comes back, you won't be needed to accompany him. "

Olga stared at Turgenev for several seconds and asked, "What do you mean by this?"

The admiral stared at the princess for a long time before saying, "During the civil war, I was not a secularist, but a centrist. I was trying to guard Bohemia and Manaheim, ready to resist the intervention army at any time. Later, I became the director of the military command.

"The secularists who won the war wanted the Tsar because the Saint-worshipping faction had the support of so many people. The secularists said that the magic arrows and hymns were all natural phenomena, and one day they would be mastered by humans like radio.

"The old farmers in remote areas don't think so. They are all Saint-worshipping factions. Do you understand?

"But now, the old farmers have been convinced by sausages, champagne and caviar, my princess."

Princess Olga held her chin and fell into deep thought.