Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Naval Fleet, also said: "Judging from the current international situation, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands are indeed inseparable. When the empire expanded into the southern part of French Indochina, Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands had reached an understanding on the issue of mutual defense, and the joint freezing of the assets of the imperial subjects in the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands was the best evidence. There is no doubt about that. Although the attitudes which these countries would actually adopt would vary somewhat according to the timing and method of the imperial advances to the south, the present international situation, and the domestic situation of the United States and Great Britain, it was impossible in the final analysis to limit the opponents of war to the Netherlands or Britain and the Netherlands. ”

Kagawa Koshiro also stood up and said: "Based on the current situation, in view of the words and deeds of the British side, we can be sure that when the British Empire enters the Dutch East Indies, Britain will be determined to immediately engage in armed confrontation against the Empire in order to defend itself. In this case, Britain would immediately ask the United States for help. ”

"Even if the United States does not enter the war immediately, it will quickly strengthen military measures on the one hand, and take various measures such as containment and demonstration on the other. Moreover, judging from the relations between the United States and the Empire, it must be expected that its attitude towards the war will be much quicker than its attitude toward Germany, and that the United States will have a reason to enter the war. ”

Konoe Fumima opened his mouth and asked, "What reason?" ”

"The United States is a proud country that often sees itself as a savior, and because of the presence of the Philippines, the United States considers the Southwest Pacific to be within its own say," said Shiro Kagawa. In addition, the United States needs materials from the Southwest Pacific, especially rubber and tin, for its development. Moreover, the empire went south to fight against the British and Dutch. It will certainly give Americans the illusion that their Philippines is seriously threatened, and it may also lead to a total loss of the United States on 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. ”

Nagano Shusei also said: "As the chief of naval operations, I must consider the situation of the navy, if we put aside the United States and Britain and only fight against the Dutch East Indies, or if we put aside the United States and the United States and always only fight against Britain, it will be tantamount to our initiative to create a strategic situation of being divided by the enemy." Such. The flanks of our front will be exposed to Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines. This is something that must not be done 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. Then a situation was formed in which the United States and Britain had to go to war. We can no longer launch a preemptive attack. The realistic comparison of our forces is already like this. Moreover, when we consider that the United States and Britain are likely to sharply increase their combat readiness in the future, the necessity of launching a preemptive attack becomes all the more urgent. ”

"The last, aside from Malay and the Philippines. We will not be able to establish a solid strategic posture. ”

The navy regards the United States as an imaginary enemy country 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.

The discussion about the inseparability of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands has come to fruition, but memories must be made. As the host of the Imperial Council, Konoe Furuma got up again and said: "Since we have the result, then we will proceed to the next question, that is, for the time of the southward battle, the offensive route and the probability of victory, 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 interests are great, as long as there are interests, the United Kingdom and the United States, even if they are enemies of the entire world, they don't care.

Everyone turned their attention to the Chief of the General Staff, Prince Kanin Miyajihito, although this old prince was 77 years old and was too old to even walk, but no one dared to underestimate this old prince. Everyone knows that the base camp is now the world of this old prince, whether it is the unruly Itagaki Seishiro or the self-highly regarded Ishihara Waner and Okamura Ningji, they are all obedient like rabbits in front of this old prince.

Prince Zaihito, who had been squinting as if everything had nothing to do with him, suddenly opened his eyes and said, "The battle is the business of the Army Operations Department and the Navy Operations Department, so let Nagano and Itagaki speak 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 Nagano Shusei and Itagaki Seishiro.

Since Prince Zairen had named him, Nagano Xiushen 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, it was expected that the opportunity to start the war would be carried out, and preparations were made 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 United States and Britain's power, and at the same time enable the strategic position of these important areas to play a role in a 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 defense line, and cut off the road to help Chiang in Burma, so as to induce Chiang's 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, they will strategically be able to wage a long-term and protracted war against the United States and Britain, and they 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 Lu Dao Empire is limited. The limited army, navy, and air force forces and ships should be considered clearly from which side of the uncustomary attack, is it a detour to the right? Or a detour to the left? Or a surprise attack at the same time? ”

Nagano continued: "Regarding the order of the capture, when we discussed with the War Department, there were two options: to the right and to the left, and to the right is to take a detour to the right 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 both the Philippine and Malay sides at the beginning of the war, and after achieving the effect of the surprise attack, launch an attack on Java from both sides at the same time, so that the enemy army would not have time to deal with it. In order to fight simultaneously, 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 Nagano Xiushen 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. ”

Nagano's words of self-cultivation surprised everyone present, they thought that the base camp was so anxious to start a war against the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries, there should be a full chance of winning, well, even if there is no ten-layer chance of victory, 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. (To be continued......)