Cdat, Security Minister
Cdat watches to see if anyone else will speak. When no one else attempts to, he steps near the table, where his stack of notes are. He lightly rests his finely manicured fingertips upon the neat stack.
“Gentleman and generals,” He states in a calm calculated voice: “I have reviewed all your proposals earlier before the meeting.” Many in the room glance up quickly since no one but their most trusted aides have seen these documents. “I am overwhelmed by the amount of detail and dedication that has been put forth into these proposals.”
“ I realize that being the Security Department that I, least of all, should promote my own agenda before each and every one of you but alas I must as duty dictates, proceed. Since our great leader has ALREADY put forth his ideas on the subjects, I shall simply state my case from my point of view.” He looks at Czar1111 with a disappointed look. Czar nervously starts fidgeting with his new medal. Once he’s sure that he has driven his point home, he looks to the members of the cabinet and begins his speech.
“I applaud the ideas of building fortresses in the northeast to prevent our Russian ‘friends’ from becoming too bold. After all, my interests are solely with the safety within our borders.” He looks directly at the Chief of Staff and nods to him. “Having to cross a river and confront fortresses, manned by our best units should provide adequate incentive to discourage any thoughts for invasion.”
“I am glad to see that with the limited manpower we have at present that we do not rashly jump into a massive build-up of our current military. Investing in the Industry of the country in the long run will reap bountiful rewards.” He looks to Matiandos [FIN], who is staring at him with smoldering eyes.
“Investing heavily in the navy is futile at present. I mean no offense good sir Captain Panda, but we need to worry more of land attack/defense from our mighty neighbors. Possibly a few research dollars could be sent to the submarine forces. They, in my opinion, have the best “bang for the buck”.”
“The air force is another matter all together. They are worth their weight in gold if they are modernized. I feel for the defense of our wonderful nation, that we need a few squadrons of fighters at the least. I also feel that the naval bombers already within the armed forces can and will help protect our coastline.” He sends Reichswehr a slight smile.
“We at present have a mighty army compared to most of our neighbors. We must if we are to survive this decade, train them, teach them, coach them and even beat them if that is what is necessary to bring them up to today’s standards in modern warfare. I am also concerned with the outdated armored forces within the Army. At present our forces contain French hand-me-down junk. I hope when funds are available, that we update this equipment with the best possible choices.”
“That brings up the point on where we will get the funds to promote this training regiment. I’ll have to reserve that topic for Elbasto and his team.”
“I have started a program to help train our future generations of soldier. It is called the Boy Scouts of Romania. I have started a program where all youths 16 years of age will begin indoctrination into the basic soldiering skills needed. The break down is outlined within files I have sent to your offices. This is mandatory. No one is exempt. So, let us say in the year 1938, this first ‘class’ will graduate and be fully prepared to join our illustrious military as needed. Youths 12 to 15 will begin an auxiliary corps, called the Cub Scouts of Romania, to teach them the basics such as teamwork, loyalty and how to deal with emergency situations, as they arise. So in case, in the future, things go drastically wrong, they can fill in on fire fighting crews and basic essential duties required to keep our nation functioning properly. This will then free up able-bodied men to join the military. I, myself will take charge of these young gentlemen and with the help of some retired veterans from the Great War, I will mold them to our ideals and doctrines. They will turn out to be fine, strapping, smooth, muscular, handsome, proud, young Romanians. I shall retain one as a personal aide to me and I, shall be his Mentor. If any of you would like to submit a request for a family member of yours to join, I’d be more than willing to take extra good care of them.” He withdraws a handkerchief from his left front trousers pocket and daubs away at the sweat that is glistening on his brow. Once done, he neatly folds the handkerchief in half then folds it again and returns it to his right front trousers pocket.
“I have also provided an outline, if viable, offering tax breaks for Romanian women who produce more offspring. This will insure a stable pool of manpower to draw from in the future. This of course is only a suggestion. I’ll leave it up to Elbasto and his team of peanut counters to make the decision.”
“While we are in this meeting discussing our intentions, my teams of the ‘Bureau of Crime Apprehension’ are rounding up citizens of dubious loyalty to be taken to my headquarters to be ‘questioned’ concerning possible matters of national security. If, when you arrive back at your respective offices, you find individuals missing. Please hold off on storming my office.” His gaze slowly scanned the room looking for any defiance from the members of the meeting. Most of the military officers were scowling directly but the ministers seemed slightly nervous. “If I am satisfied of their loyalty to the state, they will be released immediately. If they fail to return ……. Do not push the issue. We are only concerned for the welfare of the state. Those we find unfit to serve will be transferred to a mental ward to be studied and held for their own safety until the end of any hostilities that may arise within the coming years.”
“Also, on a sad note, I must sadly inform you of a tragic mishap within the borders of our neighbor Bulgaria.” He glances at Lt.Col.Kilgore and nods in his direction. “It seems that their largest newspaper’s home office has caught fire and burned to the ground. All staff and editors never made it out of the building alive. I feel that some type of statement from our government should be sent to them, giving them our condolences.” His voice growing excited, he practically glowed with cheer. “Possibly some flowers too. Some nice red roses and some purple tulips and some yellow day lilies and some lovely orchids should suffice.” After that statement, the joy faded from his voice and his body seemed to stiffen a bit.
“That is the end of my assessment on the current state of affairs within the boundaries of our great nation. If any of you would like to further discuss any point I have raised here, feel free to come to my office and we can discuss it one-on-one without holding up these other gentlemen’s time in this meeting today.” With that he takes exactly 6 steps to the rear precisely 9 inches each. He stops and crosses his hands behind his back and seems to fade into the shadows slightly. His eyes seem to glaze over as if anything else stated in the meeting has no meaning or value to him.