Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 132 Who is suitable for this position?

Kenichi Yamaki frowned, but still bowed slightly and said, "Chief of Staff Kawabe, I will do my best to restrain my subordinates when I get back, and this will never happen again."

"However, you don't want us to arrange the transportation, in case there are delays in supplies or any other unforeseen circumstances,"

"I hope to receive your assurances."

Sato Fumio chuckled and said, "Yamaki-kun, it seems that even your navy can't quite live up to the word 'punctuality'."

"Since you can't do it, what reason do you have to expect us to do it?"

Kenichi Yamaki said in a deep voice, "If that's the case, I think the Navy should reconsider the matter of cooperating with the Army."

"You dare?" Sato Fumio's face instantly turned red.

“Guess.” Kenichi Yamaki showed no intention of backing down in front of a major general chief of staff of the Army and a major general minister of the Logistics Department.

Chief of Staff Kawabe frowned as he saw that the two sides seemed about to start arguing again: "Alright, I will arrange for the Southern Transportation Department to send someone to follow up on the transportation. Although we cannot guarantee on time, we will treat everyone equally and will not maliciously withhold supplies from the Navy Department."

"If Mr. Yamaki is still not satisfied, please have Hasegawa come and negotiate with Commander Tadashiroku."

Upon hearing that the other party had brought up Hasegawa Ao, Kenichi Yamaki finally gave up.

Unlike the Army, the Navy doesn't like to overthrow its superiors. The Navy values ​​seniority above all else. If such a small matter were to alarm Vice Admiral Hase, the latter would definitely think that Yamaki is incompetent and can't even make a decision on such a small matter.

The Navy has a very limited promotion path, and a superior's evaluation is extremely important to them.

Kenichi Yamaki didn't want this small matter to change Hasegawa Sei's opinion of him.

"Alright, I'll send Lieutenant Colonel Saito from the Transportation Department later with the authorization documents to meet with the people from the Southern Transportation Department."

"I would appreciate it if Mr. Sato could recommend a suitable person to take charge. Otherwise, if anything goes wrong, I'm afraid you'll have a hard time explaining it."

That's all I have to say. Farewell.

After speaking, Kenichi Yamaki bowed slightly, leaving behind a dashing figure as he left the logistics department office.

"Kawabe-kun, what's with his attitude?" Sato Bunyasu was still somewhat angry as he watched Yamaki Kenichi's departing figure.

"Sato-kun, everything must be done with the Empire's war effort in mind. Although I don't like these idiots in the Navy either, this is a critical period in the war, and we need to compromise in order to achieve the greatest results."

"Make proper arrangements for the transportation. By the way, Commander Matsuura of the 106th Division has sent three urgent telegrams urging the delivery of the medicines."

"Have you solved the problem of allocating supplies? If they still can't be delivered on time, I'm worried that you and Oshima will not be able to explain it to each other."

Sato Fumiyasu said respectfully, "Please rest assured, Chief of Staff Kawabe, we are already coordinating, and there will definitely be no unexpected incidents."

“That would be best,” Chief of Staff Kawabe nodded slightly. “Sato-kun, please make a trip to the Southern Transportation Department and finalize the plan with Oshima-kun as soon as possible.”

"I'm going back."

Office of the Minister of Transportation of Southern China, Shanghai.
The heavy, dark green velvet curtains were half-drawn, filtering the harsh sunlight outside into a somber, oppressive beam of light that slanted across a corner of the large mahogany desk.

On the table, documents were piled up like a miniature fortress.

Sato Fumiyasu sat with his back to the window, slowly turning the pages of a thick file in his hands.

The room was unusually quiet, with only the monotonous and suffocating rustling of papers turning over and the faint, muffled whistle of a riverboat coming from outside the window.

Kenjiro Oshima, the Minister of Transport of the South, stood upright about two meters in front of his desk, like a javelin.

His face remained expressionless as he calmly watched Sato flip through the documents.

Sato's fingers, which were turning the pages, stopped on a document marked in red with the words "Seventh Fleet Highest Priority - K704 Special Train Supplies Details (Top Secret)".

His fingertips slid down the list items with an almost stagnant slowness. The paper made a soft rustling sound.

My fingertip stopped when it touched the clearly printed lead type of "Sulfanilamide powder - 2 tons".

He looked up, his gaze passing over the top edge of the document and landing on Kenjiro Oshima's expressionless face.

“Oshima-kun,” Sato’s deep voice broke the deathly silence in the room.
"The front lines... especially the 106th Division, their division headquarters sent an urgent telegram,"

"Now, the pile is almost higher than the blade of the entrenching tool."

"This batch of sulfonamides... a whole two tons. Can't you really coordinate even a little bit? Even just a few hundred kilograms, to help out in this emergency?" He said the last three words very softly, but they sounded like a heavy hammer striking the stagnant air.

"Crack!"

Oshima's black, hard-soled military boots slammed together on the smooth teak floor, producing a crisp, short, and sharp sound, like a gun being cocked!

The sound seemed particularly abrupt and jarring in the excessively quiet room. His upper body remained completely still, only his jawline tightened even more.

"Lord Sato!" Oshima's voice rang out, "This list, along with the transportation priorities and time requirements, was personally signed by Lord Suzuki of the Seventh Fleet Headquarters and stamped with the approval seal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet!"

He pulled another document from the folder on the table, flicked his wrist, and the document unfolded with a "whoosh".

He stepped forward and laid the documents flat on the mountain of documents in front of Sato.

Sato Fumio paused slightly, noticing a line of printed text clearly written at the top of the document: "Second Phase Fleet Supply and Support Plan for the Yangtze River Upstream Operation (Wuhan Direction)".

"Please take a look," Kenjiro Oshima said in a deep voice, "This is the battle plan that Colonel Yamaki just sent." "The main force of the fleet will complete its assembly within two weeks and sail upstream along the river to coordinate with the battle plan to capture the core area of ​​Wuhan."

"Every time point is like a pressure gauge in the boiler of a warship, accurate to the hour! The timeliness and reliability of the fleet's supply support during its operations in the narrow waters of the Yangtze River are directly related to the success or failure of the entire campaign!"

Sato Fumitsu listened quietly, his face expressionless. His fingers, which had been resting on the "sulfanilamide powder" item, were now crossed and placed on the table.

For some reason, Sato Fumita found himself suddenly disliking Oshima Kenjiro.

Instead of trying to solve the problem himself, he pushed it onto the logistics department, making him confront Kenichi Yamaki.

Now that he needs to coordinate supplies, he's putting on a businesslike act again.

Being professional and impartial is a very good attitude, but it also depends on the situation.

The 106th Division brought down a large number of wounded soldiers from Jiujiang, and due to the hot weather, most of the soldiers' wounds had become severely infected.

The list of urgently needed medicines submitted by the military medical officer could almost fill a wastepaper basket.

Even at this point, Oshima still maintained that annoyingly businesslike demeanor.

It's important to understand that these were supplies ordered to be transported by the Navy, not the Army.

Which side is he on? Could he be a spy for the Navy?

"Ahem." Sato Fumiya coughed lightly. "If we can't reach an agreement, then so be it."

"Whom do you intend to hand over the Navy Department's transportation matters to?"

Kenjiro Oshima hesitated for a moment before saying, "The workload of the First Division is already at full capacity, and Matsuura-kun is no longer able to take on any more transport missions from the Navy."

"Right now, only Long Island from the second class and Chen Yang from the third class have the energy."

"Personally, I prefer that Mr. Nagashima take over."

"As you know, we chose to include Chen Yang because his transportation routes highly overlap with the material transportation routes needed by the Jinling government."

"Moreover, he has performed very well in transportation. However, I personally think it would be better not to put him in charge of transporting imperial supplies."

Sato Fumiya frowned and said, "We're all working for the empire, so why make such a clear distinction?"

"What I want to hear now is your assessment of their abilities."

Kenjiro Oshima remained silent for a moment, then took a folder from the mountain of documents in front of Fumita Sato.

"This is the evaluation form for the subordinate transportation departments since the establishment of the Southern Transportation Department."

"Currently, Chen Yang's performance should be the best."

"Of course, the key reason is that he was in charge of short-distance transport, which was short in time, and the transportation tasks were arranged reasonably."

"So, according to this chart, his ability should be better than that of Nagashima-kun."

"However, I personally believe that when it comes to transportation, we should not choose the best, but rather the most suitable."

"Alright, I don't want to hear this." Sato Fumita waved his hand impatiently.

"Since Section Chief Chen is more capable than Section Chief Long Island, then this transportation task should be assigned to him."

"I believe data doesn't lie, rather than suitability."

Kenjiro Oshima's expression hardened slightly, and he bowed slightly, saying, "I understand."

Sato Fumiyasu stood up and said, "We need to coordinate with the Navy as soon as possible and have them transfer the supplies in a timely manner."

"By the way, after the handover is complete, have Section Chief Chen come to the logistics department to report on the work plan to me."

I'm going back now.

Kenjiro Oshima nodded heavily and said, "Yes."

Office of the Chief of the Third Section, Southern Transportation Department.

The conflict that broke out between land and sea forces at Maigen Road train station was ultimately resolved by downplaying the incident.

As usual, Chen Yang hid in his office, drinking tea and reading the newspaper.

Currently, there seems to be no transportation pressure for him regarding the supplies being shipped to Nanjing.

After all, most of the transport routes were occupied by Jun Matsuura's first lesson.

Knock, knock, knock. A knock sounded on the door. Li Ningyu pushed open the office door and said, "Sir, Secretary Tanaka just came to see me and asked you to go to Minister Oshima's office now."

"Minister Oshima has assigned you a new transportation task."

"A new transport mission?" Chen Yang was slightly taken aback, put the newspaper aside and said, "Okay, I'll go up right away."

(End of this chapter)