Chapter 1357: Chapter 84: Rebuilding the Nation (12)_2

Winters shrugged, no longer glaring at young Priskin, but rather unwillingly squeezed out a smile towards him.

Young Priskin quickly stood up, then under the Blood Wolf’s gesture, swiftly sat down again. He nodded gratefully to the “madam,” took a small sip of cold water, relieving some of his unease and tension.

Anna’s gaze turned to the flyer on the small table, she gently reminded Winters: “Sometimes, people who ask for your help don’t necessarily need it, they just want to show goodwill.”

“He asked to borrow my printing press.” Winters questioned: “Is that showing goodwill?”

Anna didn’t answer, she just patiently looked at Winters with her beautiful eyes.

Understanding without words, Winters quickly grasped the subtlety within.

He pondered briefly, and finally smiled broadly: “Then lend it to him — friendship is always a pleasure.”

“That’s not enough though.” Anna reminded again.

“You mean.” Winters mused: “I should also ask Kai Morland for a favor, to convey the correct message to him properly?”

Anna blinked.

Winters, as if receiving the sweetest praise, couldn’t help but curl his lips, but was also somewhat troubled: “But what could I need from Kai Morland?”

At some point, young Priskin could no longer follow the conversation between the “Blood Wolf” and the “Wolf Queen.”

But when young Priskin heard the Blood Wolf speaking to himself, he suddenly had a revelation and replied: “Perhaps you could ask Kai Morland to find a ‘teacher’ for you.”

“Hm?” Winters looked at young Priskin, subconsciously frowning.

But soon, with Anna’s reminder, Winters cleared his throat, forcing his brow to smooth out again.

“What did you say?” Winters asked again, this time with an unusually kind expression.

“In the elite families of Maplestone City, there are teachers specially hired to teach children literacy and writing. Since Kai Morland is close with these prominent families, if he were to ask on your behalf, the key figures in Maplestone City would not refuse. This way, all the elementary teachers in Maplestone City could be gathered…”

Young Priskin explained as bravely as possible, but the more he pretended to be calm, the more pitiable he seemed: “I heard that the school you’re setting up doesn’t have enough literacy teachers. Even with high pay, no one is applying. It’s making Mason Commissioner quite worried. Therefore…”

After hearing young Priskin’s suggestion, Winters fell into deep thought.

…

The average score in the “Army-wide Major Exam” was even worse than the worst predictions.

The cultural exam results of unofficial officers — especially the reserve officers from the Iron Peak County troops — were simply appalling.

Math, geometry, general knowledge, current affairs, politics, grammar, six papers, a hundred and twenty questions.

Reserve officers who could answer three questions correctly on each paper were extremely rare.

Current affairs, politics, and grammar were the most disastrous, with the vast majority of reserve officers scoring nothing on these three papers.

Not to mention, a significant portion of the unofficial officers’ papers were marked with a conspicuous “illiterate” evaluation.

The only thing that brought Winters solace was that the regiment-level, battalion-level, and seasoned company-level officers under the Iron Peak County Military’s establishment had rather outstanding results.

The soldiers who had followed Winters since the first time the army was formed quite literally presented a “satisfactory answer sheet.”

In the camp on the outskirts of Wolf Town, the knowledge Winters had painstakingly imparted to them was not wasted in the end.

Of course, much credit was also due to “one more stick.”

As for the “appointed officers” from Mont Blanc County, Thunder Group County, and Riverside County, although their cultural standards were higher in comparison — still nowhere near those of regular officers, their military skills were generally unqualified.

Theoretically, appointed officers have two sources:

One is from within the army, promoting senior noncommissioned officers and meritorious soldiers;

The other is from outside the army, allowing those who meet the conditions to pay for a commission.

Although almost all appointed officers from Mont Blanc County, Thunder Group County, and Riverside County were from the latter, in fact, these “wealthy offspring who paid for positions” had fairly good basic qualities.

They were generally literate, physically strong, and well-nourished.

But the problem is, they were merely “buying into the status,” never having thought that they would truly step onto the battlefield one day.

So, compared to the art of combat, they lacked both the will and determination to fight.

Some even deliberately answered the papers wrong, hoping to be expelled from the army and regain civilian status.

In short, the exam results were shocking.

Within the allied forces, the condition of the unofficial officers and reserve officers was so dire, it cast doubt on whether they could indeed support an army in the future.

The “admission plan” established prior to the preparatory meeting also had to be adjusted according to the real situation.

According to the original plan, for the unofficial officers who had already obtained formal positions, such as Tamas and Bart Xialing, the “Second Army Academy” would conduct short-term intensive military and cultural training based on their exam results.

After all, these officers had posts and could not, nor were they allowed, to be away for long periods.

After completing the short-term training, they would be awarded appropriate “acting” ranks.