"I think there is still room for discussion in the southward expansion plan, after all, the situation has changed." Hideki Tojo finished speaking and pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He didn't care what the staff officers at the General Staff Headquarters thought, and Tojo, as the Minister of War, always had a personal opinion on the southward expansion.

The idea of southward expansion was first proposed by some officers of the Navy, and the most popular idea of the Army at the time was to advance northward to attack the vast Soviet-occupied islands of Siberia and Sakhalin, which were rich in minerals and oil resources that Japan desperately needed.

But in this case, there will be nothing to do with the navy in this war, and all they can do is send some destroyers to escort the army transport fleet or something.

The Pacific Fleet of the Soviet Red Navy is weak and is not an opponent of the Combined Fleet at all, so once the Northern War breaks out, as in the early days of the Russo-Japanese War, all strategic resources will be tilted towards the army, and in order to ensure that the army wins on the battlefield, it may even be necessary to divide the resources under the navy's share, which the octopuses absolutely cannot tolerate.

The naval officers decided to fight each other and create a war in which the navy was the protagonist, and it was under this circumstance that the plan to expand southward was introduced. This plan was originally intended to stumble the Army, and even the formulators never thought that it would actually be passed. Because everyone knew what the consequences of this plan would be, Japan would not only have to go to war with the three European powers, but also possibly against the powerful United States.

There are a large number of high-ranking officers in the Japanese Navy who have served as military attachés in Britain and the United States, and they have really seen the world with their eyes, and they know very well what kind of country the United States is, and they also understand that Britain, France, and the Netherlands are not tomatoes that can be rubbed at will.

It was the navy that proposed the southward expansion, and the strongest opposition also came from the navy, and there were actually factional struggles within the Japanese navy, which were no less brutal than the battles with the army. In the early days, there was a strangulation between Satsuma and Nagasu and the pro-shogunate faction within the Japanese navy, and in the later period, because of the difference in ideas, there was also a division between the fleet faction and the treaty faction, and now there are pro-British and American factions and pro-German factions.

There was no shortage of clear-minded and intelligent men in the Japanese Navy, who knew very well that advancing south would lead to a war that would destroy the country. The United States is 100 times stronger than Japan, and Japan is only a fraction of its opponent in terms of shipbuilding, aircraft, automobiles, steel, and oil.

Moreover, Japan's current war with China is almost barely sustained by the oil and steel provided by the United States, and once Japan loses these sources of materials, its domestic reserves will only last for half a year. Therefore, the Japanese naval top brass generally lacked the confidence to fight the United States, and they would never agree to venture south unless absolutely necessary.

However, the situation is unpredictable, and the Japanese have failed again and again. The original German-Italian-Japanese Triple Alliance was well negotiated, but the navy was reluctant to nod its head for fear of damaging Japan-US relations, and as a result, the Germans signed the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact" with the Soviet Union when they turned around, and poured cold water on the head of the Japanese Army, which was determined to advance northward.

Then Germany launched a war in Europe, directly confronted Britain, France and the Netherlands, and then took Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands in succession, and the troops pointed directly at the Seine, seeing that France was about to finish.

Suddenly, calls for an alliance with Germany rose again in Japan, and for the first time, the Japanese cabinet put the plan for southward expansion on the agenda.

The plan of the Japanese was to form a military alliance with Germany and divide the sphere of influence with Germany in advance, so that when Japan took over the Anglo-French-Dutch colonies in Asia, Germany would have no reason to interfere.

Historically, Japan had successfully used Germany, and Hitler did not think much about it at the time, because Asia was too far away for Germany, and he really needed a political ally to contain the Soviet Union in the Far East.

However, in this time and space, Germany did not have an alliance with Japan, and Japan's plan to block German influence from Asia had already failed in the first place. What makes Japan even more troublesome is that a bunch of European powers have all been subdued by Germany, and now they have become vassals of Germany.

It stands to reason that Japan should have abandoned this unrealistic plan to advance southward a long time ago, but the Japanese military's thinking is always a little different from that of ordinary people. The Japanese thought that Germany, although strong, was mainly on land, and that it was located far away in Europe and lacked the naval power to confront Japan. If Japan finds an opportunity to cook raw rice before Germany reacts, the Germans will most likely compromise with Japan.

It is a big deal that the time will give Germany some privileges as compensation, and at the same time try not to infringe on German interests in Asia, and I believe that the Führer will be sympathetic to the plight of the Imperial State.

Of course, there must be a starting point for all this, that is, the relationship between Germany and Japan must at least reach a level of intimacy, and at least ensure that Germany relaxes its vigilance against Japan, so that when Japan launches an East Asian strategy, it can quickly and steal the bells and take the South Asian countries into its hands in one fell swoop.

At the same time, Japan is also considering whether it can join the new economic system established by Germany in Europe, at a time when Japan has been isolated from the Western world for a long time, and has few normal trading partners except for a few Latin American countries. At that time, Japan had the crown of the cottage kingdom on its head, and most of the goods were copies of European and American products, coupled with the lack of production raw materials, almost all materials needed to be imported from abroad, and they could only rely on cheap labor to save costs, but the problem was that the labor in the West was also cheap at that time, and the technology was generally better than that of the Japanese, whether it was quality or price, the Japanese goods at that time were not competitive.

Japan's production technology is still very backward, can only manufacture low-quality cheap daily necessities, relying on quantity to hit the Chinese market, but after the outbreak of the war, the Chinese market has also weakened, and the country's consumption is very limited, so at this time, Japan except for the military industry, almost all industries have regressed, relying on the Asian market has been difficult to create any profits.

Japan's savings for many years are almost sucked up by the United States, and it can only rely on printing a large amount of money to stabilize the market, if Japan should have been inflation a long time ago, but Japan has implemented a rationing system for food and daily necessities in the country, and at the same time the government encourages citizens to use their daily income to buy patriotic bonds, so those overissued coins have turned around and returned to the bank books. The people are holding a pile of bonds, barely making ends meet, there is not much spare money in the market, daily necessities are sufficient, the government's credit is not bankrupt, and the people still have hope for winning the war.

Japan's economy has already experienced a marked recession, especially after Germany began to transfuse blood to Chongqing, which has dealt a heavy psychological blow to the Japanese government and the opposition, and the end of the war has become far away. It is obviously unacceptable to expect that Japan will have to boil its last drop of blood in a long war of attrition.

"The only hope of the empire is the success of the southward expansion plan, and the prerequisite for the success of the southward expansion plan is that it must achieve German-Japanese goodwill. We want to make sure that the Empire has a chance to fight before the situation continues to deteriorate. At the moment, it seems that the opportunity lies not in the south, but in the north.

The "Outline for Handling the Latest Current Situation" should be revised, and all these issues should be taken into account. However, the overall strategy cannot be changed, and since we have already started, we cannot go back, and I hope that you will deeply understand this and implement it. Konoe Fumiro glanced at Tojo, who nodded respectfully in agreement.

"In order to convince the country of the sincerity of the empire, we can sign a package of trade agreements with the country, and at the same time allow Japan's own products to enter the European market, and we can supply the country with our agricultural products, such as soybeans and raw silk. Independent countries and Europe need labor, and they can get it from our occupied areas, such as China, Manchuria, and Korea, and they can have as many laborers as they want.

We can snatch this deal from Chongqing, we can offer better terms than Chongqing, and if they ask for it, even if they need to transfer naval warships to transport these laborers to Europe, we can agree to it.

What Chongqing has, Japan has all, and what Chongqing does not have, Japan also has. Whatever the people of the independent country need, they can all be discussed. It is imperative that the people of the Independence Kingdom feel the goodwill and sincerity of the Great Japanese Empire.

Of course, we can also buy powerful weapons from the country, such as their chariots and heavy artillery, as well as advanced fighter jets.

The fighter planes of the independent air force easily shot down the navy's latest fighter plane over Chongqing, and this really has to make people feel worried, where the navy spends its money. Is it necessary to let His Majesty's loyal and brave soldiers drive such inferior goods to fight against the powerful Americans, and the navy has not come up with a reasonable explanation until now, and this matter must be examined, why in the face of the fighter planes of the independent country, the fighter planes that the navy has spent a lot of money on developing are so vulnerable, and whether there is fraud in it. As he spoke, Konoe Fumiro suddenly digressed.

"We are discussing this issue with the joint R&D department, because there are only three surviving reports from pilots, and it is not yet possible to come up with accurate conclusions." Cold sweat broke out on the head of the Admiralty, especially when he noticed that Hirohito's eyes were also glancing towards him, and the whole person suddenly became half shorter.

"If the Independence People are willing to sell us such planes, will you be able to find the answer?"

"If the people of the country are willing to give detailed information."

"It's so stupid to say such a thing, what do you think of a lone countryman." Tojo pouted and said cool words, speaking of the results of the air battle in Chongqing, the happiest laugh is the army, the navy has been boasting that the latest fighter jets have been wiped out, not even a single one has been able to escape back.

"If Japan and independence return to the level of goodwill that they had just six months ago, it would not be impossible, and we had already acquired a lot of advanced technology from the two countries. If diplomacy succeeds, we might be able to get that kind of fighter jet. If it doesn't work, we can also use our technology to exchange with Germany, who lack naval shipbuilding..."Kagawa took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"They have acquired the shipbuilding technology of the British, and they should have run ahead of us in this regard." Tojo interrupted the Minister of the Navy.

"This.... As long as diplomacy is successful, other ways can always be found. The Admiralty Lord froze, realizing that he didn't seem to have to whisper to Tojo, and he couldn't help but raise his voice again.

"Okay, since everyone has no objection to my proposal, then let's vote in front of the emperor, and if you agree, please raise your hand." Konoe Fumiro's speech interrupted the customary bickering of the army and navy, and the prime minister was ready to strike while the iron was hot to reach a resolution.

There was no surprise, everyone raised their hands in agreement, and after Hirohito's final approval, Japan's policy toward Germany was decided at the Imperial Council.

PS: Chapter 2 is presented, thank you for your support. (To be continued.) )