The Rise of the Third Reich

In today's German high-level, there are two views: "pro-Soviet" and "pro-British".

The "pro-Soviet faction" is represented by Marshal Hessmann, Marshal Schleicher, and a big man Hermann Goering on Hitler's side. Their view is to maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union as much as possible and concentrate on defeating Britain and the United States. As long as Britain and the United States collapse, can't the Soviet Union do whatever it wants?

The "pro-British faction" is headed by Hitler and Rudolf Hess. They think that Germany and Britain are "relatives", and the people of the two countries are relatively close in blood and language, and they should not fight to the death. Moreover, Hitler and Hess both think that the land in the south of the Soviet Union, that is, Ukraine, the lower reaches of the Don River, and the Caucasus Mountains, is very good. If it can be taken as the German mainland, it would be ideal. Therefore, they think that as long as Britain is willing to admit defeat, they should let it go and not dismantle the British Empire. After making peace with Britain, Germany can turn its guns to the Soviet Union.

However, these two factions are not life-and-death, and they are clear about each other's views. And it is not that different opinions are completely unacceptable - in fact, the difference between the two opinions is not very big.

If Britain is really willing to surrender and lose half, Hessmann will also be happy to see it. After all, once Britain surrenders, Germany can station troops in Canada and the Caribbean, and the American Empire will be completely doomed.

And Hitler, because of the advocacy of Hessmann and Goering, had great expectations for the atomic bomb - if a few super bombs could be dropped to deal with the Soviet Union, it would definitely be a more economical way.

Therefore, Hessmann and the General Staff knew about Hess's secret contact with the British side, and even participated in the secret contact... Although Hessmann did not believe that Britain would consider surrendering before completely defeating the British Royal Navy, it was still necessary to maintain contact.

And the secret contact between Britain and Germany is not the most important secret negotiation in the world at present. At least in the view of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet who visited Europe, the secret negotiation between Japan and the United States is the one that can really change the course of history.

"Oshima-kun, Kuroshima-kun, I must return to Japan immediately. The next negotiations with Germany will be up to you two."

In the Japanese Embassy in Rome, the head of the Japanese Navy Observation Group, Commander of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, had packed his luggage and said goodbye to Vice Admiral Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador to Germany, and Colonel Kameto Kuroshima, the chief staff officer of the Combined Fleet, with a gloomy face.

"Commander, is there something wrong in the country?" Kameto Kuroshima was stunned for a moment. Because according to the previous schedule, Isoroku Yamamoto also had to discuss the issue of German-Japanese military and technical cooperation with Hessman.

After more than 20 days of observation and investigation, Isoroku Yamamoto has discovered that the two killers of the Japanese Navy Air Force, the Zero carrier-based fighter and the Type 99 carrier-based dive bomber, are not as sharp as imagined.

The high-altitude performance and dive performance of the Zero carrier-based fighter are not ideal, and it is not strong enough. Once hit, the pilot has to parachute to escape quickly.

When fighting against the British "Spitfire" series fighters, the Zero fighter only has a greater advantage in low-altitude combat. However, British pilots have already had corresponding methods. They will try their best to avoid fighting with the Zero and adopt the tactic of hitting and leaving.

If they are bitten by the Zero at medium and low altitudes, they will adopt the tactic of diving at a large angle to escape from the battle, and then quickly pull the plane up to an altitude of more than 5,000 meters.

Therefore, the Germans have launched their own upgraded version-the Fokker Zero C-3, equipped with an excellent mechanical supercharger and jet combustion system, and equipped with a self-sealing fuel tank with better performance.

At the same time, the Germans also developed a fighter Fw-190 with a longer range and superior medium and high altitude performance and dive performance to cooperate with the Fokker Zero.

The Germans' optimization and improvement of the Zero, as well as the Fw-190 used to cooperate with the Zero, all used advanced technologies that Japan did not have. Isoroku Yamamoto hoped to introduce technology from Germany and purchase several Fw-190s as references for the new generation of Japanese carrier-based fighters under development.

In addition, the performance of the Fokker 99 carrier-based dive bomber introduced to Germany by Fokker Company on the battlefield can only be described as poor. Although the bombing accuracy of this aircraft is relatively high, the bomb load is too small. It can only carry one 250 kg bomb, which is not enough to damage battleships with solid armor.

As a result, in the entire Mediterranean campaign, only the German Ju88 and the Italian S.M.79 were seen shining brightly, and the Fokker 99 was hard to find.

In fact, the Japanese Navy itself has long been aware of the shortcomings of the Type 99 carrier-based dive bomber. As early as 1937, it proposed the requirement to develop a carrier-based dive bomber with both high speed and large bomb load. And in 1940, a dive bomber named "Comet" was actually developed. The performance on paper is very good, but this carrier-based dive bomber that the Japanese Navy has high hopes for suffers from "heart disease".

The DB601 liquid-cooled engine of Germany's Mercedes-Benz, which was copied by Japan's Aichi Corporation, had a complex structure and high technical difficulty, so its production volume was very low, which also affected the mass production of the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber.

In order for the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber to fully replace the Type 99 carrier-based dive bomber in 1942 as planned, Yamamoto Isoroku hoped to obtain the technology for producing the DB601 engine from Germany before the war between Japan and the United States, and at the same time purchase it. 2,000 German original DB601 engines.

In addition, Yamamoto Isoroku and Kuroshima Kameto are also very interested in German radar technology. It is hoped that relevant technology can be introduced from Germany before the war begins, so that all Japanese battleships and cruisers can be equipped with air-to-sea search radars.

Since the technologies Yamamoto Isoroku wants to acquire from Germany are very high-end, without the strong support of senior German people, it may be difficult to make progress in a short period of time. Therefore, Yamamoto's original plan was to negotiate with Hirschman in person in order to reach an agreement.

But today, Yamamoto Isoroku suddenly decided to leave Europe and return to Japan.

Yamamoto Isoroku frowned and answered Kuroshima Kameto's question, "The Americans announced a trade embargo against us and froze our assets in the United States."

"What?" Kuroshima Turtle was shocked when he heard this, "How could they do this? Isn't General Nomura negotiating with the United States?"

Japan’s current ambassador to the United States is retired Navy Admiral Koshisaburo Nomura. Since the end of last year, Ambassador Koshisaburo Nomura has been responsible for conducting secret negotiations with the US government, covering US-Japan relations and Japan's expansion direction.

During the negotiations, the Americans demanded that Japan withdraw from Southeast Asia and not threaten Western colonies in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the United States expressed its willingness to see the situation on the East Asian continent return to "normal" and hoped that Japan would play a leading role in the East Asian continent.

In fact, the United States wants to lure Japan to the East Asian continent to reduce pressure in the Pacific so that it can concentrate on dealing with Germany.

Japanese Prime Minister Konoe Fumima did not want to become enemies of Britain and the United States. Therefore, while allowing the military to actively prepare for war with the United States, he was also studying the issue of attacking the East Asian continent. But the big brother of the Soviet Union is behind the government of the East Asian continent. Japan suffered a lot in 1939 and is a little timid now, so Konoe Fumima proposed a U.S.-Japan alliance. However, the United States repeatedly refused, and by the end of February 1941, the U.S. government announced a comprehensive trade embargo and economic sanctions against Japan without warning.

"Not only the United States," Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima added angrily, "the United Kingdom and the Dutch East Indies authorities also participated in the embargo! The United Kingdom, like the United States, prohibits the import of all strategic materials such as oil, steel, nonferrous metals, and rubber into Japan , and the Dutch East Indies are not allowed to sell us the same supplies."

"What? The Dutch East Indies also participated in the sanctions?" Black Island Turtle Man's face suddenly changed.

Japan now mainly imports oil from the Dutch East Indies, the United States and British Malaya. If it were just a British and American sanctions and embargo, Japan could make up for it by increasing imports from the Dutch East Indies. But if the Dutch East Indies also joins the sanctions, Japan will face the crisis of oil cuts.

Of course, not everything is cut off. Japan can import some oil from the Soviet Union's Sakhalin Island. Taiwan under Japanese rule also has a small amount of oil output. Japan also mines oil shale in Northeast China for oil refining. In addition, Japan also has coal-based processes. Oil factory. However, the total amount of oil or other oil materials obtained through these channels is very small, and it is impossible to meet Japan's wartime needs.

The Black Island Turtle thought for a while and felt something was wrong, and asked again: "The Netherlands is not a friend of Germany, so why did the Dutch East Indies also impose an embargo on the empire?"

"The Dutch East Indies did not impose an embargo, but sold all their oil and rubber to Britain and the United States." Hiroshi Oshima said with a sneer, "And now the survival of the Dutch East Indies depends on Britain and the United States, and the Netherlands cannot help at all. Dutch East Indies. In addition, how could the Dutch not know the empire’s requirements for the Dutch East Indies?”

"So is the United States going to force us to move westward?" Black Island Turtle Man thought for a while and asked.

"It doesn't seem to be the case," Yamamoto Isoroku scratched his bald head and frowned. "The Americans have withdrawn their support for our westward march. They don't want us to invade anywhere. The US Secretary of State Hull recently said: Respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries; uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries; uphold the principle of equality, including equal trade opportunities; except by peaceful means to change the status quo, the status quo in the Pacific region must not be destroyed... This is not to allow empire Expand in any direction!”