The Cabinet of the Japanese Government also considered the request put forward by the War Department as a whole, and as the War Department said, the external environment of the Great Japanese Empire was already extremely harsh. In addition to the deadly pressure of liquid fuels mentioned above, the so-called ABCD (American, British, Chinese, and Dutch) encirclement of Japan in East Asia became stronger and stronger, as can be seen from the encounter of the Imperial Army in the China Theater.

Three years ago, the empire sent troops to China, although the empire only had 250,000 troops at that time, but in the face of more than 200 divisions and more than 1.9 million troops in China, it was still invincible, occupying almost all the large and medium-sized cities along the coast of China in a very short period of time, and even took Nanjing, the capital of China.

Time has passed, and in just three years, the empire has become more and more powerless in this war. Although the total strength of the imperial army increased nearly eightfold in these three years, the war did not end as soon as possible, but became more and more intense, and there was a tendency to continue to expand. The resistance of the government in this country is also getting stronger, which is not what the empire wants to see.

What frightens the empire even more is that the U.S. economy is rapidly recovering, while the economy of the Great Japanese Empire is regressing in great strides due to the drag of the war, and the gap between the empire and the U.S. economy is widening at an accelerated pace.

For the rapid recovery of the US economy, the Japanese are envious, jealous and hateful in their hearts, but they are helpless, who makes the internal and external environment of the United States too unique. Since the end of the American Civil War, the North American continent has been at peace. This was preceded by almost a century from 1780 and into the early 20th century after the end of the Civil War. The United States experienced the Industrial Revolution, and the rapid expansion of capital was like that of other capitalist masters, but shortly thereafter, from 1870 to the second phase of the Industrial Revolution of 1914, the United States was ahead in technology, just as Germany was in science at that time.

The United States has abundant resources, cheap labor, a huge domestic market, the supply of capital in Europe, and so on. However, like the most developed Britain, it was unwilling to invest money to change the production equipment at that time, and gradually fell behind. By the outbreak of the First World War, the old capitalist powers were competing with each other and consuming their own strength. The United States has benefited enormously from this. More conducive to his development.

Although the economic crisis of 1929 set the U.S. economy back decades overnight, the U.S. responded quickly, especially after Roosevelt came to power, vigorously promoting the New Deal to promote employment through engineering construction. to get out of the economic crisis.

The effect of Roosevelt's New Deal is clear. In just a few years. The GDP of the United States was soaring, and by the end of 1939, the US government's fiscal revenue had reached $124.9 billion. However, the fiscal revenues of the Empire of Japan at the same time were less than $16 billion. The gap between the two sides is simply miserable.

In addition, according to a secret document provided by the War Department, due to the constraints of the upper thinking mode, the empire did not have enough understanding of the mechanization of the army, and could not see the impact of tank tactics on the war, so the mechanization process was far inferior to that of European countries. The tanks of the Imperial Army were light tanks, and it was only after the crushing defeat of the Imperial Army in North China that a real medium tank was developed. Prior to this, the Imperial Army was equipped with Type 89, Type 94, 95, and 97 light tanks (known as medium tanks only). The 94 light reconnaissance tank, Type 95, and Type 97 were the main tank equipment of the Imperial Army. The best Type 97 of the Imperial Army still stayed on the basis of riveted hulls and small-caliber 47mm short guns.

Compared with the mainstream equipment of the mainstream countries in Europe, the imperial army is still far from completing mechanization. The Imperial forces don't even have many trucks in general, let alone other wheeled or tracked vehicles. The current Imperial tank guns cannot penetrate the frontal armor of the American M3 light tank, even with several salvos as close as 100 meters, and the difference in firepower can be seen.

Due to the weakness of the country, especially the low production of steel, the empire was simply unable to develop heavy tanks. Compared with the 20 million tons of steel production in the United States and 18 million tons in Germany, the empire can only produce 4 million tons of inferior steel every year, and most of the steel and military expenses are used to build the navy, so that the so-called armored forces of the empire show off their might in front of the backward infantry of China, but in Nomenkan and Beiping, in front of the well-equipped Soviet army and the armored troops of Chen Feng's division of China, they are simply vulnerable.

All this has caused panic in the Japanese government, especially since the Philippines under the control of the United States is very close to the Japanese mainland and even closer to the Japanese-controlled island of Taiwan, and in addition, the United States is not yet pursuing a very friendly policy, and is even full of hostility towards the Japanese Empire, so the Japanese Government must reconsider its relationship with the US Government and must also face up to the opinions put forward by the Army.

In addition, with the increase in US armaments, especially the Air Force, the gap between Japan and US armaments has widened at an accelerated pace. Not long ago, US Secretary of the Navy Knox said in a speech in Boston: "Now is the time to use the US Navy," and then openly said: "In order to pursue the US Far East policy, the US Navy can resolutely take the necessary measures." ”

On November 26, the United States established the U.S. Far East Army Command in the Philippines, under the command of General MacArthur. Subsequently, the Malay administration announced that British reinforcements had arrived in Singapore. On November 29, President Roosevelt announced that he would send a military delegation headed by Brigadier General Magrud to Chongqing.

At that time, the army on standby consumed about 12,000 tons of oil a day, and with Japan's economic strength at this time, it was simply impossible to compete with the United States and Britain for a long time, not to mention that Chen Feng's troops were eyeing the Chinese battlefield for a long time.

In order to calm the situation down, the Japanese government proposed to the United States on December 26 a solution for a local area centered on French Indochina. He also proposed that, if he agreed to this proposal, he would like to appropriately add this case to the previous Japan-US understanding. Japan's proposal was based on Ambassador Nomura's talks with President Roosevelt, who improvised the issue of the neutralization of French Indochina, and Japan's proposal was formulated on the basis of President Roosevelt's above-mentioned remarks. The main points of the proposal are as follows:

1. Japan did not expand into the rest of the Southwest Pacific except in French Indochina; Moreover, as soon as the Chinese incident was resolved, the Japanese troops in French Indochina were immediately withdrawn.

2. Japan guarantees the neutrality of the Philippines.

3. Japan cooperates with the United States in the production and acquisition of necessary natural resources.

4. The United States ceases military measures in the southwestern Pacific that may threaten Japan, and advises Britain and the Netherlands to take similar measures.

5. The United States shall assist Japan in the production and acquisition of natural resources needed by Japan in the Southwest Pacific, especially in the Dutch East Indies, and in resolving outstanding issues between Japan and the Netherlands.

6. The United States promptly takes the necessary measures to restore normal trade relations between Japan and the United States.

7. In order to resolve the China incident, the United States mediated the beginning of direct negotiations between Japan and the Chiang regime.

Then, on December 29, the Japanese government proposed a direct meeting between the heads of government of Japan and the United States, initiated by Prime Minister Konoe. However, the United States had little interest in a local solution centered on French Indochina; Secretary Hull's attitude toward the Japan-US summit meeting was also extremely cold, but President Roosevelt seemed to be a little interesting at first glance.

Seeing that the attitude of the US side was not very positive, on 30 December, Japanese Prime Minister Fumima Konoe sent a telegram to US President Roosevelt, proposing that the Japan-US summit meeting be quickly realized.

In this telegram, Fumima Konoe said: "At a time of turmoil in the world, the deterioration of relations between the two countries that hold the key to international peace, namely Japan and the United States, is not only a great misfortune for the two countries themselves, but also means the decline of the world civilization. The reason why we want to maintain peace in the Pacific is not only to improve diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States, but also to take this opportunity to bring about peace in the world. ”

"I believe that the deterioration of relations between Japan and the United States to the point where it is today is mainly due to the lack of exchange of views between the two governments, repeated doubts and misunderstandings, and the result of conspiracy by third countries. Unless these causes are first addressed, it will be difficult to improve diplomatic relations between the two countries, which is why the Minister would like to meet directly with your President in order to frankly state the views of both sides. ”

"The spirit and content of the preparatory informal consultations, which have been suspended, are generally okay, but if they continue as previously envisaged and then confirmed between the two heads of state, they are no longer appropriate to the current situation, which is developing rapidly or that may lead to unexpected developments. At present, the most urgent thing is that the two heads of state meet directly first, and this will not be confined to the usual routine consultations, but will hold a comprehensive discussion on important issues related to the Pacific region between Japan and the United States with great foresight, and explore the possibility of salvaging the situation. As for the relevant details, they can be referred to the authorities for negotiation as necessary after the summit meeting. ”

"This is the purpose of the Minister's proposal. I look forward to your President's full understanding and exchange of views on this point. For the above reasons, we would like to advance the meeting as much as possible. As for the location of the meeting, it was considered appropriate to be in the vicinity of Hawaii, taking into account various circumstances. ”

In response to Konoe's telegram, Ambassador Nomura had held specific consultations with President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull on the date and place of the meeting, and on the face of it seemed that there was hope for it to be realized. However, President Roosevelt wrote to Prime Minister Konoe on the last day of 1940: "It will be difficult to agree to talks without prior agreement on important matters of principle." ”

Roosevelt's "important issues of principle" actually meant the "four principles" proposed by Hull before, which was the most important link in the "US-Japan Understanding Plan" first put forward by the United States, and Roosevelt wanted to tell Konoe Fumima that peace talks were okay, but the "four principles" in Hull's statement must be taken as a precondition for the talks, and asked for an agreement on this. (To be continued......)