It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 120 | I will go up and down and fish

Ten days ago, Shang Ke, with mixed feelings, wrote a letter home, confessing his feelings to his fiancée who was thousands of miles away.

This family letter was affixed with an expensive airmail stamp and traveled on a flight through several countries, from Budapest to Xijing, and finally delivered to the branch of the Federal Institute of Chemistry in Suzhou.

With so many words, it would be impossible to send an intercontinental telegram.

"Mr. Jian, good morning. Here's your letter. It's from a long way away, maybe Hungary." Lin Lin, a female colleague who works in the institute's branch, saw it when she passed by the guardhouse and brought it over.

Regardless of age or time of joining the company, Lin Lin is a senior, but in terms of academic qualifications, Jian Keqiu is a rare existence in the entire branch, and everyone who sees him has to respectfully address him as Bachelor Jian.

With a junior like this, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't jealous. Anyway, Lin Lin felt a little jealous.

"Thank you." Jian Keqiu, with messy hair, still looked like she hadn't woken up yet.

Ever since she started working, she has been so careless and sloppy, and can be said to be extremely perfunctory.

The letter from Shang described the situation of the Battle of Tisarek Dam, expressed regret for the casualties in the battle, and finally complained that Ivan Rus's army would definitely be at the gates of the city next.

Considering that his fiancée was an extraordinary woman, Shang did not deliberately report only the good news and not the bad news. He even truthfully mentioned that the helmet he was wearing was blown off by a sniper's bullet.

Jian Keqiu's attitude was to grin slightly, roll his eyes, and comment calmly: "You're asking for trouble."

Lin Lin, who was standing nearby, asked curiously, "Isn't your fiancé a consultant? What's going on?"

"He volunteered to join the war," Jian Keqiu summarized. "Then he was almost beaten to death. That's about it."

"A gentleman doesn't stand on a precarious wall, and a wise man doesn't fall into a ruined nest." Lin Lin commented in a pretentious manner, "Master Jian, your fiancé isn't very steady, and doesn't seem very smart."

Jian Keqiu frowned slightly, slowly folded the letter in half and put it back into the envelope, saying indifferently, "It's okay, about the same as me, but I'm just lazy and don't like to make things difficult for myself."

Haha, anyway, I’m smarter than you.

"Uh..." Lin Lin was stunned for a moment, and quickly tried to find a way out. She said, "Maybe he was just confused for a moment. Xiao Jian, you have to persuade him. After all, the battlefield is too dangerous with guns and cannons."

Lin Lin knew that he couldn't win the argument with Jian Keqiu, so he left tactfully.

To be honest, Jian Keqiu thinks Shang is indeed very smart.

However, Lin Lin's words also made her worried, and she couldn't concentrate on continuing her work today.

For something that she could do nothing about, she decided to calculate the probability that Shang was finished, just as a psychological comfort.

Using the Bayesian formula, she listed some initial data and performed a simple calculation to get the result.

Finally, by taking the average of 12%, 15%, and 20%, we can estimate that the probability of Shang fleeing to a foreign country is... roughly 15.66%.

This probability doesn't seem very high. It's less than 80% life and 20% death!

Jian Keqiu looked at the results on the draft paper thoughtfully and fell into deep thought.

After a while, her mood had completely calmed down. She stretched, crumpled up the draft paper and threw it into the trash can.

It was almost noon, so she simply went to eat and left work in the afternoon.

Jian Keqiu had discussed the research direction with Shang Ke in detail and finally decided on piezoelectric ceramics. She agreed with this and was determined to make some achievements.

Piezoelectric materials have existed since the European War, but to this day only piezoelectric materials such as quartz can be used, which has great limitations.

During the interwar period, people also discovered water-soluble single crystal salts such as ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and dipotassium tartrate, but none of them could meet the demand.

Simply put, Jian Keqiu's job is to select suitable titanium oxide compounds, and then try to find the most effective one among hundreds of substances, and then mix them together to improve its dielectric constant.

This is a complex and arduous task. The road ahead is long and arduous, but I will continue to work hard...

However, Jian Keqiu's procrastination struck again. After dealing with some trivial matters, she spread out a newspaper and carefully read the serialized novel on one of the pages.

Never mind, let's stop here for today and do more tomorrow, she thought.

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Budapest.

The ancient city was quite quiet under the approach of the army, and the citizens walking on the streets were in a hurry.

However, the business of street bars is more prosperous than usual. Perhaps at this time, only alcohol can relieve worries?

In the No. 1 conference room on the third floor of the Wang Family Army General Staff Headquarters, all the military and political leaders were present.

There were very few foreigners present. Apart from Shang Ke and Xia Zhizun, there was the regiment commander, Major General Zhang, and Ambassador Han Yonghua.

Major General Reinhard Wallander had been ordered back to Vilna a week before. He was recalled to active service, promoted to lieutenant general and given command of an army corps.

To be honest, Shang Ke felt quite sorry for it. Although the old man was very stubborn, he did have a few skills... many tricks, and he also learned a lot of knowledge from him.

The conference room now is full of generals. Shang Ke looked around and estimated that there are at least twenty generals from the army, navy and air force, as well as a dozen senior civil servants.

Sigrid, dressed simply, was the last to arrive, and everyone stood up to greet her.

This is the highest meeting that determines the fate of the country, and an invisible pressure fills the entire meeting room.

"...Tukhachevsky's army is making final preparations. Aerial reconnaissance shows they are still waiting for supplies. We don't have much time left, perhaps only a week."

"The enemy we face is massive. Confirmed numbers include fifteen divisions and ten brigades, approximately three hundred thousand men and over four hundred tanks. Furthermore, intelligence indicates that the Romanians have also sent two divisions in support."

"The good news is that the situation in the southeast is stable, and we can withstand the attack of the main force of the Romanians. In addition, Bohemia and Marianna both firmly support us."

A brigadier general gave everyone an overview of the current situation.

In fact, the problem facing the Hungarian superiors is very simple.

Should Budapest be defended?

Will they bravely fight to the death in the ancient capital? Or will they abandon it and preserve their strength?
Hungary only has so many troops and a small population. If they are all wiped out, they will be doomed.

Parliament Speaker Sabor looked at Han Yonghua and asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Ambassador, we must know whether Zhongguo will abandon its original strategy because of Ivan Ross's all-out war?"

The strategic intention of the Grand Federation is well known to everyone. It is nothing more than to gain a foothold in Europe and then occupy the market.

Sabor's question represents the biggest concern of the Hungarian upper class - will the Grand Federation join the war in the future?

If you act like a hands-off boss, then we will not consider retreating and will fight the enemy to the death at the gates of Budapest, the thousand-year-old capital.

If you do not abandon or give up, then we will take a long-term view and try every possible means to preserve our strength and delay the time to engage in a protracted struggle until you join the war.

Now we really have to wait for the king's army to come ashore. Shang Ke couldn't help but laugh when he thought about it.

(End of this chapter)