The Rise of the Third Reich

The current Prime Minister of the Japanese Empire, Duke Konoe Fumimaro, was of noble birth. He was a direct descendant of the ancient Fujiwara clan and the governor of the Konoe family, the head of the Five Regents. His ancestors had been high-ranking officials in the Japanese imperial court for generations. Although during the long political era of the Wu family, senior officials in the court had little real power and their salaries were extremely meager. However, in the eyes of many ignorant Japanese, the Konoe clan, which has been incestuously married to the Imperial family for generations, still has an unattainable family background and bloodline. After the Meiji Restoration, as the emperor's status and power increased, the Konoe family became prominent again.

Konoe Fumimaro's father, Atsumaro, was awarded the title of Duke, served as the Speaker of the House of Peers, and became a prominent figure. Konoe Fumimaro was the Prime Minister for two terms and was the most trusted confidant of Emperor Showa.

However, such a noble and prominent figure does not have the ability that is consistent with his current status, and he is weak-willed and lacks courage. It can neither find a way out for the confused Japanese Empire, nor can it control the aggressive army to maintain Japan's internal stability.

If you want to give him a more pertinent evaluation, he is probably a prime minister who is led by the military. Although he knew that the empire was sliding into the abyss, he was unable to stop it. Not only was he unable to stop it, but he also wanted to add fuel to the fire.

In a quiet Japanese-style room in the official residence of the Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro, who had just presented the "Outline of Imperial National Policy to Adapt to Changing Situations" approved at the meeting of the five imperial ministers to Emperor Showa, was looking for regret medicine at this time. eat.

This Japanese-style room deliberately created a low and crowded atmosphere. A few simple Japanese dishes were placed on a small table. If it were not for one of the precious blackfin tuna sashimi, it would hardly be possible to show the two guests in the room. The person has a prominent status.

Now, the Prime Minister of Japan, Duke Konoe Fumimaro, is inviting the Interior Minister Koichi Kido to dinner. Konoe and Kido are classmates in the Gakushuin and have been good friends since childhood - Konoe was originally one grade lower than Kido, but Kido repeated a grade in the sixth grade of elementary school, so the two became classmates.

Konoe Fumimaro lowered his head and said to his good friend Kido, who was nearly 30 centimeters shorter than him: "Kido-kun, now the empire is facing an unprecedented crisis, and the only one who can save the empire from fire and water is probably Your Majesty. "

He actually opposed war with the United States. Uniting Britain and the United States to oppose the Soviet Union was what he really wanted to do. But now the United States and the Soviet Union are not good at all, and they are joining forces to rectify Japan.

In this case, it is definitely not possible for Japan to move westward and northward at all costs - there is no oil in Manchuria and Mongolia now, and even the entire East Asian continent has only two small oil fields, and they are still in the remote western region.

According to the words of the shameless Hideki Tojo: Although the invincible imperial army can achieve great victory in the northwest direction, it will never be able to obtain oil. Once the empire's oil is exhausted, the empire's war machine will not be able to operate. . Therefore, the empire can only go south to obtain oil first, and then move west and north...

A march south has exceeded the limit of Japan's national strength, and he actually wants to march west and north. Konoe is speechless to such a minister of war.

However, Konoe Fumimaro did not point out the absurdity of Tojo Hideki at the imperial meeting, and also formulated the "Outline of Imperial National Policy to Adapt to Changing Situations" in accordance with Tojo's wishes. According to his thinking, such a ridiculous new national policy will definitely be rejected by the emperor, so Tojo and Oikawa (Minister of the Navy) will naturally not be able to mess around.

Today, he invited Kido Koichi to the Prime Minister's Office, just to let Kido exert influence on the emperor to ensure that the "Outline of Imperial National Policy to Adapt to Changing Situations" can be vetoed.

"If His Majesty rejects the "Outline of Imperial National Policy to Adapt to Changing Situations," Kido Koichi looked up at the slender Konoe and asked with a frown, "then do you have any better ideas?"

"Yes!" Konoe Fumimaro nodded and said, "The empire can wait and see the winner on the European battlefield. Once Britain and Germany successfully negotiate a peace, the blockade of Japan by Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union will naturally cease to exist. And then the Soviet Union must fully defend Germany. , they will inevitably compromise with our empire in the east, and the time is completely ripe for advancing westward to the East Asian continent.”

Kido Koichi asked: "So... if Britain and Germany negotiate but fail to reconcile, or the Soviet Union and Germany fight but fail to break up, or the United States and the Soviet Union form an alliance, what will happen to our empire?"

The US-led oil embargo was a very clever move. Japan will either take risks before its oil reserves are exhausted, or it will wait to die after its oil reserves are exhausted. The only possibility for Japan to resolve the crisis is for Germany to turn around and fight against the Soviet Union after negotiating peace with the United Kingdom, and the United States has to continue to stay out of the matter and pursue isolationism. This is almost impossible to happen, and only Konoe Fumimaro can imagine it.

Konoe Fumimaro touched his head, and then said seriously to Kido: "In any case, it is better than breaking off with the United States immediately... If the peace talks between Britain and Germany are delayed, our empire may declare war on Britain and then join the peace talks in order to obtain Malayan oil. If the Soviet Union fails to fight, then our empire may join forces with the United States to fight against the Soviet Union. If the United States and the Soviet Union form an alliance, our empire can also try to join it.”

Kido Koichi thought for a while, and then said to Konoe: "This... is reasonable, but the "Outline of Imperial National Policy to Adapt to Changes in Situations" is after all a decision of the Imperial Council. And it was jointly proposed by the army and navy. This is unacceptable. Dismissed casually..."

According to convention, the Emperor would not reject the decision of the Imperial Conference, and this decision was proposed by the Army and Navy together, representing the common will of the Army and Navy. Even if the Emperor wanted to reject it, he had to have a reasonable reason. Otherwise, those loyal ministers in the Army would not dare to do anything to the Emperor, but they could punish the traitor Kido Yukiichi who was beside the Emperor.

"Then..." Konoe Fumimaro thought for a while and said, "Then can the cabinet resign en masse?"

The five ministers in the Five Ministers Imperial Conference refer to the Prime Minister, the Army Minister, the Navy Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Finance Minister, all of whom are members of the Cabinet. If the Cabinet collapses by itself, then the Emperor can naturally veto the national policy decided by these five ministers - the national policy should be decided by a new Cabinet.

"That's fine, but... who will be the new Prime Minister?" Kido Yukiichi asked again.

As the Minister of the Interior, he now plays the role of the Emperor's adviser and can recommend the Prime Minister - Japan's parliamentary politics has gradually declined after the "February 26 Incident". In 1940, under the promotion of Konoe Fumimaro, who formed the second cabinet, the "Imperial Political Affairs Ekusankai" was established, which absorbed and merged traditional political parties such as the Social Democratic Party, the Seiyukai and the Minjo Party, and actually established a one-party system.

And the highest leader of this "Imperial Political Affairs Ekusankai" was not Konoe Fumimaro, but the Japanese emperor himself! The so-called "Ekusan" means to assist the emperor.

In other words, the emperor has now become the "general secretary" of the only political party in Japan and can decide the candidate for prime minister. And Kido, who is the emperor's trusted confidant, can also influence the candidate for prime minister to a certain extent.

"Tojo!" Konoe Fumimaro thought for a long time and suddenly proposed an unexpected candidate.

"Which Tojo?" Kido Yukiichi asked uncertainly.

"Lieutenant General Tojo Hideki." Konoe replied.

"What?" Kido was stunned, "How can this brainless guy be the prime minister? And Tojo is only a lieutenant general."

Tojo Hideki gave people the impression of being reckless and brainless, and his qualifications were not enough. Generally speaking, the military prime minister of Japan is a general, and the position of lieutenant general as the minister of the army and navy is the limit.

"That's him!" Konoe smiled and said, "Your Majesty will never let Tojo be the prime minister."

"You won't let Tojo be the prime minister?" Kido nodded, "That's true, Tojo is indeed not qualified. But if Tojo can't be the prime minister, who can be the prime minister?"

Konoe smiled, picked up a glass of sake on the low table and drank it all, "Naturally, it's my third cabinet!"

...

"This is..."

Yamamoto Isoroku, who had returned to the flagship Nagato, was holding a few photos and staring blankly. The photos were brought back by Genda Minoru from Germany, and the content on them was all related to the "Dreadnought" weapon.

"Commander, this is a suicide weapon used by the British to defend their homeland!" Genda Minoru said, "The plane with the propeller installed at the back is a 'Dreadnought' bomb plane, which is actually a manned 1,000 kg armor-piercing bomb driven by a liquid-cooled engine! This thing that looks like a torpedo is called a 'Dreadnought' manned torpedo, which is a manned torpedo. This speedboat is called a 'Dreadnought' bomb speedboat..."

"Is this true? This is impossible..." Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head with an expression of disbelief.

"General, this may be true." Onishi Takijiro picked up a photo of a bomb motorboat and looked at it, saying, "Isn't there a Churchill bomb vest in Afghanistan? That was given to the Afghans by the British, and it has caused a lot of trouble for the Soviet Red Army."

The Churchill bomb vest is now a famous brand product. Suicide bomb explosions have occurred in Kabul and Kandahar, and this type of bomb vest was used.

"No wonder the Germans are willing to make peace with Britain," Yamamoto Isoroku frowned, "It turns out that when the British face a crisis on their homeland, they are as brave and fearless as us Japanese..."

"Of course," Genda Minoru, who was a naval attaché in Britain, thought he understood the British, "The British Empire's world hegemony was also fought for with mountains of blood and mountains of corpses. If the Germans dare to invade, they will definitely encounter the most stubborn resistance."

Onishi Takijiro was still looking at the photos one by one, and suddenly held up a photo of a "Dreadnought" bomber and asked, "There is an iron cross on this plane. Could it be a German Dreadnought?"