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11-October-5-November-1915
''So it went well, from what I can see'' said the regent while reviewing the report.
''Yes, all the grain is already being sent to Odesa and from there it should arrive in Kiev regularly, as you requested we bought wheat, although in my inquiries I found that corn is cheaper'' I said, nodding.
''Yes, I know corn is cheaper… but it is used as feed for animals, we cannot just feed people animal food, there are limits we cannot cross no matter how easy and fast it may be'' said the regent while making faces as he reviewed the amount of wheat I had purchased ''And this?'' he said pointing at my request regarding Ukrainian marks.
''I managed to convince the Romanian nobles, especially the more conservative ones, to invest in the Ukrainian mark… offering it as a short-term investment, they will sell to us in marks, but at higher prices, two or three times higher than in German marks, but on the condition that when we have the chance we will try to inflate the international value of the Ukrainian mark'' I said, nodding.
''And why did you do that? That will affect the price of our currency once it begins to recover and they start selling'' said the regent, frowning.
''Because it is important to find someone willing to sell us food and animals in a currency nobody wants, I went to many other exporters and none accepted it because it was a risky investment, and half the country is pro-Entente because they want Transylvania, our only allies in this are the pro-German Romanian nobles and we have to use them to stabilize this, Germany is not investing much, so we have to do what we can with what we have''.
''And why did you buy so many animals?'' said the regent, looking at the report detailing the livestock I had purchased.
''Have you heard of the Schweinemord? That foolish decision made by German policymakers who think everything follows statistics, they slaughtered five million pigs and calculated everything wrong, there was no metal for cans, the meat was lost and then they imposed price caps, a complete disaster, what those idiots did not consider is that pigs usually eat waste people do not consume, rotten food, spoiled goods and sometimes some potatoes and grain, but pigs were also used for fertilizer, their waste when properly processed is a good fertilizer, that is why I made those deals, we need that fertilizer, and that is also why I bought corn with Ukrainian marks'' I said, pointing to that section of the report.
''So we will need to print several million, from what I see'' said the regent.
''Yes, you decide the denominations, but we now have people willing to negotiate as long as Germany keeps pushing, I would send someone to speak with the Bulgarians, although I doubt they will be convinced until they finish with Serbia, but we must rebuild Ukraine's livestock industry as soon as possible, since it will be our main source of fertilizer'' I said, nodding.
''Good, I will have the banknotes printed for the payment, good work, I will see if we can negotiate more animals that belong to Ukraine and not just to you'' said the regent.
''Do not worry, I told you everything is to help, eggs and milk will be used to reduce food consumption in the region, so we will have less to supply in terms of food'' I said as I turned and left the palace, heading to my office.
The days continued passing calmly for us, or relatively, from time to time Ferdinand or Hans had to go into the marshes hunting partisans who kept increasing in number, although the terrain did much of the work for us, we still had to kill or try to make them surrender.
There were some small engagements, but nothing major for the moment.
What had changed was the situation in the Balkans, as it seemed Greece did not cooperate with the Allies even with a pro-Entente government, there had been a vote and the Greek prime minister failed to secure enough votes to approve participation in the war by three votes, those three votes prevented Greece from joining and also denied the Entente forces attempting to open a front there.
They were not allowed to land in the port of Thessaloniki, which apparently forced the Entente to impose a blockade on Greece as it tried to remain neutral.
Bulgarian troops had advanced through southern Serbia launching a fast and powerful offensive toward the coast, trying to prevent a possible Serbian escape, so everything seemed to be going well for Germany in the region.
Greece neutral, Romania neutral but cooperating, and it seemed Serbia would not be able to escape and would have to fight to the end in its cities if it did not surrender.
So while good news kept coming in, I had to keep working, more reinforcements from Austria-Hungary and Germany continued arriving, I had already reached a point where this far exceeded my authority as a major, but I could not be promoted due to Hindenburg's interference, so despite having greater responsibilities, it was not reflected in rank or pay.
We had surpassed 85,000 men, with which we had established broad control over Ukraine, we still could not firmly control some rural areas, but all major cities were secured, as well as most towns with over 1,000 inhabitants, so the partisan problem was manageable, for the most part food was secured for up to three months, and everything produced by the greenhouses in their monthly harvests was sent to areas with fewer reserves to ease rationing.
But my main effort had been focused on using the German state budget to build a factory that would produce tractors, seeders, and harvesters.
So as soon as I learned my factory in Posen had been completed, I redirected those resources and workers to establish the factory in Kiev, which would be owned by the German state.
Thus, every day additional shipments arrived from German steelworks to lay the foundations of the factories and bring in whatever machinery was available and useful, while with the help of engineers I designed everything necessary to build an engine that would run on diesel and have enough power to move all the equipment attached to it, from plows to harvesters and seeders.
All of that required a great deal of machinery, and I was doing everything possible to make it as modern as the available technological level allowed, since there were many limitations in both machinery and fuel.
Most of the fuel would be purchased from Romania for the time being, so the engine had to be as efficient as possible, since this would be the main expense, along with training personnel, with this we could make use of most Ukrainian fields, taking advantage of the vast black soil.
So while the war continued everywhere, I enjoyed the relative calm of my post, only receiving reports of training and results of anti-partisan operations.
''It seems we have good production this month'' I said while watching the mushrooms being harvested and quickly transported to the nearby train station to be sent to the cities.
''That is correct Major… using Ukrainian soil and the substrate has led to a considerable increase in mushroom production and it is expected that turnips, lettuce, and carrots will soon be ready once their growth phase is complete which should be next week, with that we should have several tons of food being sent to Ukrainian cities while preserving non-perishable supplies'' said one of the greenhouse supervisors reviewing the results.
''I like how each harvest is larger than the last… this should be an increase of nearly 50% compared to the previous month so if we keep this pace we could reach a point by early January where with some imports we can stabilize consumption and by spring use all the seeds without issue'' I said while reviewing the reports.
''That is correct… the greenhouses begin working as soon as they are completed and now that we have an almost unlimited supply of substrate due to the large number of animals brought from Romania we are expanding mushroom farms significantly although there are many complaints from workers about the almost unbearable smell of working with pig waste'' said the supervisor.
''That is understandable but nothing can be done it is the best substrate and the cheapest available to grow this food so they have no choice or they simply do not eat I cannot improve their working conditions because that would require using compost that is needed elsewhere'' I replied while walking and observing workers pushing carts filled with vegetables that had to be sent for immediate consumption.
Clearly we would not be able to feed everyone and it was only a matter of time before supply failures began and that would bring serious problems in maintaining the population, for now something the regent had done well was placing the blame for the famine on the Russians, which was true, but constant emphasis had made Ukrainians blame them more than us since at least he made the effort of bringing fresh vegetables everywhere.
I continued observing the greenhouse harvest as men, women, and children carried fresh produce onto trains bound for other cities.
After that I began inspecting the factory being built near the train station to ensure the best access to supplies and distribution, when I noticed a train arriving with new Austro-Hungarian recruits, some destined for my garrisons and others for the front.
''MAJOR'' someone shouted while riding toward me ''finally found you'' he said, breathing heavily ''I have information from the German division protecting the north of Kiev there is movement of a large Russian force the exact number is unknown but it is estimated to be two divisions or possibly an entire army'' said one of the soldiers.
''Damn… the temperature has dropped but enough to freeze the marshes?'' I said, clicking my tongue, and without another word I ran toward the train station where the telegraph network was located to begin mobilizing more troops, Kiev had to be defended at all costs against the Russian offensive.
''Quick send a message to all cities all available troops must be sent to Kiev immediately leave only what is necessary to protect the granaries nothing more'' I said as I burst into the telegraph room where operators were sending and receiving communications.
Within moments messages were being transmitted to all garrisons relaying my orders while preparations were made to alter railway schedules.
I remained coordinating the removal of Russian rifle ammunition from arsenals and sending it north, along with all available equipment to stop the Russian advance, reusing all captured Russian gear.
Within hours the first trains arrived carrying garrison troops who were likely terrified facing their first real combat especially against a Russian army advancing toward us.
Leaving officers to manage logistics I boarded a train and headed north, arriving at the camp of the Tenth Army divisions, already hearing artillery fire and gunshots in the distance, confirming we had entered an active combat zone.
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