In the process of advancing southward, the Japanese first sent troops to occupy French Indochina and the South Sea Islands, which originally belonged to France, that is, Malaysia and Indonesia, and other islands belonging to Britain and the Netherlands. (）

In this process, because Japan did not want to provoke the United States too early, it turned a blind eye to the Philippines that was blocking the road and chose to bypass the Philippines.

However, even so, the Japanese strategy of advancing south still violated the interests of the United States, and the United States was already very hostile to Japan and Germany, so it soon demanded that Japan withdraw from all the land it currently occupies, etc.

In the process, the United States also decided to suspend the export of steel, oil, and other materials to Japan.

Historically, this was still quite lethal to Japan, after all, China, North Korea, and Taiwan were all oil-poor regions at that time, and there was not even a single bit of oil. At that time, there was an oil field in Yumen, China, which was mainly located in Yumen City, Gansu Province, China, and was the first oil field in China to be discovered and put into large-scale development.

Yumen Oilfield is China's first natural oil base, developed in 1939, has been put into development of Laojunmiao, Yaerxia, Shiyougou, Baiyanghe, Danbei and Qingxi six oilfields. In the 10 years before liberation, a total of 520,000 tons of crude oil were produced, accounting for 95% of the country's crude oil production at that time. In 1959, it produced 1.4 million tons of crude oil, accounting for 51% of the country's total crude oil production.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yumen Oil Mine produced a total of 250,000 tons of crude oil, accounting for more than 90% of the country's crude oil production during the same period. It made an important contribution to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

At the end of 1952, the crude oil output of Yumen Oilfield reached 142,600 tons, although it was already the largest oilfield in New China at that time. However, according to the calculation rate of 7.33 barrels of oil equivalent to 1 ton of oil, the annual output of 140,000 tons is only 1 million barrels a year...

1,000,000 barrels...

In later generations, Saudi Arabia had almost more than 8 million barrels, and even Kuwait had more than 2 million barrels, and it was every day...

More than 1 million barrels would be a drop in the bucket for Japan.

What's more, in later generations, Japan failed to hit Gansu, and even the more than a million barrels of Japanese did not get their hands on it...

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The US embargo on Japan has angered the Japanese to some extent, and of course what really angered Japan is that the United States has asked China to follow in the embargo against Japan. You must know that it was the most critical time for Japan to carry out its southward expansion plan. If China does follow the blockade, Japan will not be able to move an inch.

Yan Guang also wants Japan to take the lead, so naturally it is impossible to follow the embargo on Japan because of the words of the Americans, plus the steel and oil originally imported from the United States. can be imported from China, so Japan's southward expansion plan is not a big problem, but the Japanese are very cautious after all, so they still secretly hate it behind their backs.

At this time, the Germans were winning victories in the European theater, and it would take more than a month to capture France. and forced Britain to retreat to the mainland, and later to Russia, causing Russia heavy losses...

The strength of the Germans shocked the world and led the United States to increase its support for the Allies and Russia. This includes not only material support, but also personnel...

Like in the UK. Due to the lack of enough pilots in the Royal Air Force, the U.S. government even mobilized pilots from its own country to the United Kingdom―――――― which is a bit of a volunteer army.

The United States does so. It represents his increasingly obvious intention to enter the war.

It's just that the Americans are obviously very angry about the signing of the "Exchange Act" between Britain and China, after all, in the plan of the United States, they are ready to exchange the weapons and equipment that Britain urgently needs in exchange for British colonies in the Western Hemisphere, and now, those colonies have become China's territorial ......, but the United States has not stopped supporting Britain because of this, because it is more important to suppress the Axis powers than this matter, not to mention that for Britain, in addition to the United States, there is a China to rely on, Even if the United States suspends its support for Britain, Britain can ask China for everything it needs...

In any case, the increasingly obvious intention of the United States to enter the war still made Japan feel threatened.

Because the United States at this time was different from the United States in history, because there were two threats at the same time, China and Japan, so after the dissolution of the Second Treaty of London, the Americans built an extremely large fleet and deployed it in the Pacific.

If they were to do it openly, the Japanese would not necessarily be the opponent of the Americans, not to mention that the United States still has an extremely large industrial system...

At this time, stimulated by the Germans' achievements in Europe, Japan began to consider a plan to launch a surprise attack on the United States and completely destroy most of the American capital ships...

The first strike is stronger, and the second strike suffers...

It's better to do it now than to be ready for the Americans to do it in the future...

Moreover, Japan has never thought of defeating the United States, they just want to make peace talks with the United States under favorable conditions after Japan has achieved results in its southward expansion and consolidated its power.

Unlike in history, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto did not object this time, because the world pattern at this time was different from history.

Historically, Japan launched the "Pearl Harbor Attack" after the United States announced that it would stop supplying steel, oil, and other materials, and the Netherlands and other countries followed suit, and after the incident, it went south to attack Indochina.

At this time, Japan did not launch an attack on China, but after attacking the Indochina Peninsula and the South Ocean Islands, the United States announced an embargo and other measures―――――― and now Japan has hit Australia.

In addition, Japan has the support of China behind it, so there is no need to worry about the enraged United States.

But...

"Another point to consider, that is, after the attack on the United States, whether the Chinese will in turn cooperate with the Americans against us..."

Only eternal interests, no eternal friends...

Although Yamamoto Fifty-six also traveled to China in his early years. But that doesn't mean he trusts China...

"The Chinese are not necessarily credible..."

This is Yamamoto Fifty-six's warning, but it is a pity that the base camp at this time has been stimulated by the achievements of Japan, and it is impossible to take Yamamoto Fifty-six's warning into account, let alone after landing in Australia. Hideki Tojo and others even think...

"Maybe China is not unchallengeable..."

Although he didn't catch up with the First Sino-Japanese War because of his age, and even the Gengzi Incident, Hideki Tojo, who participated in the Russo-Japanese War, has not forgotten what China was like at that time...

As for sanity? What is that to Japan?

The plan for an attack on the United States was quickly determined, and although some people expressed opposition along the way, in the end the majority prevailed over the minority.

After the plan was finalized, the military department quickly began to solve the problems that could arise in the plan.

For example, Pearl Harbor, which was the target of an attack, could not be used by torpedoes due to the depth of the water. So the Japanese modified a shallow water torpedo.

While producing as many torpedoes as possible, the Japanese were also producing another 800-kilogram bomb, because smaller bombs could not pose a threat to ships such as battleships...

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Just as the Germans were storming the city in Russia, the Japanese were planning an attack on the United States. The British also faced a dilemma...

"Relics? Your Excellency Prime Minister, has the Empire fallen to this point?! Standing in front of Churchill, the director of the British Museum, that is, the British Museum, was almost close to spitting in front of Churchill.

Standing in front of the curator, Churchill was very embarrassed.

Because of what he's going to do now. At least in the eyes of the majority of the British public, it is definitely a humiliating thing, and yet...

"Mr. Curator, I don't want to do this if I don't have no choice, but..."

After pulling the window open. Looking at the devastation outside after the bombing, a bitter smile appeared on Churchill's chubby face.

"Mr. Curator. Now the Germans are on the European continent, and the Japanese have landed in Australia. And after the surrender of the French, with the Americans unwilling to send troops to help, we are the only ones who are still resisting the Axis invasion...

Although our soldiers are still fighting bravely, they lack the weapons they need, these weapons are available to the Chinese, and the Americans also have them, but none of them are free...

A few days ago, the Chinese signed the "Exchange Act" with us, asking us for many colonies, and not long after the Americans also signed the "Lend-Lease Act" with us, and also leased some colonies to us...

I understand that it is indeed a shame for us to do this now, but as I said when I first took office, win, fight for victory at all costs, no matter how terrible it is, no matter how far and difficult the road is, fight for victory, because without victory you cannot survive.

So, even if it's humiliating, as long as it allows us to win..."

The curator, who was still very excited, was speechless after hearing Churchill say this...

It was only after a half-ring that the curator spoke.

“……… In that case, well, I wonder how much of the collection you need, Your Excellency the Prime Minister? I remember that the collection from China seemed to have..."

"This—" Churchill became embarrassed when he heard the curator say this. Not only in China, but also in other countries..."

"What!" Hearing Churchill say this, the curator screamed in anger.

It's no wonder that the curator will be like this, just like after China began to have money in later generations, Chinese antiques and artworks were also fried, if the Chinese cultural relics in this period of history are not very noticeable, then the current Chinese cultural relics have risen in value because of the rise of China...

In this case, exchanging cultural relics from China for equipment urgently needed by the army is already a distressing thing for the curator, not to mention listening to Churchill's meaning, even other collections do not want to let go...

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Since the outbreak of the war, the British government has been buying weapons from China and the United States with what little gold reserves remain, only as the intensity of the war has increased. The price of weapons is also rising, so soon Britain's gold reserves will bottom out.

It was at this time that the Communist government first proposed an "Exchange Act", that is, the exchange of colonies for weapons...

Britain was indeed running out of money, and Churchill foresaw that Britain would probably not be able to return to its pre-war position in the future. In addition, he also wanted to create some friction between the two behemoths, China and the United States, so he agreed to the "Exchange Act" proposed by the national government.

After the signing of the "Exchange Act", Britain purchased a lot of weapons and equipment from China through the sale of the Falklands, Bermuda and other areas, especially the aircraft and anti-aircraft guns that Britain urgently needed...

At this time, after learning of the existence of the "Exchange Act", the U.S. government was furious and signed the "Lend-Lease Act" with the British government, that is, to trade arms through concession colonies. ..., it's just that the most important Western Hemisphere colonies for the U.S. government have already been traded, so in the end the deal between Britain and the U.S. is limited...

Although as an empire on which the sun never sets, Churchill had countless useless colonies in his hands. However, there are not many things that can make China and the United States look at it, and the United States is angry that the "Exchange Act" signed between Britain and China is unwilling to support it as strongly as it has in the past, so after passing the "Exchange Act" to exchange a large amount of equipment and other materials, Britain is once again in a predicament.

It was at this time. The Commune government approached the British government and offered to exchange the artifacts in the museum...

As far as China is concerned, the longer the war takes place in Europe, the better, so when the British have no money, in fact, Yan Guang and they are also in a hurry. It's just that business is business after all, and they can't let their subordinate companies drink the northwest wind.

At this time, thinking of the cultural relics that were stolen by the British during the Gengzi Incident in history, many people felt that the British could use these cultural relics to exchange.

Yan Guang also deeply agreed. And he felt that the sooner the matter was carried out, the better, after all, it would have to wait until Germany could not do it. The British may not agree.

Of course, at this time, Yan Guang also proposed a powerful version of this proposal very lacking in virtue. That is to say, not only those Chinese cultural relics that have been taken away in history, but also cultural relics from other regions and countries can be exchanged together...

As the former British Empire, the British Museum alone was founded in 1753 and has artifacts from all over the world. It is not only the oldest and most magnificent comprehensive museum in the world, but also one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. The museum has a collection of many cultural relics and book treasures from all over the world, and the collection is rich and varied, which is rare for museums in the world, and the museum has a collection of more than 6 million pieces.

The collection was originally created by King George II's physician, the ancient player Hans. Sir Sloane's collection of more than 80,000 artifacts and specimens. In 1823, King George IX donated his father's extensive book collection. For more than 200 years since its opening, the museum has continued to collect artifacts from Britain and ancient countries such as Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, India, and China.

Ancient Egyptian art is the most prestigious collection of the National Museum of the United Kingdom, second only to the Egyptian Museum in terms of quantity, and has a large number of fine works, such as the famous Rosetta Stone, Arni's Book of the Dead, and the bust of Ramses II, which is one of the most outstanding works of ancient Egyptian art. The collection of the Greco-Roman Department is another highlight. The statues of the three goddesses of fate from the Parthenon in Athens and the remains of the Parthenon architecture are some of the most fascinating art treasures of the British Museum.

The British Museum's Oriental Art Gallery is also eye-catching, with more than 100,000 artefacts from China, Japan, India and other Southeast Asian countries. Among them, the Chinese showroom occupies several halls, with exhibits ranging from bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to porcelain from the Tang dynasty and gold and jade products from the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are more than 20,000 rare treasures from China alone, most of which are priceless. Such as the painting and embroidery of various dynasties in China, the unearthed cultural relics of various periods, the calligraphy and painting of the Tang and Song dynasties, the porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and so on.

Among them, the most precious ones are the "Female History Atlas", the three-color statue of Song Arhat, the Dunhuang scriptures and the famous paintings of the Song and Ming dynasties. The bronze statue of the Shang Dynasty is two conjoined sheep, carrying a round tube in the middle, the shape is very beautiful and exquisite. There is also a porcelain wine pot from the Song Dynasty, the base and the responsibility are surrounded by a lotus flower, and a lion sits on the lid of the pot, which is a rare treasure, and the two large stone lions at the back door of the museum are also transported from China.

These cultural relics not only have indescribable historical value, but also represent the glory of the British Empire. In addition, the British Museum is also one of the three major museums in the world, along with the Louvre in France and the Metropolitan Museum in the United States...

The so-called prosperous antiques, troubled gold...

Although in troubled times, antiques are not very valuable, and many times they are not even as valuable as a steamed bun, exchanging weapons for antiques at such a time may seem to many people to be a worthless thing.

But after all, the troubled times will end, and when the troubled times end, the value of these antiques will naturally be reflected...

What's more, just as the collections in the British Museum symbolize the strength of Britain, if the collections in the British Museum and the Louvre Museum can be brought to China, doesn't it represent China's strength?

Not to mention, these antiques may not be worth much now, but in the future...

It's also very easy to get hundreds of millions of billions of cultural relics...

It's like making an investment...

Of course, investment cannot be unlimited, not to mention that in this era of war, it is enough to get a rifle for an ordinary cultural relic, to a cultural relic like the Mona Lisa, to a destroyer or something, although Yan Guang does not understand art at all...

Of course, the Mona Lisa seems to be in France, so it is impossible for the British to come up with it... (To be continued......)