Near the Swiss capital of Bern, in the picturesque town of Hofen, there is a fairytale castle called Oberhofenburg on the shores of Lake Thun. www.biquge.info It once belonged to the Habsburg dynasty, which led Europe, but after the last world war, the descendants of the declining dynasty sold him to an American consortium, and now it is the villa of the American ambassador to Switzerland, Hopkins.

The newly appointed American ambassador seemed to like it very much, and he did not even visit the embassy much, but lived in Oberhofenburg all the time, and delegated all his diplomatic activities with the Swiss Confederation to the counsellor, and devoted himself to the peace movement.

"Is your country really willing to withdraw all troops from Australia and New Zealand? Do you have any arrangements for the future of Australia and New Zealand? Asking Hopkins questions in Oberhofenburg's elegant summer hall was Yoyo Matsuoka, Japan's ambassador to the Roman Empire. Now he is the official in charge of Japan's peace activities with the United States, and the peace talks between the United States and Japan were brokered by the Roman Empire.

So today Matsuoka Yoyo arrived in Oberhofenburg with the Roman Empire's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marquis Capri, Gallazzo. Ziano. This personable fascist leader is now considered lucky, not only did he not get shot (he has been a few months in history today), but he also became the political successor of his father-in-law, Tarzan Mussolini, the great leader of the Roman Empire!

Unlike Hitler, who was a little anxious about the fusion of Russia, Mussolini lived very comfortably during this time. The Roman Empire was revived, Julius Caesar became (not as emperor, but as Caesar), and he got a hardcore little brother in South America - Juan. Peron's Argentina.

Perón is now a servant and two masters, not only are the Germans supporting him, Mussolini also regarded him as a good student of his own, and he also regarded supporting Argentina as a good move for the Roman Empire to intervene in South America.

In addition, the Japanese and Americans are now slapping Mussolini on the back, calling him the most outstanding leader of Europe, and comparing the Roman Empire with the European Community, which is Germany + England + France + Russia + a whole bunch of other countries! The Roman Empire was able to sit on an equal footing with the European Community, and Mussolini could not be surprised?

And for Mussolini, the world war seemed to be coming to an end. He did not participate in the Soviet-German war at all (and Hersmann did not intend to let him do so), and the war with the United States would soon end with the United States suing for peace and reparations.

As early as Kennedy's time as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Mussolini had cordial meetings with the U.S. ambassador more than once. And the magnanimous Roman Caesar also promised to forgive the Americans...... The condition was that the Americans symbolically pay tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the Roman Empire.

In fact, it didn't matter how much Mussolini lost, all he wanted was to win the false name of the United States.

Mussolini did not immediately sign the Metro-Romanian peace treaty after the Americans promised to pay reparations. Instead, he continued to broker peace between the United States and Japan, because Mussolini felt that the Roman Empire was a responsible and reputable power that could not abandon its allies and make peace alone. Instead, we should draw the European Community and Japan together to make peace with the United States.

Therefore, Mussolini was very enthusiastic about brokering peace between the United States and Japan.

However, the U.S.-Japan peace movement has not been smooth, because the United States has a deep grudge against Japan and is unwilling to give up control of the Hawaiian Islands and Australia and New Zealand.

Naturally, Japan is unwilling to let the United States retake the Hawaiian Islands, still less does it want the United States to maintain a strong military presence in Australia and New Zealand -- let alone look at the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Theater at present, but it is actually Australia and New Zealand that are really making Japan feel like pins and needles.

Not to mention the threat posed to Japan's oil fields in the South Seas, with B-29 long-range bombers that have just begun to be deployed in large numbers to Australia. The activities of American submarines in the South China Sea from Australia alone posed a great threat to the Japanese.

As more and more American submarines enter service, the threat of American wolves is growing. However, Japan's national strength is limited, and it is impossible to follow the example of Britain and the United States in history, and desperately build ships to fight against the enemy's underwater wolf pack.

Moreover, the Japanese Navy has always attached importance to decisive battles and neglected escort ships, and the number of destroyers and antisubmarine patrol planes is seriously insufficient, and it is simply unable to cope with the "submarine sea" of the United States -- in history, Britain and the United States were equipped with more than 1,000 destroyers and escort destroyers in order to confront the German wolf pack, while Germany's total output of submarines in World War II was more than 1,150. The number of the two seems to be about the same, but because the loss rate of submarines is much higher than that of anti-submarine destroyers, and the anti-submarine means of Britain and the United States are not limited to destroyers, the German submarines in the Atlantic campaign have to face the British and American destroyers that have always had a great advantage in numbers and various aircraft used for anti-submarine purposes.

Japan, on the other hand, has built a total of more than 200 destroyers so far, of which only more than 150 are really useful "first-class destroyers" (the total production as of May 1944), because there have been losses on the battlefield, and only 118 "first-class destroyers" are still in existence, almost all of which are used for surface fleet operations.

The remaining dozens of obsolete destroyers and a very small number of first-class destroyers have to contend with US submarines 10 times their size (the United States has to take the route of submarine sea because it does not have sea control in the Pacific and Atlantic), so it is impossible to achieve victory at all.

And Germany could not do anything about it, not only because the EC Navy's own destroyers were not quite adequate (there were also anti-submarine missions in the Atlantic), but also because the Japanese Navy did not look down on the mass-built "cheap ships" 1936 Type D destroyers before the war in the Pacific turned sharply. The Japanese wanted super destroyers of the French "Utopian" class and the "Mogador" class, and in October 1943, they even placed an order for the French shipyard to order five "Mogador" class heavy mine modifications. This is a large drive of more than 4,000 tons, and it is almost catching up with the light cruisers......

However, the Japanese navy attached great importance to the decisive battle and neglected the escort route, and in May 1944 it seemed that it really had a reward.

The Americans were really "scared" and, through the mediation of the Roman Empire, proposed a seemingly very tempting peace condition.

The United States was willing to withdraw from Australia and New Zealand in exchange for Japan's withdrawal from the Hawaiian Islands and the signing of a peace treaty.

"Australia and New Zealand are both independent countries, so how can we plan their future?" Hopkins's voice was very low and he spoke slowly, as if he was very unwilling.

He smiled wryly and said to Matsuoka in English: "If you can guarantee that you will not infringe on the sovereignty of Australia and New Zealand, we can promote the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand." ”

Matsuoka was so fluent in English that he spoke directly to Hopkins without the need for a translator, and he immediately asked, "What does it mean to be permanently neutral?" And what kind of guarantees? Does Australia and New Zealand need to be limited in their military might? As a guarantee, will Japan's army and navy be able to be stationed in certain parts of Australia and New Zealand? ”

When he asked these words, the excitement in his heart was almost irrepressible.

If the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand is really guaranteed, then it means that these two rich countries will depend on the protection of the Japanese Empire.

Because many important islands in the South Pacific and the Strait of Malacca are now under Japanese control, and the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand means that the military forces of the European Community will not be stationed......

Hearing Matsuoka's question, Hopkins sneered in his heart: Do you think the Germans will allow Australia and New Zealand to be "permanently neutral"? It's so naïve.

"Permanent neutrality means, of course, that, like Switzerland, the world's leading countries sign treaties guaranteeing Australia and New Zealand permanent neutrality. At the same time, all foreign troops are also prohibited from stationing. ”

Hopkins said this, glanced at the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Roman Empire, and the Marquis of Ciano smiled: "The Roman Empire has no opinion on this, and will respect the choice of Australia and New Zealand." ”

The Marquis of Ziano, of course, knew that Germany would not let go of Australia and New Zealand, and although Rome was in favor of "permanent neutrality", he could only say a few things. After all, they Japan are far away, they don't care about Germany, Rome is on the side of those Germanic barbarians, if they provoke the Germans, it may be a barbarian invasion.

However, his words still gave Matsuoka some encouragement, and in his ears, the Roman Empire also supported the permanent neutrality of Australia and New Zealand.

"So......" Matsuoka asked again, "are you ready to make peace with Germany?" As you know, Mr. Ambassador, we, the Empire of Japan, are a responsible great power, and we cannot make peace alone because we have signed a treaty with Germany to fight together. ”

"Of course, of course we have to make peace with Germany." Hopkins smiled, "As for the terms of peace, I can tell you right now: as long as the Germans are willing to withdraw their troops from Guyana and Brazil, we can recognize the new Federation of Asbania (a federation of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and the southern regions of Brazil) and stop intervening in the Russian civil war." I believe that such conditions are enough in exchange for peace. ”

Enough should be enough for Germany! Matsuoka exhaled softly, he really couldn't think of any reason for Germany not to accept such peace terms. However, Japan still deserves the Soviet Far East, and at least a buffer state should be established in the Far East. At the same time, it should be recognized that the east of Malacca and the west of Hawaii were both spheres of influence of the Japanese Empire......