At noon on September 25, Kuster got out of bed with a headache, having drunk too much yesterday.

He can't be blamed for this, the whole factory was drunk like mud last night, and I don't know how they got home.

He staggered open the door, only to see Franz standing outside the door. His eyes were closed, and his face looked as if he hadn't slept all night, pale as a dead corpse.

Kuster had been unknown where he had been for the past few days, and he couldn't help but be a little happy to suddenly see him appear in front of him. But when I saw his appearance, I was a little worried and wanted to speak.

But Franz heard the door open, opened his bloodshot eyes and said to him:

"Kuster, I'm sorry, I've just received orders from the General Command to serve as chief of staff of a mobilized force who will send me to the Eastern Front to engage the Russians. I wanted to leave the wheat fields behind, but my superiors did not allow a soldier who was supposed to be on the front line to stay in Vienna.

So, sorry bro, I had to go with the wheat field. When I get to the front, I will try my best to find old subordinates like Senwal. ”

Franz saluted to Kuster, then turned around and leaned on his crutches, but as soon as he took a step, he was grabbed by both shoulders by Kuster:

"What's that? You're going to the front! Just kidding, what country would put a disabled person on the battlefield! How is this possible?! ”

Hearing Kuster's sad and indignant voice, Franz paused, turned his back to Kuster and said quietly:

"Don't worry, I'm just a staff officer, I will only stay at the command headquarters, and I won't go to death. As for when the troops retreated...... You know how fast Wheat Field's legs are, and since I'm covered in amputations, the two of us won't be very slow. ”

Franz slipped Kuster's hand and limped along with him in the wheat field.

It was then that Kuster noticed the wheat field—he kept his head down and didn't say a word, and Kuster had never seen him like this.

The crooked bodies of the two grew smaller and smaller, and when they turned a corner, they could no longer be seen; After a few seconds, even the shadow completely dissipated.

Kuster rushed into the room in a rage, kicked his desk off, and all kinds of drawings flew around. This irritated him even more, and despite the pain in his heels, he screamed hysterically. But he was closing the door, and the house was so well insulated that none of the workers could hear his howl.

It was a long time before Kuster quieted down and picked up the damage he had just done.

By the time he was done, it was nightfall. There was a knock on the door, which opened quietly, and Fox's face leaked in.

Fox looked at the picture in his hand and thought he was missing someone, so he waited. Moments later, still looking at the picture in his hand, Fox had to knock on the door to signal his presence. But Kuster didn't even glance at him, then withdrew his gaze and continued to look at the picture.

Fox looked anxious, and broke into the room and said to Kuster:

"General, although it is not good to bother you, our tractor factory has some problems with the production of tanks, and they hope that you can help you in some way."

Kuster just looked at him in silence, then hooked his finger and asked him to come over.

Showing him the photo, Kuster asked:

"There are 22 people in the photo, how many do you know?"

"Uh...... I only know two, one is Mr. Franz and the other is you, the General. ”

"Let me tell you, these 21 men are all my former officers, but I only know that Franz is still alive, and the fate of the others has not been known since I was stripped of my command.

Oh, by the way, you probably don't know it yet, Franz isn't some kind of colonel. He is a brigadier general, a veteran Austrian general like me, and I would like you to change your name to him in the future. He said goodbye to me this morning and was going to the front to be a chief of staff. ”

Fox looked surprised:

"What? Mr. Franz is going to the front, how can he go to war with his disability? ”

Kuster didn't speak, just squinted at him with a look of contempt.

Fox quickly realized his problem and hurriedly said:

"I'm very sorry, but I pray for General Franz for his heavy duty and wish him good luck. By the way, how do these officers relate to you? ”

Kuster put his hand on his cheek, looked out the window, pondered for a while, and said to him:

"Not very well, they maintain the good qualities of Austro-Hungarian officers, they are brave, but they are never willing to take my orders."

Kuster pointed to a man in the photo:

"See, he's the officer with whom I have the best relationship, and the best officer I think, but he also died the worst - there is no ...... left of the bombed ashes."

Custer was a little sad in conversation, and lost interest in talking, and got up and walked out the door. Behind him, Fox had no choice but to remain silent, close the door, and follow in Kuster's footsteps.

Although the night view of Vienna is beautiful, the city is shining, but you can't see the bright scene from the starry sky, only a hazy scene.

The sight suppressed Kuster, who remained silent along the way; And Kuster didn't speak, and Fox didn't dare to speak.

Finally, in front of the tractor factory, the bad atmosphere was relieved.

Kuster left Fox aside and walked in alone.

When he opened the door, he saw a worker holding a hammer and shouting something at the steel behemoth in front of him, which caused a lot of discussion among the workers in the audience.

The sound of Kuster opening the door just now only disturbed a few workers, and they retreated silently; The rest of the workers were in the least interested, and were still arguing, until Kuster walked up to them without noticing.

"This shit, it's so hard to build, what kind of 'tank', I think it's just bullshit!"

"Yes! Then you don't want to smash it quickly. ”

"That's right! Knock it off, it's a structure that really irritates us. ”

The man with the hammer let out a sullen breath, and the people around him also coaxed, which made him even more impatient.

Just as he raised his hammer and was about to smash it down, Fox sprang up from the outside, but unfortunately tripped and fell to the ground.

He propped himself up with his right hand, waved his left hand and said:

"Wait, you're crazy! It is difficult to smash this thing, it is difficult to make this thing, but we have great hopes for it.

If we get it right, it can significantly enhance the status of our arsenals. ”

The man with the sledgehammer was immediately stunned, scratched the back of his head and said:

"So what to do, we don't understand its structural technology at all. Is it possible to lower the requirements and nail the armor up with nails? ”

Fox couldn't help but glance at Custer a few times, asking for his opinion.

Noticing his pleading eyes, Kuster sighed, stepped forward and said:

"Okay, you can nail me in with rivets, but I ask you to figure out the technology for me as soon as possible. I hope that you will be able to perfect this casting technology in 17 years. ”

When the leading worker saw Fox flattering to Kuster, and understood that he was the real boss, he whispered humbly:

"Thank you, sir, we will do our best. But this kind of technology is only for us to figure out, and it may take 18 years, or even 20s. I don't know if Mr. has the patience to wait until that time. ”

"That's good! So I won't pay you a salary from today, can you look at it? ”

Kuster's words made him unable to refute, after all, Kuster was still relatively benevolent among the capitalists, and the wages offered to them were very good, and the requirements were not high. This kind of work is something that many people like to do.

Seeing that he had not spoken for a long time, Kuster had to speak:

"Forget it, I'll find a way to deal with some big companies or the industrial sector of the Empire, and let them help with our scientific work. Work hard during this time, don't let me down.

Oh, by the way, don't scrap this chassis, it's still a little useful for me to keep it. ”

With that, Kuster turned and walked out the door. The workers also looked at him with a kind of respect, and at the same time made a way.

Looking at the night outside the factory, Kuster sighed, there was a lot of work to do tomorrow.