The Rise of the Third Reich

Near the Swiss capital of canton Bern, in the picturesque town of Hoffen, there is a fairy-tale beautiful castle called Oberhofenburg on the shores of Lake Thun. It once belonged to the Habsburg dynasty, the leader of Europe. After the last world war, the descendants of the declining dynasty sold it to an American consortium. Now it has become the villa of Hopkins, the American ambassador to Switzerland.

The US ambassador who just took office seemed to like it very much. He didn't even go to the embassy very much. He lived in Oberhofenborg all day long. He also delegated all diplomatic activities with the Swiss Confederation to the counselor, while he devoted himself wholeheartedly. to the peace movement.

"Is your country really willing to withdraw all its troops from Australia and New Zealand? Does your country have any plans for the future of Australia and New Zealand?" The person who was asking Hopkins in the elegant summer hall of Oberhofenborg was the Japanese ambassador to the Roman Empire. Yoyo Matsuoka. Now he is the official responsible for Japan's peace activities against the United States, and the peace talks between the United States and Japan were conducted under the auspices of the Roman Empire.

Therefore, accompanying Matsuoka Yoyo to Oberhofenburg today was the Roman Empire’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Galeazzo Ciano, Marquis of Capri. This personable fascist leader is now lucky. Not only has he not been shot (he has been dead for several months on this day in history), but he has also become the political successor of his father-in-law, Tarzan Mussolini. The great leader of the Roman Empire!

Unlike Hitler, who was a little worried about his integration with Russia, Mussolini lived a very comfortable life during this period. The Roman Empire was revived, Julius Caesar became the great emperor (not the emperor, but the Caesar), and he also got a hard-core younger brother in South America - Juan Peron's Argentina.

Peron was now a servant with two masters. Not only were the Germans supporting him, but Mussolini also regarded him as his good student. He also regarded supporting Argentina as a good move for the Roman Empire to intervene in South America.

In addition, the Japanese and Americans are now flattering Mussolini, calling him the most outstanding leader in Europe, and comparing the Roman Empire to the European Community - the European Community is Germany + Britain + France + Russia + etc. There are a lot of countries waiting! The Roman Empire could actually be on an equal footing with the European Community. Could Mussolini be dissatisfied?

For Mussolini, the world war seemed to be about to end victoriously. He did not participate in the Soviet-German war at all (Hessmann did not intend for him to participate), and the war with the United States would soon end with the United States suing for peace and reparations.

As early as when Kennedy was the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Mussolini had cordially met with the U.S. ambassador more than once. Moreover, the magnanimous Roman Caesar also agreed to forgive the Americans... on the condition that the Americans paid tens of millions of dollars in symbolic compensation to the Roman Empire.

In fact, it didn't matter how much money Mussolini had to pay, all he wanted was the false reputation of defeating the United States.

After the Americans agreed to pay reparations, Mussolini did not immediately sign the peace treaty between the United States and Romania. Instead, he continued to bring the United States and Japan together to negotiate peace, because Mussolini felt that the Roman Empire was a responsible and credible power and could not abandon its allies to negotiate peace alone. Instead, we should bring the European Community and Japan together to make peace with the United States.

Therefore, Mussolini was very enthusiastic about brokering peace between the United States and Japan.

However, the U.S.-Japan peace movement has never been smooth, because the United States has deep resentment against Japan and is unwilling to give up control of the Hawaiian Islands and Australia and New Zealand.

Naturally, Japan is unwilling to let the United States regain the Hawaiian Islands, and it does not want the United States to maintain a strong military presence in Australia and New Zealand. Even though the front of the Pacific battlefield is in the Hawaiian Islands, what really makes Japan feel anxious is actually Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand.

Not to mention the B-29 long-range bombers that have just begun to be deployed in large numbers to Australia will pose a great threat to Japan's oil fields in Southeast Asia. The activities of U.S. submarines operating in the Southeast Asia from Australia alone posed a great threat to the Japanese.

As more and more U.S. submarines enter service, the threat from American wolves is becoming ever greater. After all, Japan's national strength is limited, and it is impossible for Japan to follow the example of Britain and the United States in history, which desperately built ships to fight against the enemy's underwater wolves.

Moreover, the Japanese Navy has always attached great importance to decisive battles and neglected escort. The number of destroyers and anti-submarine patrol aircraft was seriously insufficient, and it could not cope with the United States' "submarine sea". In history, the United Kingdom and the United States equipped a total of 1,000 destroyers and escort destroyers in order to fight against the German wolves. There are many submarines, while Germany's total production of submarines in World War II was more than 1,150. The numbers of the two seem to be about the same, but since the loss rate of submarines is much higher than that of anti-submarine destroyers, and the anti-submarine methods of Britain and the United States are not limited to destroyers, what German submarines have to face in the Battle of the Atlantic has always been at a numerical level. The extremely advantageous British and American destroyers also have various aircraft used for anti-submarine warfare.

On the other hand, Japan has built a total of more than 200 destroyers so far, of which only more than 150 are truly useful "first-class destroyers" (the total production as of May 1944). Because there have been losses on the battlefield, the number of destroyers currently retained There are only 118 "first-class destroyers", almost all of which are used in surface fleet operations.

The remaining dozens of obsolete destroyers and a very small number of first-class destroyers need to contend with American submarines that are 10 times their size (at this time and space, the United States has no choice but to take the submarine sea route because it does not have sea control in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans). Therefore, It is simply impossible to win.

And Germany was unable to do anything about it, not only because the European Community Navy's own destroyers were not enough (there were also anti-submarine missions in the Atlantic), but also because the Japanese Navy had no use for the "cheap ships" built in large quantities before the war in the Pacific took a turn for the worse in 1936. D-type destroyers don't like it at all. What the Japanese wanted were super destroyers such as the French "Utopia" class and the "Mogador" class. They actually placed an order with the French shipyard in October 1943 and ordered 5 "Mogador" ships. An improved version of the heavy mine. This is a large propeller of more than 4,000 tons, almost catching up with the light cruiser...

However, the Japanese Navy focused on the decisive battle and ignored the escort route. In May 1944, it seemed that it really paid off.

The Americans were really "frightened", and through the mediation of the Roman Empire, they proposed a peace condition that seemed very attractive.

The United States was willing to withdraw from Australia and New Zealand in exchange for Japan withdrawing from the Hawaiian Islands and signing a peace treaty.

"Australia and New Zealand are both independent countries, how can we arrange their future?" Hopkins' voice was very low and he spoke very slowly, as if he was unwilling to do so.

He smiled bitterly and said to Matsuoka Yoyo in English: "If you can guarantee not to infringe on the sovereignty of Australia and New Zealand, we can promote the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand."

Matsuoka Yosuke spoke very fluent English and spoke directly to Hopkins without the need for an interpreter. He immediately asked: "What does permanent neutrality mean? What kind of guarantee is there? Is the military strength of Australia and New Zealand equal?" Need to be restricted? As a guarantee, can Japan's army and navy be stationed in certain places in Australia and New Zealand?"

When he asked these questions, the excitement in his heart could hardly be suppressed.

If the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand were truly guaranteed, it would mean that these two wealthy countries would be dependent on the protection of the Japanese Empire.

Because many important islands in the South Pacific and the Strait of Malacca are now under the control of Japan, and the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand means that the military forces of the European Community will not be stationed...

Hearing Matsuoka's questioning, Hopkins sneered in his heart: Do you think the Germans will allow Australia and New Zealand to be "permanently neutral"? How naive.

"Permanent neutrality certainly means that, like Switzerland, major countries in the world will sign a treaty to ensure that Australia and New Zealand are permanently neutral. At the same time, all foreign troops are prohibited from entering."

When Hopkins said this, he glanced at the Foreign Minister of the Roman Empire. Marquis Ciano smiled: "The Roman Empire has no objection to this and will respect the choice of Australia and New Zealand."

Marquis Ciano certainly knew that Germany would not let go of Australia and New Zealand. Although Rome supported "permanent neutrality", he could only say some ambiguous words. After all, Japan is far away and they don't care about Germany. Rome is right next to the Germanic barbarians. If they offend the Germans, it might be a barbarian invasion.

However, his words still gave Matsuoka Yosuke a certain amount of encouragement. From his ears, the Roman Empire also supported the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand.

"So..." Matsuoka Yosuke asked again at this time, "Are you ready to make peace with Germany? Mr. Ambassador, you know that our Empire of Japan is a responsible big country. We have signed a treaty with Germany to fight together. You cannot make peace alone.”

"Of course, of course we have to make peace with Germany." Hopkins smiled, "As for the peace conditions, I can tell you now: As long as the Germans are willing to withdraw their troops from Guyana and Brazil, we can recognize New Asbani The Asian Federation (referring to the federation composed of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and southern Brazil), and at the same time suspending intervention in the Soviet-Russian Civil War, I believe that such conditions are enough to exchange for peace.”

That should be enough for Germany! Matsuoka Yosuke breathed out softly. He really couldn't think of any reason for Germany not to accept such peace conditions. However, Japan should still get the Far East of the Soviet Union, and at least should establish a buffer state in the Far East. At the same time, it should also be confirmed that east of Malacca and west of Hawaii are the sphere of influence of the Japanese Empire...