The Rise of the Third Reich

The "Internal EU Meeting" on June 27 was successful as expected. All participating countries agreed to join the European Customs Union (otherwise they would not have come), and after the meeting, a "Geneva Solidarity Declaration" was issued, officially announcing the formation of the "European Customs Union".

On the second day of the "Internal EU Meeting", the League of Nations held a Council meeting (equivalent to the Security Council meeting) to discuss the resolution jointly submitted by Germany, France, Italy and the Soviet Union to abolish the "Versailles Treaty", "Saint-Germain Treaty", "Sevres Treaty", "Lausanne Treaty", "Treaty of Trianon" and "Bessarabia Treaty".

Since the British delegation did not attend the meeting (because it opposed the Pétain government representing France, the British delegation left Switzerland before the Geneva Peace Conference), the Council of the League of Nations unanimously passed the resolution to "abolish the treaty".

On the day the "Abolition Resolution" was passed, the US delegation issued a strongly worded statement, claiming that the abolition of the "Treaty of Trianon" was a serious violation of international law and an invalid resolution, and the United States firmly opposed it!

Moreover, the US government believed that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia could not be violated. Any attempt to separate the Croatian and Slovenian provinces from Yugoslavia was a violation of international law. The US government firmly opposed it and lodged a strong protest! After the protest, the US delegation left in anger - in fact, the delegation was disbanded. Hopkins returned to the United States to help Roosevelt manipulate the election; Secretary of State Hull went to Britain to discuss countermeasures with Churchill; and Donovan visited Yugoslavia in the name of the US President's special envoy and met with the young and vigorous underage King Peter II to stir up trouble. On the other side of Geneva, diplomatic mediation from all sides was still intensifying. For Germany, the purpose of initiating the Geneva Peace Conference, in addition to abolishing several treaties that had long been ineffective and "delivering" the European Community, was to promote the signing of a non-aggression treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union, and to pull Japan into the "Steel Alliance" (referring to the German-Italian Alliance). On June 28, the same day the US delegation left Geneva. At the White Crane Hotel, where the US and Soviet representatives had previously met secretly, Adolf Hitler called together the main members of the Italian and Japanese delegations.

In a large room with a world map, a long table and wooden chairs with gorgeous patterns. Hessmann, wearing a neat marshal's uniform, held a baton in his hand and drew a circle in Southeast Asia on the map.

Then he said: "Here, here, and here, the place we Europeans call the Indochina Peninsula and the Spice Islands, has a land area of ​​about 4.57 million square kilometers, which is almost half the size of Europe, and is rich in resources, including oil, rubber, rice, iron ore, coal and various non-ferrous metals. All the resources that Japan needs to become a world empire are here! Compared to the so-called "Manchurian lifeline" in Japan, this place is not only richer and more vast, but also almost undefended except for the Philippines. The European powers that own these areas were defeated by our German Empire in May this year." Hersman looked at the somewhat rat-like Matsuoka Yosuke and said: "You don't need a strong army to conquer these areas, because there are few Europeans who have set up defenses there, and the local natives They have long been ready to overthrow the colonial rule of Europeans and welcome you yellow brothers.

In the face of such a historical opportunity, do you Japanese still need to worry about the direction of national expansion? Do you understand what strategy is? "Hersman almost scolded: "Do you Japanese have the ability to build a naval fleet that can deter the United States and build an army that can defeat the Soviet Union and their allies in East Asia? This is something that we in Germany dare not imagine. How dare you Japanese dream of such a dream? How much steel, oil, aluminum, and copper do you have? "

After being scolded by Hersman, Matsuoka Yosuke and German fan Oshima Hiroshi were embarrassed-in fact, they know the United States and Europe, and they know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth. Japan's national strength is certainly stronger than their old neighbors in East Asia, but compared with Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States, it is not worth mentioning at all.

Relying on such a not worth mentioning national strength to build the world's third (self-proclaimed) navy is already the limit, and wanting to build an army that can confront the Soviet Red Army is completely a dream. The frictions and subsequent tense confrontations that occurred during the dramatic changes in East Asia in 1939 have already explained the problem (in this time and space, because Hitler was "Dear Comrade Hitler", the Soviet Union could put more power in the Far East).

Moreover, the Polish Campaign and the Western Front Campaign that took place later also made the Japanese Army see its own shortcomings. Their weapons and equipment and combat command capabilities were inferior to those of the Polish Army, and only the quality of individual soldiers was higher. Those Type A divisions that made the Japanese Army proud were just the most ordinary infantry divisions in Europe. If they really had to fight a war with the Soviet Union to decide the fate of the country, they would definitely die ugly.

Seeing that the Japanese were silent, Hessman raised his voice and said: "You can only choose one direction of expansion in Southeast Asia and East Asia! If you want to expand in East Asia, then you should not join the Iron Alliance. , go directly to Washington and sell the combined fleet for American tanks and trucks, but don’t expect the United States to ally with you, because they don’t dare to confront us, Germany, and the Soviet Union at the same time.”

Matsuoka Yosuke and Oshima Hiro looked at each other. Although what Hersman said was unpleasant, it was all true. Britain and the United States have been encouraging Japan to move westward and northward these days. They can talk about oil, steel, aircraft, and artillery, but they are unwilling to relent on the issue of alliance.

Doesn’t this mean that Britain and the United States are also afraid of the Soviet Union? Britain and the United States are both afraid...why isn't Japan afraid?

"Your Excellency, Marshal, the Five Prime Ministers Council of our empire has made a decision, confirming that going south is the first national policy." Matsuoka Yosuke saw that Hessman had finished speaking, and quickly informed him of Japan's latest national policy changes.

First national policy? Hessman thought to himself, then there is a second national policy? Do these Japanese devils understand the principle of concentrating troops in a war?

Hersmann exchanged glances with Hitler and Italian leader Mussolini, and saw both men nodding. So he said: "Since going south is your first national policy, and you are also willing to join the Iron Alliance and fight with Germany and Italy. Then we have no reason to refuse. We will also support you in the "Japan-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact" fight for the maximum rights and interests on the issue.”

His tone suddenly became serious, and he said to the two Japanese representatives: "But there is one more thing that needs to be agreed in advance. Before the start of major military operations by Germany, Japan, and Italy in the future, a joint chiefs of staff meeting of the three countries must be convened for communication and coordination. Operations can only be carried out after obtaining the consent of the other two countries. If joint operations are involved, a joint command should be established for unified command... This agreement will be included in the "Germany-Japan-Italy Steel Alliance Treaty". No problem with that?"

Hirschman actually did this for the benefit of the Japanese. Historically, Japan's strategy in World War II was quite bad. Whether it was on the Chinese battlefield or other battlefields, it was basically making "terrible strategic mistakes." Even the most praised "Pearl Harbor Incident" was actually a huge strategic mistake - not that the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the war against the United States were necessarily wrong.

But the strategic goal of launching this crazy sneak attack was completely wrong-the Japanese launched the war not to win the war, but to seize territory. This is not to say that turf grabbing should not be done, but that turf grabbing should serve the purpose of winning the war.

When Japan launched the surprise attack, they did not seriously consider how to defeat the United States. They only planned to have absolute freedom of action within 6 months. In fact, they have indeed had absolute superiority at sea for a long time. Neither the U.S. Pacific Fleet nor the British navy in India are opponents of the Japanese navy.

But Japan has never considered using such advantages to win the war. In fact, there is a route to win the war!

If not for the failed Battle of Midway, they could have maintained their maritime superiority for at least 12 months. Such a long time is enough for the Japanese to organize a huge expeditionary force to liberate India, and then join forces with Germany in the Middle East.

In this way, Japan obtained India's rich supplies (India can lead the magical country of the Road Party everywhere), and also dealt a heavy blow to the United Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms Alliance of the United States, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It could also help Germany solve the two major bottlenecks of oil and non-ferrous metals. At the same time, It can also obtain advanced technology and weapons and equipment from Germany to deal with the U.S. counterattack.

This should be the only correct route for Japan to achieve victory after the Pearl Harbor incident, but Japan's expansion in the south stopped in Myanmar. The reason why Japan did not enter India, the key point of the British Empire, was actually because of insufficient troops!

In the early days of the Pacific War, the ground forces of the Japanese Southern Army responsible for the southward march had only 12 divisions and 3 brigades (two of which were mixed brigades) plus 1 mixed regiment and 1 detachment.

After occupying the entire Southeast Asia, the Japanese could no longer mobilize enough troops to attack India. At the same time, they also deployed one million and hundreds of thousands of troops on the East Asian continent to fight China or to defend against the Soviet Union, which would not attack at all...

That's why Hersman proposed the organization of a "Trilateral Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting" at the Geneva meeting.