The Rise of the Third Reich

Dr. Oscar Paul Taudmann is the ambassador of the German Empire to China and has served in Wuhan and Beijing for many years. However, before being sent to China, he also served in Japan for five years, serving as the Consul General in Kobe and Assistant to the Ambassador and Charge d'Affaires ad interim in Japan. Earlier, from 1907 to 1914, he also served as a diplomat in Russia. It can be said that his entire diplomatic career revolved around Russia, Japan and China.

Therefore, from the beginning of 1939, he became the core figure in coordinating Soviet-Japanese relations, frequently traveling between Wuhan, Vladivostok, and Tokyo. According to the instructions of German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, his mission was to relieve the Japanese Empire from worries about its southward advance.

Facilitating the Japanese Empire's southward expansion has always been the core of Hessman's Eastern policy! Because Hersman never dreamed of peaceful coexistence with the United States. And if we want to go to war with the United States, Japan will naturally be required to contain it in the Pacific direction.

To this end, Germany has gradually moved closer to Japan since 1928 and launched a 10-year economic and technical cooperation between Japan and Germany. The focus of Japan-Germany economic and technological cooperation was to increase the Japanese Empire's military power at sea and in the air.

In addition to economic and technical cooperation, coordinating the conflicts between Japan and Germany's other partner, the Soviet Union, was another important means to promote the Japanese Empire's southward advance. After all, Japan's national strength is limited and it cannot undertake the three major tasks of moving north, west and south at the same time.

Moreover, since the status of Soviet-German relations was higher than that of Japan-Germany, once the contradiction between Japan and the Soviet Union escalated into an armed conflict, Germany would have to side with the Soviet Union. Although it is impossible for Germany to directly send troops to fight Japan (in Hersman's view, it is unnecessary, because the Japanese army cannot defeat the Soviet Red Army), all Japanese-German cooperation projects must be stopped, which will definitely seriously affect Japan's future of fighting south.

However, this coordination policy encountered great troubles in early 1939, and the relationship between the Soviet Union and Japan showed a sharp deterioration trend.

Therefore, Taudmann, the German ambassador to China, was busy mediating between the Soviet Union and Japan.

But before his mediation could succeed, Hitler and Stalin, "close comrades-in-arms of socialism," met in Riga and subsequently issued the "Liberator's Manifesto." Although the "Declaration" was not directed at Japan, it still caused an uproar in Japan and caused a lot of trouble for Dr. Todman's mediation.

After getting off a Lufthansa Junkers 52 passenger plane, Dr. Todman felt the change in Japan's attitude.

It was empty below the gangway, with no senior Japanese officials coming to greet them. There were only German Ambassador to Japan Dixon, German Military Attaché to Japan Colonel Eugene Ott, and Director of East Asian Affairs Taro Ishigami of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. . He once worked in Shanghai and Wuhan, and is an old acquaintance of Tao Deman. After serving as the director of the East Asia Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 1937, he became the Japanese official responsible for coordination between the Soviet Union and Japan.

"This Pig Taro is finally here." Toddman thought to himself: "This shows that the Japanese have not closed the door to negotiations."

"Ino Taro," Todman stepped forward quickly, speaking fluent Japanese, "it's great to see you here."

He shook hands with Ino Taro, and the latter bowed and said, "Mr. Ambassador, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an important meeting today. The minister and the vice minister are inseparable. I am the only one who has some free time, so I came to the airport to greet you."

"Oh, that's right." Toddman laughed, as if he didn't care, and went to shake hands with Ambassador Dixon and Colonel Ott. The faces of these two people are quite heavy, and it seems that Japan is alienating Germany.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Tauderman and Colonel Eugene Ott boarded a Mercedes-Benz W07 car owned by the German Embassy, ​​while Ambassador Dixon and Ino Taro Ishigami boarded a Nissan 70 sent by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. car. The two cars, one behind the other, headed towards downtown Tokyo.

Sitting in the car, Todman carefully observed the situation in Tokyo. The capital of the Japanese Empire, which was composed of a large number of low wooden houses and a few Western-style buildings, looked very prosperous at this time. There are many cars driving on the streets, which shows that Japan has not yet implemented strict controls on gasoline - which may mean that Japan has not yet decided to go to war with the Soviet Union.

"They don't want to fight, do they?" Todman asked Colonel Ott next to him.

"Mr. Ambassador, it should be said that they are not ready for war yet." Colonel Eugene Ott said. "The situation has changed too drastically, far beyond Japan's expectations. Moreover, their army is poorly prepared. There are only 17 divisions with weapons and equipment equivalent to Polish infantry divisions and some independent brigades, and the full manpower rate is not very high. , it is difficult to win with these troops.

For this reason, fierce differences arose within the Japanese military. Some people believe that we should take advantage of the Soviet Union's fall into war on the Western Front to expand Japan's interests and launch a large-scale war;

Others believe that the current changes will not harm Japan's interests, because the other party has guaranteed that Japan's existing rights and interests will not be damaged, and is willing to continue to provide cheap coal, iron ore and non-ferrous metals, and the quantities will be greater than in the past. , it is unnecessary to launch a war under such circumstances, and the risks are difficult to control. "

"So do they know the empire's position?" Toddman immediately asked.

"Ambassador Dixon has clearly informed the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Empire's position," Colonel Eugene Ott said.

"What about Britain, the United States and France?" Todman asked, "How did their ambassadors to Japan react?"

“Britain, the United States, and France all support Japan,” said Eugene Ott. “They hope that Japan will fall into a long and arduous ground war so that Japan’s maritime power will not threaten the colonies of Britain, the United States, and France in Southeast Asia. Precisely because Britain, the United States, and France attitude, so now Japan's army and navy are divided into two factions, arguing endlessly, and a meeting of the Five Prime Ministers will be held today to discuss national policy. "

"Five-phase meeting?" Toddman suddenly became nervous. Although he had stayed in the Far East for many years, he still didn't understand the weird thinking of the Japanese. Maybe they will really let go of the large and easy-to-obtain fat in the south and fight another larger-scale "Russian-Japanese War."

"So what is Prime Minister Abe's proposition?" Todman then asked.

Prime Minister Abe is Nobuyuki Abe. He is an army general and belongs to the "Ugaki faction" in the Japanese army (with Ugakiichi as the leader). Therefore, he is free from the struggle between the control faction and the emperor's faction. However, he still participated in the Second World War in 1936. .He was kicked out of active service after the February 6th Incident.

However, Abe Nobuyuki was very popular among the Japanese army and navy, and the Ugaki faction still had strength in the Japanese army, so he was able to replace Fumimaro Konoe, who was helpless in the face of major changes in the situation, as prime minister.

However, Abe Nobuyuki's ability is also insufficient to solve the current crisis. Now he has to convene a meeting of the five imperial ministers and push the problem to the army, navy and the emperor.

And the intellectually deficient Emperor Hirohito who currently rules the Japanese Empire (this Japanese emperor is not good) is also at a loss to deal with the current situation.

"Currently, the lifeline of our empire has been seriously threatened by the Red Russian forces. If drastic measures are not taken, the future and fate of the empire will be in the hands of others." Army Minister Shunroku Hata shouted at a meeting of important ministers, "Therefore, the Army proposes to use Fight decisively with Red Russia by force! But at the same time, we will not give up preparations for marching south. Once the situation in the European battlefield is favorable to Germany, the Imperial Navy and Army will not hesitate to shoulder the mission of going south to liberate the oppressed peoples of Asia. "

Emperor Hirohito glanced at the dry-looking Minister of War indifferently. He knew that what the minister wanted to express was not consistent with what he said, and it required careful analysis to draw the correct conclusion.

The Army seems to be proposing a war with the Soviet Union - but in the past 10 years, the Japanese Army has not made preparations for a war. Most of Japan's military expenditures are spent on the navy. Excluding the aviation force, the army's weapons and equipment are similar to those of World War I, and the number of people is too small. If the army were to attack rashly now, it would definitely be impossible to defeat them.

In other words, in order to start a war, you must first prepare for the war, expand your troops, and purchase equipment... The military expenses are huge!

While preparing to move westward, the Army must also prepare to move south - in fact, this is the same thing for the Army, which requires a significant increase in military expenditures.

However, moving south cannot rely solely on the army, but must be coordinated by land and sea. For most of the past 10 years, because the Western continent was peaceful and peaceful, most of Japan's military expenditures were spent on the navy. In early 1937, the "03 Ship Supplementary Plan" was adopted, which determined the construction of four "Yamato" class battleships and four "ideal aircraft carriers."

Because Japan has had a relatively stable situation in the Far East in the past 10 years, and its channels for obtaining raw materials and selling industrial products (mainly machinery, steel and chemical products) are also very smooth, Japan's economy has developed well and has a relatively strong The financial resources can be invested in naval construction, allowing eight capital ships with high hopes to be started at the same time.

According to the plan, these eight battleships will be completed before the end of 1943. By then, the Japanese Navy will have the most powerful battleships and aircraft carriers!

From the Army's perspective, the Navy has so many expensive battleships, so of course it must show off its capabilities in Southeast Asia. The army can also follow along to liberate the oppressed people of Southeast Asia... This is a great contribution!

Therefore, the Japanese Army has now unified its opinion - first expand its armaments and prepare for war! If we don’t invest in military spending quickly, the army will not be able to defeat us if we march westward, southward, and northward!

Emperor Hirohito understood what the Army meant, so now it depends on what the Navy means. He turned his attention to Admiral Yoshida Zengo, who was physically and mentally haggard, as if suffering from depression.