"What else can I do if I don't? If the umbrella wants to fully control the five countries in South Asia, it must have enough manpower. The Independence Army now controls the Strait of Malacca, and the Jews can return to Arabia from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, and once the Jews leave us, the Umbrella fighting force will be on the verge of falling apart. Before the Jews left us, the umbrella had to find an adequate source of reserves, which could not be secured without enough immigrants to the south. ”

When it comes to the compromise with the Chongqing government, Zhuo Fei's henchmen are full of resentment, and now that the Independence Army has won the entire five countries of South Asia and half of Malaysia, even if it is turning against the Chongqing government, with the combat effectiveness of the Independence Army, the army of the Nationalist Government may not be the umbrella opponent. Weighing, Zhuo Fei has not paid much attention to these two words before, but now, he has to pay attention to these two words, if he can't face up to the current situation of the umbrella and weigh the relationship with the Chongqing government, these places currently controlled by the independence army will be taken back by the Japanese sooner or later.

Like Zhuo Fei, there are also Japanese cabinet members who need to weigh the pros and cons, Suzuki Kazuo rushed to Kuala Lumpur twice to have a secret meeting with Zhuo Fei, the Japanese cabinet initially hoped that Zhuo Fei could accept Zhao'an, but did not want Zhuo Fei to have no consideration at all, and then the Japanese cabinet had to use interests to persuade Zhuo Fei to temporarily strike the army, but in the hearts of the Japanese cabinet members, it was to wish that Zhuo Fei would fall into the water and die the next day.

Now the name of the umbrella company is very resounding in Southeast Asia, defeating the 5th and 18th divisions one after another, and before Yamashita Fengfumi's Southern Advance Corps has not fully taken the Philippines, the Japanese cabinet does not know what else it can do to the umbrella company. In the Japanese armed forces, the navy and the army have always been at odds, and it is unreasonable for the navy not to scold the army for being abnormal, and for the army not to scold the navy. Although the empire had the opportunity to gain huge benefits from the American Campaign, the Army headquarters did not see it that way, after all, it was the army officers and soldiers who died the most in the American battlefield.

As the Americas campaign continued to expand, the War Department's resentment against the Navy had now reached a whole new level, and if it had not been for the suppression of the War Department, some radical Army officers would have almost been in charge of the Navy Headquarters. In particular, after the War Department learned that the Fifth Division and the Eighteenth Division transferred from the Philippine battlefield to Malaysia were almost completely wiped out, the resentment in the heart of the War Department became more and more intense. The navy only threw away a few old ships, but the army lost two integrated divisions, and the army fought in China for several years, and there was no incident in which the entire division and regiment were annihilated.

Tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers were in vain, and in the face of such a fierce opponent as the Independence Army, the excited War Department planned to continue to send troops into West Malaysia, but the Admiralty retreated at this time. "It's good to maintain stability like this for the time being, leaving some troops in Indonesia as a guard, and the main force continuing to the American continent. At present, the American counterattack is intensifying, the expeditionary force landing in the Americas needs support, and we must also get out of the current predicament diplomatically. The trouble the navy has caused us is enough to shake the foundations of the empire! If we do not seize this opportunity to expand our superiority on the American continent, then the outcome of this war is very likely to be lost! ”

Without the assistance of the Admiralty, the Army would not be able to send troops to West Malaysia from the mainland or from the Chinese battlefield, and even Indonesia, which is close at hand, would need enough ships to send infantry halfway to West Malaysia. The War Office was very dissatisfied with the Admiralty's retreat, and the matter became more and more intense, until even the Japanese Emperor, who had been in the Imperial Palace all day, learned of the matter and had to convene the senior officials of the Admiralty and the War Office to discuss the matter.

"Your Majesty, I have disappointed you, most of the ships currently in the Admiralty's possession are used to deliver supplies and troops to the American continent. The Independence Army's shore fire protection capability is very strong, and the ships left on the mainland of the Imperial Navy do not yet have the ability to fight across the sea, especially the ability to crack the shore fire resistance of the Independence Army. "The 18th Division was completely annihilated in West Malaysia, but the temporary fleet that had been floating off the coast of Singapore was rescued and returned to the Japanese mainland, and the Japanese Admiralty learned of the Independence Army's formidable shore fire and air attack methods.

No one knew that they would be sent to death in vain and rushed to provoke opponents stronger than themselves, even the Japanese Navy, which was extremely arrogant, would not be stupid enough to send a fleet to West Malaysia to send them to die. In the face of the Emperor's inquiry, the only way for the Admiralty to escape was to focus the Emperor's attention on the war on the American continent, after all, maintaining full support for the American continent at present is an important strategy of the Admiralty.

In short, the current situation is that the Admiralty will absolutely not support the continuation of the use of troops against West Malaysia, and the Independence Army that occupies West Malaysia cannot launch an attack on other countries in Southeast Asia because it has no naval power. At least the two sides could have reached a stalemate for the first time, and although such a stalemate would not be a problem, the Admiralty could not think of any other good way to deal with the Independence Army.

"Alright, stand down. Doing its own thing, the Admiralty must ensure the timely supply of supplies on the American battlefield. "The emperor waved his hand to signal the military representatives to leave, and when the latter withdrew, only the emperor and a few high-ranking members of the cabinet were left in the room." Your Majesty, the cost of this war is a bit beyond our imagination, are we too indulgent to those soldiers? The trouble they have caused us is a serious threat to the safety of the Empire. ”

"Let's talk about these things later, let's solve the problems we need to face at the moment, we have too many enemies. Fortunately, the Germans now need us to contain the Americans, and if it were not for the help of the German submarine forces, our combined fleet would not have been able to defeat the American fleet in a row. There was a hint of frustration in the emperor's bland tone, at present, all countries in the world except Germany can show some goodwill to Japan, the rest of the major powers are hostile to Japan, and the emergence of the independence army threatens the layout of the empire in Southeast Asia.

"Your Majesty, the situation may not be so serious, and it goes without saying that the Chinese are our mortal enemies. But the Independence Army is different, they have no core interests in South Asia, there is no reason to pay too much cost, they only expect visible benefits, which the empire can strive for. Fumima Konoe, who was Japan's prime minister at the time, was not pessimistic about this.

"How else to fight for it? We gave them a whole 600 kilograms of gold! Isn't that enough? Or will the Japanese Empire bow to a mere armed force? The Emperor responded excitedly to Konoe Fumima's words, and the 600 kilograms of gold that Kazuo Suzuki brought to West Malaysia were taken from the Emperor's private treasury, and the thought of the 600 kilograms of gold made the Emperor feel distressed.

"Your Majesty, it is not so, we just need to make the Independence Army realize that it is in our best interest to follow the Empire than to fight against them against it. The Independence Army is a mercenary army, they have no territorial claims, they just want to make money, they want to profit from this war. "Konoe Fumima is a genius that is rare in a century in Japan, and he is very keenly aware of the core of the contradiction between the independence army and Japan.

"It seems so easy to you." The Emperor's words at this time were a little unpredictable.

"It's not going to be easy, because it's going to be a long process, it's going to take a very slow time, but we have to do it. At present, the center of gravity of the empire is on the American continent, compared with the barren and chaotic Asia, the American continent is a new direction for the empire's development, especially the industrial infrastructure in the United States, which will greatly increase the industrial capacity of the empire. The reason why the Germans rose again so quickly after the defeat in World War I was nothing more than their industrial base and strength, and if the empire completely digested the industrial facilities and foundations of the United States, I believe that the empire that occupied the American continent would be the next Germany. ”

"So at this time, we must not allow a fire in the backyard, we must cease war with the Chinese, we must show an irresistible interest to persuade the independent army to cease war with us, so as to put all the forces of the empire into the war in the Americas." Only by firmly controlling the expeditionary force's occupation zone on the American continent and successfully digesting the industrial facilities and foundations in the occupied zone will the empire's tomorrow be better. Once the empire is strong enough to control the whole of America, we can go back and annex all of Asia, and at that time, neither the Chinese nor the independent army will be the opponents of the empire. ”

I have to say that Konoe Fumima's words were very incendiary, and both the emperor and the cabinet leaders sitting there were all immersed in the beautiful scenery that Konoe Fumima painted for them. It has always been the dream of the Japanese to have the same industrial strength as the United States, and it is precisely because of this, coupled with the successive victories of the Japanese army on the American continent, that Konoe Fumima and others have misestimated the true strength of Japan.

The Japanese weighed the pros and cons and made the decision to temporarily avoid the Independence Army, which Zhuo Fei did not expect, although this time Zhuo Fei failed to obtain this kind of information from the shadows lurking in Japan, but the intelligence department of the Independence Army has analyzed some abnormalities from the latest movements of the Japanese army. Speculating that Japanese forces in Southeast Asia might not have any intention of clashing with the Independence Army again, Zhuo Fei immediately ordered the temporary fleet concealed in Kuala Lumpur to be used as a troop carrier to transport the 1st Independent Division across the strait to Sumatra.