Commander's Rounds

Entry 63: Final Exam

The commander was in one of his planning meetings, this time more administrative in nature, so he hadn't called his main council to talk. He'd invited Albert this time to talk about what he'd been doing now that he was on the job. Albert had given a decent report, pretty good for someone who hadn't been there very long, but the commander did have a question. "So, do you have any thoughts?"

Albert responded. "Sir! I have no recommendations at this time."

The commander blinked. "So, you don't have any ideas on how to improve our situation?"

Albert stood even straighter, if that was at all possible. "Sir, I have ideas, certainly, but no recommendations."

The commander was interested in the distinction, and decided to see how far he could get into Albert's head. "Would you mind elaborating?"

"Of course, sir." Albert put his hands behind his back. "While I do not need to explain to the commander the complexities of military logistics, making changes to an existing system requires a thorough understanding of all of the relevant interoperating parts of that system. One cannot merely change such a thing on the fly."

Peter Strasser sat back. "Oh? Those are interesting words from someone who altered his convoy's transport route to get here faster."

Albert cleared his throat. "Yes, I admit I did take that action, but that's because all of the relevant local circumstances in that instance were favorable to such a course, and we cannot take what may be an edge case and apply it wholesale to the entire program. There is a terrible and unacceptable risk in worshipping at the altar of "ideal conditions" in the world of military planning. While my route of passage was useful at the moment, we need to more closely examine things like weather patterns, seasonal navigational hazards, siren attention, and so on before making major decisions, or we may lose more in supplies than we gain from time."

The commander gave a nod to that. "So, what are your views?"

"My views are this- the most important features of a logistics network are capacity and reliability, and we must take great care not to sacrifice either of them to pursue higher numbers in what may be ultimately irrelevant metrics. There are many things that we could do that would appear to save time and fuel, but may well have far greater costs down the road in terms of ship repair, extra maintenance costs, and mechanical failure. However, we have to resist the allure of false economy as we search for true improvement. Further, there's no point in increasing speed if we lack the ability to adequately store the extra supplies if they arrive substantially faster than they're used. We can probably use our own resources to overhaul the engines of the transport ships, for example, but first we must uncover if there is any point to do so, what the refit schedule would do to our intake, and the overall cost to us in general."

Peter Strasser smiled. "Mhmmm... So you did have an idea on how to improve things already, it seems."

"It's still only an idea, not a recommendation. I still only have what I judge as a somewhat superficial understanding of the full nuances of Azur Lane's logistics network, and to make sweeping changes based on a cursory and incomplete estimation of our circumstances in an attempt to feign brilliance is the mark of a fourth-rate military planner who is undeserving of a rank. Sir."

Peter Strasser smiled and blushed a bit, scratching a cheek with a finger. The commander knew that she knew all of this already, and that she was simply prodding him to see how he would respond. If she was satisfied with his answers, that was a good sign. The commander gave a nod. "All right. When it comes to this, I would like you to work with Kashino- she knows the most about our situation on our side. Dismissed."