Empire Conquest
Chapter 220 - 216: Reencountering Zhang Xiaoqing

Chapter 220: Chapter 216: Reencountering Zhang Xiaoqing

After calming down and giving it careful thought, Bai Zhizhan also let go of his concerns.

This kind of operation plan, which requires coordination between the Army and the Navy, can’t be finalized by their say alone—it definitely has to be submitted to the Cabinet for deliberation. If it could affect the outcome of the war, it might even be discussed in an imperial audience. The one who could make the final decision could only be the Cabinet Chief.

Was Xue Yuanzheng ignorant of military affairs?

Impossible!

Before becoming Cabinet Chief, Xue Yuanzheng had been promoted to Admiral of the Army, commanding the defense of Ice Storm Peninsula during the last great war and making a name for himself with his resounding military achievements.

Even if he wasn’t very familiar with modern warfare, his strategic insight was beyond doubt.

Without full confidence, Xue Yuanzheng would never approve such an operational plan, and it wouldn’t have progressed to implementation and execution stages.

Liu Xiangzhen’s deployment to the "Imperial Capital" signaled that the military operation had kicked off as planned and had entered the execution phase.

As expected, Lian Xusheng and Li Qing had both already returned to the front lines of Ice Storm Peninsula.

In Bai Zhizhan’s understanding, the Army’s Armored Forces would definitely need a few days to prepare before launching an attack, unlike the Fleet, which could set sail from the Military Port and be combat-ready immediately.

With Cabinet Chief Xue Yuanzheng overseeing, there definitely shouldn’t be any problems.

Why worry for nothing?

After waiting for his driver to bring his coat, Bai Zhizhan went with Zhou Yongtao to the Navy office to complete the necessary formalities.

It was during registration that Bai Zhizhan discovered Zhou Yongtao had already been promoted to Navy Captain, a skip-level promotion requested by Li Yunxiang, but in Bai Zhizhan’s name. Since the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had won a major victory, tradition dictated that a batch of junior officers should be exceptionally promoted.

This situation was nearly identical to twenty years ago when Bai Zhizhan himself bypassed Lieutenant and was directly promoted to Captain.

In fact, Bai Zhizhan had long promised to promote Zhou Yongtao exceptionally, but after returning to the Imperial Capital, he got bogged down with trivial matters and had completely forgotten.

Fortunately, Li Yunxiang was considerate and had an exceptionally good memory.

For this, Zhou Yongtao was deeply grateful to Bai Zhizhan.

To ensure Zhou Yongtao would stay, Bai Zhizhan offered him the position of Executive Officer for the refurbishment of the "Heng River," roughly equivalent to a deputy supervisor. This was similar to Bai Zhizhan’s own situation twenty years ago, when he left the Domestic Fleet to assist Liu Xiangdong, serving as the deputy supervisor for the "Longjiang."

Perhaps this was just fate playing a joke on them.

Subsequently, Bai Zhizhan took Zhou Yongtao on a tour of the main departments at the shipyard to get acquainted.

Most of the department heads were also just getting to know Bai Zhizhan.

Busy until evening, the two finally returned to their hotel.

Because there were several cars parked outside of the hotel’s entrance and the staff was busy unloading luggage, it would certainly cause a delay, so Bai Zhizhan didn’t bother the driver and got out with Zhou Yongtao by the roadside. A few extra steps on foot, and the driver could enter through a side door, saving a lot of time.

Convenience for others is convenience for oneself.

After getting out of the car, Bai Zhizhan regretted it.

When the woman stepped out of the sedan parked outside the hotel’s entrance, Bai Zhizhan stopped in his tracks. Yet, before he could turn around and walk back, the woman had already turned her head and seen him—in fact, their gazes met precisely.

Perhaps the woman had seen him before even getting out of the car.

At that moment, Bai Zhizhan hesitated, or rather, he doubted whether he had recognized the wrong person.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t made a mistake.

That professionally dressed young woman was none other than Zhang Xiaoqing!

Talk about a ghost from the past.

A narrow road for enemies!

"General Bai."

"Ms. Zhang, what a coincidence, you are here to..." Bai Zhizhan’s mind was already churning, but unfortunately, he could not avoid her and had to muster the courage to step forward and say hello.

"I’m here on a business trip, and you?"

"Same here, also on a business trip."

"I thought so, I haven’t seen you in the last few days. My cousin said you weren’t in the Imperial Capital, so you came here. How about it, haven’t had dinner yet, have you?"

Bai Zhizhan forced a smile. He wanted to say he had already eaten, but his stomach betrayed him with a protesting rumble.

"General Bai, I’m going to change my clothes. You go ahead and eat, don’t mind me," Zhou Yongtao immediately realized that he was the superfluous outsider.

The guy was sharp-witted and slipped away after speaking, giving Bai Zhizhan no chance to keep him around.

Young people, surely they have some experience with love.

After all, even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen pigs run, right?

After Zhou Yongtao left, Bai Zhizhan had no choice but to accompany Zhang Xiaoqing to the restaurant.

Actually, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet, so dining this early was a bit premature since it was the south, where dinner time is later than in the north.

Perhaps to accommodate Bai Zhizhan, Zhang Xiaoqing suggested eating Western cuisine.

This left Bai Zhizhan speechless because he immediately thought that Zhang Xiaoqing had come prepared, possibly having inquired with Fang Suqing about the Navy’s customs and knew that the Navy’s diet was more Westernized. Therefore, she naturally assumed that a Navy officer like Bai Zhizhan would prefer Western food.

Bai Zhizhan was not offended by Western cuisine but couldn’t say he liked it.

It could also be that Bai Zhizhan was reading too much into it and that Zhang Xiaoqing herself enjoyed Western cuisine.

The best thing about Western cuisine is actually the elegant environment.

As for the food, nothing particularly special.

Bai Zhizhan ordered a steak with a side of vegetable salad and didn’t want dessert. Zhang Xiaoqing chose grilled cod with curry potatoes and also had a fruit platter.

Given a choice, Bai Zhizhan would have preferred a hearty plate of braised beef with carrots.

During the meal, Bai Zhizhan learned that Zhang Xiaoqing was indeed at the shipyard on official business, specifically the annual financial audit.

Especially now, during wartime.

In the past, it would be a matter of two or three days, mainly checking the shipyard’s revenue statement against the tax return to ensure there was no unpaid tax.

This year, there was much more to audit, especially the material distribution reports related to military orders.

According to Zhang Xiaoqing, she would have to stay here for a while, at least ten days to half a month, and it might not even be possible to finish everything by then.

Not to mention, just the Navy’s commissioned battleships alone were a mess of numbers.

Material reports, labor hours, and costs, overtime and outdoor work subsidies and so on—even professional accountants could be dazzled.

Any error could mean not being able to return home for the Spring Festival.

At this point in the conversation, Zhang Xiaoqing complained quite a bit.

It boiled down to the idea that Navy officers like Bai Zhizhan only know how to order battleships but never consider where the funds for constructing them are spent and whether those expenditures are justified. They don’t think about whether the funds could be misappropriated, leaving the finance department to clean up after them each time.

To this, Bai Zhizhan had no response; after all, he wasn’t in charge of procurement.

Actually, Zhang Xiaoqing should be complaining to He Yongxing, as those matters fell under his supervision.

To change the subject, Bai Zhizhan also shared with Zhang Xiaoqing the reason for his visit, though he lightly touched on the facts, mentioning only the importance of repairing carriers and not the fact that such a task didn’t require the oversight of a full-fledged Navy Major General—let alone a recently triumphant one.

In truth, his pride was getting the better of him.

He couldn’t tell Zhang Xiaoqing that he had come to Puzhou to seek refuge after losing in a struggle against Liu Xiangzhen and being forced to leave the Imperial Capital.

Of course, running into Zhang Xiaoqing, who could be considered an old acquaintance, and discussing topics unrelated to the war—away from the malicious scheming and complicated interests—was a pleasant diversion that momentarily helped Bai Zhizhan forget the troubles he had encountered in recent days.