In the spring fields, the peasants were still toiling hard, but the effects of the war were now far fewer and fewer young men in the fields.

On a railway stretching across the wilderness, two men in Romanian military uniforms chatted on the train from Vienna to Bucharest.

"Major Hoffman, the war has had such a great impact on this country, and a lot of farm work has to be done by these old and weak women and children."

An officer in a Romanian military uniform looked out the window at the idyllic Austro-Hungarian landscape and said to the officer next to him, who was obviously a few years older.

This officer, Hoffmann, was the founder of the Romanian armored battalion, Heins. Feng. Hoffman, he observed the use of armored vehicles by Britain and France on the French front, and found that it was different from what he imagined, because the Western Front had entered trench warfare, and wheeled armored vehicles had little room to play on the front line, and he could only observe more of the mobilization and maintenance of armored vehicles by Britain and France.

This time I went back because of the news from Constanta that the tracked armored vehicle had been completed, and it was up to him, the head of the armored battalion, to see if the requirements were met. Hoffman, who had long understood the British and French use of armored vehicles, of course immediately put down what he was doing and rushed back to check the weapons and equipment he needed.

And the Major Erascu next to him is much more beautiful. During his time as a military observer, he not only personally flew a plane into the sky to compete with the Germans, but also shot down a German fighter plane. And with his charming appearance almost like the male protagonist in the big boat, many French girls are fascinated by him. According to the gossip that Hoffman learned, there were even several girls who became pregnant for him, and they even made trouble in the barracks because of this. It was also a headache for the military of the two countries, so he was also recalled to the country.

The two Romanian officers who had returned home had traveled by train from France to Italy and from there to Austria-Hungary, and now this was the last leg of their journey home. On the train, Hoffmann, an armored theory officer with a scholarly atmosphere, and Major Erascu, a dandy pilot, still spent a lot of time from mutual rejection to slow mutual understanding, and what they had in common was to talk about military theory for the future.

In the consensus reached by the two men, they both believe that the emerging weapons such as aircraft and armored combat vehicles will be the main direction of future military development. As for whether to focus on armored combat vehicles or aircraft, this is where their small differences lie, and they need to further explore to eliminate them. Now the two of them have in common to get more funding for their own arms and speed up their own development.

In fact, at the time of their dispute, the Romanian military had already decided according to the situation of the war in Europe. It is intended to split the current Romanian squadron into a complete Romanian air defense system with the 3rd Flying Squadron (54 aircraft + 4 spare aircraft) based in Iasi, the 2nd Flying Squadron (54 aircraft + 4 spare aircraft) at Pitesti, the 4th Flying Squadron (48 + 4 spare) based in Constanta, and the 1st Flying Squadron (58 + 6 spare) based in Bucharest.

Of course, this is only a plan prepared by Romania this year, and in the future it is possible to expand the various flying groups according to the development of the situation. And Major Erascu, who seduced the girl in France, will be placed in the third flying team to defend the border, which can be regarded as a punishment for more than restraint in his foreign country. Of course, he will be appointed as the deputy captain of the flight team to command the air battle, but I don't know if this is a punishment or a reward for him?

As for Hoffman's armored battalion, there is no way, who made the armored fighting vehicles too expensive, and so far there has been no impressive performance in this European war. Had it not been for King Eder's insistence, the General Staff would not have even been able to approve the expansion of the establishment. Eventually, relying on the king's authority, Hoffman's armored battalion was approved to be expanded into two companies of wheeled armored fighting vehicles (one company of 14 vehicles) and two tracked armored fighting vehicle companies (one company of 12 vehicles). With the addition of the maintenance company, accompanied by the infantry company and medical personnel, the total number of officers and men in the battalion reached 821.

The two of them, who did not know the details yet, continued to look at the scenery along the railway, which was completely different from the scene they had seen in the war site before, which made the two officers who had just returned from the battlefield still a little lingering on the peaceful scene. However, there was a time when the scenery along the American railway line was at the end, and they passed through Austria-Hungary and entered Romania in less than two days. After another half a day's journey, we arrived at the final destination, Bucharest.

Of course, it is impossible for the staff to buy someone to pick them up when they return to the home of two middle-ranking officers, unless they can reach the rank of general. After the two got out of the car, they immediately called a taxi and rushed to the General Staff, and they were still waiting for the General Staff to arrange for the two.

The two rushed to the busy General Staff, and if normal procedures were followed, they would have to go to the Organization Office to report and inform the military that they were back, and then wait for the Organization Office to arrange their duties. However, because these two officers were both the chief of the general staff and the king's direct involvement, Colonel Borks, the head of the organization department, was still more polite when he met with them. And three times five divided by two, they arranged their place.

Major Erascu was assigned to Iasi as the deputy captain of the 3rd Flying Team, while Hoffman had something else going on. After seeing off Major Erascu, Colonel Borx spoke to Major Hoffman in front of him. "Major Hoffman, you are still appointed commander of the armored experimental battalion. Your Majesty and His Excellency Presan have seen your own efforts, so we have prepared a new military rank for you to better command the troops. ”

After saying that, he took out the two-star epaulette representing the lieutenant colonel and the badge from the drawer, and Colonel Bolts spoke to Major Hoffman. "Originally, this was supposed to be the promotion of His Excellency Preshan to your military rank, but now you also see the situation in the current staff department. Moreover, His Excellency the General Staff is inspecting the troops, and you are too busy to do so, so you need to rush to Constanta at once. So this time your promotion will be handled by me. ”

Looking at the rank of lieutenant colonel, it is impossible for Hoffman not to get excited. He hurriedly spoke. "It's okay, it's a real surprise for me."

For Hoffman's promotion, in fact, it was really stained with the light of the expansion of the armored experimental battalion. In the process of expanding the size of the armored battalion at Eder's insistence, the cost of the project was already equivalent to the cost of two infantry regiments. It was no longer appropriate for its commander to carry the rank of major, so Hoffman was immediately promoted when he returned home.

And Major Hoffman, who didn't know the inside story at all, was not a lieutenant colonel now, so he picked up a bargain. As Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman walked out of Colonel Borks' office 1, of course he was immediately congratulated by his new friend, Major Erascu. After a night in Bucharest, the two went their separate ways, and Lieutenant Colonel Hoffmann was now eager to see the tracked armored fighting vehicle developed by the Volkswagen factory.