World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Excuse me, Your Excellency the Prime Minister." Kato bowed slightly.

"Please have a seat, Kato-kun." Saionji gestured to his secretary to pour tea. "You're here so late, is there something you need?"

Kato sat down opposite him and waited for his secretary to leave before speaking: "I received a personal letter from President Chen Feng of Lanfang. It was sent via diplomatic secret and came directly to me."

He took a thick envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Saionji.

Saionji opened the envelope; inside were two letters. One was a formal diplomatic note, its content largely consistent with what had been sent by telegram: congratulations on the victory, a proposal for a second batch of troops, a 10% price increase, and the provision of improved weapons.

The other letter was a personal letter from Chen Feng, handwritten on exquisite Lanfang official stationery, in fluent Japanese.

Saionji first reads private letters.

"To His Excellency Prime Minister Saionji: I was deeply moved to hear of the victories in Europe and learned of the valiant fighting of your soldiers, displaying the might of your empire thousands of miles away. I am filled with admiration. War is cruel, and sacrifice is inevitable. I extend my deepest condolences and sympathies for the heavy casualties suffered by your army..."

The letter was long and extremely sincere. Chen Feng praised the bravery of the Japanese soldiers, expressed his condolences for the fallen, and then abruptly changed the subject:

"...However, the wheels of history keep turning. If today's sacrifices can lay the foundation for tomorrow's revival, then the blood of our soldiers will not have been shed in vain. Although Lanfang and your country have fought a war, we are both located in East Asia and share a common culture, so we should work together. If your country is willing, our country is willing to provide assistance in various aspects: loans for economic reconstruction, support for technical cooperation, and even coordination of postwar international arrangements..."

"Postwar international arrangements?" Saionji looked up at Kato.

Kato nodded: "Chen Feng is implying that if Germany wins the war, Japan, as a belligerent nation, could gain some benefits. It could be colonies, trade privileges, or an enhanced international standing."

"An empty promise." Saionji put down the letter. "The war has only just begun. Who can guarantee that Germany will win? And even if Germany wins, will they share the real benefits with us? We are just mercenaries, not allies."

"But at least it's something to look forward to," Kato said. "Chen Feng is smart; he knows we need hope, even if it's just a fleeting hope."

Saionji picked up the formal note: "Prices will increase by 10%... They really know how to do business."

"There are also improved versions of the weapons," Kato said. "They must have received our battlefield feedback. The fact that they released the improved versions so quickly shows that they were prepared in advance. I suspect... the defects in those weapons were intentional."

Saionji remained silent. He too had his suspicions. Those "Lanfang-made" weapons were designed so... awkwardly, with such low reliability, yet they were the "standard equipment" stipulated in the contract. There must be some commercial calculation behind this.

"The Ministry of Ordnance's analysis report is out." Kato pulled another document from his briefcase. "They disassembled several captured damaged weapons and concluded that the design was deliberately simplified, the materials were of average quality, and the manufacturing precision was insufficient..."

Saionji felt a chill run down her spine. This scheming was too deep, so deep that it was terrifying.

"Chen Feng is a... terrifying person..." he murmured.

"But we need him too," Kato said frankly. "Without Lanfang's ships, our soldiers can't go to Europe. Without Lanfang's weapons, our soldiers' fighting capacity will decrease. Without Lanfang's mediation, we wouldn't have gotten such a good employment contract."

"So we're tied to the wall." Saionji smiled bitterly. "From the moment we signed the Treaty of Borneo, we embarked on a path of no return."

The study fell silent. Only the radiator emitted a soft hissing sound.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister," Kato finally broke the silence, "the second dispatch... are you really going to approve it?"

Saionji didn't answer directly. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the night view of Nagatacho. Tokyo's nights were dark because of insufficient power supply; only half of the streetlights were on.

"Kato-kun, do you know how much rice costs in Tokyo right now?" he asked with his back to him.

"Thirty sen per liter," Kato replied. "That's five times more than it was three months ago."

Do you know how many people only eat one meal a day?

"A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare says that 40 percent of households are cutting back on their diets."

Saionji turned around, his face showing deep exhaustion: "This afternoon, I received an urgent report from the governor of Nagasaki Prefecture. Last week, a riot broke out there, and the police shot and killed seven people. Seven people, all for a bite to eat."

He walked back to his desk and pressed his finger on the foreign exchange report:

"Eight million six hundred thousand yen can buy twenty thousand tons of rice, enough to feed one million people for a month. It can bring rice prices down a bit, reduce the number of shots fired by the police, and... allow this country to hold on a little longer."

"But the cost is tens of thousands of young people," Kato said softly.

"I know." Saionji closed his eyes. "I know. But what will happen if we don't send troops and don't earn foreign exchange? Will the price of rice rise to fifty or one hundred sen per liter? At that time, it won't be forty thousand people who die, but four hundred thousand, four million, from starvation, disease, and riots."

He opened his eyes, and there was no longer any hesitation in them:

"So I will approve the second batch of dispatches. I will sign the documents and send 100,000 young people onto ships to die in Europe. Then I will wait for the third and fourth batches of applications to come in, and then sign them."

Saionji's voice was calm, but every word sounded as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar:

"How will history judge me? A traitor? A cold-blooded politician? I don't care. I only know that right now, at this very moment, I must ensure the survival of Japan. By any means, at any cost."

Kato bowed deeply. He understood Saionji's choice and even admired his courage to bear the infamy.

"Then I will reply to Lanfang tomorrow," he said. "They agree to the second batch of dispatches, accept the price increase, but require detailed parameters and test reports of the improved weapons."

"Okay," Saionji nodded. "Also, tell them we need faster transport and a more ammunition supply. If the Germans want more troops, we can send more—provided the money is available."

"clear."

As Kato was about to leave, Saionji called him back.

"Kato-kun, there's one more thing."

"Please give your instructions."

Saionji took an envelope from the drawer: "This is my private reply to President Chen Feng. Send it through secret channels, without going through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Kato took the envelope and felt that it was very thin inside.

"What did you write?"

"Some...heartfelt words," Saionji said. "Words from an old man to another. Perhaps he doesn't understand, perhaps he doesn't care. But I wanted to say them."

Kato bowed and left. Saionji was left alone in the study once again.

He sat back down at his desk and opened the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's report summarizing the families of the fallen. He turned to a page with a list arranged by region. Under the "Tokyo Prefecture" section, there were over three hundred names, each followed by age, unit, and place of death.

Saionji's gaze lingered on a name: Kenichi Matsuo, 20 years old, 18th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, Augustov Forest.