The Rise of the Third Reich

"But if the Hawaiian Islands are not returned, how can the United States agree to a ceasefire?"

Japanese Foreign Minister Masayuki Tani, who attended the base camp meeting, heard Yamamoto Isoroku's inconsistent narrative and couldn't help but interject.

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled bitterly and replied: "Tani-kun, whether to return the Hawaiian Islands is a question between Japan and the United States, and whether to agree to start peace negotiations is a question between Japan and Germany. Now our empire is on the same level as the United States. Can we still turn against Germany?”

The current Japan-Germany Alliance is somewhat similar to the Anglo-American Alliance. The weak are holding on to the strong, and there is no equality at all. Germany has now conquered most of Europe, is on the verge of conquering Britain, has gained resources in North Africa and the Middle East, and has firmly controlled the Atlantic sea power. As if victory was in sight, even the United States and the Soviet Union took the initiative to seek peace. In other words, no matter how bad Germany is, it will still have "three parts of the world." It is hard to say that it will be a thousand-year empire, but it is certain that it will be prosperous for a hundred years.

Japan's situation is relatively more dangerous. American "dumpling ships" and aircraft are about to attack. If Germany and the United States negotiate a separate peace, then the great strength of American industry will fall on Japan... There is no need to transfuse blood for the European battlefield. The United States has 100 million tons of steel, 200 million tons of oil, and hundreds of thousands of tons of oil. Aluminum and more than 200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity are all used to deal with Japan. How can Japan not be subjugated?

Yamamoto Isoroku glanced at the several minor officers of the navy and army present, and then said in a very serious tone: "The empire seems to be in a good situation now, but in fact it is full of crises. If it loses the support of Germany again, it will inevitably... There is danger of national destruction!”

Tojo Hideki already understood what the great hero Yamamoto meant. The Hawaiian Islands could not be handed over, but the face of the German Big Brother must be given. In other words, negotiations with the Americans can begin, but whether they can be concluded is a matter for the future.

"So will Australia still fight?" Gen. Sugiyama, the army's great red deer, asked.

Yamamoto and Tojo looked at each other, but neither answered. It was the wish of the living god to attack Australia, but now the German big brother says we can't attack it... This is going to be difficult. As for difficult things, of course we can only put them on hold and pretend they don't exist.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister," Yamamoto Isoroku thought for a while, and did not directly answer the idiot Yuan. Instead, he said to Tojo Hideki, "it is better to hold a meeting of the leaders of the Axis powers and discuss the war with Hitler and Hessmann in person. "

Yamamoto actually meant to ask Hideki Tojo to ask for benefits from Hitler and Hessmann. The Japanese brother was so good and agreed to make peace. Shouldn't the German brother give him some benefits?

Tojo understood what Yamamoto meant, so he asked: "What does the navy need?"

"The most urgent need is of course aviation technology!" Isoroku Yamamoto frowned and said, "According to intelligence, the United States currently has three new types of fighter jets with superior performance that have been put into use, two of which are carrier-based fighters and one is a heavy fighter. . If the empire cannot come up with new aircraft to fight against it, the future war situation will definitely be very difficult. "

Tojo shook his head and said, "But the performance of several fighter jets provided by Germany is not satisfactory."

"That's a problem of design," Yamamoto Isoroku said. "Germany still has many advantages in key technologies such as engines and airborne electrical detection equipment. If we can cooperate in development, the Seventeenth Test Ship Battle, P1Y (Galaxy) Bomber), N40 project (Lianshan bomber) and Ki84 project progress should be greatly accelerated. If the above-mentioned aircraft can be completed before the U.S. counterattack arrives, we will be able to secure the absolute defense circle.”

Now Yamamoto Isoroku's idea for the decisive battle in the Pacific is to advance south and defend east. To advance south, of course, is to attack Australia, in order to prevent the United States from using Australia as a springboard to counterattack. To defend the east is to defend Hawaii.

Yamamoto's idea of ​​​​defending Hawaii is "gradual volley." Yamamoto's plan was to first use submarines, shore-based aviation, and aircraft carrier mobile forces to attack the U.S. fleet one after another to weaken its strength, and then conduct a decisive battle with capital ships to eliminate the main force of the Pacific Fleet, forcing the United States to abandon its plan to regain Hawaii and reach a peace agreement with Japan.

According to Yamamoto Isoroku, shore-based aviation is another top priority in implementing "progressive interception"! To establish a strong shore-based aviation force, Japan must complete projects such as P1Y, N40 and Ki84 as soon as possible.

If possible, Yamamoto Isoroku also hopes to cooperate with Germany to develop a local fighter (actually an airport guardian) for air defense operations in the Hawaiian Islands.

…

When Japan's request for a leaders' meeting reached Berlin, Hersmann was on vacation in Geneva, Switzerland, with Natalie Lesinskaya. It's not that the two of them have any special relationship, but that they are going to meet a special friend in Geneva - Mrs. Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador to Switzerland.

Kollontai was Natalie's old boss and Hessmann's old friend. She was appointed ambassador to Switzerland. Of course, Stalin wanted to negotiate peace through Hessmann's route. Hitler knew this well, so he let Hessmann take charge of the matter.

The meeting place was the artistic and very quiet Suez Palace on the shores of Lake Geneva - a prize given to Hersmann by the late Kaiser Wilhelm II in recognition of his great victories in the Mediterranean.

"What? Alexandra, you said Yakov might have been captured by our people?"

As soon as the talks began, Hersman heard a bit of news from Kollontai that surprised him - Stalin's eldest son Yakov might have been captured by the Germans during the Battle of Belarus.

Is this Yakov destined to be a prisoner? Hessman thought to himself, the German army has not captured many Red Army prisoners of war, so why is Yakov among them?

"It's possible that he was sacrificed," Kollontai saw Hessmann's reaction and knew that the Germans did not know that they had captured or killed Stalin's son. "But we hope to be sure that if Yakov is captured but his identity is not exposed..."

Trying to figure out Yakov's life and death, and if he is still alive, trying to secretly get him back to the Soviet Union is a task that Berea personally told him.

Hersman understood what Kollontai meant and immediately promised: "Alexandra, please tell Stalin that if Yakov is really here with us, then he is our guest. When will he return to the Soviet Union?" Okay. We won’t make this public, let alone use Yakov to blackmail him.”

"Great, thank you so much." Kollontai smiled gratefully at Hersman and said, "If Yakov can secretly return to the Soviet Union, we will immediately release a group of German prisoners of war in return. This Of course it was done confidentially... Confidentiality is the most important thing.”

Hessmann was being polite in not making the request. Mrs. Kollontai is also an "old diplomat" and naturally knows how to express it - if Yakov is really in the hands of the Germans, then he is a valuable bargaining chip and wants secrets. It is impossible to get the land back to the Soviet Union without paying any price.

"I understand that this matter must be kept secret," Hessman glanced at Natalie, "I let Natalie be personally responsible."

In fact, Yakov is not the most important, confidentiality is the most important! With confidentiality, the deal can be reached, but if the matter is revealed, then Yakov can only be regarded as a martyr.

"Then I'm relieved." As Kollontai spoke, he took out a document tape and handed it to Natalie, who was sitting next to Hessman.

Inside the bag were photos of Yakov, the number of the unit he was in before he was captured, the positions he held, and the location where he disappeared. There were also photos and brief introductions of the comrades who disappeared with Yakov - if these people were in the German In the prisoner of war camp, they also knew that Yakov was captured, so they would have to trouble Natalie to clean it up!

Regarding Yakov's issue, the two sides did not have any major differences. Because Hessmann knew that Stalin was a man who disowned all his relatives, and his desire to get his son back was not out of family affection, but because he did not want to be a family member of the anti-G revolution.

However, the "Yakov issue" is just a small issue before the formal negotiations begin. Although easily reaching an agreement on this issue is a good start, it does not mean that the peace talks will have a satisfactory result.

Because there are huge differences between Soviet Union and Germany on the conditions for peace negotiations!

"Ukraine!? Ludwig, you want Ukraine? This is too much, we absolutely cannot agree to it!"

Upon hearing Hersman's request to cede Ukraine, Mrs. Kollontai immediately realized that there were differences that were difficult to bridge.

"The Soviet Union cannot lose Ukraine, just like Germany cannot lose the Rhineland. Without Ukraine, the Soviet Union will no longer be a great country!" Kollontai said to Hessmann with great excitement.

What she said is true! Although the Soviet Union has a vast territory and abundant resources, most of its areas are inland with high temperatures and inaccessible transportation. Such a geographical location makes most areas of the Soviet Union actually unsuitable for the development of industrialization - industrialization cannot be forcibly developed without costs, and transportation costs are an important part of industrial costs. Therefore, industrial resources can only exert huge value when they are located in coastal or river areas with convenient transportation.

For example, the coal and iron ore resources in Germany's Rhine region have brought low-cost advantages to Germany's heavy industry.

In the vast land of the Soviet Union, only the Caucasus oil-producing areas and resource-rich Ukraine were areas with relatively low industrialization costs. Ukraine, in particular, is rich in resources and land, and the climate is not too cold (it is difficult to build in areas that are too cold). The transportation is extremely convenient, with convenient Dnieper River water transportation and Black Sea shipping.

If the Soviet Union loses Ukraine, the Soviet industry will suffer a heavy blow and it will be difficult to compete with Germany in the future. And if Germany gets Ukraine, it will be equivalent to adding another Rhineland! It won't be long before Germany becomes a real superpower comparable to the United States in terms of scale of industrial production.