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

Chapter 256 He's Doomed
Glory? Truth? Combining these two seemingly unrelated words sounds rather odd...

And I'm talking to you about transportation coordination, so why did you suddenly bring up honor and truth?

"Vice Minister Chen, please forgive my dullness, but what exactly do you mean by that?"

Chen Yang opened a drawer, took out a letter, handed it to Yusuke Ino, and sighed: "You're not smart enough, it's hard for me to explain to you clearly in just a few words. Take this to Minister Suzuhara, he might understand what I'm trying to do!"

Yusuke Ino looked completely bewildered. After a long pause, he took the documents Chen Yang handed him, bowed slightly, and slowly left the office.

Chen Yang casually picked up the list of supplies delivered from the Maigen Road warehouse and muttered, "Actually, neither honor nor the truth matters to me, but money is very important..."

The air in the core dispatch room of the "Wartime Special Transportation Coordination Headquarters" was scorching and viscous.

On the huge railway network map, red and blue markers representing military train operations are densely packed, and many key hub nodes have been lit up with yellow or even red markers representing "congestion" or "delay".

The telegraph machine was frantically spitting out notes, the telephones were ringing incessantly, and staff were running and shouting—a scene of utter chaos on the verge of collapse.

Colonel Yoshida Hirohiro, the deputy minister of the South Manchuria Railway Transportation Department, was ashen-faced. He had just smashed a teacup, shards and tea splashing all over the floor.

His gaze was fixed on Chen Yang, who was standing in front of the dispatch console, calmly making a phone call to a military station, his chest heaving violently.

"I don't care what difficulties they have over there! According to my third priority order, all wagons must give way! You can't afford the consequences of delays!" Chen Yang said into the microphone, his tone cold and composed.
"Immediately dispatch three locomotives from the Dalian Port reserve team to urgently assist the Jinzhou hub, enforce one-way traffic, and clear the congestion within two hours!"

"Chen Yang!" Yoshida Hirohiro finally lost his temper and roared like thunder, drowning out the noise in the dispatch room.

He rushed up to Chen Yang and shouted, "What are you doing? Do you know that the orders you've given have completely disrupted my entire transportation plan? The entire South Manchurian Railway is almost paralyzed because of you!"

Chen Yang slowly turned around and calmly met Yoshida's almost fiery gaze.

“Vice Minister Yoshida,” Chen Yang’s voice was not loud, “paralyzed? If we follow your ‘comprehensive’ plan, it’s not just the South Manchuria Railway that’s paralyzed now, but the entire lifeline to Nomonhan!”

"The front lines are waiting for ammunition and fuel! Tell me, are the ordinary supplies in your plan more important, or the lives of thousands of Imperial soldiers on the Nomonhan battlefield?"

"Damn it!" Yoshida roared, his right hand instinctively gripping the hilt of his military sword at his waist. "That's narrow-minded extremism. Who would recklessly increase the transport load for the sake of efficiency?"

“You are a qualified transport officer, don’t you know the principle that haste makes waste?”

"You've made a complete mess of the resource allocation. The consequences of doing this are severe. I can tell you directly, you can't afford to take this responsibility!"

"Responsibility?" Chen Yang's lips curled into a cold smile, but his tone remained indifferent: "My responsibility is to carry out the orders of the Kwantung Army Headquarters and General Headquarters: 'Northern China is the absolute priority'!"

"As for the complaints from the Southern Legions, that's your business. Don't you have the authority over transportation? How to transport things is your concern, isn't it?"

"My duty is to ensure this lifeline remains unbroken! If the Nomonhan Incident is lost due to the dispersion of transport capacity, that would be an immense responsibility that no one can bear!"

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill! You're abusing your power!" Yoshida trembled with rage, pointing at the map on the wall, almost entirely marked in red. "Look at this! Look at the chaos now!"

"Supplies are piling up in every legion, and the dispatch system is already overloaded! Your 'priority orders' are flooding in, and the lower levels simply can't keep up! If this continues, we won't even have to wait for the enemy to attack; we'll crash our own transportation system!"

"The reason we can't implement it is because of low efficiency, because some people are still clinging to outdated rules!" Chen Yang said without backing down, his tone even sharper. "Vice Minister Yoshida, you are a senior figure, an expert in transportation, and I respect you."

"But in a state of war, especially in such a critical moment, what is needed is the courage to break with convention, not conservative adherence to established procedures! If the existing system cannot meet the needs, then break it down and rebuild a more efficient temporary system!"

"Break through? You make it sound so easy!" Yoshida laughed angrily. "This system is the culmination of decades of experience from the South Manchuria Railway!"

"You, someone who rose through the ranks by... by coordination, do you even understand what system stability and sustainability mean? Your reckless actions will only make things worse!"

"Stability? Sustainability?" Chen Yang stepped forward, his gaze piercing as he stared at Yoshida. "Colonel Yoshida! Please wake up! There is no stability to speak of on the Nomonhan front!"

"People are dying every minute! What we need now is not sustainability, but survival! We must use every means to send all available resources to the front lines!"

"As for the system crashing? If the empire is defeated, what use will this system be?"

These words were like the sharpest bayonet, piercing Yoshida's heart and touching the deepest unease of the South Manchuria Railway Company. Was the system they relied on for survival really so vulnerable in the face of the absolute demands of war?
“You…you…” Yoshida Hirohiro pointed at Chen Yang, his fingers trembling with extreme anger, his face turning from pale to ashen, unable to utter a complete sentence for a moment.

Chen Yang ignored him and turned to the stunned dispatch director, sternly ordering, "What are you all standing there for? Execute the order! Immediately!"

Then, he gave Yoshida Hirohiro, who was so angry he was almost fainting, one last look and left with a cold statement: "Vice Minister Yoshida, if you have any objections to my command, you can appeal to General Sato, or even to Mr. Ozaki. But right now, here, the transportation orders from the Coordination Headquarters must be carried out without fail!"

"Otherwise, I have the right to complain to higher authorities about your dereliction of duty."

"Okay, okay, okay, everyone calm down, let's not argue about this anymore," Yoshida stretched out his hands and pressed them down, a gesture that seemed to be suppressing his resentment that was about to erupt.

“Vice Minister Chen, I hope you can seriously consider the Ministry of Transport’s objectives. The Empire’s war machine is a unified whole! Don’t the occupied territories in North and South China need to be maintained?”

"Doesn't a counterinsurgency campaign require expenditure? You're diverting all your transportation capacity to the north. If something happens in the south, can you bear the responsibility? You're robbing Peter to pay Paul, it's like drinking poison to quench your thirst!"

“Is that so? But if we follow your transportation plan, what good will come of it for the Empire?” Chen Yang pushed a summary report in front of Yoshida, his expression laced with sarcasm. “Vice Minister Yoshida, the current transportation system, under your leadership, seems to have reached its designed limits, and even exceeded its carrying capacity.”

"For the sake of Nomonhan's overall situation, I think we must consider a more effective management model."

"Baka! What nonsense are you spouting?" Yoshida's voice was slightly hoarse from suppressing his anger: "Minister Chen, it's an objective fact that transport capacity has reached its limit! But that doesn't mean that the South Manchuria Railway has lost its ability and qualification to lead the transportation system!"

"This system is the culmination of the hard work of several generations of our people. No one understands how to keep it running in complex situations better than us!"

"Instead of establishing a new management model, you might as well just say so and make me hand over control of the transportation routes!"

"I advise you to give up on that idea as soon as possible. Control over transportation is the lifeblood of the South Manchuria Railway Company, and there is absolutely no way you can have it! This would be a trampling on the dignity and capabilities of the South Manchuria Railway Company!"

His refusal was firm and decisive. Chen Yang seemed to have expected this answer. He showed no surprise on his face, but instead nodded slowly, his tone still calm: "I understand your feelings and trust in the South Manchuria Railway."

"However, Vice Minister Yoshida, feelings cannot replace the supplies urgently needed at the front. Since you insist that the South Manchuria Railway can solve the problem within the existing framework, then in order to prove this and to meet the needs of the front that cannot be stopped for even a moment, I have to make necessary... enhancements to the transportation plan."

"Strengthen?" Yoshida's heart tightened, a sense of foreboding rising within him. "Yes." Chen Yang picked up another document that had been prepared beforehand. "This is the 'Emergency Strengthening Plan for Material Transportation in the Nomonhan Campaign,' which I developed with the supply warehouse and the land transport department in response to the urgent transportation situation at the front."

"Effective immediately, the efficiency of all major trunk lines must be increased by another 15 percent on top of the existing overload."

"The turnaround time for railcars will be reduced by 20%, and the transit time for key supplies must be shortened to the theoretical limit."

He handed over the document, the specifications of which were almost insanely demanding.

Yoshida Hirohiro glanced at it once, and his face instantly turned deathly pale: "Fifteen percent? A twenty percent reduction? Chen Yang! You're committing suicide! You're murdering the entire transportation system!"

"The current transportation capacity is already stretched to its limit. If you force it any tighter, it will only break! This will trigger a chain reaction and paralyze the entire network!"

"Therefore, this is precisely what you and the South Manchuria Railway Company need to demonstrate your true professionalism and courage to prove that you can handle this kind of pressure."

"If you can't even handle this reinforcement plan, then what is your reason for insisting on retaining dominance? The General Headquarters and the Kwantung Army need to see results, not difficulties."

This is a naked conspiracy.

If Yoshida accepts, he will have to lead the South Manchuria Railway Company on a nearly impossible mission, bearing the enormous risk of system collapse…

If he refuses, it would be tantamount to admitting that the South Manchuria Railway is incapable of shouldering the heavy responsibility, giving Chen Yang the perfect excuse to reclaim control.

Yoshida Hirohiro stared intently at Chen Yang, his chest heaving violently, feeling a suffocating pressure.

We cannot relinquish control; if we hand it over to Chen Yang, it would mean that the decades-old foundation of the South Manchuria Railway might be shaken.

He will be the biggest sinner of the South Manchuria Railway.

Absolutely impossible…

Loyalty to the organization and the indomitable spirit of soldiers gradually took over in his heart.

Yoshida slammed his fist on the table: "Fine! I'll show you the true resilience of the South Manchuria Railway! We'll accept this proposal! But Chen Yang, if the system suffers a major accident as a result, you won't escape responsibility either!"

"Hmph," Chen Yang responded with a single, simple word, his eyes revealing a triumphant glint.

From that moment on, Yoshida Haruhiro fell into true hell.

He devoted all his energy to fulfilling his promise and to preserving the South Manchuria Railway's dominance.

The dispatch room became his home; his eyes were bloodshot from working long hours, and his voice was hoarse from constant shouting and coordination.

He personally reviewed every critical dispatch instruction, argued with stubborn node managers, and racked his brains to uncover every bit of potential transportation capacity.

However, the entire South Manchuria Railway transport system groaned under this insane pressure.

Minor accidents and malfunctions began to occur frequently. Although they had not yet caused any major disasters, alarms were sounding incessantly. Yoshida was like a firefighter, putting out fires everywhere, and was exhausted both physically and mentally.

He watched as his once jet-black hair sprouted glaring white strands at a visible speed, and his wrinkles became as deep as if carved by a knife.

Every time he heard bad news, his heart clenched. He was guarding his dominance, but that authority now felt like a red-hot iron, searing him with pain.

Chen Yang calmly observed all of this.

He didn't need to seize power immediately. Yoshida's struggle under extreme pressure was itself constantly depleting the will to resist and the resources within the South Manchuria Railway Company.

This sustained high pressure also provided him with the best cover of chaos for his clandestine "special transport" operations.

Looking at Yoshida's increasingly hunched back and streaked white hair, he knew that the fire had burned bright enough.

Nighttime, the dormitory building of the Shanghai Military Police Command.

Minister Suzuhara changed into a comfortable kimono and stood in front of his desk, wielding his brush and ink...

"The moon of Qin shines on the passes of Han, the soldiers on the long march have not returned..."

Just as the two lines of large characters were finished being written, there was a knock on the door.

Suzuhara put down his brush and went to open the door.

"Uncle," Ino Yusuke greeted respectfully from the doorway.
"Yusuke, your transportation department has been so busy lately, how come you have time to come see me?" Suzuhara asked Ino Yusuke as he led him into the room and made tea.

Upon hearing this, Yusuke Ino immediately poured out his grievances.

"The current transportation lines are not operating at full capacity, but rather at overcapacity."

"But Chen Sang still wants to add more responsibilities to his responsibilities."

"Minister Yoshida worked almost 24 hours a day, but he still couldn't completely control the situation."

“I don’t know what Chen Sang was thinking. As the coordinating supervisor, he not only didn’t stop it, but he made things worse. I’m really afraid something will happen.”

Suzuhara frowned: "So, what brought you here?"

Ino took a sip of tea and 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's going to do..."

Suzuhara took the letter and read it carefully. After a long while, as if she had thought of something, she sighed slowly: "Yoshida is going to die..."

(End of this chapter)