The Rise of the Third Reich

"The leaders who have commanded the French armed forces for many years have formed a government.

This government has concluded that our military has failed and has begun negotiations with the enemy in order to cease hostilities. It is absolutely certain that we were and are being overwhelmed by the enemy's mechanized forces, both on the ground and in the skies. It was the German tanks, planes, and tactics that forced our troops to retreat, far from our lack of numbers. It was the German tanks, planes, and tactics that provided the elements of attack that put our leaders in this unfortunate situation. situation.

But is this the final outcome? Must we give up all hope? Is our failure inevitable and irreversible? My answer to these questions is: No! "

What came from the radio was General Charles de Gaulle's speech: "Message to the French People."

General de Gaulle jumped on a British plane on May 8 and flew from France to London, almost defecting. On the next day, May 9, he publicly published a "Message to the French People" in London, calling on the French army and people to continue to resist. No matter what happens, the flame of French resistance cannot be extinguished!

With a soft click, British Prime Minister Churchill turned off the radio in his office.

"Colonel," the pudgy Prime Minister slowly turned around, looked at a tall man in his fifties with a big nose and a pair of very bright eyes, and said with a smile, "There are still people in France who are willing to Those who resist will soon have more French people standing with us."

The man Churchill called "The Colonel" was named William Joseph Donovan. He was President Roosevelt's classmate at Columbia University. After graduating from college, Donovan joined the army, fought in Mexico with General Pershing, and was promoted to the rank of colonel. After retiring from the army, Donovan entered politics for a time and was elected governor several times, but was not elected. In 1924, he also served as the Deputy Secretary of Justice of the United States, and later opened a law firm on Wall Street (Wall Street's lawyer) and made a lot of money.

Now he has obtained the title of emissary from his old classmate, President Roosevelt, and traveled to Europe to inspect the war on behalf of the U.S. government and Wall Street!

"Prime Minister," Colonel Donovan frowned, obviously worried about the prospect of war, "Is the French Navy still in Toulon?"

Churchill nodded. It was Germany's request to keep the naval fleet in Toulon. Of course, the Pétain government, which was bent on peace, had no choice but to comply.

"Will the French government hand them over to Germany?" Colonel Donovan asked again.

"We will not allow this to happen!" Churchill said. "General de Gaulle also sent an appeal to Admiral Darlan, asking him to send the fleet to Algeria in North Africa."

"Admiral Darlan will obey de Gaulle's orders?" Donovan felt a little strange.

"Probably not," Churchill whispered, "but there are ways to solve this huge problem."

There is a way? Colonel Donovan really couldn't figure out what Churchill's solution was, but the British Prime Minister didn't intend to discuss the issue. Instead, the conversation turned to the upcoming "Geneva Peace Conference."

“The Germans want to make the League of Nations their tool,” Churchill said. “They want to use the League to abolish the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Treaty of Lausanne. What does President Roosevelt have to say about this?"

"I think this is another huge problem!" Donovan shook his head. "The president is fighting for his third term...at this time, there is not much he can do."

The United States was not a member of the League of Nations, and the United States was not a signatory to the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, and Lausanne. Under such circumstances, it was difficult for the United States to speak out in the peace conference hosted by the League of Nations. At least the United States could not raise objections to the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles, Saint-Germain, and Lausanne—the United States in 1940 was not as unreasonable as it would later be, requiring others to abide by treaties that the United States itself did not recognize.

"But the President will still send a representative to Geneva," said Colonel Donovan, "because the United States is a party to the Treaty of Trianon."

"Haha, that's enough!" Churchill smiled and said, "As long as the United States opposes the Treaty of Trianon, we can open a new battlefield against the German and Italian military groups."

"Is it the Balkans?" Donovan raised his eyebrows, "It's a powder keg there!"

"The Germans asked for it!" Churchill smiled and lit the cigar. "They actually want to restore the situation before the last world war... They also invited Crown Prince Otto, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, to Berlin. This behavior has already Yugoslavia and Romania are cornered. If the United States can speak for these two countries in Geneva, I believe they will rise up!"

…

Miyakezaka, Tokyo, Japan, the official residence of the Minister of War,

The shocking changes in the European situation have obviously had a huge impact on Japan's domestic political landscape. The Prime Minister, Admiral Mitsumasa Yoneuchi, who is close to Britain and the United States, is now a little pessimistic. The official residence of the Minister of War, Shunroku Hata, who has always advocated cooperation with Germany, is bustling with people from all walks of life. Representatives from all walks of life come to visit every day. Of course, the most common visitors are Tojo Hideki, Sakagaki Seishiro, Okamura Neji and Ishihara Kanji, the truly powerful figures in the army.

Due to the defeat of Britain and France in Europe, the two socialist countries of Germany and the Soviet Union became the dominant forces on the Eurasian continent. For Japan, the roads heading west and north can be said to be completely blocked.

"It is absolutely impossible to advance westward now, because Germany's victory in Europe also blocked the Soviet Union's westward advance route. In this way, the Soviet Union's development direction can only be in the east and south. If we advance westward, the Soviet Union will inevitably confront us tit for tat. And In order to completely remove the threat from the east, Germany will inevitably support the Soviet Union’s eastward advance.”

Kanji Ishihara, considered to be the smartest genius staff officer in the Japanese Army after Nagata Tetsuzan, was kneeling on the tatami, eloquent, explaining the latest situation to a group of army generals who had little international perspective.

"But the Imperial Army is no longer what it used to be. The number of A-type divisions has expanded to 21, and the number of B-type divisions has also expanded to 17. There are also mecha corps (composed of 3 tank brigades) and cavalry groups. One each, and there are many independent brigades and regiments. The total strength has reached more than 1.3 million. Isn’t it enough to carry out the westward campaign? "

The person who raised the objection was Army Chief of Staff Prince Kanin Gong Jaehito. This elderly prince is a rare and dignified figure in the Japanese royal family. He studied at the French Military Academy when he was young. He is a graduate of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, the Black Knights Cavalry Academy of Saumur and the French Army University. I am an admirer of the powerful French Army, so I felt very sad that the French Army was completely defeated in just a few days (the resistance of the French Army has not stopped yet, but the victory or defeat was decided on the 6th day after the war). Shock.

However, he still looked down upon the armies of neighboring countries, which could not even reach the level of World War I in Europe, and he also looked down upon his former defeat, the Russian Army.

"Your Highness," Ishihara Wanji glanced at the royal marshal who had completely outdated ideas, "Germany's rapid victory in this European war shows that the pattern of war has undergone earth-shaking changes. The army's mechatronics, motorcycles The rapid and centralized use of mecha and motorized troops has become the key to defeating the enemy.

At present, our imperial army, except for the mecha army, is all infantry and cavalry in the World War I mode, and it is difficult to cooperate with the mecha army in combat. Moreover, the quantity and quality of the tanks assigned to the Mecha Army cannot be compared with those owned by the Soviet Red Army. Once there is a war on the mainland, it is very likely to be passive. "

"But both Britain and the United States have expressed their willingness to see the imperial army take action on the mainland." Prince Hanyuan Gong Zairen said.

The British and American ambassadors to Japan have been encouraging Japan to expand westward during this period. It expressed full recognition of Japan's freedom of movement on the East Asian continent, and provided loans and a lot of oil and steel. Moreover, regardless of the facts, it referred to Japan's western neighbors as vassals of Germany and the Soviet Union.

"Britain and the United States pointed out a fire pit for the empire to jump into!" Army Minister Shunroku Hata snorted coldly and took up the topic. "That fool Mitsumasa Yoneuchi didn't know it. He also fantasized about forming an alliance with the United States and said he was going to fight Germany. It was nonsense, but the United States and the United Kingdom just pretended not to hear it.”

This is actually the reason why Mitsumasa Yoneuchi cannot continue to be Prime Minister. Even though the words came to this, the American and British emperors did not react at all. This actually illustrates the problem - East Asia is a pit of fire, and even Britain and the United States themselves dare not jump out of it!

Prince Hanwon Gong Zairen is still undecided, "But the lifeline of the empire is always threatened. If the imperial army is trapped in Nanyang and the East Asian continent changes again, how should we deal with it?"

Seeing the old man's hesitation, Tojo Hideki was a little anxious. He said: "If you go west and north, you will be in a hard battle. If you fight for a long time, things will inevitably change. If you don't move, there will be complaints from the lower ranks. Only by going south can you quickly build meritorious deeds. And the law Indochina is a land of wealth, and obtaining it can alleviate the poverty of the lower classes. This is indeed a strategy that must be implemented! "

Although this Tojo does not have a high IQ, he can speak clearly. Marching westward and northward must be a series of hard battles. If we fight back and forth without winning, the officers and soldiers below may cause another "2.26" incident. And standing still is not enough. Now Germany is eating meat in the west, and Britain and France have been beaten into paper tigers. There are countless people in the army who are eager to make contributions. If the top brass dare not take action, sooner or later something will happen again - that is, " 2.26” or something. Therefore, the only way out is to pick up the soft persimmons, no matter what, go to French Indochina for a big bite first.

Having said that, the old man of Kanin Palace also knew that he had no choice, so he nodded and said to the Minister of War: "Hata-kun, tomorrow you go and resign to Mitsumasa Yoneuchi!"

The resignation of the Minister of War means that the Army will collapse. Due to the existence of the active-duty military attache system, if the Minister of War resigns and the Army does not send someone to replace him, the pro-British and American Mitsumasa Yoneuchi cabinet can only resign.