Thirty minutes have passed since Alexander proposed buying and it was met with a surprising reaction. His plan was to integrate many manufacturing industries, that are either successful or failing, with his Imperial Dynamics System for effective management and production.

Just like how he did in the past when he was able to make his company the largest tech conglomerate in the world.

To smoothen the persuasion, Alexander willingly offered to purchase their companies at the price of what it was worth then plus 50 percent of the given value. How does it work? Let’s say Voronov Industries has a valuation of 50,000 dollars, and Alexander will pay 75,000 dollars.

Since the Ruthenia Empire hasn’t modernized its military yet, the arms industry within the empire was in recession as no orders were filling up. This is the perfect time for Alexander to buy the companies and make them his own. After all, he doesn’t want sophisticated military assets that he’ll introduce to this world to be controlled by a third party.

As those companies are desperate to get money from their business, especially the CEO, Alexander used this to his advantage by using his “I’m rich” card. Hence getting them to the negotiating table.

Now, Alexander has to wait five days for the representative of each company to come back with a reply.

For now, Alexander explained how this new technology will be used in combat to General Zhukov. After all, there wasn’t one effective doctrine developed around mechanized infantry until world war 2.-.

To those who don’t know what mechanized infantry is, to put it into simple words, it’s just an infantry riding inside armored tracked or wheeled vehicles into the battlefield. Then they’ll dismount to their job while fighting alongside their vehicle and tanks.

By definition, the sole purpose of the mechanized infantry is to diminish and eliminate all capabilities of the enemy as well as supply the enemy with a massive rate of fire.

Take the Blitzkrieg doctrine, for example, a tactic developed by the Germans in WW2 to defeat France through a rapid attack, using armored and motorized forces. If the Imperial Ruthenian Army were to employ such a strategy, it would sweep through Europa with ease.Okay back to the story.

The three representatives left the meeting to notify their boss about the offer. Leaving only General Zhukov and Alexander in the meeting room.

Alexander proposed another idea to him.

“General, I must say, the uniforms of the Imperial Ruthenian Army are quite outdated. I kind of want to change that,” Alexander said.

General Zhukov arched his brow “Do you have one in mind, Your Majesty?”

“I do,” Alexander simply said as he picked up his briefcase and grabbed the paper in it. “Pardon my drawing…here you go,” Alexander handed the paper to Zhukov who then checked the drawing.

He let out a small gasp before looking at Alexander with amazement “You humble yourself, Your Majesty. This uniform is beautiful…it caught my eye the moment I saw it,” he admitted.

Alexander smiled “Thank you. I’ve been thinking to myself that the army needs a new look. The old one looks rather outdated.” he pointed out.

General Zhukov nodded, “That’s true Your Majesty, the uniform of the army hasn’t changed since decades ago,” he agreed.

The uniform that Alexander presented to Zhukov is similar to the Soviet Union’s cold war uniform, the M69. It has three versions, tropical, winter, and dress M69 uniforms.

The tropical uniform will be issued to the troops stationed in the Central Asian, North Caucasian, and Transcaucasian territories of the Ruthenian Empire. It featured an open-collar shirt, pants, and lace-up low boots. As for the hat, Alexander selected the Panamanka style hat.

For the winter version of the M69, the military uniform will be made of a Wool Gabardine material and was worn with the Ushanka fur hat. Unlike the tropical versions, the winter version will be worn with the full insignia of the Imperial Ruthenian Army. These would be covered by Bushlat or Shinel overcoats. Troops stationed in the Northern Territories of the Ruthenian Empire will be the ones using these uniforms year-round.

Lastly, the Dress version of the M69 featured an open-collar jacket which was worn over a light green service shirt and tie. The uniform was worn with dress shoes and visor caps. When Alexander reorganized the military, so did its chain of command. If he has something to implement in the army, he can just simply reach out to General Zhukov for a speedy confirmation.

Alexander watched General Zhukov inspect the drawing again with rapt attention, before looking back up at him.

“Your Majesty, the design is great. If every one of our soldiers across the Empire were to wear this uniform, I can assure you, Your Majesty, their morale will soar. They would feel more confident than ever in their position,” General Zhukov stated.

Alexander smiled, pleased to see that General Zhukov understood the value of the uniform. Little do people know that what you wear affects the mind subconsciously. One easy example is the lab coat. Study shows that people will feel more intelligent when wearing a lab coat. Similar to the suit, where it can boost one’s esteem and confidence. The military uniform, it’s a symbolic gesture. Military uniforms meant sacrifice, duty, obedience, and loyalty.

If Alexander wants to create a modern army, he has to start from the basics, which are the people, who will be serving the Fatherland, his Empire.

“Now that we’ve settled the military uniform part, let’s move on to another agenda,” Alexander said, bringing out a file and handing it to Zhukov.action

“What is this?” General Zhukov asked as he opened the folder and started reading the first page of the report.

Alexander started speaking “In 1897, the overall literacy rate of the Ruthenian Empire was an estimated 24%, with the rural literacy rate at 19.7% And by 1922, it rose to 40 and 28 percent. The primary cause of it is the poor education system that my father didn’t even think of reforming. This is a pressing issue that I’m facing as the Emperor of the Ruthenia Empire. The army is largely made up of illiterate conscripts. I would like to change it by conducting programs and seminars for the military personnel and changing the qualification standard.

“I need a literate army. I don’t care if they have to go back to school to learn how to read and write. It is something that needs to be done,”

“I agree with you, Your Majesty,” General Zhukov replied.

Education is one of the primary concerns Alexander wants to fix. It’s the reason why he proclaimed free education for all and even solidified it by making it a right of the people under the constitution. It will take at least ten or fifteen years for the citizens of the Ruthenia Empire to be educated. And if that was achieved, a promising future awaits Ruthenia.

“As I said earlier, I also want to change the qualification of the Army, thus I drafted a course,” Alexander said and continued. “If you would turn to page 15, you would see the 22-week program that a recruit has to pass if they want to become part of the Army,”

The 22-week course Alexander wants to implement is similar to the United States Army training program. It has three phases; red phase, white phase, and blue phase.

It’s an arduous course that will make a soldier into a real soldier. Even if he brought out advanced technology, if the soldiers weren’t trained properly, it’ll be meaningless.

Once all of this is implemented, Alexander can now focus on introducing new

technology on par with the 1960’s such as the radios, radars, rocketry, and heck, even space satellites.

Ruthenia will be ten-step ahead of its foes.