Chapter 975: The Gambling of National Fortune (Ask for Subscription!) , ask for a monthly pass, ask for everything! ）

Konoe Fumima immediately asked, "What reason?" ”

"The United States is a proud country that often sees itself as a savior, and because of the existence of the Philippines, the United States believes that the Southwest Pacific is within its own right to speak, and the United States does not want a second voice, especially an opposing voice, within this scope," said Kagawa Furushiro. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"In addition, the development of the United States needs materials from the Southwest Pacific, especially rubber and tin. Moreover, the Empire's southward war against Britain and the Netherlands would certainly give the Americans the illusion that their Philippines was seriously threatened, and that it might also lead to a complete loss of the United States' say in China. The most important point is that the southward movement of the empire will greatly stimulate the American people, and the public opinion will be more stimulating than the European war. ”

Sadajiro Toyoda also said: "As the chief of naval operations, I have to think about the operational situation of the navy, and if I put aside the United States and Britain, I will only fight against the Dutch East Indies. Or to put aside the fact that the United States has always fought only against Britain, which is tantamount to our initiative to create a strategic situation of being divided by the enemy. In this way, the flank weaknesses of our front will be exposed to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, which is absolutely impossible to do in combat operations. ”

"Secondly, in the current situation, it is already difficult to conduct a war against Britain or the United States without a preemptive attack. If, after the start of the war with the Netherlands, a situation has to be waged against the United States and Britain is formed, our side will no longer be able to launch a preemptive attack. The actual comparison of the enemy's forces with ours is already like this, not to mention the fact that the United States and Britain are likely to increase their combat readiness sharply in the future, and the necessity of launching a preemptive attack is all the more urgent. ”

"In the end, apart from Malaysia and the Philippines, we will not be able to establish a solid strategic posture."

The navy regards the United States as an imaginary enemy in national defense, and it is the first to bear the brunt of the war against the United States, so the navy believes that it is impossible to strategically separate the United States and Britain, and the army has no choice but to agree.

In this way, the premise is that the United States and Britain cannot be divided. On the viewpoint that the exercise of force against the South is the exercise of force against the United States, the views of the army and navy have been unified.

The discussion on the inseparability of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands has been resolved, but the meeting must still take place.

As the presiding officer of the Imperial Council, Konoe Fumima got up again and said, "Now that we have the result, let's move on to the next question." That is, for the time, offensive route and chance of victory in the south, the base camp must give a bottom to His Majesty the Emperor and the government! ”

Konoe Fumima's words are very clear, after talking so much, when do you want to start your base camp, do it in written ways and methods, and what are the chances of winning after doing it, these your base camp must give us an explanation of soy sauce.

Of course, this issue is not only of concern to Fumima Konoe himself, but also the thoughts of most of the ministers present who do not want to have bad relations with the United States and Britain.

The reason why these ministers did not want a war with the United States and Britain was because they felt that they could not win even a small war, and that there was no chance of winning a war with the United States, Britain and China at the same time.

However, if the base camp is really completely sure, then they don't mind going to war with the United States and Britain, as long as they can win, then the benefits are great, as long as there are interests, the United Kingdom and the United States, even if they are enemies of the whole world, they don't care.

Everyone turned their attention to the Chief of the General Staff, Prince Zaihito Miyaji, although this old prince was 77 years old and too old to even walk, but no one dared to underestimate His Royal Highness.

Everyone knows that the base camp is now the world of this old prince, whether it is the unruly Itagaki Seishiro or the self-esteeming Ishihara Wanji and Okamura Ninji, they are all obedient like rabbits in front of this old prince.

Prince Zaihito Miyaji, who had been squinting and seemed to have nothing to do with him, suddenly opened his eyes and said, "The battle is a matter for the Army Operations Department and the Navy Operations Department, so let Toyota and Tojo say it on behalf of the Army and the Navy!" ”

After saying that, Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace closed his eyes again, and seemed to really hand over everything to Sadajiro Toyoda and Hideki Tojo.

Since Prince Zaihito had named him, Sadajiro Toyoda didn't say anything, and got up and said, "Regarding the timing of the war, when the national policy was decided at the beginning of the year, the base camp was expected to prepare for war in 5 or 6 parts, and in early August, we looked for an opportunity to start a war, and prepared accordingly. ”

"As for the order and scope of the invasion, the decision was made on the basis of establishing a long-term undefeated posture, and since the purpose of this war was mainly to break the economic blockade of the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands against the empire, and to realize the basic national policy of the greater East Asia co-prosperity of the Great Japanese Empire, it was natural that it was necessary to capture the resource zone in the south."

"From an economic point of view, it is necessary to capture and secure important resource areas such as Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malay and Sulawesi. Proceeding from the strategic requirements, it is necessary to seize Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island, and other important military bases of the United States and Britain to eliminate the US and British forces, and at the same time enable the strategic position of these important areas to play a role in the protracted war in the future. ”

"Against the enemy in the Indian Ocean, Burma must be captured in order to form a strong stronghold on the right flank of the Japanese line. and cut off the road to aid Chiang in Burma, so as to prompt the Chiang regime to submit as soon as possible. The area to be conquered should be limited to the area that Japan possesses, especially the area that it can control, and it must always maintain superiority over the enemy in this area at the time of war, and be able to carry out offensive warfare. ”

In this way, the base camp was roughly divided into Burma, Malay, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Borneo, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and other areas. However, the initial plan for the capture of Burma was to start the war by capturing only a part of southern Burma, and then to capture other important areas of Burma as soon as the situation permitted. ”

"If these areas can be captured and secured, combined with securing the South Sea Islands west of the Marshall Islands, it will be strategically able to wage a long-term and protracted war against the United States and Britain, and it will also be economically self-sufficient for a long time."

Konoe Furuma nodded and said, "After the scope of the capture is roughly determined, what are your plans on the order of capture, you must know that the military strength of the empire is limited. The limited land, navy, and air force forces and ships should be considered clearly from which side of the attack, is it a detour to the right? Or a detour to the left? Or a surprise attack at the same time? ”

Sadajiro Toyoda continued: "With regard to the order of the capture, when we discussed with the War Department, we had two options: a detour to the right and a detour to the left, a detour to the right was a detour from the Philippine side to Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Malay; A detour to the left is the opposite of a detour from the Malay side in the direction of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines. The Navy advocated a detour to the right, while the Army advocated a detour to the left. ”

"After repeated discussions, it was unanimously decided to launch a surprise attack on the Philippines and Malay at the same time in the early stage of the war, and after achieving the effect of a surprise attack, launch an attack on Java from both sides at the same time, so that the enemy army would have no time to deal with it."

"In order to fight at the same time, it is necessary to maintain superiority in both naval forces and transport vessels, especially in aviation forces. Of course, the main force of the southward operation is still the navy, and the enemy of the navy is also the navy of the United States and Britain, so if possible, the empire will also launch surprise attacks on the US naval bases such as Pearl Harbor and the British army's Singapore. ”

Then Sadajiro Toyoda said: "As for the outcome of the war, our base camp has also considered it all. To tell the truth, the empire wants to fight against Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and China with the strength of one country, which is completely unrealistic, and there is no chance of victory, the reason why the empire dares to formulate such a risky national policy at this time is that on the one hand, it is based on the empire's own situation, and more importantly, it is a decision made from the changes in the international situation, that is to say, the victory or defeat of the empire depends entirely on the changes in the international situation. ”

Sadajiro Toyoda's words surprised everyone present, they thought that the base camp was so anxious to start a war against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands and other countries, there should be a full chance of victory, well, even if there is no ten-layer chance, then there should always be a seven- or eight-layer chance of victory!

Now it is good that the fate of the empire is maintained on the development of the international situation, that is to say, if the international situation develops in the direction of the empire, then the empire will have a certain chance of winning, otherwise the empire may lose this war, this Nima is simply gambling with the national fortune of the empire and the fate of all the Japanese people.