On April 27, 1937, the news of the armistice talks between the United States and Japan appeared in a conspicuous position in the newspapers and magazines of various countries. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoAlthough the U.S. military has successfully reversed the situation through a series of victories, the morale of the front-line soldiers is high, and there is the covert support of the Western Allies in the rear, but the Japanese army is still alive, and it controls the Philippines, Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands and many other occupation areas, and if the current rhythm continues, the Americans may not be able to win the battle by emptying the treasury, not to mention that the "Berlin Armistice Treaty" has always been a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, once the Western Allies suddenly tighten the shackles, The U.S. military inevitably finds itself in a dilemma.

As for Japan, since the launch of the war of aggression against China, military spending has remained high, the government has run huge deficits year after year, and the country's finances have already been on the verge of collapse. The defeat in the Second Battle of Hawaii, the setback in the Battle of Wake Island, the abuse of the Marshall Islands, and even the surprise attack on the Truk base by the US military, under the successive defeats, the Japanese Navy has lost nearly two-thirds of its capital ships, and it is difficult to confront the imposing US Navy head-on in a short period of time. With Southeast Asia's oil, rubber, and labor resources, as well as a steady export of minerals from China's three eastern provinces and the Korean Peninsula, Japan is looking forward to a real take-off.

Although the majority of the American and Japanese people accepted the armistice talks and hoped that their countries would be able to get out of the quagmire of war as soon as possible, the negotiation process was not smooth. The United States demanded that Japan return the American territories it had occupied during the war and withdraw its troops from Australia and New Zealand, which were predominantly white, but the Japanese military, from a military strategic point of view, resolutely opposed the surrender of the Philippines and did not agree to spit out Australia, which is the size of 20 Japan, from the mouth of the army.

Under the coercion of the military, the Japanese negotiators did not dare to make concessions, while the United States had a military advantage, so they were very dissatisfied with the armistice line, that is, the border line. In the early morning of 4 May, the U.S. Navy and Air Force launched an attack on Nauru and Pariker, the military strongholds of the Micronesinian Islands, immediately after the expiration of the temporary armistice, and the Australian Resistance also cooperated in launching large-scale attacks and sabotage operations, leaving the Japanese army exhausted on many fronts.

Two days later, the Japanese army suffered another heavy blow at Truk, the largest naval base in the South Pacific-- after the first surprise attack by US carrier-based aircraft, the Japanese military top brass believed that the veil of Truk as a secret base had been lifted, and in addition, the US Navy and Air Force were active frequently in the northern part of the Micronesia Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands at the eastern end of the Philippine Sea were considered the direction of the US military's next attack. Reducing the naval forces on the front line to Manila for recuperation, Truk in early May had only about 20 combat ships stationed, the largest of which was the battleship "Fuso", which was still undergoing repairs in the floating dock.

At about 3 o'clock in the morning, a gradually clear roar sounded over the Japanese army's Truk base. A gunboat in charge of the offshore vigilance patrol was the first to spot the anomaly while returning to the port, and when they panicked and raised the alarm, the leading US carrier-based plane had already flown over the islands and reefs and dropped flares with parachutes from the plane.

The beginning of this classic battle is somewhat similar to the Battle of Taranto in the original historical time and space. Reefs such as Truk are not suitable for barrigate balloons, but underwater reefs replace mine nets, making it difficult for torpedo machines to function. After studying the geographical and hydrological conditions of Truk in detail, the US military invested all dive bombers in this attack, and everything that followed was much simpler than the battle of Taranto, which had never been staged in this world: under the guidance of flares, most of the first batch of carrier-based aircraft of the US army successfully found the anchorage location of Japanese ships, and with the light provided by flares, SB2U "Guardian" and Ju-17T "Thunder Hammer" carried out small-angle dive bombing from a height of less than 500 meters, Although theoretically the accuracy and effect of such an attack are not as good as that of a large-angle attack, there are technical limitations to high-altitude dives at night, and the size of the ships at the anchorage are like fish on the board at this moment, and they can only be slaughtered by others.

Although there are certain differences in the structure, performance, and many other aspects of the American-made and German-made aerial bombs carried by them, there are still many commonalities between the two types of war weapons of the same era with similar uses -- the two dive bombers carry bombs at similar speeds when flying, and the aerial bombs mounted for sortie are about 500 kilograms.

The light of the special flares reflected the whole Truk as if it were day, and when looking down from the air, the "Fuso" parked in the floating dock was undoubtedly the most eye-catching target, and more than 20 dive bombers took turns to go down, and a dazzling fire appeared on the deck of the battleship, and the black smoke rising from the air looked like the smoke of blowing out a candle, and then there was a violent explosion at its amidships.

By the time the second wave of American air raid aircraft arrived at Truk in the night sky, most of the Japanese ships had already begun to move, but only one light cruiser and one destroyer had left the anchorage. The searchlights on the shore illuminated the cloudy sky, and all kinds of anti-aircraft guns basically entered a combat state. In the air raid, which lasted more than 10 minutes, the US carrier-based aircraft successfully damaged four Japanese ships, and they also paid the price of five dive bombers.

When the battle report reached the Japanese base camp, the generals who had been clamoring for a little color for the Americans two days ago suddenly turned into frosted eggplants and hung their heads one by one. Although Japan's Combined Fleet was still ready for war, several naval fathers strongly disagreed with the need to send valuable capital ships to retaliate without the protection of carrier-based aircraft.

As a result, the Japanese representative honestly sat down at the negotiating table. The Americans, who had earned enough face on the battlefield, pragmatically gave up their demand for the return of the Philippine Islands, and instead demanded that the Japanese side exchange the islands of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and at the same time hand over Australia and New Zealand to international condominium.

The tug-of-war at the negotiating table lasted from May 9 to May 14, and the Japanese side reluctantly accepted the US demand for the Solomon Islands, basically agreeing to New Zealand's inclusion in the international condominium, but they were still reluctant to give up the vast island of New Guinea and Australia, and they were only willing to compensate the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, which is the same area as the Philippines, to the United States, and proposed a compromise plan for white Australian autonomy, hoping to retain the right to station troops in Australia, and the differences between the two sides were still large.

Just before the expiration of the second armistice, news came from Europe that Soviet Russia had signed a non-aggression pact with the Western allies, and the two ******** opposing camps ended nearly 20 years of confrontation before the United States and Japan concluded an armistice agreement, bringing about a major change in the strategic pattern of Europe and even the world -- the center of gravity of the development of the Western allies will be Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, while the direction of Soviet Russia's expansion space is only Central Asia and the Far East. This bombshell immediately had an impact on the high-level mentality of both the United States and Japan.

After a short day of recuperation, on 16 May, the representatives of the United States and Japan reached an armistice in the port of Morse Bay, southeast of the island of New Guinea, with great efficiency and great sincerity, and the entire island of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were occupied by the United States, New Zealand became an international condominium, and the white inhabitants of Australia could take a ship arranged by the United States to New Zealand or leave Australia before the specified deadline. In addition to this, the two sides also agreed on the exchange of prisoners of war, among other things.

With the signing of the armistice agreement between the United States and Japan, the war in the Pacific region, which had been burning for more than three years, with the exception of China and Australia, finally subsided. There is no doubt that Japan became the number one winner of the Pacific War, they seized from the United States and Britain a large area of land in the rich Philippines, the British East Indies and British India, the area of occupation increased by more than 15 million square kilometers compared with the pre-war period, the population increased by nearly 200 million, and the rapid expansion of resources and labor made them slow down their aggression against China, but the ambition to swallow China always existed. As for Australia, about a million whites will go to the United States or Europe in the coming months, but nearly two million will still decide to stay, some of them regardless of who rules the country, but most will continue to resist the Japanese occupation by various means, and aid from Europe will continue to arrive.

The other protagonist of the Pacific War, the United States, with its rich family background and tenacious spirit, finally pushed the dividing line of power back to the state of February 1934, which was a very remarkable reversal for them. During the war, they paid a heavy price of more than 700,000 casualties and more than 400,000 prisoners in the Pacific theater, and more than one-third of their naval ships and as many as 4,300 warplanes were lost here.

Two months later, under the active mediation of the League of Nations and the joint pressure of the Western Allies and Soviet Russia, the Japanese government reluctantly launched armistice negotiations with China, and the harsh conditions of the Japanese side were simply to defeat the Chinese government in a way that did not fight, and at the critical moment, strategic aid and interest-free loans from Europe gave the Chinese government the confidence to break the boat, and they finally signed the "Wuhan Armistice Agreement" on terms that the Japanese side thought were impossible for China to accept, so that the Japanese army retreated to the north of the Yangtze River. And evacuated from parts of the coastal areas of Guangxi and Guangdong. Peace in the next three years will give the struggling Chinese army a precious respite.

(End of chapter)