The Rise of the Third Reich

"Marshal, the Prime Minister of Japan has been replaced."

On the afternoon of the day when the peace delegation led by Marshal Schleicher and Ribbentrop left Berlin, Marshal Hersmann, who was sitting at the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen, learned of the change in the Japanese cabinet.

"Mitsumasa Yonai has stepped down?" Hersman put down a stack of frontline battle reports in his hand (the armistice agreement was not reached, so the fighting on the French front was still going on) and looked at Colonel Galen, the head of the Military Intelligence Department, "Who is the new prime minister? "

"Duke Konoe Fumimaro is the new prime minister," Colonel Galen said. "This is the second time he has served as prime minister. In addition, pro-German Hideki Tojo has become the minister of war. I believe he is the leader of Japan's current generation. A powerful figure in the cabinet.”

"Where is the Secretary of the Navy?" Hersman put down the report in his hand, "Or is it Admiral Zengo Yoshida?"

"It's still him," Galen said, "but the new Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke is also a politician close to Germany and Italy. It seems that Japan is very likely to sign an alliance agreement with our country in the near future and launch a military attack on French Indochina. ”

"They have no choice!" Hessman said coldly. "Although the Japanese Empire's economy has benefited from the stability and development of the East Asian continent in the past decade, its domestic wealth distribution is extremely unfair. The lower classes are increasingly dissatisfied, and The upper levels were unwilling to give up benefits, so they could only seek external expansion to divert conflicts.

Japan's expansion is not based on any clever strategy, but is just to plunder wealth to appease the country. Therefore, they must be short-sighted and will choose the easiest target to attack. Although the East Asian continent has rich resources and a large population, if it can be conquered, the Japanese Empire will surely become a true world empire, but Japan's domestic situation will not allow it to engage in a long and bloody war. So going south is an inevitable choice! "

In the past ten years, Japan's economic benefits from the East Asian continent have been no less than during the same period in history, but this benefit is based on the stability of the East Asian continent rather than turmoil. Therefore, it became more difficult for Japan to conquer the East Asian continent. Especially after the unexpected drastic changes in 1939, the difficulty of conquest became even greater. Although Japan has received permission from Britain and the United States, the current domestic situation in Japan determines that they must first pick a softer persimmon to pinch. Unless Britain and the United States can provide Japan with large amounts of economic aid and form an alliance as they did during the Russo-Japanese War.

However, it is not safe to only form an alliance with the United Kingdom, which has turned into a clay Buddha. It is best to tie up with the United States. But the domestic situation in the United States determines that there cannot be a U.S.-Japan alliance. Moreover, when Japan and the Soviet Union did not sign a peace treaty, even Britain did not dare to sign a new "Anglo-Japan Alliance Treaty". If Japan accidentally dragged it into a war with the Soviet Union, that fat man would have to find a rope. Hang yourself?

Therefore, although Britain and the United States have said a lot of good things in the past period of time and have given a lot of loans, oil, and steel, they have not mentioned the most critical alliance issue at all. Even when Mitsumasa Yoneuchi publicly stated that he was "going to fight the German Navy" (which was actually testing the possibility of an alliance), the United Kingdom and the United States pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Without the alliance between Britain and the United States, Japan certainly would not dare to risk going to war with the Soviet-German alliance (if Japan and the Soviet Union conflicted, Germany would definitely ally with the Soviet Union and fully support it) and go north and west.

"Marshal," Colonel Galen seemed a little confused, "if Japan's domestic political situation determines that it cannot withstand a long and bloody war, then how can they dare to go to war with Britain and the United States? What is the point of us winning them over? "

Hessman smiled and said: "They will sink step by step, but they will not jump into the fire pit all at once. Japan is like a gambler. They are often very careful when gambling at the beginning and dare not make big bets, but The bet will get bigger and bigger later on. Moreover, the dissatisfaction of the Japanese bottom is not vented in the form of labor movement, but in the form of mutiny by the middle and lower class soldiers. Therefore, the main purpose of Japan's expansion is actually to satisfy these. The interests of the middle and lower-class military determine that once Japan gets benefits from expansion, it will continue to take risks, so in the end, Japan will definitely gamble on its national destiny.”

While Hirschmann was talking to Colonel Galen, on the other side of the world, Konoe Fumimaro, who had just been appointed prime minister, was summoning Matsuoka Yosuke, Tojo Hideki and Yoshida Zengo at his private residence Ogigaizou.

The meeting place was a very quiet tea room - a very small room with tatami mats on the floor and no furniture. Four Japanese soldiers were all wearing kimonos, sitting there on their knees. Duke Konoe was playing with a set of ugly-looking but valuable tea sets in his hands.

"German leader Hitler and Chief of General Staff Hersmann both made it clear to Ambassador Oshima: Before Germany and France conclude a peace treaty and France joins the European Community, the Reich can take any French Indochina."

War Minister Hideki Tojo had no interest in the tea ceremony and was the first to speak, interrupting the tranquility in the tea room.

He said to Konoe Fumimaro: "Duke, we don't have much time now, so make up your mind quickly!"

Konoe Fumimaro glanced at the anxious Tojo Hideki, but he was still using a small broom-like tool to stir the matcha that had just been brewed in a "water tank".

"Tojo-kun," Konoe Fumimaro said, "going south is a gamble for the fate of the country. Do you know that?"

"A gamble on the fate of the country?" Tojo Hideki smiled, "It's just French Indochina, it's easy to get."

"Besides French Indochina there are British Burma, British Malaya and Dutch East Indies." Navy Minister Zengo Yoshida said, "Those are all white colonies and are different from the East Asian continent. If we treat If the French East Indies take action, Britain and the United States will definitely regard Japan as a major threat."

"Hmph!" Hideki Tojo smiled disdainfully, "Just threaten. Britain can no longer protect itself, and the United States is stuck in isolationism. What else can it do? If the empire loses its chance, it will be too late to regret it."

Konoe Fumimaro had already made tea, handed the "small water tank" to Matsuoka Yosuke, and then said to Tojo: "Of course you can't lose the opportunity, but you must be cautious when gambling on the fate of the country."

"Proceed with caution?"

Konoe nodded and glanced at Matsuoka Yosuke. Matsuoka said: "Germany is good at using other countries to satisfy its own desires. Even if it breaks the contract, it will not do stupid things to be used by other countries. Countries close to them have almost all been fooled without exception. So the empire cannot expect Germany to go to Japan for Japan. To start a war with a powerful enemy like the United States. Therefore, the empire's move south must be carried out without overly irritating the United States. At the same time, an alliance treaty with the Soviet Union should be concluded as soon as possible. If a four-nation alliance of the empire, Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union can be formed, then the empire will Then you can boldly annex the British colonies and Siam."

Matsuoka's words were very tactful, but Tojo Hideki still understood him. What the other party actually means is that the army must not go into conflict with Britain and the United States just because it has the support of Germany and Italy. Unless the Soviet Union can be brought into the alliance, Japan can only swallow French Indochina and cannot further expand to stimulate Britain and the United States.

"Of course the Army understands the general situation," Tojo said unhappily, "How could it possibly have a conflict with Britain and the United States without authorization? The Army is not a fool without a brain!"

Tojo Hideki meant what he said, at least for now.

…

Geneva, Switzerland.

In a small conference room in the Palais des Nations owned by the League of Nations, German Defense Minister Schleicher and Foreign Minister Ribbentrop finally met with Laval and Chaudan, the peace negotiators of the French government. Also present were Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano, Spanish Foreign Minister Juan Luis Bergeber and Chairman of the Dutch Council of Ministers Clariant.

Ciano was here because Italy had also declared war on France a few days earlier, and the Dutch president of the Council of Ministers and the Spanish foreign minister were attending the meeting as League of Nations mediators.

In addition, representatives from Belgium and Luxembourg have also arrived in Geneva. However, they will not attend today's negotiations. Instead, they will participate in negotiations on the final peace treaty after the armistice agreements between France, Germany, and Italy are signed.

The key issue in the signing of the armistice agreement is the French fleet anchored in Toulon!

"The fleet must be anchored in the port of Toulon and must not sail to North Africa or other places, nor can it scuttle itself!" Marshal Schleicher said, "This is a prerequisite for signing the armistice agreement."

"Are you going to get our fleet?" Xiao Dang, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Pétain government, asked with a frown.

Chaudan spoke in German, which Schleicher could understand (in fact, Reicher also spoke French). He and Ribbentrop looked at each other, and the latter said: "Is the surrender of the fleet official?" Issues that need to be discussed in the peace treaty... If you join the European Community and declare war on Britain, then of course you can keep your fleet."

"Then we will leave the fleet in Toulon," Laval said, "but your people will not be able to enter Provence."

Ribbentrop and Ciano looked at each other, and Count Ciano immediately said: "The Italian Navy will lay mines outside the port of Toulon to prevent the French fleet from leaving."

"This request can be agreed to."

The two Frenchmen exchanged opinions in a low voice and immediately agreed to the German's request.

Because in their opinion, laying mines to block the port of Toulon is a good way...not only to prevent the French fleet from escaping to "Free France", but also to prevent the British from attacking the Toulon fleet.

With the fort in Toulon Port, the Italian mines, and the anti-aircraft guns and D.520 fighter jets deployed in Toulon Port, the French baby fleet is expected to be foolproof.