Episode 178 Do you dare to sink an American cargo ship

The Japanese heavy cruiser Myoko was cruising in the western Pacific with three destroyers, and at 8 a.m. on April 5, carrier-based seaplanes finally spotted a convoy of three huge ships. The Myoko squadron was immediately demoralized, and it increased its speed and pursued the fleet, which it caught up with three hours later.

The three freighters were indeed all American freighters, the smallest of which weighed seven or eight thousand tons, and the largest one of more than 10,000 tons. The cargo ships were flying the flag of "Free Russia", but the bow of the ship was painted in English and the shipping company to which it belonged. Most of the Japanese naval officers knew English, and it was immediately clear that this was an American ship.

While signaling the U.S. cargo ship, the Myoko shouted in English through a loudspeaker, ordering the U.S. cargo ship to stop for inspection. However, the three American cargo ships showed a typical "cowboy character" at this time, not only did not stop, but did not answer at all, but increased their horsepower and kept rushing forward. - The performance is the same as that of a Japanese cargo ship facing a Ming submarine. However, the Japanese cargo ships were faced with short submarines, and when they faced the tall and powerful cruisers, most of the cargo ships stopped honestly. But the current American cargo ships are really like cowboys, and they still ignore heavy cruisers......

This is the first time that the Japanese Navy has faced the US fleet, and whether it can handle it properly is a matter of great importance. The Myoko did not dare to open fire rashly, but kept following the fleet while constantly sending reports to the country asking for instructions on how to act.

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The Naval Command Department in Tokyo received the telegram and also launched a heated debate, and Japan had already decided to launch an "anti-sabotage engagement" against Daming, that is, to sink the cargo ship carrying supplies to Daming. But now that the matter is in front of us, looking at the three American cargo ships painted in English under their noses, the top brass of the Japanese Navy is suddenly numb, and they can't even muster up the courage to give the order to open fire.

At this time, the captains of the US fleet were also like ants on a hot pot, constantly sending telegrams to domestic companies, asking the company and the US government to urgently mediate, and they must not let their ships be sunk by Japanese warships. A shipping company is just a few ships, and if three ships are sunk in one go, it will be bankrupt.

The shipping companies in the United States, as well as the shippers of the goods, received the telegram almost simultaneously. At this time, as if for the first time they thought of the existence of a "Japanese warship," these businessmen who were eager to make money were also very anxious, and they contacted each other to exert influence on the federal government, the White House, and the Congress, hoping that the US government would warn the Japanese government through official channels not to do so.

However, it is clear that legally speaking, this matter has nothing to do with the US government, and it is the Russian Federation that buys goods and charters ships from these private companies in the United States, which is an individual business act. If the US government can do anything, the most it can do is to appeal to the Japanese government not to harm the American crew on board the ship and to act in strict accordance with international conventions.

To put it bluntly, the reason why the United States has the "Neutrality Act" and the reason why it prohibits the transportation of war materials to belligerent countries is that it is afraid of falling into such a situation. On the one hand, it is easy for American sailors to be killed or injured and fall victim to the blockade of each other by the belligerents. Still neutral or not neutral? On the other hand, the sale of large quantities of goods to belligerents always incurs a large amount of credit. When the United States ostensibly made a lot of war money, but in fact it had a lot of white slips in its hands, it was already involuntarily drawn into the circle of right and wrong. If you don't want to turn your white slip into waste paper, you have to intervene in the war to ensure that your debtor country becomes the victor. In any case, it is not easy to make war money and stay out of the situation.

The isolation of the United States was strong at this time, and the people of the whole country did not want to be involved in the war as they did in World War I. Later, in the early stage of World War II, even if the United States amended the Neutrality Act to allow the sale of war materials to belligerents, it also added the two articles of "cash settlement and transportation at your own expense" to avoid being involved to the greatest extent.

However, during World War II, it was possible to do so, because the control of the sea in the Atlantic Ocean was in the hands of Britain, and "the belligerents took care of their own transportation", in fact, only Britain could "take care of themselves", and Germany could not "take care of itself" at all, which was equivalent to only selling to Britain. But now it doesn't work, the sea control in the western Pacific is in the hands of Japan, and if the United States proposes to "take care of its own transportation," it will be tantamount to not allowing the Ming Dynasty to buy goods.

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The current situation is that the Myoko detachment is staring at the three American cargo ships, eyeing the tiger and opening fire at any moment. On both sides of the Pacific, Tokyo is at loggerheads, and Washington is at loggerheads. Many opposing congressmen in the United States simply proposed that the United States should take this opportunity to introduce a circle of right and wrong, and that it should put forward a vote to amend the neutrality legislation and make the provisions more stringent, or at least require the purchasing country to send a ship to carry it on its own.

At the same time, Nanjing also knew. Shen Rongxuan temporarily convened several ministers to discuss it quickly, and decided not to express his position for the time being, but to pay close attention to the progress in the western Pacific to see if Japan had the courage to sink the American cargo ship. If the Japanese ship did not fire at the end, it means that Japan is stunned, and of course everyone is happy, as if nothing happened. If Japan really sank the American cargo ship, then the situation of the Ming Dynasty would be particularly tricky. Either send warships to escort the ship, or let all the American cargo ships take the Atlantic and Indian Ocean routes, which will cover several thousand kilometers longer.

In addition, I am afraid it will be necessary to announce that all losses will be compensated by the Russian government (in fact, the Ming Dynasty). Otherwise, I'm afraid that no shipping company will be willing to risk bankruptcy and earn your freight again.

In Tokyo, the controversy spread from the Naval Command Department to the Cabinet, which held an emergency meeting and could not make up its mind.

One school of thought is that we must act in strict accordance with international conventions, and if the American cargo ship does not stop, then we will warn against shooting. If we don't stop, we can't fight with people and boats. Sinking American ships and killing Americans is exactly what Ming Guo wants. That could easily push the United States into war. Once the United States joins the camp of the Ming Kingdom, it will be terrible.

Another school of opinion is, hit! What's so terrible about the United States? How many people are there in the US Army? How much stronger is the U.S. Navy than the Japanese Navy? What's more, the United States is a corrupt country that advocates flashy pleasures, and Americans advocate individualism, which is a plate of loose sand, and it is not terrible at all. And Japan has the soul of Yamato, even if it fights, it will not be a problem to deal with the United States!

And the most scheming is Prime Minister Fumihiro Konoe. Konoe Fumiro's view is that if Japan sinks an American cargo ship, the U.S. reaction is likely to be the opposite, not a mass of anger and shouting, but a resurgence of isolation and demand for withdrawal from the circle of right and wrong. There is still a very strong isolationist faction in the United States, and this sinking incident will give this faction a good excuse. On the contrary, if Japan does not dare to sink an American cargo ship this time, then it will not want to sink a cargo ship in the future. All American shipowners would have seen the signal and would henceforth have ignored the inspection orders of the Japanese warships. Even many Ming cargo ships may hang the American flag as a talisman.

Prime Minister Konoe analyzed and finally convinced the majority.

Just after a six-hour stalemate at sea in the western Pacific, at five o'clock in the evening, the order to open fire reached the Myoko.

Suddenly, all the Japanese officers and men on the Myoko cheered, and the fanatical shout of "Banzai" resounded between the sea and the sky. With cheers, the main turret motors on the foredeck of the heavy cruiser began to chirp, and the armored turret slowly turned, and the barrel was slightly raised, aiming at an American cargo ship at the rear.

"Fire !!"

"Hey! Fire!!! ”

With a loud bang, a large ball of fireball with black smoke erupted from the barrel, and the cruiser trembled. After a few seconds of brief hissing between the sea and the sky, the last American cargo ship exploded violently, filling the air with smoke and fire.