Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 8 Operations Staff (Part 1)
Since the Imperial Navy established the "General Staff" institution, it has undergone more than two hundred years of changes.
The original staff was just a staff team that provided reference opinions to the commander (mainly the fleet commander). Its members were all low-level officers and had no actual command authority.
With the expansion of the fleet size, the changes in naval warfare tactics, and the fact that the fleet commander could no longer fully command the fleet operations in battle and had to rely on other personnel to assist in commanding combat operations, the "General Staff" truly had the most basic authority, namely, commanding fleet operations.
The structure of the General Staff has also changed many times, from the initial linear single structure to the current flat multi-line structure. It can be said that in the history of more than two hundred years, the changes in the Imperial Navy General Staff are the changes in the tactical command thinking of the Imperial Navy.
Up to now, the staff of each fleet of the Imperial Navy has five main departments, namely operations, intelligence, communications, logistics and personnel.
Among these, the Operations Staff is the most important, and its most fundamental responsibility is to directly assist the fleet commander in commanding fleet operations during combat operations.
The rank of the operations staff officer is also the highest among the five main staff officers except the chief of staff.
The Imperial Navy Fleet Staff does not have a deputy chief of staff, and the operations staff is actually the deputy chief of staff.
The Fifth Fleet's operations staff room is on the first floor of the building, occupying six rooms on the east side of the first floor, and three of the rooms are connected. This is the combat simulation exercise area.
The room of Colonel Ji Xiaobin, the combat staff officer, is at the innermost part. It is much smaller than General Liao Hanxiang's office and is separated in the middle by wooden boards. On the other side are the office areas of several staff officers.
"You must be Tan Renhao, right? The general just called me. We will be working together from now on. Nice to meet you!"
Ji Xiaobin was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was not tall, but he was very handsome and had a standard imperial soldier's physique.
"Sir, nice to meet you too!"
Tan Renhao's words were very appropriate. He knew that Ji Xiaobin was one of the few officers of the Fifth Fleet who had served under Liao Hanxiang from the cavalry unit.
"Your specialty is aviation operations, right?"
As Ji Xiaobin spoke, he took Tan Renhao out of the room.
"Sir, I am a sailor, and aviation operations are my hobby!"
Tan Renhao was very honest and did not lie at all.
"Hobby!"
Ji Xiaobin looked back at Tan Renhao and said, "Alright, we have a position for an aviation operations staff officer here, and another position for a fleet formation navigation staff officer. Which one do you choose?"
Tan Renhao was stunned. It seemed that the Fifth Fleet was indeed short of manpower, because the latter position was one of the most sought-after positions in the fleet staff for junior officers.
"Then you should be in charge of aviation operations. This is where we need manpower the most!"
Ji Xiaobin took Tan Renhao into the third room on the left side of the corridor. "This is your office area. For now, you are the only one here!"
"Myself?"
Tan Renhao looked at Ji Xiaobin in surprise again.
The colonel smiled awkwardly.
"I used to be in charge of aviation operations, but now you are in charge."
Tan Renhao nodded. The room was not small. It could at least accommodate four people working at the same time. It was indeed a bit big for him alone.
"Well, if you have something else to do, I'll leave first!"
Ji Xiaobin seemed very busy. "If you have any questions, you can come to my office to find me!"
"Sir."
Tan Renhao quickly stopped Ji Xiaobin and asked, "What should I do now?"
"Now? You should get familiar with the environment first. Also, you should tidy up your office area."
Ji Xiaobin shrugged awkwardly. "Come to my office again around 3pm this afternoon and I'll assign you other tasks."
Tan Renhao did not delay the very busy Colonel Ji Xiaobin any longer, but he did need time to familiarize himself with this "building" and tidy up his office. At the very least, he had to find a table and a chair for this empty room!
It took Tan Renhao a whole morning to find a desk with peeling paint and several holes on it, and a wooden chair with a missing leg in the warehouse of the base headquarters.
Finally, Tan Renhao borrowed a set of carpentry tools and asked Du Xing to help him find half a bottle of paint.
By two o'clock in the afternoon, he had finally managed to get these two necessary office "equipment". Finally, he spent half an hour, with the help of Sergeant Du Xing, to clean up this room that belonged to him alone.
"It seems that we really have to start from scratch!"
Tan Renhao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Sergeant, let's go eat. It's my treat."
Du Xing smiled awkwardly.
"All restaurants are closed now. But I'll go to the store and buy some food..."
"etc!"
Tan Renhao stopped Du Xing and handed him a banknote. "You've worked hard all day. Let me treat you. Buy more!"
Du Xing hesitated for a moment, then took the money.
A petty officer in the Imperial Navy receives much less allowance than a second lieutenant, but the allowance of a second lieutenant is not much either.
However, all the necessary expenses for their lives in the army do not require any money.
After Du Xing left, Tan Renhao cleaned up several corners in the room that he had not cleaned up at the beginning.
He didn't want other people to know that he had a habit of being clean. At least, in the Imperial Navy, people with mysophobia were seen as different, especially on warships, where one often couldn't take a shower for two or three months. Even the cleanest person would probably become "easy-going" after living in such an environment for a few years.
When Tan Renhao had cleaned the room spotlessly, he finally showed a satisfied smile. At least the busyness of most of the day and the missed lunch time did not make him feel that it was worthless . A good environment can bring a good mood.
At this time, someone knocked on the open door a few times and Tan Renhao turned around immediately.
"Second Lieutenant, the colonel wants you to come over right away!"
Standing at the door was a sergeant who was Ji Xiaobin's orderly.
"Now?"
Tan Renhao looked at the dusty military uniform and smiled awkwardly.
The sergeant nodded, obviously he didn't think it was necessary for Tan Renhao to change into a clean set of clothes.
