The Rise of the Third Reich

Ishihara Kanji did not have unauthorized contact with Colonel Eugene Ott, the military attache of the German Embassy in Japan. He stayed in contact with Colonel Ott on the orders of his immediate superior, Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, the deputy chief of staff.

At the end of the meeting between Ishihara and Ott, Hideki Tojo himself had just picked up a friend from Germany, Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador to Germany, at the airport. Oshima Hiro's father is Lieutenant General Oshima Kenichi, who served twice as Army Minister. He became a "German fan" because he once studied in Germany, and he also taught his eldest son Oshima Hiro to become a German fan.

Because Hiro Oshima was born as a general, it was natural for him to embark on the path of joining the army. In the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, he became close friends with Hideki Tojo, who was one year above him. Needless to say, Hiroshi Oshima is also one of the core members of the ruling faction.

Tojo's car was driving on the road in Tokyo. It was just the time for the factory to get off work. Piles of male and female workers were holding lunch boxes and walking tiredly on the narrow sidewalks. Numbness showed on their faces. What emerged was not only the consistent resignation for thousands of years, but also a bit of dissatisfaction with the world. Their clothes were all shabby, their bodies were thin, and they were clearly having a hard time. Oshima suddenly thought of the workers he had seen in Berlin and other places in Germany. They were all rosy, energetic, and well-dressed. They looked like Japanese shopkeepers or landowners.

There were long queues in front of several shops on the street. I don’t know what they were selling. Workers who didn’t pick up their lunch boxes didn’t go home and went straight to the queue.

"That must be a shop that sells rice," Tojo said, watching Oshima Hiroshi sizing up the people in line, "because the situation in the 'Northwest Front' is not good, and coupled with the impact of the war in Europe, the price of rice has been rising. It must have gone up. Today must be the day to pay wages, and all the workers who have received the money have come to buy rice...In fact, there is plenty of rice, but a bunch of profiteers are taking advantage of it."

"The situation in the country is not very good..." Oshima Hiro sighed with emotion.

Tojo next to him laughed, "Oshima-kun, you have stayed in Germany for too long and have forgotten what Japan is like? Japan has always been like this, what's wrong, it's just that you have been away for the past few years... …It’s a bit messy.”

Not a little messy, but a lot! When Tojo's car drove into Miyakezaka Terrace, Oshima finally felt the meaning of "chaos" firsthand. The security in front of the official residence of the Minister of War is quite tight. Not only are soldiers carrying rifles standing guard at the gate, but the doors and windows of the official residence are also reinforced with steel bars. There seems to be a machine gun fire point on the top floor of the official residence, and there are people queuing up around the official residence. Soldiers patrolled back and forth.

"Will it always be like this after 2.26?" Oshima Hiro asked in a low voice.

"It's always been like this," Tojo smiled bitterly, "How can we dare to relax? Those guys (referring to those arrested and executed after the February 26 incident) are patriots in the eyes of the people and lower-level officers and soldiers. They want to kill the Japanese and show peace. Reform is to make life easier for everyone.”

Although Japan was also accused of being fascist by the Soviet Union (now Germany is the socialist brother of the Soviet Union), the life of the Japanese was far worse than that of the Italians.

According to those who launched the "2.26 Incident", the great success Japan's economy has achieved since the Meiji Restoration has been divided up by the collusion of chaebols and politicians, while the people at the bottom have gained nothing! To overthrow the Communists (conglomerates and politicians) with a coup, carry out the Showa Restoration, and transform Japan according to the theory of Kita Ikki (could be regarded as the theorist of the Japanese National Socialist Society), is the ideal of these "patriots".

Although the patriots are dead now, their thoughts are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which makes the upper class in Japan very scared!

"But this alone won't work..." Hiroshi Oshima really wanted to propose using national socialism to transform Japan, but as soon as he thought about it, he realized that it wouldn't work - the national society is also socialist, and Japan's chaebols and politicians would not like it. of.

"It's true," Tojo looked at Oshima Hiro and said with a bitter smile, "But it's impossible to transform Japan. Those people think of things too simply!"

The emergence of national socialism in Germany was not due to Hitler alone, but the result of the accumulation of long-term socialist movements. Japan was a typical medieval feudal country a few decades ago.

"Then what should we do?" Oshima Hiroshi asked with a frown.

Tojo Hideki smiled: "Of course I'm looking for a way out!"

Relying on blind suppression by the ruling faction cannot last long. If there is no outlet that can divert social conflicts, fierce revolution will appear in Japan sooner or later! External expansion is a way to divert domestic conflicts.

"Find a way out?" Oshima Hiro seemed to understand something and asked quickly, "Is it going south? Tojo-kun, going south is the only way out! Britain and France are strong externally and can't defeat Germany at all. French Indochina, Burma and the Malayan generals are in the empire's pocket."

By this time the car had arrived at the headquarters of the General Staff. Just like in front of the official residence of the Minister of War, the front of the General Staff Headquarters is also heavily guarded. Tojo's car drove directly into the yard and stopped in front of a tall Western building.

"Oshima-kun," Tojo Hideki said to his old friend with a smile, "many friends heard that you are coming back from Germany and want to meet. They all want to hear you explain what happened on the European battlefield... Today I gathered them at the staff headquarters. If you have anything to say, just talk to everyone."

…

"...The German Army is unprecedentedly powerful and has no rivals in Europe or even the world! Including our Imperial Army, it is definitely not the enemy of the German Army! Because the German Army is completely different from the armies of other countries in the world. They have already accomplished A military revolution. From an old army that relied solely on numbers and firepower to an invincible army that combined powerful firepower, solid defenses, and high-speed maneuvers! Once the old army's defenses were broken through, what followed? The coming collapse will be inevitable, because the German Army, which combines the three characteristics of high speed, firepower and defense, will never give its opponents time to rebuild their defenses. For the enemies of the German Army, every hour is a waste. Extremely precious.”

In a small conference room at the Japanese General Staff Headquarters that smelled of cigarettes and tea, Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima was sparing no effort to praise the German Army. However, his praise is not too far from reality. The current German Army is a kind of "hang-up" existence - they have taken the lead in completing a military revolution and have powerful assault capabilities.

"Oshima-kun, is there no army in Europe that can compete with the German Army?" Lieutenant General Seishiro Sakagaki, who served as the division commander in other places, asked aloud with some disbelief.

"Yes!" Hiroshi Oshima thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Only the Soviet Army can compete with the German Army, because the Soviet Army also launched an offensive similar to the German 'Blitzkrieg' when attacking Western Belarus and Ukraine. According to German intelligence, the Soviet Red Army invested about 3,500 tanks and 50,000 vehicles to form a rapid cluster. In a short period of time, it advanced to Brest and surrounded Kiev and Vinny in Ukraine. Check out other places.”

"3,500 tanks?"

"There are so many!"

"That's twice as many tanks as our entire army combined!"

Hearing everyone's discussion, Oshima Hiro quickly explained: "Our 'Adzuki Bean' is not considered a tank by the Germans and Soviets. Most of the Soviet tanks are large tanks of more than 10 tons. It is said that they have even appeared on the battlefield. A heavy tank of over 20 tons!”

"More than 20 tons? What kind of artillery should be used to deal with this?"

The most powerful anti-tank gun in the hands of the Japanese army is the anti-tank gun. In fact, it can also defeat the T-28. However, the combat weight of the T-28 of more than 20 tons sounds quite scary.

Moreover, none of the key members of the ruling faction in this room have ever been to the front line, and they have not yet found the feeling that the Imperial Japanese Army is invincible.

The last major deployment of the Japanese Army was the Siberian intervention. At that time, they did not take advantage of the Red Army. I think it is even more difficult to defeat the Soviet Red Army, which can easily produce 3,500 tanks.

Moving westward and northward does not seem safe, at least not with the current strength of the Japanese Army.

"Ishihara-kun, what do you think?" Tojo Hideki asked, looking at Ishihara Wanji who didn't like him very much. "You have been studying the European war during this period. What do you think?"

Ishihara smiled, shook his head and said: "The safest method at present is to wait and see the outcome of the battle between Germany and France. If France fails, French Indochina will be captured by the empire. However, once the empire moves south with all its strength, Sooner or later, there will be a conflict with Britain and the United States. If it is Britain alone, there is nothing to fear, but the United States will definitely not sit idly by and escort the British convoy during this period. "

The "American Escort Incident" caused quite a stir in the early 1940s. German submarines took many photos, which were first published in newspapers in various European countries and then brought to the United States. However, the U.S. government was well prepared and immediately clarified that it was a patrol formation of the Atlantic Fleet that "accidentally encountered" a British convoy at sea, and it was not a so-called escort.

US President Roosevelt immediately stated that the United States would remain neutral and would not intervene in the European war.

"Ishihara-kun, what do you think we should do?" Tojo Hideki looked at Ishihara and smiled. "Going north, west, and south are all risky. Doesn't the empire have to do anything?"

Ishihara smiled and shook his head and said: "It's not about doing nothing, but it's about saving up as much strength as possible before doing it! While you can still wait for a price, ask for more things."