The alternation of spring and autumn, the cycle of years, the winter snow of 1939 fluttered, shrouding thousands of miles of Central Europe into a magnificent and desolate plain silver veil. In this cold and cold season, Germany with Berlin as the center is still a bustling and busy scene: the rumbling of factory machinery and the whistle of trains and merchant ships seem to be unaffected by the natural climate. Thanks to the tremendous advancement of productivity brought by the industrial revolution, human civilization has overcome the constraints of nature's four seasons, and they are steadily moving forward on the road of transforming nature at any time.

According to the Ministry of Economics, Germany's national income is expected to exceed the 400 billion mark this year, and even after taking into account the effects of currency depreciation during the economic crisis, its absolute total is still more than five times higher than in the same period in 1912. With this solid economic backing, Qingying's various strategies have also become more comfortable: whether it is the transfer of old ships to the Dutch Navy or the equipment support of Siberia, Qingying has been able to experience the joyful feeling of a historical American imperialist tyrant. Through this series of measures, Qingying has constantly hinted that the Tokyo government will accept it if it is good: with the overseas market brought by the more than 20 million colonial population of Han Bangzi and Filipino monkeys, it is time for Japan, which lives on the island, to stop and live its own peaceful life.

However, Qingying's actions did not receive the expected return. After more than 20 years of wrestling, the Japanese military has taken advantage of the raging right-wing "patriotic" upsurge among the people to completely defeat the civilian forces that support the party's constitutionalism: a large number of military personnel have entered the imperial court and privy councils, as in the Meiji era, and have firmly occupied the administrative power of the state. Unlike the demons of 40 years ago, most of the current Japanese generals have lost the minds and wisdom of their ancestors to see the overall situation. They came all the way from the victory of the Nissin, Russo-Japanese, and Japanese-American wars. Witness the rapid changes in your country and military. I feel a lot of pride and excitement. As a result, his gaze and thinking have become increasingly arrogant, narrow-minded, and extreme.

In the eyes of the Japanese military, it already has a strong enough military force to be able to obtain the rights and interests needed by the empire through real battles; And what is gained from diplomatic negotiations is far less stable than the results of bayonets and blood. Those weak and incompetent civilian diplomats have failed one after another in many previous negotiations: they had already taken advantage of the Russian civil war 20 years ago to send troops and actually control a large part of Russia's eastern territory, but the timid civilian government shamefully acted as a shrinking turtle under the pressure of Germany and the United States, and issued three orders in a row to force the military to withdraw its troops. He spit out all the fat that had been eaten in his mouth. When the Rising Sun Flag slowly lowered from the towns, every Japanese officer and soldier felt angry and resentful, and their hearts were filled with dissatisfaction with the government's strictness. At present, Japan, which has won the war against Russia for nearly 35 years, has only one colony on the Asian continent, Korea, which is undoubtedly contrary to the inherent conquest strategy of "Manchuria-China-world" formulated in the Meiji era. And this time, the army was already accumulating, vowing to get the one that the Japanese Empire deserved; Whether it is the government's obstruction or the resistance of foreign enemies, they will be completely crushed under the iron hooves of the army!

Under the dominance of this school of thought. Japan's Kwantung Army, stationed in Korea, quickly began to formulate what it considered to be a "great journey" to the west. Because the Manchurian region at this time was full of snow and ice. Not suitable for the large army to fight, the Japanese military set the date for the start of the next year. Because the Kwantung Army had been stationed in Korea for a long time, it had long since become a tight system of its own, and the Japanese base camp did not even notice the slightest change in its own hound. At the beginning of March 1940, when the land of Manchuria was melting and the vegetation was recovering, the Kwantung Army, which had been planning for a long time, concocted a clumsy incident in which soldiers of the Northeast Army crossed the border and shot Japanese border guards; In less than 10 hours, nearly 20 Japanese divisions and regiments crossed the Yalu River in an all-round way, and swooped down like arrows from a string towards the deep inland where they had twice set foot but were forced to withdraw under external pressure. The Kwantung Army claimed that it was the Northeast Army that was the first to launch a surprise attack across the border, and that it was "forced to return fire."

The news of the Kwantung Army's unauthorized dispatch of troops caused a huge shock in the Japanese government. The furious Minister of War Sukiyama Mototo, roared at the meeting and vowed to teach the commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Mijiro, a lesson that he would never forget for a lifetime -- two years ago, who had studied and exchanged views in Germany for more than several months and participated in the victory parade in Berlin, he had long been fully aware of the disparity between the two countries in military technology and industry, and was now one of the few rational figures in the current Japanese military government. At present, the sudden attack of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria undoubtedly pushed Japan and Germany sharply into an opposing position; Germany has repeatedly shown to Japan its attitude of not wanting to go west, but the idiots under its command have slapped each other hard with practical actions. Although he himself coveted the thousands of miles of fertile fields in Manchuria, he deeply understood that strength was directly proportional to the rights and interests obtained; At present, Japan's strength is far from being able to compete with Germany, and if it rashly comes out to pursue its own gains, the result can only be to fall to pieces in the precipice!

However, Suyama soon found himself in a state of mixed anger to find that there were very few people who supported his decisive measures to stop the Kwantung Army's actions. Those young Zhuang factions who are ignorant of the world are all bright-eyed, as if waiting for this day to come is already long-awaiting; The veterans with similar qualifications to themselves also believed that although the Kwantung Army's move was reckless, it was doing something that could greatly expand Japan's interests, and it was natural to push the boat along with the boat and continue to do this. Although the dove soldiers led by Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonechi and Prime Minister Yoshida Zengo also opposed this move of the Kwantung Army, they did not have the courage to stop the "rampage" of their eagle dogs: Former Prime Minister Yuzaburo Kato, who announced the withdrawal of troops from Siberia under pressure from Germany and the United States, was dismissed from his post only two months later under strong pressure from the army and the right-wing forces in China, and was completely criticized as a "traitor" and a "traitor." He was assassinated by far-right activists six months later, and has not been able to restore his reputation. At present, the right-wing frenzy in Japan is even greater than in the past, and the army is galloping like a loose horse. If you stand up and face it head-on, wouldn't you be kicked by the other party's hooves and break your bones and tendons, and your corpse will fall to the ground?

Even though there are still a few people at the top of the Japanese government who keep a clear head, in the face of the surging tide of anger in the country, they can only choose to give up resistance and let this tide push itself to the edge of the bottomless Wanren Waterfall. A day later, the Japanese government explained to the German ambassador in Tokyo that the provocation launched by the Northeast Army against the Kwantung Army was a deliberate act of war. In order to defend itself, the Japanese side was forced to take a preemptive strike; When the masterminds behind the incident were brought to justice, the Japanese army ceased its military operations in Manchuria.

"The Japanese really can't hold it back." After receiving the telegram sent back by the ambassador in Tokyo, Qingying couldn't help but sigh faintly. In the face of the behemoth of the army and the people of the whole country who may be ignited at any time, the government can only choose to retreat step by step, so that it is finally completely kidnapped by the soldiers and thrown into a disastrous war that almost destroyed the country. In this aspect, Japan, due to its special history and national conditions, finally embarked on this road of no return; In this case, he can only obey his fate and return this expansive militarist country to its original form, so that it can never stir up trouble in East Asia again!

At the Imperial Council held early the next morning, the German government passed a decision on sanctions to impose a material embargo on Japan. After all, Japan's current expansion spearhead is not aimed at itself, and Qingying cannot completely turn his face with his former allies because of this incident, otherwise it will not be possible to justify it at home and abroad. In addition, the medium-range strategic nuclear missile, named V4, is still being test-fired, and the transportation of this ultimate weapon from the German mainland to the ends of the earth more than 10,000 kilometers away also requires rigorous preparation and foreshadowing in advance. According to Peneminde's estimates, the missile will not be officially put into service until next year, and Qingying has already decided to reap victory at the lowest cost, so the conventional war of labor is completely out of his first consideration.

"Let's let the situation continue to ferment." When the participants had dispersed, Qingying stood alone in front of the huge map and muttered. The situation was completely under his control, the first German soldiers had secretly arrived near Vladivostok, and the Siberian State was making preparations to consolidate its southeastern defensive line. Although the region north of Heilongjiang is rich in resources, its allure is still much inferior to that of densely populated Manchuria; Therefore, although the Japanese army is unbearable to conquer the colonies, as long as they can understand the truth that they need to eat in one bite, their goal will be placed in the south for a long time in the future, so as not to rashly make enemies in the north, and this will add a few points of power to Qingying's plan. If Japan did not play its cards according to common sense, Qingying would have a reason to send a "volunteer army" to fight in the Far East and keep the bridgehead against the Japanese mainland. At present, the Trans-Siberian Railway has long been opened to traffic, and its capacity is no longer the same as during the Russo-Japanese War. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the reward of book friend Golden Crab and zhouyu1976~~~