Great time travel

Chapter 644: Hearts of Iron: Empire of the Rising Sun

Chapter 4. Hearts of Iron: Empire of the Rising Sun

September 29, [-], Tokyo, the capital of the Empire of Japan

In Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, there is a three-story Western-style building made of red bricks. The red bricks on the exterior walls are all imported from England, with a light blue roof and large arched European-style windows of white marble on the top. The fence is composed of low red brick walls and metal fences, enclosing a tree-lined and well-organized courtyard, full of rich European Baroque style, just like a European-style manor mansion in a girl comic.

If it is placed in the later generations of the 21st century, such a place will definitely attract many young literary and artistic petty bourgeoisie to take pictures together, and there may even be many brides with romantic dreams in their hearts, hugging the groom's arm and pouting coquettishly, yelling that they must Came here to take a couple of wedding photos.But at this moment, this beautiful western building does not have the romantic atmosphere of a girl's dream at all, but exudes a chilling atmosphere.There are naval gendarmes wearing white military police armbands standing in front of the gate at all times, and many people in military uniforms can be seen coming in and out of the gate.

This is the heart of the Japanese Navy in the old empire - the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Command.

The first and second floors of this building are the offices of the Ministry of the Navy.Although the Ministry of the Navy, which is in charge of the Minister of the Navy, sounds like it is the highest leadership of the navy's military affairs.But in fact, the naval headquarters on the third floor of this building is the real soul of the Japanese navy.

Although the Military Command is an organization that only occupies one floor, and there are only about a hundred cleaners, there are only about seventy active service members of the Imperial Navy actually working.However, it is such a small-scale naval command that is responsible for formulating the entire combat plan of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and is also in charge of all war-related matters.As long as it is for the needs of "control" of war, the Military Command has the right to issue orders to the Ministry of the Navy or other government agencies of the empire-the entire country in wartime must serve the war. Military orders are like a mountain, and no offense or resistance is allowed!

At the same time, based on the principle of "independence of the commanding authority", the military command has absolute autonomy from interference by other agencies.

In this way, except for His Majesty the Emperor and the Army General Staff, which is at the same level as the Navy Command, within the Japanese Empire, no matter who it is or what institution, it can only make suggestions to the Military Command. It all depends on the judgment of the military command.

As a result, the entire Pacific War was actually managed by a very small number of people.For example, there are only ten staff officers attached to the combat department of the military command, but they are responsible for formulating all the combat plans for a large area of ​​Nanyang...

——On top of this, some senior officials of the Navy Command, together with some senior officials of the Army Staff Headquarters, and some other representatives who are only qualified to observe, jointly formed the "wartime headquarters" directly under the emperor, representing the supreme His Majesty the Emperor, in the "state of war", dictates the fate of all Imperial Japanese soldiers, government agency staff, and everyone in the Imperial Japanese Empire and the entire "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".

At this time, in the center of the building, on the beautiful and spacious stairs like a western-style mansion, two senior naval officials who had just come out of the office were walking together.All the naval personnel encountered along the way respected them, or bowed, or saluted.

Because they are the Minister of Military Command, General Suzuki Kantaro, and the Commander of the United Fleet, Marshal Yamamoto 56.

He is the supreme helmsman who actually controls the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the contemporary number one naval admiral who has commanded the Japanese combined fleet to win numerous victories.

"...Yamamoto-kun, the matter in the Indian Ocean has been finalized for the time being, but the imperial capital Tokyo has only been quiet for a few months, and the U.S. airstrike happened the day before yesterday. His Majesty the Emperor was furious at the imperial meeting!"

Admiral Suzuki Kantaro said indifferently, "...Does the Combined Fleet have any solutions?"

"... To be honest, it's really difficult. Your Excellency, we seriously underestimated the strength of the US military before."

Marshal Yamamoto 56 replied, "...the U.S. Air Force bomber formations that bombed the Imperial Kingdom these few times took off from Midway Island, which is 29 kilometers away from our mainland. And the largest B-[-] 'Sky Fortress' currently in service in the U.S. military is four A heavy-duty bomber can barely fly a range of [-] to [-] kilometers while reducing ammunition and adding auxiliary fuel tanks, which is just enough to hit the coastline of our country for a round trip, and then there is no redundancy at all. According to our Thinking, before capturing the Mariana Islands, the U.S. military should not be able to bomb Japan. Who knows that the U.S. military can even do the thing of "use the bomber once and then stop it"! It's like throwing money into the water! How can we defend against the local tyrant's style of play?"

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——In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army, the US military has long been trying to bomb the homeland of the Japanese Empire.As early as April 1942, when the Pacific War broke out, the U.S. Air Force used sixteen specially modified B-4 twin-engine bombers. And the Hornet took off, conducted air raids on Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe, and then flew directly to mainland China to make an emergency landing in the area controlled by the Kuomintang army-the B-25 twin-engine bomber can only take off from the aircraft carrier, but cannot land... …

Moreover, after the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet released their bombers, they had to turn around and return immediately to avoid being chased by the Japanese army.

In short, although the "Dolittle Air Raid" was very much publicized by the United States and Britain, it seemed to have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Empire.But in fact, this time, fast in and fast out, like an air raid by a thief breaking through an empty door, the damage caused to the Japanese was actually so small that it could be ignored.On the contrary, the U.S. military paid a very heavy price for this. None of the [-] bombers on the mission returned to the battlefield, and the two aircraft carriers close to the Japanese coastline also took great risks—half a year later, when the second When the US aircraft carrier formation attempted to do the same, it was blocked by the elusive battleship Yamato in the middle of the night.Since the naval aviation at this time did not have the ability to fight at night, they all sank to the bottom of the sea without releasing a single plane.

But even so, in the face of the disastrous defeats in one naval battle after another, as well as overwhelming sarcasm and ridicule, the U.S. military was so stimulated that it went crazy, and it continued to try to sneak attacks on the Japanese archipelago.Even if it can't cause much damage to the war machine of the Japanese Empire, it is good to slap the arrogant Japanese and let them suffer some psychological blows. At first, the aircraft carrier formation was sent straight to Japan for a desperate sneak attack, and the result was three times. There were two visits and no return.After the B-29 "Sky Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber with a longer maximum range was successfully developed, a "shuttle bombing" strategy was figured out, that is, the bomber formation took off at Midway Island Airport, which is the closest to Japan, and carried out across the Japanese archipelago. Drop the bomb, and then land at an airport in Shandong and Zhejiang on the coast of mainland China. After refueling and reloading, turn around and fly back to Midway Island. On the way home, you can bomb the Japanese devils again.

Although the U.S. military staff had a good idea, it was a pity that the plan could not keep up with the changes. Originally, they planned to use the Eighth Route Army’s base area along the coast of Shandong to build a field airport.Unexpectedly, the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down for the second time, and the two sides fought. Out of "political correctness" considerations, the cooperation with the Chinese Bolsheviks naturally fell through.

As for Jiang from Chongqing, although he is very happy to cooperate with the American father to bomb the Japanese, it is better to bomb the eight roads by the way, but this guy's troops are really muddy and cannot support the wall. Not only did they lose a big battle in Zhejiang , lost 20 troops, and lost Quzhou Airport, which was selected by the US military as the other base of the "shuttle bombing", and was unable to provide any aviation fuel at all-the "Guofu" in Chongqing did not have any fuel production capacity. Relying on imports, but there is no import channel: the most important lifeline, the Burma Road, was cut off at the beginning of the Pacific War, and the "Hump Route" across the Himalayas from the air soon ran out of goods due to the Indian rebellion. The transportation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party also lost hope because of the rebellion between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

At present, this bald man Jiang has sent his wife to stay in Washington, asking the White House for this and that every day, for ammunition, loans, gasoline, airplanes, cans, flour, almost everything, but there is no way to transport it in... In short, the concept of shuttle bombing has not been implemented, it has been declared a failure.

In desperation, the U.S. military, almost driven crazy by the pressure of public opinion, simply acted recklessly and played "one-way bombing"-letting the B-29 "Sky Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber take off from Midway Island and fly to the Soviet Union after bombing Japan Landing at the Vladivostok military port: Of course, because the Soviet Union did not declare war on Japan, the Soviets would not return the planes and pilots to the United States, but would treat them as "illegal immigrants", B-29 The plane was taken to the Western Front to beat the Germans, and the pilot was stuffed into the detention center to be released after the war was over.But even with such a tactics of meat buns beating dogs with no return, in order to slap the face of the Japanese Empire, the Americans with deep pockets are desperate to fight.

Logically speaking, it should be the mission of the Empire's local air defense forces to defend against the attacks of these enemies and ensure the peace of the Imperial Palace and the people.However, the B-29 "sky fortress" bombed at an altitude of nearly 29 meters, and the Japanese anti-aircraft guns could not reach the enemy at all.It is also difficult for Japanese fighter jets to climb to such a height. Even if they barely climbed up, it would be difficult to deal with the countless self-defense firepower densely packed like hedgehogs on the B-29 "Sky Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber.Sometimes, a formation of Zero fighters is often dispatched, and even a single B-[-] "Sky Fortress" cannot be defeated!

In desperation, the Japanese Empire first protested to the Soviet Union through diplomatic channels, while the Soviets said that this was in line with the status of a neutral country-all American bombers and American pilots were detained, and they would never be arrested before the end of the war. Put it back, what else does the Japanese side want?If you don't believe me, you can send people to the Siberian detention center where the American pilots are held for inspection, even if there are a few people stationed there for supervision, it will be no problem!

Fortunately, such a never-ending bombing is also extremely painful for the U.S. military to cut flesh and blood, so it can only be done occasionally and dare not do too much.The number of bombers that attack each time is only a dozen to twenty, and there are even single-plane sneak attacks. For the Japanese Empire, it is probably similar to mosquito bites... At the beginning of this year, because the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were in the European continent Fierce conflicts broke out in the world, and the U.S. military in the Pacific battlefield also ended the above-mentioned "advancing the enemy" behavior-if it continued, it would be tantamount to sending bombers to the Soviet Bolsheviks to beat up the British allies.

In this way, the citizens of Tokyo were able to sleep peacefully for several months... But the night before yesterday, the damn bomber came again!And there are twenty of them!Fortunately, he threw a bomb into the Japanese imperial palace, scaring the emperor so much that he broke his forehead on the way to the air-raid shelter!

In this way, the generals of the navy and army in the base camp will naturally have to bow in fear, bow down and apologize, and come up with a countermeasure that can at least prevaricate the emperor.

"...Is there really no other way?" Admiral Suzuki Kantaro asked with a dissatisfied frown.

"...There is really no other way. Manpower is sometimes poor. If you can't do something, you can't do it, Your Excellency the Minister."

Marshal Yamamoto 56 said sincerely. "...Last year we organized a fast attack fleet and bombarded Midway Island at night. The Yamato and Musashi dropped more than [-] rounds of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the island's airport. However, according to intelligence, the US military The airport was repaired in just one month. On the contrary, our bombardment fleet took a huge risk because of this, and was almost bitten by the tail of the US carrier-based aircraft... Besides, even if Midway Island is completely destroyed, as long as the US military is willing to let Bombers and pilots never return, they can also take off from Hawaii!

To be honest, in times of war, such a small-scale sneak attack like an assassin is basically impossible to guard against.Both citizens and His Majesty should be mentally prepared to endure the flames of war!You know, we are betting on the luck of the country!Fighting against a powerful enemy with the world's largest industrial power! "

"...You..." Admiral Suzuki Kantaro glared at him, as if he wanted to reprimand him for being "disrespectful", but swallowed the words, "...Since the United Fleet has nothing to do with Midway Island, then the We can only ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do some work on the Soviet side..."

"...You can give it a try, but it's best not to have too high expectations, let alone make any irrational overreaction to the Soviet Union."

Yamamoto 56 nodded, "...now the imperial country can't provoke or provoke the Soviet Union in any way. In order to maintain harmony and goodwill with the Soviet Union, even if it endures humiliation and bows down..." At this point, he suddenly noticed Suzuki Kantaro's The look in his eyes was a bit weird, at first he was puzzled, then he seemed to think of something, and he was startled all of a sudden: "...Wait, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have fought in Europe in recent months. The Kwantung Army should think that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, and then think about it." You want to make trouble in Manchuria, get involved in the Far East? The base camp must not let them mess around!"

"...Yamamoto-kun is overthinking. No matter how rebellious the Kwantung Army is, it will not provoke the Soviet Union at this time." Suzuki Kantaro said flatly, "...Yamamoto-kun always advocated incompatibility before the war. The United States and Britain are enemies, why do you always speak good things about the Soviet Union these days?"

"...You said it all, it was before the war... Now that the imperial country has already fought with the Americans like this, if you don't want to find a way to be good to the Soviet Union, at least stabilize the north, are you looking for death? Once the imperial country turns against the Soviet Union again Well, the Red Army doesn’t even need to do it themselves, as long as they open the Vladivostok military port to the U.S. Air Force and carry out strategic bombing of the Imperial Kingdom, Japan will turn into a sea of ​​flames at the rate of one city every week...”

Yamamoto 56 said with a bitter smile, "...with all due respect, the imperial country now relies a lot on the Soviet Union. The Mino and Shinano were able to be completed on schedule because the Soviets secretly provided part of the steel and parts. In the past two years, they have been able to To transport so many products from Nanyang back to the mainland, it all depends on the merchant ships sold by the Soviet Union, otherwise the sea transportation capacity of the imperial country would have been overwhelmed... Now everything can be discarded, but the matter of harmony with the Soviet Union and Russia must not be forgotten, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. Now that I am about to take command again, please pay more attention to the local affairs."

"...Don't worry!" Suzuki Kantaro nodded, "...I'll send it here, I wish Yamamoto-kun a long life!"

Next, Yamamoto 56 walked out of the gate, got into the car, and then heard the driver ask: "...Your Excellency, are you going home now?"

"...Okay... Uh, no, wait a minute, let's go to Hibiya Park first! I haven't seen the red leaves in Tokyo for a long time..."

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At the same time, Admiral Suzuki Kantaro silently watched the car of Marshal Yamamoto 56 go away in the window of the office of the Chief of the Navy Commander, his face seemed a little cloudy.Seeing this, a confidant standing next to him quickly took the opportunity to whisper, "...Your Excellency, according to the recent information from the Special High School, Marshal Yamamoto and the people around him seem to have some secret contacts with the Soviet Union. The evidence is..."

"...Don't worry too much! This officer also knows that some people have private and secret connections with the United States! So what?"

Suzuki Kantaro turned around and sat down disapprovingly, "...you don't know what the Imperial Kingdom is doing now! The Western allies, Germany and Italy, have been defeated and destroyed this year. We are the only ones left to fight against the whole world. So the Imperial Kingdom is now In the current situation, it seems that the flowers are blooming and the fire is cooking oil, but in fact it is in danger and life is hanging by a thread. If you are not careful, you will be doomed. It is also a good thing that Yamamoto-kun can establish a relationship with the Soviet Union and maintain a channel of mediation and communication. Even His Majesty the Emperor is vaguely aware of this, and is optimistic about its success..."

While reprimanding his ignorant confidants, he looked at the map of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" on the wall, frowning.

Although the base camp has been bragging about "the imperial army is invincible in the universe" all day long in the propaganda, but in fact, this "Great East Asian War" can be fought to the present point, which has far exceeded the most optimistic state of the entire navy before the war. It can be called a miracle among miracles.

Based on the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor, many people think that the Japanese navy's war against the United States should have been planned for a long time.But in fact, everyone in the high-level circle of the Japanese Navy knows that it was simply forced by the situation and jumped the wall in a hurry. The navy as the first imaginary enemy is simply a gimmick to cheat military expenditures.When it was time to really decide whether to go to war with the United States, the entire Japanese navy was really full of hearts and legs.

But the problem is that without a war with the United States and Britain, we cannot seize the oil in Nanyang, and if we do not seize the oil in Nanyang, the "China Battlefield" will collapse.Although this kind of thing that must expand the war in order to maintain the war, because it cannot defeat an opponent, it must provoke a stronger opponent to laugh at the group, so that the whole navy really wants to scold the mother, but the army has already lost in the "China battlefield" Counting 10 people, completely red-eyed, it is impossible to retreat easily.If the navy is determined not to support war against the United States, the army and those right-wing groups may launch a mutiny to seize power because of this, and the navy cannot compete at all.

——"Vigorous social groups" such as the Japanese Black Dragon Club during World War II are not the kind of hilarious gangs in post-war Japan that rely on Koreans in military uniforms as thugs, but they really dare to go to the streets to chop people with knives The authentic killer "passionate"...

According to the internal assessment of the high-level Japanese navy at that time, if the situation really developed like this, the navy would be suppressed by the army within a few months, and the result would still be a war against the United States, but at this time the navy completely lost its autonomy and completely became an army. It's just a vassal of the army-this is still good, and many leaders of the navy may be regarded as traitors by those radical army red deer and punished by heaven.

As a result, even though it knew that going to war with the United States was a big pit, the Navy still had to hold its nose and jump into the pit.

Next, with the slogan "Long live! Long live!" and the flying flag of the sun, the soldiers of the Japanese Empire went all the way to the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, creating an unprecedented feat unprecedented in history.In the face of such a great victory, it is only natural that the base camp should be arrogance, and it is only natural to express some optimistic remarks in some public places. It is also understandable to occasionally boast that they will go to London to capture Churchill alive... But there is still a problem that needs to be solved. Seriously answer: Under such a good situation, what is the real strategic goal of the Japanese Navy, no, the Japanese Empire?

The correct answer is actually: I don't know!

According to common sense, any war should have a goal when it is launched. For example, the American War of Independence was to get rid of British rule, and the Chinese Anti-Japanese War was to restore the legal territory.Many wars in the feudal era revolved around the throne or the throne—not to mention whether the goal can be achieved, after all, there must be a clear direction of effort, and then everyone can make plans around this direction and fight wits and courage with the enemy.

However, unlike the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War with clear strategic goals, in the Pacific War on a larger scale, the Japanese themselves did not know their strategic goals. The "victory" of this war is simply to fight on instinct in a daze - how can you win a war that you don't even know what victory is?

——Regarding this issue, Suzuki Kantaro once had a discussion with Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in private, and the final conclusion was that there was no way for his own people to reach an agreement, and he could only wait for the enemy to propose conditions, preferably at his own expense After buying dog food, collars, and dog knives, they lined up to beg to be dogs for Japan...

Regarding this, Suzuki Kantaro didn't know what expression to make other than rolling his eyes.

As a result, we fought in a daze for four years. Although with a series of naval battle victories that were recognized as miracles by the whole world, and even the Japanese themselves found it unimaginable, the Imperial Navy managed to withstand the storms of the US Pacific Fleet again and again, but peace The dawn is still far away.

What's more terrible is that the more victorious battles were fought on the Nanyang front line, the more frightened the imperial navy became - so many Yankees were killed, so many warships and aircraft were destroyed, and the tonnage of the enemy ships sunk was far greater than More than the combined fleet, why don't the American Yankees kneel?But the bones of Americans are harder than diamonds. The Navy Command feels that their blood has been drained, but the Americans just don't kneel!

The Americans who have been defeated and defeated can continue to hold on, but the Japanese Empire, which has won many battles and victories, is gradually overwhelmed. After all, Japan's industrial base is weak. The purchased merchant ships made up for the capacity gap, but after four full years of the Pacific War, manpower and material resources have still been overdrawn to the limit.However, all kinds of filth between the chaebols and the government have also led to a great waste of the only national power.Since the beginning of this year, the supply standard of domestic living materials has dropped to the lowest level in history, people starved to death in various places, and officers and soldiers are generally war-weary and emotionally unstable. The people's enthusiasm for war has actually subsided, all thanks to the military's high pressure barely under control.

Although the situation of the war looks good, with the destruction of Italy and Germany, Japan looks like it will single out the whole world-can it still win?

All high-level Japanese with a little sense in their minds know that the war can no longer be fought, and the right way is to seek a decent peace.

But the war has reached this point, and it is completely impossible to end.Before, the Yankees were beaten too hard in the face, too much blood was spilled, and too much hatred was accumulated. Washington is determined to crush the Japanese dwarf and make an example to others, so as to restore the lost face and prestige.

If you want to appease the American bald eagle, Japan has to make up its mind to cut and bleed, and spit out almost all the spoils.But in this way, it is tantamount to losing without fighting. Giving up a large area of ​​​​territory under the condition that every battle must be won will not only have a bad reputation, but also the domestic conflicts will not be balanced. —Looking around the entire Japanese high-level, no one can afford this responsibility. Even the emperor dare not and is unwilling to take the blame. He kicked the ball around and kicked it around. Out-of-the-box move...

Therefore, on the surface, today’s Japan is single-minded against the whole world. In fact, the top leaders are all showing their talents in the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, looking for a way to find a decent peace.Regarding Yamamoto 56's collusion with the Soviet Union, the Japanese high-level officials naturally turned a blind eye: First, with the legendary record of killing 20 enemies in the Pacific Ocean, this guy is already in the world like the military god Hannibal If you move him, it will cause a devastating blow to the morale of the front line. Its impact is similar to the unjust murder of Yue Fei by Zhao Gou, the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty in China; second, many people are actually doing similar things, but Yamamoto 56 It's a little bit too much, but considering that it is really necessary to form a good relationship with the Soviet Union at the moment, let's hold our noses and admit it!

However, they all seem to have misjudged the extent of Yamamoto 56's collusion with the Soviet Union, and underestimated the ambition of the admiral...