In fact, the controversy between the navy and the army was nothing more than a debate within the Japanese army about offensive and defensive decisions, and the Japanese army believed that since it had achieved such obvious results and had obtained all the war materials needed by the Japanese Empire, the next thing to do was not how to expand the results of the war, but to integrate resources, build permanent defensive fortresses, and prepare for the long-term occupation of Southeast Asia.

However, the navy believed that the current situation in the world was so favorable to the Great Japanese Empire that it should seize the opportunity to expand the occupied area, and the main targets were Australia and India, especially India, as long as India was occupied, then the Imperial Japanese Army could join forces with the German army in the Middle East.

On October 15, the headquarters held a military meeting in Tokyo to focus on this issue.

The meeting was held at the Imperial Palace of Japan, and the meeting was still chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Fumima Konoe. Konoe's opening remarks were simple: "The Imperial Army has achieved an unprecedented victory in the South Pacific, and has basically completed the strategic objectives set before the war, and only four places in the entire South Pacific are still under the control of the enemy, but these places are far away from the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, and will not affect the actions of the Imperial Japanese Army for the time being." So how to guide the war in the future, please give your opinion! ”

The first to speak was the Minister of War, General Umezu Mijiro: "Ladies and gentlemen, before deciding how to deal with future wars, we must have a clear understanding and judgment of the current situation in the world, and in the face of the imperial army's pressing step by step, the United States and Britain and other countries will definitely take action. According to the analysis of our War Department, the United States and Britain will certainly cooperate more closely militarily, economically, financially, and in other fields in the future. On the one hand, they are trying to weaken the combat power of the Axis powers, and on the other hand, they are seeking to rapidly increase their own combat power. ”

"That is to say, the United States, Britain, and other countries will first focus their war guidance on Europe for the Axis powers, cooperate with the Soviet Union, and turn the war situation in this area in their favor, and at the same time strive to secure and strengthen the bases of the Japanese counteroffensive, and try to carry out a counteroffensive against Japan in one fell swoop as soon as they have superior forces."

Umezu Mijiro's analysis has attracted the attention of many high-level officials in the base camp and the government, because this is exactly the way it is going.

"Your Excellency Umezu, what will the allies do! Will they prime minister launch a counteroffensive in that area? Konoe Fumima asked loudly.

Umezu Mijiro replied, "First of all, the United Kingdom." At present, Britain will certainly strive to cooperate with the United States, the Soviet Union and China. In order to seek to quickly defeat the fighting power of Germany and Italy first. At the same time, efforts were made to secure cooperation between Japan, Germany, and Italy in the Mediterranean and West Asia. Moreover, in order to carry out a counteroffensive against Japan and maintain the unity of the British Empire in East Asia, Britain will certainly try to secure sea supremacy in the Indian Ocean and secure India and Australia. This requires the support of the Shina people. Therefore, Sino-British relations will warm up in a short time. ”

"Let's talk about the United States. At present, the United States will certainly strive to cooperate with Britain and the Soviet Union. In order to seek to quickly defeat the fighting power of Germany and Italy first. At the same time, in Australia and the Indian Ocean, efforts were made to secure and strengthen the bases of the Japanese counteroffensive, and to concentrate elite naval and air forces on the Pacific side. With one part, it obstructed our maritime communications, made surprise attacks on the central areas of Japan, and conducted various other guerrilla warfare. ”

"There are also the great enemies of the empire, China and the Soviet Union, and the United States and Britain will do their best to aid the Soviet Union and Chiang, and on the other hand, they have great hopes for the Soviet Union's containment of Japan and even its entry into the war, and are trying their best to promote their realization; At present, it is secretly planning to gain a stronghold for an attack on Japan in the eastern territory of the Soviet Union. The timing of a possible attempt to carry out a large-scale attack will probably be after Showa 18 (1943). ”

Chief of Naval Operations Nagano stood up and asked, "Your Excellency Umezu, with the idea of your War Department, how should the empire deal with the alliance between the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China!" ”

Umezu Mijiro did not answer Nagano's words directly, but said: "The initial judgment of the above-mentioned situation in the world and the judgment of the actual combat performance in the initial period is an important prerequisite for determining the subsequent war guidance measures, so before appointing future combat guidance, we must have a general understanding of the actual combat results in the initial stage, and then look at the military, economic, and political differences between the actual results of the initial operation and the predetermined plan." ”

"Looking at the entire Pacific theater, the victory of the Imperial Army is undoubted, and the army and navy have achieved unexpectedly great results in the initial military operations, and as a result, the United States and Britain have been temporarily forced into the defensive, which has created a favorable situation for the defense of our territory and the securing of the main lines of communication. With the exception of some delays on the Philippine side, the Army's operations were generally shortened by about a month, and the attrition of troops was unexpectedly light. In particular, the Burma campaign, which was expected to end in the south, has now been able to start because of the surplus forces in the south, and has already occupied the southern part of Burma and is confronting the government forces in China. ”

"In the initial battle, naval operations dealt a great blow to the main forces of the US and British fleets in the Pacific, and in addition, they almost completely annihilated the enemy's naval forces in East Asia.

"In terms of army and naval aviation operations, our losses are also relatively light, and we have defeated a considerable number of enemy air forces, and we are constantly achieving results beyond expectations. Therefore, in the future, it will be possible to cope with the rapid growth of the enemy's air force in the Pacific and Indian Oceans under the condition that it can contain the large deployment of the enemy's air force forces. ”

"On the political front, the present political situation in the world centered on the empire is not much different from what was expected before the war, but the general situation has exceeded expectations and is moving in favor of the empire."

"Economically, as a result of the tremendous results achieved in the initial war, securing the resources of the established planned area and cutting off the supply of important materials to the United States and Britain could basically be completed ahead of schedule. The sea transport capacity remained more or less predetermined. There is no doubt that the availability of supplies, especially oil, is likely to achieve excellent results beyond expectations. So, on the whole, it is expected that the material combat capability will be strengthened beyond the predetermined plan, but there is still something to be considered in securing food. ”

At this point, Umezu Yoshijiro began to elaborate on his and the Army's views: "In fact, the issue we are arguing about now is a question of offense or defense, and in fact it is a question of Australia and India. Among the several strongholds occupied by the Allies in and around the South Pacific, the South Sea Territory of the Koh Island and the Chinese people, as well as Burma, were necessary to be occupied by the Empire, because these places were not very large and were close to the core control area of the Empire, so they had to be annihilated by Israel. ”

"But Australia and India are different, these two countries are so big, although they are not very strong, but even if the empire can conquer the whole of India and Australia in a very short time, there are not so many troops to garrison, and the empire has a much larger branch to conquer. However, Australia and India were also important bases for the United States and Britain in their counteroffensive against Japan, so the War Department believed and believed that it was the safest way to cut off India, Australia, and Britain itself by means of political means and sabotage of trade, to plot their defection, to promote Burma's independence, and to use their results to stimulate India's independence. ”

The Minister of the Navy, Shiro Kawako, and the Chief of Operations, Shuseki Nagano, glanced at each other and shook their heads, obviously disagreeing with the army's operational plan.

Fumima Konoe motioned for Umezu Mijiro to sit down, and then said, "Do you have any different opinions?" ”

The Minister of the Admiralty and Shiro Kawakoshi stood up and said: "Our Admiralty has a different opinion, and based on the investigation conducted so far, the Navy has determined that it has sunk 5 American battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 8 destroyers, and 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, and 6 destroyers. In this regard, we have only lightly damaged one cruiser of the first and second classes, and it has already been repaired. It can be seen that whether it is the United States or the United Kingdom, they are paper tigers with a gorgeous coat, and they are not vulnerable at all. ”

"Before the war, the Imperial Empire felt that it had to adopt a defensive strategic posture in response to the attack of the United States and Britain and other countries in the last resort, but now it seems completely unnecessary, because the Admiralty believes that the time has come for the Imperial Japanese Army to switch to an offensive strategic posture."

Therefore, the Navy strongly demanded that positive action be taken against Australia, and advocated that it should be captured. Because it is disadvantageous to take a defensive position in a protracted war, it is very important to always direct operations from the offensive point of view and force the enemy to be on the defensive. Not only do we understand this, but the Americans also know that they will certainly use Australia as the most important strategic base for counterattacking the Japanese Empire, and it is feasible to capture the largest base of the United States' counteroffensive against Japan. ”

After Shiro Kawakoshi finished speaking, the Chief of the Army General Staff, Seishiro Itagaki, got up and said: "Australia, its area is 30 times the size of the empire, the population is about 7 million, and the land transportation is extremely inconvenient. If the Imperial Army intends to conquer, it must be estimated that the Australians, out of their national nature, will fight to the end, and coupled with the difficulties of military geography, it will not be easy to fight. ”

"As far as the number of troops to be captured is concerned, according to the study of the army, the navy generally needs the main force of the combined fleet, and the army needs 12 divisions as the backbone; The number of ships required for the army alone is about 1.5 million tons, and more may need to be invested depending on the situation. In order to allocate such a huge number of troops, it is necessary to drastically reduce the Manchurian side's war preparedness against the Soviet Union and the Chinese side's battlefield, which will put the entire strategic situation in a great disadvantage, and will force a major change in the overall utilization of ships, which will bring heavy losses to the national strength in terms of training materials. ”

Umezu Mijiro also said: "At present, the imperial army in Manchuria is being attacked by the main force of Chen Feng's division of the Zhina, and now the people of China have captured the entire Suidong steppe, the first division of the Kwantung Army, the eighth division and the first division of the chariot have been collectively shattered, and they have been erased from the battle sequence of the imperial army by the people of China, and about 100,000 imperial troops have been annihilated, and the imperial army alone has lost nearly 200,000 troops, and it is not possible to draw too many troops to participate in the Australian operation. (To be continued......)