"But how can the United States agree to an armistice without returning the Hawaiian Islands?"

Japanese Foreign Minister Masayuki Tani, who was attending the base camp meeting, couldn't help but interject when he heard Yamamoto Isoroku's inconsistent account. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Yamamoto Fifty-six smiled bitterly and replied, "Tani-kun, whether or not to return the Hawaiian Islands is an issue between Japan and the United States, and whether or not to agree to start peace talks is a matter between Japan and Germany. Now that our empire is on the same page as the United States, can it still turn against Germany? ”

The current Japan-Germany alliance is somewhat similar to the Anglo-American alliance, in that the weak are holding the thighs of the strong, and there is no equality at all. Germany now has a flat stake over most of Europe, sees it wants to take Britain, has access to North Africa and the Middle East, and has a firm grip on Atlantic sea power. It was as if victory was in sight, and even the United States and the Soviet Union took the initiative to sue for peace. That is to say, no matter how poor Germany is, there are "three points of the world", it is difficult to say that the thousand-year empire is not good, and the century-old prosperity is certain.

Japan's situation is much more dangerous, and the US "dumpling ships" and planes are about to be attacked. If Germany and the United States negotiate a separate peace, then the great strength of American industry will be smashed on Japan...... Without the need to transfuse blood for the European battlefield, the United States will use 100 million tons of steel, 200 million tons of oil, hundreds of thousands of tons of aluminum, and more than 200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to deal with Japan.

Yamamoto Isoroku glanced at the several vice-lieutenants of the navy and army present, and then said in a very serious tone: "The empire seems to be beautiful now, but in fact it is full of crises, and if it loses the support of Germany again, it will inevitably lead to the destruction of the country!" ”

Hideki Tojo already understood what 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, and whether they can be negotiated or not is a matter for later.

"So is Australia still fighting?" Army Commander Sugiyama asked after him.

Yamamoto and Tojo looked at each other and didn't answer. Attacking Australia was the intention of the living god, and now the German big brother says that he can't fight it...... It's a tough one. And the difficult thing, of course, can only be put on hold, when it does not exist.

"Your Excellency," Yamamoto Fifty-six thought for a moment, and instead of answering the fool Moto, he said to Hideki Tojo, "it is better to hold a meeting of the leaders of the Axis powers, and discuss the war and the question with Hitler and Hersmann face to face, and at the same time tell the truth about the current predicament of the Reich...... I believe that Germany does not want to see the United States dominate the Pacific region either. ”

Yamamoto's meaning was actually to ask Hideki Tojo to ask Hitler and Hersmann for favors - the Japanese brother was so well-behaved and agreed to make peace, shouldn't the German brother give some benefits?

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

"The most urgently needed is, of course, aviation technology!" Yamamoto raised his eyebrows and said, "According to intelligence, the United States currently has three new fighters with superior performance in use, two of which are carrier-based fighters and one is a heavy fighter. If the empire cannot come up with new aircraft to confront it, the future war situation will inevitably be very difficult. ”

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

"It's a matter of design," says Yamamoto, "and Germany has a lot of advantages in terms of key technologies such as engines and airborne electric detection equipment." If they can be developed together, the progress of the Seventeen Test Ship Battle, the P1Y (Galaxy Bomber), the N40 project (the Lianshan bomber) and the Ki84 project should be greatly accelerated. If the above-mentioned models can be completed before the arrival of the US counteroffensive, it will be possible to guard the absolute defense circle. ”

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

Yamamoto's approach to Hawaii, on the other hand, was a "gradual volley." Yamamoto's plan was to first attack the US fleet one by one with submarines, shore-based air forces, and aircraft carrier mobile units to weaken its strength, and finally to carry out a decisive battle with the capital ships to destroy the main force of the Pacific Fleet, forcing the United States to abandon its plan to recover Hawaii and reach a peace agreement with Japan.

In Yamamoto's view, shore-based aviation is again the most important task in carrying out "gradual interceptions"! And in order to build a strong shore-based air force, Japan must complete projects such as the P1Y, N40 and Ki84 as soon as possible.

If possible, Yamamoto would also like to work with Germany to develop a local fighter (effectively an airfield guardian) for air defense operations in the Hawaiian Islands.

……

When the Japanese demand for a meeting reached Berlin, Hersmann was working with Natalie. Lesinskaya vacationed together in Geneva, Switzerland. It was not that the two of them had any special relationship, but that they were going to meet a special friend in Geneva, Mrs. Kollentai, the Soviet ambassador to Switzerland.

Colontai, who had been Natalie's old boss and an old friend of Hersmann's, was appointed ambassador to Switzerland, of course, because Stalin wanted to negotiate peace on Hersmann's doorstep. And Hitler also knew it, so he pushed the boat and let Hersmann take charge of the matter.

The meeting place is the artsy and secluded Suez Palace on the shores of Lake Geneva – a prize given to Hersmann by the late Kaiser Wilhelm II for his great victories in the Mediterranean.

"What? Alexandra, you say that it is possible that Yakov was caught by our people? ”

At the very beginning of the talks, Hersmann received a somewhat surprising news from Kollontai that Stalin's eldest son, Yakov, might have been captured by the Germans during the Belarusian campaign.

Wasn't this Yakovmo destined to be a prisoner? Hersman thought to himself, the current German army has not captured many Red Army prisoners of war, why is there a Yakov among them?

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

Trying to find out whether Yakov was alive or dead, and if he was still alive, trying to secretly get back to the Soviet Union was a task that Beria personally confessed.

Hersman understood what Kollentai meant, and immediately promised: "Alexandra, please tell Stalin that if Yakov is really with us, then he is our guest, and he can return to the Soviet Union whenever he wants." We will not make this public, and we will not use Yakov to blackmail anything. ”

"Great, thank you so much." Kollentai smiled gratefully at Hersman and said, "If Yakov can secretly return to the Soviet Union, we will also release a group of German prisoners of war in return, and this will of course be done in secrecy...... Confidentiality is paramount. ”

Hersmann was polite when he did not make a request, and Mrs. Kollentai was also an "old diplomat", so she naturally knew what to say - if Yakov was really in the hands of the Germans, then he was a valuable bargaining chip, and it was impossible to secretly get back the Soviet Union at no cost.

"I understand that this matter must be kept secret," Hersman said, glancing at Natalie, "and I'll let Natalie take care of it herself." ”

In fact, Yakov is not the most important, secrecy is the most important! In secrecy, a deal can be made, but if things get out, then Yakov will have to be a martyr.

"Then I'll be relieved." As he spoke, Kollontai took out a file tape and handed it to Natalie, who was sitting next to Hersman.

The bag contained photographs of Yakov and the number of the unit he was in before he was captured, his position, and the location of his disappearance, as well as photographs and descriptions of his comrades who disappeared with Yakov - if these people knew that Yakov was captured in the German prisoner of war camp, then Natalie would have to trouble Natalie to try to clean it up!

On the Yakov issue, the two sides did not have any major differences. Because Hersman knew that Stalin was a person who did not recognize his six relatives, he wanted to get his son back not out of family affection, but because he did not want to be an anti-gimmick.

However, the "Yakov issue" is only a small issue before the start of formal negotiations, and while easy agreement on this issue is a good start, it does not mean that the peace talks will have a satisfactory outcome.

Because there are huge differences between the Soviet Union and Germany on the terms of peace negotiations!

"Ukraine!? Ludwig, you guys want Ukraine? This is too much, we must not say yes! ”

Hearing Hersman's request for the secession of Ukraine, Mrs. Kollontai immediately realized that there was an irreconcilable divide between the two sides.

"The USSR cannot lose Ukraine, just as you Germany cannot lose the Rhine zone, without Ukraine, the USSR will cease to be a great country!" Kollentai said to Hersman with great excitement.

She's telling the truth! Although the Soviet Union has a lot of land, most of it is located in the cold and inaccessible land. As a result of this geographical location, the vast majority of the Soviet Union was practically unsuitable for the development of industrialization, which could not be forced on the basis of costs, and the cost of transportation was an important part of the cost of industry. Therefore, only when the industrial resources are located in coastal or riverside areas with convenient transportation, can they play a huge value.

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

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

If the USSR loses Ukraine, then 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 one more Rhine zone! It will not be long before Germany will become a real superpower on a par with the United States in terms of the scale of industrial production. (To be continued.) )