Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 7: Attitude towards Germany (Part 2)

"I think there is still room for discussion on the southward plan. After all, the current situation has changed." Hideki Tojo finished pushing the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He doesn't care what the group of staff members of the staff headquarters think about him. As the Minister of the Army, Tojo always retains his personal view of Nanjin.

The first to propose the concept of southward advancement was actually a part of the navy officers, and the most popular view of the army at that time was to advance northward and attack the vast Siberia and Sakhalin islands occupied by the Soviet Union. This area is rich in minerals. There are also oil resources that Japan desperately needs.

But in this way, there is nothing for the navy in this war. All they can do is send some destroyers to **** the army transport fleet.

The strength of the Pacific Fleet of the Soviet Red Navy is weak and it is not an opponent of the joint fleet at all. Therefore, once the Northern War breaks out, as in the early days of the Russo-Japanese War, all strategic resources will be tilted towards the army to ensure that the army wins on the battlefield. , It may even divide the resources under the navy's share, which is absolutely intolerable by the octopuses.

The navy officers decided to fight against each other and start a war with the navy as the protagonist. The Southward Plan was introduced under such circumstances. This plan was originally used to give the Army a stumbling block, and even the makers did not expect it to be passed. Because everyone knows the consequences of this plan, Japan will not only go to war with the three European powers, but also against the powerful United States.

There is a large group of high-ranking military officers in the Japanese Navy who have served as military attachés in the United Kingdom and the United States. They have really seen the world with their eyes. They know exactly what kind of country the United States is, and they also understand that powers such as Britain, France and the Netherlands can't be rubbed at will Tomatoes.

It is the navy that proposes to advance southward, and the strongest opposition also comes from the navy. In fact, there are faction fights within the Japanese navy, and its cruel degree is no less than that with the army. In the early days of the Japanese navy, there were strangulations between Satsuma and Nagasu, as well as the protagonist faction. In the later period, due to differences in concepts, there was also a division between the fleet faction and the treaty faction. Now there are pro-British-American factions and pro-German factions. Last year, for the issue of the Treaty of the Alliance of Three Nations, while serving as Vice Admiral Yamamoto of the Navy Department, he almost got shot.

There is no shortage of smart people in the Japanese Navy. They know that the southward advance will trigger a war to destroy the country. The United States is more than a hundred times stronger than Japan. Whether it is shipbuilding, airplanes, automobiles, steel or oil, Japan has only a fraction of the other.

Moreover, Japan’s current war with China is barely sustained by the oil and steel provided by the United States. Once Japan loses these sources of materials, its domestic reserves will only last for half a year. Therefore, the high-level Japanese navy generally lacks the confidence to fight the United States, and they will never agree to venture southward without a last resort.

But the current situation is unpredictable, and the Japanese's little abacus has failed time and time again. The original three-nation alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan was well discussed. Because the navy was worried about damaging Japan-US relations, it was always reluctant to nod. As a result, the Germans turned around and signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Treaty with the Soviet Union. The head of the Japanese army, determined to advance northward, came up.

Then Germany launched the European war and directly fought against Britain, France and the Netherlands, and immediately took down Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands as if they were opened. The soldiers pointed directly at the Seine. Finished.

Suddenly, the voice of the alliance between Japan and Germany rose again, and the Japanese cabinet also put the South-Entry plan on the agenda for the first time.

The Japanese plan is to form a military alliance with Germany and divide the sphere of influence with Germany in advance, so that when Japan takes over the British, French and Dutch colonies in Asia, Germany has no reason to interfere.

In history, Japan successfully used Germany. Hitler didn't think too much at the time. Asia was an overly distant goal for Germany. He did need a political ally to contain the Soviet Union in the Far East.

But in this time and space, Germany has no alliance with Japan, and Japan's plan to block German power outside of Asia has already failed first. What makes Japan even more troublesome is that a bunch of European powers have all been subdued by Germany, and they have now become vassals of Germany. The so-called hitting a dog depends on the owner, not to mention that the owner is amazingly strong.

According to the logic, Japan should have abandoned this unrealistic southward plan long ago, but the thinking of the Japanese military is always different from ordinary people. The Japanese think that although Germany is very powerful, its main combat power is on land, and it is located in far away Europe, and lacks naval power that can fight Japan. If Japan finds an opportunity to cook uncooked rice for mature rice before Germany responds, it will be beyond reach, and the Germans are likely to compromise with Japan.

The big deal is to give Germany some privileges as compensation, and try not to infringe on Germany's interests in Asia. I believe that the head of state will be considerate of the imperial country's difficulties.

Of course, all of this must have a starting point, that is, the relationship between Germany and Japan must at least reach the level of intimacy, at least to ensure that Germany relaxes its vigilance against Japan, so that when Japan launches an East Asian strategy, it can be as fast as thunder and ringing. The momentum of Ding Dong took the South Asian countries in one fell swoop.

At the same time, Japan is also considering whether it can join the new economic system established by Germany in Europe. At this time, Japan has been isolated by the Western world for a long time. Except for a few Latin American countries, there are almost no normal trading partners. At that time, Japan was crowned with the crown of the cottage kingdom. Most of the products were replicas of European and American products. In addition to the lack of production materials, almost all materials needed to be imported from abroad. Only cheap labor could be used to save costs, but the problem was that the labor in the West was also cheap at that time. , And the technology is generally better than the Japanese, whether it is quality or price, Japanese goods at that time were not competitive.

Japan’s production technology is still very backward, and it can only manufacture cheap daily necessities of inferior quality and hit the Chinese market by quantity. However, after the war broke out, the Chinese market also appeared weak, and its domestic consumption was very limited, so at this time Japan Except for those related to the military industry, almost all industries have regressed, and it is difficult to create any more profits by relying on the Asian market.

Japan’s many years of savings have almost been absorbed by the United States. It can only rely on a large amount of money printing to stabilize the market. To say that Japan should have long been inflationary, but Japan has implemented a food and daily necessities ration system in the country, and the government encourages Citizens used their daily income to buy patriotic bonds, so those over-issued coins went around and returned to the bank accounts. The people are holding a pile of bonds, barely maintaining food and clothing, there is not much spare money on the market, daily necessities are still sufficient, the government's credit is not yet bankrupt, and the people still hope to win the war.

Japan’s economy has experienced a significant decline, especially after Germany began to transfusion blood to Chongqing, the psychological blow to the Japanese government and the opposition is not heavy, and the end of the war is nowhere in sight. It can be predicted that Japan will drain the last drop of blood in a long war of attrition, which is obviously unacceptable.

"The only hope of the empire lies in the success of the southward plan. The prerequisite for the success of the southward plan is that goodwill between Germany and Japan must be achieved. We must ensure that the empire will work hard before the situation continues to deteriorate. The opportunity to fight. It seems that this opportunity lies not in the south, but in the north.

The "Outline for Dealing with Current Situations" will be revised to take all these issues into consideration. However, the overall strategy cannot be changed. Since we have already started, we cannot look back. I hope you can deeply understand this point and implement it. "Fumime Kanae glanced at Tojo, and the other party respectfully nodded in agreement.

"In order to convince the independent country of the sincerity of the empire, we can sign a package of trade agreements with the independent country, and at the same time allow Japanese products to enter the European market. We can provide the independent country with our agricultural products, such as soybeans and Raw silk. Independent countries and Europe need labor, which can be obtained from our occupied regions, China, Manchuria, and North Korea. There are as many labor as you want.

We can **** this sale from Chongqing, and we can offer better conditions than Chongqing. If they request, even if they need to mobilize naval warships to transport these workers to Europe, we can also It can be agreed.

There are some in Chongqing, all in Japan, and some in Chongqing, and all in Japan. All the people in the country can discuss what they need. It is important that the people of Dokoku feel the goodwill and sincerity of the Great Japanese Empire.

Of course, we can also buy powerful weapons from the independent country, such as their tanks and heavy artillery, as well as advanced fighter jets.

The fighter jets of the Independence Air Force easily shot down the latest navy fighter jets over Chongqing. This really has to make people worry about where the navy has gone. Is it necessary to let your majesty’s loyal soldiers drive such inferior goods to fight against the powerful Americans. The Navy has not come up with a reasonable explanation until now. This matter must be reviewed. Why is the Navy in front of the independent fighters? The fighter jets that have spent a lot of money on research and development will be so vulnerable. Is there any fraud in it? "While talking, Kenwei Fumio suddenly digressed.

"We are discussing this issue in the joint R&D department. Because there are only three surviving pilots' reports, we can't come up with accurate conclusions." A cold sweat broke out on the Secretary of the Navy~IndoMTL.com~ Especially when He noticed that Hirohito's eyes also glanced at him, and his whole person suddenly became short.

"If the people of the Republic of China are willing to sell us airplanes like this, can you find the answer."

"If the people of the country are willing to give detailed information."

"It's so stupid to say that. What do you think of a solitary countryman." Tojo poked his mouth and said cold words. Speaking of the results of the Chongqing air battle, the happiest smile was the army and the navy. The latest fighter that had been boasting was wiped out, and not even one was able to escape.

"If Japan and independence return to the level of goodwill they had six months ago, this is not impossible. Haven’t we already acquired a lot of advanced technology from the independence country? If the diplomatic efforts are successful, we might be able to do so. To that kind of independent fighter. No matter what, we can use our technology to exchange with Germany, they lack naval shipbuilding..." Jichuan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"They have acquired the British shipbuilding technology, and this aspect should have been ahead of us." Tojo interrupted the Secretary of the Navy.

"This...this, as long as diplomacy is successful, you can always come up with other ways." The Minister of the Navy settled down, and found that he didn't seem to have to stern Tojo, so he couldn't help but raise his voice again.

"Well, now that everyone has no objections to my proposal, let's vote on it. If you agree, please raise your hands." Fumio Konoe interrupted the army and navy's usual bickering, and the prime minister prepared to reach a resolution while the iron was hot. .

There was no surprise. Everyone raised their hands in agreement. After Hirohito’s final approval, Japan’s German policy was determined at this imperial meeting.

ps: The second chapter is here, thank you for your support. (To be continued.)