The entry of the United States into the war made the whole country rejoice, and the new Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo made a public speech demanding that China immediately surrender unconditionally to Japan, otherwise it would face more severe punishment from the Japanese Empire.

Before the United States formally entered the war, the top level of Japanese political circles was still very worried about the future, and after three and a half years of all-out war with China, the Japanese Army not only did not realize its original rhetoric of occupying China within half a year, but on the contrary, China's army became stronger and stronger, and the number of people fighting more and more was increasing. According to intelligence, the total number of China's army has reached 5.5 million, which has exceeded that of Japan, and more and more heavy equipment such as tanks, artillery and armored vehicles are constantly being produced. In terms of aviation, the two countries are equipped with roughly the same number of aircraft, and thanks to the support of American supplies, Japan has always been roughly equal to China, which is rich in resources, in terms of aircraft production.

In fact, since the spring of 1940, the Japanese Army has been using its forces to a limit, and it is no longer capable of launching a large-scale offensive. It is only in some key areas that it is occasionally possible to concentrate some superior forces to launch an attack, but the dichotomy has achieved the expected results.

After the defeat of France and the Netherlands, Japan seized the opportunity to occupy the Dutch East Indies in the name of "protection", plus the German colonies in the Pacific. The United Fleet can be regarded as "with great results", and the territory that cannot be occupied can finally be raised in front of the Army.

Most worrisome was Japan's financial situation, which had been depleted by years of war and had exhausted all its gold and foreign exchange reserves accumulated during the First World War. Had it not been for the partial assistance provided by the United States, Japan would have been unable to purchase any supplies that were in short supply for the war.

"The U.S. government agreed to provide us with $500 million in material aid, of course. This assistance was provided on the premise that we would have troops to assist the British in securing Malaya and Burma. At a meeting held in the Imperial Palace, Foreign Minister Shigeaki Togo briefed the Emperor and cabinet members on the results of the negotiations with the United States.

The Army faction, led by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and War Minister Yamasugi Moto, advocated active troop deployment, but Prime Minister Yonei and Combined Fleet Commander Yamamoto believed that without the support of the U.S. fleet, the Japanese Navy alone would not be able to deal with the combined German and Austrian maritime forces.

Due to the stalemate in the cabinet meeting. Tojo decided to refer the matter to the Imperial Council for the Emperor to decide.

At the Imperial Council, Tojo reported in detail to Hirohito on the current domestic and international situation, making it clear that Japan could not reach a peace agreement with China. In addition, the United States entered the war and the conditions for providing assistance to Japan, and at the same time reported on the preparations of Germany and Austria for an attack on Southeast Asia.

The entry of the United States into the war made Hirohito very excited, and the trend and trend of the war were becoming more and more unfavorable to Japan, which could not help but make him worry that there would be a situation like the one during the last war, when Japan could not steal chickens. Instead, they were saddled with 1 billion yen in war reparations. Although Japan only paid 320 million reparations, it still made the Japanese government overwhelmed by it, which led to frequent cabinet changes, and the domestic political situation has been unstable.

Now, the entry of the United States into the war has given Japan hope of victory.

For the vast majority of countries in the world, the United States is definitely a giant, rich in resources, and has a strong industrial capacity that accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world's gross industrial product. Japan did not have any of the materials needed for the war. And the United States lacks nothing.

The U.S. produces 10 times as much steel as Japan, and that's when Japan imports a lot of U.S. scrap.

He easily picked up the document submitted by Dongxiang on the minutes of material assistance between the empire and the United States: "According to this document, we need to assume the obligations of the alliance, why are you still arguing?" ”

"There are two main reasons, the army side. If we march into Southeast Asia, we will inevitably draw troops from the China battlefield and form new divisions, and according to estimates, we will have to form at least 15 more divisions; In addition, the Navy feels that the number of aircraft carriers and aircraft is insufficient. demand an increase in the share of aircraft and steel; I think that with the help of the United States, these problems will be solved very quickly. Tojo replied respectfully.

"And what about your opinion as Prime Minister?" Hirohito asked calmly in a tone.

"The Navy believes that it will be very difficult to fight Germany and Austria alone, and the army is making preparations, and the mobilization order for the formation of new divisions has been issued." Tojo said.

"These supplies are of great help to our ongoing war." Hirohito was silent for a moment, but still said softly, "As an ally, you should always assume your due obligations, and you will not give up easily because of difficulties. ”

Tojo and the others suddenly felt a shock in their hearts that the emperor had expressed his support for their decision to send troops to Malaya. He looked left and right, and the ministers of the main battle faction all showed a look of joy on their faces, only Foreign Minister Togo and Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonechi had solemn expressions.

In order to coordinate with the actions of the German-Austrian forces in Southeast Asia, in Kunming, Yunnan, China, the Chinese War Department and the General Staff ordered that the 22nd and 26th Group Armies, which served as strategic reserves in the Southwest Theater, be transferred to Yunnan to train in western Yunnan and prepare for operations in Burma. The 22nd Group Army of the National Defense Army is a unit formed mainly by the Sichuan Army after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, due to the death of Liu Xiang, the former commander of the 22nd Group Army Deng Jinkang resigned from his military post and served as the governor of Sichuan Province, and Li Jiayu took over as the commander-in-chief of the Group Army, participated in the Battle of Xuzhou and the Battle of Fuyang and other battles, the whole army was replaced with Austro-Hungarian aid weapons when it was formed, and the equipment and establishment were similar to the German and Austrian army divisions, however, due to the lack of tanks and armored vehicles, there was only one armored regiment in the whole army, with a total of more than 210 light tanks and more than 230 armored vehicles.

The 26th Army consisted of the 58th and 60th armies of the Yunnan Army and the 25th Army of the Guizhou Army, with the commander of the group army Lu Han and the 26th Army without armored forces.

While the Army was preparing to fight in Burma, the General Staff of the National Defense Forces also transferred the 19th and 21st Army Aviation Divisions into Yunnan to provide air support for the two group armies.

At this time, in the Chinese Army, the generals at the army and division levels were basically all graduates of the Baoding Military Academy who had studied at the Army University, and most of the commanders of the group army were replaced by students of the Baoding Military Academy. Most of the 4th and 5th cadets of the Baoding Military Academy, who had participated in the Xinhai Revolution in the early days and were sent to study at the Central Army School, have now become the backbone of the anti-Japanese resistance.

After consultation, the Chinese Expeditionary Force into Burma was commanded by Wang Wenhua, deputy commander-in-chief of the Southwest Theater of Operations. Lieutenant General Lingle became Chief of Staff. Wang Wenhua rushed from Guiyang to Kunming on 17 December, and began to set up an expeditionary force headquarters and, with the assistance of the German-Austrian military inquiry group, began to prepare for military training, material distribution, and other related affairs related to the invasion of Burma.

In mid-December, the Japanese army formed the Southern Dispatch Army, which consisted of nearly 400,000 troops from 15 divisions under the commander-in-chief of Toshiichi Terauchi, and at the end of the month, the 25th Army (under the jurisdiction of the 5th, 18th, and Guards Divisions), an advance force of the Southern Dispatch Army commanded by Yamashita Fumi, totaled more than 70,000 people landed in Singapore and began to strengthen Malaya's defenses.

"Where did the Japanese get so many troops?" At the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Kunming, Li Jiayu said after hearing the news that the Japanese army had begun a large-scale movement to the South Seas.

"They definitely need to re-conscript, and since they belong to the same Allied forces as Soviet Russia, the contradictions have eased with the mediation of the Americans, and they can draw nearly 400,000 troops from the Far East. The total strength of the Japanese on the Chinese battlefield has exceeded 2 million, and their use of force has reached the limit. "But their strategy is really very problematic, before they transferred 300,000 troops from the Chinese battlefield to occupy the Pacific Ocean for no reason, Germany has given up the islands, and the Australians are grabbing New Guinea, so as to lead the passivity on the Chinese battlefield, I really don't know what they are?!" ”

"People are poor and short of breath, they are nothing more than greedy, they want to take everything they see, they want to grab everything. You are rich people, and you cannot understand the mentality of the people of a poor and small country like Japan. Wang Wenhua said with a smile.

"Well, well, at least their money-obsessed mentality is good for our strategy!" Mr. Ringle said he had been in China for nearly four years and had improved his Chinese skills, sometimes even learning some southern dialects to make jokes. (To be continued......) R1292