Chapter 256: He’s Done For
Glory? Truth? These two unrelated words sound so strange when combined together…
And what I’m telling you now is about transportation coordination business, so why bring up glory and truth out of nowhere?
“Vice Minister Chen, forgive my dull wits, what exactly do you mean by that?”
Chen Yang pulled open the drawer, took out a letter, handed it to Ino Yusuke, and sighed: “Your wisdom is insufficient, it’s hard for me to explain it clearly to you in a word or two. Take this to Minister Suzuhara, he might understand what I’m really trying to do!”
Ino Yusuke looked completely baffled. After a moment, he took the documents handed over by Chen Yang, slightly bowed, and slowly left the office.
Chen Yang casually picked up the materials list sent from Mai Gen Road Warehouse and muttered: “Actually, whether it’s honor or truth, neither is important to me, but money is very important…”
In the core dispatch room of the “Wartime Special Transportation Coordination Headquarters,” the air was scorching and sticky.
On the huge railway network map, the red and blue markers representing military train operations were densely packed, and many key hub nodes were already lit up with yellow or even red markers indicating “congestion” or “delay.”
The telegraph machine was frantically spitting out notes, telephone bells rang one after another, staff ran and shouted, presenting a scene of chaos on the verge of collapse.
South Manchuria Railway Transportation Department Vice Minister Colonel Yoshida Hirohiro’s face was ashen at this moment; he had just smashed a tea cup, with fragments and tea splattered all over the floor.
His gaze was fixed deadly on Chen Yang, who was standing calmly at the dispatch desk talking on the phone with some soldier depot, his chest heaving violently.
“I don’t care what difficulties you have there! According to the No. 3 Priority Order I issued, all freight cars must give way! You can’t bear the consequences of the delay!” Chen Yang spoke into the receiver with an icy and composed tone,
“Immediately draw three locomotives from the reserve team at Dalian Port to urgently reinforce the Jinzhou hub, enforce one-way traffic, and the blockage must be cleared within two hours!”
“Chen Yang!” Yoshida Hirohiro finally lost his patience, his roar like thunder overpowering the noise in the dispatch room.
He rushed up to Chen Yang in a few steps. “What the hell are you doing? Do you know that the orders you’re issuing have completely disrupted the overall transportation plan I formulated! Now the entire South Manchuria Railway is about to be paralyzed because of you!”
Chen Yang slowly turned around, calmly meeting Yoshida’s almost fiery gaze.
“Vice Minister Yoshida,” Chen Yang’s voice was not loud, “Paralyzed? If we follow your ‘comprehensive’ plan, what would be paralyzed now wouldn’t just be the South Manchuria line, but the entire lifeline to Nomonhan!”
“The front lines are waiting for ammunition, waiting for fuel! Tell me, are those ordinary supplies in your plan more important, or are the lives of thousands of Empire soldiers on the Nomonhan battlefield more important?”
“Bastard!” Yoshida erupted in fury, his right hand instinctively pressing on the hilt of the military saber at his waist: “This is narrow-minded extremism. Who desperately increases transportation load regardless of everything just for efficiency?”
“You’re a qualified transportation officer; don’t you know the principle that haste makes waste?”
“You’ve messed up the materials dispatch into a total mess. The consequences of doing this are very serious. I can tell you directly, you can’t bear this responsibility!”
“Responsibility?” A cold arc hooked at the corner of Chen Yang’s mouth, but his tone remained indifferent: “My responsibility is to execute the Kwantung Army Headquarters and General Headquarters’ ‘Northern Absolute Priority’ order!”
“As for the complaints from the southern army groups, that’s your business. Don’t you have transportation dominance? How things should be transported isn’t something you should be concerned about, right?”
“My duty is to ensure this lifeline doesn’t break! If Nomonhan is defeated because of dispersed transport capacity, that would be the truly enormous responsibility that no one can bear!”
“You’re using a chicken feather as an arrow! Abusing your authority!” Yoshida trembled with rage, pointing at the map on the wall that was almost entirely marked red. “Look! Look at the chaos now!”
“Materials from various army groups are piling up like mountains, the dispatch system is already overloaded! Your ‘priority orders’ are coming like snowflakes; the lower levels can’t even execute them! If this continues, we won’t need the enemy to attack; we’ll collapse our own transportation system ourselves!”
“Can’t execute because efficiency isn’t high enough, because some people are still clinging to outdated rules!” Chen Yang didn’t yield an inch, his tone even sharper. “Vice Minister Yoshida, you’re a senior, expert in transportation business; I respect you.”
“But in wartime, especially at such a critical moment, what’s needed is the boldness to break conventions, not conservative adherence to established procedures! If the existing system can’t meet the demands, then break it and rebuild a more efficient temporary system!”
“Break it? You say it easily!” Yoshida laughed in extreme anger. “This system is the crystallization of decades of South Manchuria Railway experience!”
“You, who rose through… through coordination, do you understand what system stability and sustainability mean? Your brute force approach will only make things worse!”
“Stability? Sustainability?” Chen Yang stepped forward, his gaze blazing, staring down Yoshida. “Colonel Yoshida! Please wake up! There’s no stability on the Nomonhan front!”
“People are dying every minute! What we need now isn’t sustainability, but survival! Use every means to send up every resource we can use!”
“As for system collapse? If the Empire is defeated, what’s the use of this system?”
These words were like the sharpest bayonet, piercing straight into Yoshida’s heart and touching the deepest anxiety of South Manchuria Railway: was the system they relied on for survival really so fragile in the face of war’s absolute demands?
“You… you…” Yoshida Hirohiro pointed at Chen Yang, his finger trembling from extreme anger, his face turning from green to white, unable to utter a complete sentence for the moment.
Chen Yang didn’t look at him again, turning to the dispatch director who was frozen like a wooden chicken and snapping harshly: “What are you standing there for? Execute the orders! Immediately!”
Only then did he finally glance at Yoshida Hirohiro, who was so furious he was nearly fainting, and left behind an icy sentence: “Vice Minister Yoshida, if you have objections to my command, you can appeal to General Sato, or even to Mr. Ozaki. But right now, here, the transportation instructions of the coordination headquarters must be executed to the letter!”
“Otherwise, I have the right to complain to the superior department about your dereliction of duty.”
“Fine, fine, fine, everyone calm down a bit, let’s not argue about this anymore.” Yoshida raised both hands, pressing downward, as if also suppressing his own erupting resentment.
“Vice Minister Chen, I hope you can truly consider the purpose of the Transportation Department. The Empire’s war machine is a whole! Don’t the occupied areas in North China and South China need to be maintained?”
“Doesn’t security warfare consume resources? You’re drawing all transport capacity to the north; if something happens in the south, can you bear that responsibility? This is robbing Peter to pay Paul, drinking poison to quench thirst!”
“Is that so? But if we follow your transportation plan, what good outcome can the Empire expect?” Chen Yang pushed a summary report in front of Yoshida, his expression carrying a hint of mockery: “Vice Minister Yoshida, under your leadership, the current transportation system seems to have reached its design limit, even exceeding its capacity.”
“For the overall situation of Nomonhan, I think we must consider a more effective management model.”
“Baka, what nonsense are you spouting?” Yoshida’s voice was slightly hoarse from suppressed fury: “Minister Chen, transport capacity reaching the limit is an objective fact! But that doesn’t mean South Manchuria Railway has lost the ability and qualification to lead the transportation system!”
“This system is the crystallization of generations of our blood and sweat; no one understands better than us how to keep it running in complex situations!”
“Re-establishing a new management model? You might as well say it outright: make me hand over transportation route dominance obediently!”
“I advise you to give up that idea early. Transportation dominance is the lifeblood of South Manchuria Railway; it’s absolutely impossible! This is trampling on the dignity and ability of South Manchuria Railway!”
His rejection was resolute. Chen Yang seemed to have anticipated this answer; there was no surprise on his face. Instead, he slowly nodded, his tone still calm: “I understand your feelings and trust toward South Manchuria Railway.”
“However, Vice Minister Yoshida, feelings can’t replace the urgently needed materials at the front lines. Since you insist that South Manchuria Railway can solve the problem within the existing framework, then, to prove that point and to meet the front lines’ demands that can’t stop for a moment, I have no choice but to carry out necessary… reinforcements to the transportation plan.”
“Reinforcements?” Yoshida’s heart tightened, a sense of foreboding rising.
“Yes.” Chen Yang picked up another document already prepared. “This is the 《Nomonhan Campaign Materials Delivery Emergency Reinforcement Plan》 that I formulated with the materials warehouse and the Land Transport Section targeting the front lines’ urgent transportation situation.”
“Starting immediately, the transportation efficiency of all main trunk lines must increase by another 15% on the basis of the current overload.”
“Freight car turnaround time compressed by 20%, and in-transit time for key materials must be shortened to the theoretical limit.”
He handed over the document; the targets on it were harsh to the point of madness.
Yoshida Hirohiro only glanced at it, his face instantly turning deathly pale: “15%? Compress by 20%? Chen Yang! You’re committing suicide! And murdering the entire transportation system!”
“The current transport capacity is already a taut string; if you force it tighter, the result can only be snapping! This will trigger a chain reaction, leading to full-line paralysis!”
“So, this is exactly when you and South Manchuria Railway need to show true professional ability and boldness to prove you can handle this pressure.”
“If even this reinforcement plan can’t be borne, then where is the reason for you to insist on retaining dominance? General Headquarters and Kwantung Army need to see results, not difficulties.”
This was a naked open scheme.
If Yoshida accepted, he would have to lead South Manchuria Railway to complete a nearly impossible task, bearing the huge risk of system collapse…
If he refused, it would be admitting South Manchuria Railway was incapable of bearing the heavy responsibility, giving Chen Yang the perfect excuse to take back dominance.
Yoshida Hirohiro stared deadly at Chen Yang, his chest heaving violently; he felt a suffocating pressure.
He couldn’t hand over dominance; if he gave transportation dominance to Chen Yang, it would mean decades of South Manchuria Railway’s foundation might be shaken.
He would be the greatest sinner of South Manchuria Railway.
Absolutely impossible…
Loyalty to the organization and the soldier’s unyielding spirit gradually gained the upper hand in his heart.
Yoshida slammed the table fiercely: “Fine! I’ll show you South Manchuria Railway’s true resilience! We accept this plan! But Chen Yang, if the system has a major accident because of this, don’t think you can escape responsibility!”
“Hmph.” Chen Yang responded with a single syllable, his eyes revealing the flavor of a successful scheme.
And from this moment on, Yoshida Hirohiro fell into true hell.
To fulfill the promise and to preserve South Manchuria Railway’s dominance, he poured in all his effort.
The dispatch room became his home; his eyes were bloodshot from staying up, his voice hoarse from constant shouting and coordination.
He personally reviewed every key dispatch instruction, argued with stubborn node persons in charge, and racked his brains to dig out every bit of potential transport capacity.
However, the entire South Manchuria Railway transportation system groaned under this insane pressure, unable to bear the load.
Minor accidents and small faults began occurring frequently; though not yet causing disaster, alarms rang one after another. Yoshida was like a fire captain, rushing everywhere to put out fires, exhausted in body and mind.
He watched as his originally jet-black hair sprouted glaring white strands at a visible speed, wrinkles deepening like knife carvings.
Every time he heard bad news, his heart twitched. He guarded the dominance, but this authority now felt like a red-hot branding iron scorching him all over.
Chen Yang calmly observed all of this.
He didn’t need to seize power immediately; Yoshida’s struggle under extreme pressure was already continuously consuming South Manchuria Railway’s internal resistance will and resources.
This sustained high pressure also provided the best chaotic cover for his secretly conducted “special transportation.”
He looked at Yoshida’s increasingly hunched back and sprouting white hair, knowing this fire was burning hot enough.
Night, Shanghai Gendarmerie Headquarters dormitory building.
Minister Suzuhara changed into a comfortable kimono, standing at the desk splashing ink and wielding the brush…
“Bright moon over Qin mountains in Qin times, passes of Han in Han times, the long march of ten thousand li, the man has not returned…”
He had just finished writing these two lines of large characters when a knock came at the door.
Suzuhara put down the ink brush and went to open the door.
“Uncle,” Ino Yusuke at the door called respectfully,
“Yusuke, your Transportation Department has been so busy lately; how do you have time to come find me?” Suzuhara led Ino Yusuke into the room, brewing tea while asking.
Ino Yusuke immediately poured out his grievances upon hearing this.
“The current transportation lines are no longer at full load, but super overloaded operation.”
“Yet Mr. Chen still wants to pile on more burden.”
“Minister Yoshida is working non-stop around the clock, but still can’t fully control it.”
“I don’t know what Mr. Chen is really thinking. As the coordination supervisor, not only did he not stop it, he doubled down. I’m really afraid something will go wrong.”
Suzuhara frowned: “So, what did you come here for?”
Ino took a sip of tea, took out the letter Chen Yang had given him: “Mr. Chen asked me to give this to you.”
“He said you should understand what he wants to do…”
Suzuhara took the letter, read it carefully, and after a moment, as if thinking of something, slowly sighed: “Yoshida is done for…”
