Ishihara was not on his own with the military attache of the German Embassy in Japan, Eugene. Colonel Ott was in contact with Colonel Ott on the orders of his immediate superior, Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, Vice-Minister of Staff Headquarters.

And at the end of the meeting between Ishihara and Ott, Hideki Tojo himself had just picked up a friend from Germany at the airport, Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador to Germany. Hiroshi Oshima's father was Lieutenant General Kenichi Oshima, who served as Minister of War for two terms, and because he had studied in Germany, he became a "German fan", and he also taught his eldest son, Hiroshi Oshima, to be a German fan.

Because Hiroshi Oshima was born in a general, he naturally embarked on the road of joining the army, and in the army non-commissioned officer school, he and Hideki Tojo, who was one year higher than him, became close friends. Needless to say, this Hiroshi Oshima is also one of the core members of the ruling faction.

Tojo's car was driving on the streets of Tokyo, and it was time for the factory to get off work, and piles of male and female workers were walking along the narrow sidewalks with tired steps with lunch boxes, and their numb faces revealed not only the consistent obedience for thousands of years, but also a little dissatisfaction with the world. Their clothes were shabby, their bodies were thin, and they were clearly having a bad time. Oshima suddenly thought of the workers he had seen in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany, all of whom were ruddy-complexional, refreshed, and well-dressed, as if they were Japanese shopkeepers or landlords.

There was a long queue in front of a few shops on the side of the street, and I didn't know what they were selling, and the workers who didn't go home to receive lunch boxes didn't go home, so they went straight to the queue.

"It must be a rice shop," Tojo said, looking at Hiroshi Oshima looking at the people in line, "because the situation in the 'Northwest' is not good, and because of the impact of the war in Europe, the price of rice has been rising." Today must be the day of the salary, and the workers who have taken the money will come to buy rice...... In fact, there is rice, and it is a group of profiteers who are taking advantage of the opportunity to speculate. ”

"The situation in China is not very good......" Hiroshi Oshima sighed.

Tojo next to him laughed, "Oshima-kun, you've been in Germany for too long and you've forgotten what Japan is like?" Japan has always been like this, what's good or bad, it's just that you've been away for a few years...... It's a bit messy. ”

It's not a little messy, it's messy! When Tojo's car drove into the Miyake Terrace, Hiroshi Oshima finally felt the meaning of "chaos". The front of the War Minister's Mansion was heavily guarded, not only were soldiers with rifles standing guard at the gate, but the doors and windows of the residence were also reinforced with steel bars, there seemed to be a machine gun fire point on the platform on the top floor of the residence, and there were queues of soldiers patrolling around the residence.

"Is this the case since 2.26?" Hiroshi Oshima asked in a low voice.

"It's always been like this," Tojo smiled wryly, "where do you dare to relax?" Those guys (referring to the people who were arrested and executed after the 2.26 incident) are heroes in the eyes of the people and lower-level officers and soldiers, they want to kill ****, want the Showa Restoration, and make everyone's life a little better. ”

Although Japan was also accused of fascism by the Soviet Union (Germany is now the socialist brother of the Soviet Union), the Japanese were far less likely to live than the Italians.

According to those who launched the "February 26 Incident", the great success of the Japanese economy since the Meiji Restoration has been divided up by the collusion of the chaebols and politicians, and the people at the bottom have nothing to gain! And to overthrow the **** (chaebols and politicians) with a coup d'état, carry out the Showa Restoration, and transform Japan according to the theory of Kita Kazuki (a Japanese national society theorist) are the ideals of these "people with lofty ideals".

Although the people of the lofty ideals are now dead, their ideas are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which makes the upper class of Japan feel very frightened!

"But this alone won't work...... Oshima Hiroshi wanted to propose the use of National Socialism to transform Japan, but when he thought about it, he knew that it would not work - the national society was also socialist, and Japan's chaebols and politicians would not like it.

"It's really not good," Tojo looked at Hiroshi Oshima and said with a wry smile, "But you can't do it if you want to transform Japan, those people think things are too simple!" ”

The emergence of National Socialism in Germany was not the result of Hitler alone, but the result of the accumulation of a long-term socialist movement, and Japan was a typical medieval feudal state a few decades ago.

"So what do we do?" Hiroshi Oshima asked with a frown.

Hideki Tojo smiled: "Of course it's looking for a way out!" ”

It will not last long to rely on the monopoly faction to blindly suppress it, and if there is no outlet that can divert social contradictions, a fierce revolution will appear in Japan sooner or later! External expansion, on the other hand, is a way to divert domestic contradictions.

"Finding your way out?" Hiroshi Oshima seemed to understand something, and hurriedly asked, "Is it southward?" Tojo-kun, going south is the only way out! Britain and France were strong and middle-class, and they couldn't beat Germany at all. French Indochina, Burma, and Malaya would all be in the pockets of the empire. ”

By this time the car had already arrived at the location of the General Staff Headquarters. As in front of the War Minister's Office, the General Staff Headquarters is also heavily guarded. Tojo's car drove straight into the courtyard and stopped in front of a tall Western-style building.

"Oshima-kun," Hideki Tojo said to his old friend with a smile, "and there are quite a few friends who have heard that you are coming back from Germany and want to meet. I'd like to hear from you about the battlefields of Europe...... Today, I will gather them at the staff headquarters, and if you have anything to say, I will talk to you about it. ”

……

“…… The German Army is unprecedentedly powerful, and there is no rival in Europe or even in the world! Including our Imperial Army, it is by no means the enemy of the German Army! Because the German Army is a completely different army from the armies of the world, they have completed a military revolution. From an old-fashioned army that relied solely on numbers and firepower to an invincible army that combines powerful firepower, strong defense, and high-speed mobility! Once the defenses of the old army were broken by the German army, then an inevitable collapse would follow. Because the German Army, which combines the three characteristics of high speed, firepower and defense, will definitely not give the opponent time to rebuild its defenses. For the enemies of the German Army, every hour was extremely precious. ”

In a small conference room at the Japanese General Staff Headquarters with the smell of cigarettes and tea, Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima was sparing no effort in touting the German Army. However, his praise is not too far from reality, and the current German Army is a kind of "open-hanging" existence - they have taken the lead in completing a military revolution and have a powerful assault capability.

"Oshima-kun, isn't there an army in Europe that can compete with the German Army?" Lieutenant General Seishiro Sakagaki, who was the division commander in the field, was a little unconvinced and asked loudly.

"Yes!" Hiroshi Oshima thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Only the Soviet Army can compete with the German Army, because the Soviet Army also launched an offensive similar to the German Army's 'Blitzkrieg' when attacking Western Belarus and Ukraine. According to German intelligence, the Soviet Red Army invested about 3,500 tanks and 50,000 vehicles to form a rapid cluster of Luogan, which advanced to Brest in a very short time, and also surrounded Kiev and Vinnytsia in Ukraine. ”

"3500 tanks?"

"That's a lot!"

"That's twice as many tanks as our entire army combined!"

Hearing everyone's discussions, Hiroshi Oshima hurriedly explained: "Our 'Xiaodou' is not a tank at all in Germany and the Soviets, most of the Soviets' tanks are big guys of more than 10 tons, and it is said that there have been heavy tanks of more than 20 tons on the battlefield!" ”

"More than 20 tons? What artillery is needed to deal with this? ”

The strongest anti-tank gun in the hands of the Japanese army is the Type 94 37mm anti-tank gun, which can actually impress the T-28, but the T-28's combat weight of more than 20 tons still sounds quite scary.

Moreover, none of the backbone of the control faction in this room have been on the front line much, and they have not yet found the feeling of invincibility of the Imperial Japanese Army.

The last time the Japanese Army made a big contribution was the Siberian intervention, and at that time they did not take advantage of the Red Army, and now they can't beat the Soviet Red Army, which can casually take out 3,500 tanks.

Going west and north doesn't seem to be a safe place, at least not with the strength of the Japanese Army at the moment.

"Ishihara-kun, what do you think?" Hideki Tojo looked at Ishihara Waner, who didn't like him very well, and asked, "You've been studying European battles all this time, what do you think?" ”

Ishihara smacked his lips, shook his head, and said, "The safest way at present should be to wait and see how the battle between Germany and France is decided. If France fails, the French Indochina will be left to the Empire. However, once the empire goes all out to the south, sooner or later it will come into conflict with Britain and the United States. If Britain is alone, there is nothing to be afraid of, but the United States will certainly not sit idly by. During this time, didn't the Americans escort the British convoy? ”

In the early 1940s, the "American convoy incident" caused a lot of trouble, and German submarines took many pictures, which were first published in the newspapers of various European countries, and then stabbed in the United States. However, the US Government had been prepared for a long time and came out as soon as possible to clarify that it was a patrol formation of the Atlantic Fleet that "coincidentally" encountered a British convoy at sea, and it was not a so-called escort.

And US President Roosevelt stated at the first time: the United States will remain neutral and will not intervene in the war in Europe.

"Ishihara-kun, what do you say?" Hideki Tojo looked at Ishihara. "There are risks in going north, west, and south, so doesn't the empire have to do anything?"

Ishihara shook his head and said, "It's not about doing nothing, but about accumulating as much strength as possible before doing it!" Sell while you can still wait for the price, and ask for more things. (To be continued.) )