Chapter 5: Iron Ambition: The Empire of the Rising Sun (Part II)

PS: Fix a small mistake, the nickname of the B-29 strategic bomber is "Super Flying Fortress", not "Flying Fortress", two words are lost in front. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

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The Japanese archipelago at the end of September is full of red autumn colors, and the leaves are flowing red, gorgeous, delicate and fiery, and red like fat like the glow, which is touching.

——As the so-called "cherry blossoms in spring, red leaves in autumn", it is the season of red leaves all over the mountains at this time, the eyes are full of red leaves, the leaves are colorful, and the forests are dyed...... In Tokyo's famous Hibiya Park, a variety of autumn leaves compete in the middle of it, and you can experience the three artistic conceptions of seeing autumn leaves: the first look at the colorful autumn leaves, then the autumn leaves in full swing, and the third time when the autumn leaves fall. It is really gorgeous like smoke, gaudy but not fierce, delicate but not charming.

Of course, this kind of leisure and leisure of appreciating the autumn leaves is limited to a very small number of people who have money and leisure and have a worry-free life, and it is definitely not something that can be felt by those who need to work all day long and do not know the wind and snow at all.

-- Japan's war of aggression against China, which began in the 30s of the 20th century, once made great gains, relying on the abundant minerals and grain in Northeast China, as well as Taiwan's sugar and rice, so that the living standards of ordinary Japanese people reached a peak in 1938. However, immediately afterward, as the war of aggression against China had fallen into a quagmire that could not be resolved quickly, military spending had swelled viciously, and the sanctions imposed by the United States and Britain, life in Japan began to gradually become difficult.

When the Pacific War broke out, the living standards of ordinary people in Japan plummeted, and in the eyes of the Japanese people, after experiencing illusory glory and short-lived joy, the war brought them endless shortages of daily necessities, food rationing, inflation, the proliferation of the black market, and extremely long hours of labor. During these dark days, the Japanese people suffered even more than any other people who started the war.

As early as the first month of the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japanese cities began to ration grain, charcoal, and even soy sauce, with only 330 grams of rice per person per day. Families purchased rice at designated rice shops on the basis of their grain purchases, and a ban on white rice was issued, requiring brown rice to be mixed with polished rice. Later, the rationing system was extended to cloth, candles, soap, and almost everything else that was used in daily life.

What is even more terrifying is that in order to meet the large demand for metal raw materials for weapons production, Japan has begun to dig three feet into the ground at home. City dwellers were forced to make the greatest sacrifices. Tokyo's metal street lamp brackets, railroad tracks, metal traffic signs, and various signs on buildings were all removed, and even the bronze gate of the Yasukuni ♂ Shrine was shipped to the arsenal to be used as raw materials for the production of bullets. Shinto shrines in Japan have dedicated bronze shrines; Buddhist temples contribute large bells and gongs. The police went from house to house to force housewives to hand over their household utensils, stipulating that each household could only leave one pot and one metal bucket. The next step was to force everyone to replace the original aluminum one-day dollar coin with a newly minted tin coin......

In wartime Tokyo, all the laughter and laughter seemed to be consumed by the war. Exhausted citizens do tedious work like robots, suffering from chronic hunger. The only thing in his numb mind is how long he will have to hold on to get off work today, or how many quotas are left in the family's rice and charcoal ration book, whether he can find some good goods on the black market, or pawn a certain heirloom at a more reasonable price...... On the buildings on both sides of the street, you can occasionally see a few flags congratulating the "Great Victory of the Imperial Kingdom", but they have long been covered with dust, just like the mentality of people in the face of war.

Despite these sacrifices, they were unable to prevent the specter of war from getting closer to them. The American bombs that fell from time to time in the past three days always reminded them that war was on the horizon. Although it was impossible to dispatch a large number of planes and could only attack in small formations or even by a single plane, the B-29 strategic bombers were very inaccurate in their high-altitude bombing of Japanese cities, and most of the bombs were simply littered. Moreover, the 4,500-kilometer journey from Midway to Japan forced the American pilots to greatly reduce their bomb load so that they could install temporary fuel tanks, and the casualties caused by the average daily casualties to the citizens of Tokyo may not be as good as the usual car accidents and production accidents...... But the sheer fear is crazy enough. To make matters worse, there were rumors that the U.S. military was preparing to retaliate by bombing Tokyo with gas bombs soon after, given that the Japanese had used poison gas on the battlefield in Australia......

Even if only one bomber visited Tokyo, the authorities had to mobilize the entire city of reservists and civilians, ordering them to join the volunteer fire brigade and emergency rescue team and dig bomb shelters in addition to their exhausting labor. Once the US plane hits in the middle of the night, people throughout Tokyo have to drag their tired bodies up and put on gas masks...... What's worse is that the Americans, after discovering the above situation through some channel, became more and more fond of night bombing—even if they couldn't blow up anything of value, it would be a success to make the whole of Tokyo unable to sleep.

As a result, over the past few years, the death rate of overwork in Japan's rear factories has been alarmingly high, and it has rapidly evolved from "sweatshops" to "death factories......

At this moment, around Hibiya Park, many families with children joining the army have put up signs saying "taboo". The once bustling shopping street was full of bomb shelters dug everywhere, piled with new earth and broken bricks. The road surface was cut off, and on a gangplank, from time to time someone pushed a fully loaded cart through. Some stand on hastily erected scaffolds to paint brightly colored shop buildings in unsightly yellow and green camouflage paint. Someone pasted anti-aircraft notes in the shape of "m" on glass windows. The neon signs have been torn down, all the windows are empty, and a few clerks are busy unpacking the glass and nailing the wooden boards......

However, it's good to have work to keep busy at this time. The most unfortunate thing is that those property and houses were burned to the ground by US planes, and now they are homeless and can only live on the streets, especially those children and women who lack the ability to work. Now I can only set up a bunk in Hibiya Park and sleep in the open for the time being. If it had been in peacetime, I am afraid that someone would have gone there and driven it away. But in this day and age, the police and gendarmes have a rare sense of sympathy, turning a blind eye to these "illegal squatters" and turning a blind eye to them.

What's more, at this time in Hibiya Park, there was a group of "kind naval officers and sailors" who were distributing relief to these homeless people, and the content was amazingly rich: large pieces of white bread, hot seaweed soup, and all kinds of nutritious seafood, such as dried salted fish, canned crab meat, canned herring, canned mentai fish, canned cod, etc., were all pulled into the park by truck, directly on the grass, attracting countless salivating eyes - even in the pre-war era of peace, Such a delicacy is not something that ordinary people can taste very often.

However, the relief food of the Imperial Navy was not eaten for nothing, and anyone who wanted to eat these good things had to sign a "deed of sale" and sell the whole army to the Imperial Navy, so as to bid farewell to the homeland of the Japanese archipelago and immigrate to the war-torn South Pacific or the Australian continent thousands of miles away to carry out "armed reclamation" -- this kind of demand, which is similar to selling oneself into slavery, obviously makes many people feel suspicious. For example, women are very worried about whether they will be stuffed into "comfort stations" after arriving in Nanyang...... The helpless rumbling stomach really couldn't resist the temptation, thinking that their next meal would not be settled, and maybe they would soon be conscripted or called into some kind of "standing team", and in the end, the vast majority of people gritted their teeth and signed up.

All of a sudden, people were squatting on the ground all over the park, shaking their cheeks, gobbling up these exquisite foods that they hadn't tasted in a long time.

Of course, so many dazzling and precious foods have also attracted many greedy eyes with bad intentions. Although the naval uniforms on those responsible persons were enough to deter ordinary hooligans, they could not stand the fact that some people had hands and eyes to the sky, and they actually recruited the gendarmerie to confiscate the food on charges such as "illegal gathering of crowds and ill intentions...... However, after some controversy, it was the gendarmerie that was defeated, because a big leader of the navy happened to be here to support his own people: that was the commander of the combined fleet, Admiral Yamamoto 56!

In the face of such a big man at the level of a military god, even if the former prime minister Hideki Tojo, the commander of the military police, arrived, I am afraid that he would not dare to offend - no way, Marshal Yamamoto has galloped across the ocean in the past four years and repeatedly broken the brilliant record of the US Pacific Fleet, which is really too terrifying. There were more than 50 American and British battleships and aircraft carriers sunk by his command alone, and the total tonnage of the sunken ships was said to have exceeded 2 million tons. Even Heihachiro Togo, who had completely annihilated the Russian fleet in the Battle of Tsushima in the past, was probably ashamed of himself in the face of Marshal Yamamoto's outstanding achievements.

In Japan, Marshal Yamamoto has surpassed the fame of the ancient military god Kusunoki Masanari, and his photographs and statues are worshipped in shrines. And the model of his flagship Yamato is also the most sought-after toy for boys...... In the face of such god-like figures, how dare the gendarmes make a mistake?

Immediately afterward, after the gendarmes who had come to find fault withdrew, Marshal Yamamoto 56 was immediately surrounded by young students who rushed up to ask for autographs, and several guards were sweating profusely. And many Tokyo citizens who were still barely able to make ends meet, saw this and couldn't help but think about "going to the South Seas" - seeing that life at home is not as good as day by day, why not simply go overseas to break through? Isn't the worst outcome just death! At least you can eat and drink well for a while before you die, not to mention that even if you stay in Tokyo, won't you have to be bombarded by beautiful animals?

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Under a maple tree in a corner of Hibiya Park, two officers in army uniforms drink and chat as they watch the clash not far away. Like other wealthy idlers who come out with autumn leaves, a cloth is also spread on the grass under their buttocks, and sake bottles and some side dishes are placed with sake.

“…… Tsuji-kun, the timing of your return to Japan is unfortunate, and you can't see the cherry blossoms in spring, so let's make do with the autumn leaves! ”

Takushiro Hattori, chief of the Operations Section of the Army General Staff Headquarters, muttered sourly as he took a sip of sake in a shallow dish, "...... Alas, Yamamoto Isoroku has recruited people without authorization in Tokyo and bought the hearts of the people, which is really arrogant. It is said that he not only turned the naval fortress of Truk Islands into an independent kingdom, but also enclosed a large area of land in New Guinea, Noumea, and New Britain in the South Sea, raised more than 10,000 marines, and recruited armed immigrants ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of them. Now that a branch of the Naval University is being built in Truk, it is simply an attempt to create another Japan overseas! According to this method, does he really want to occupy a place there and become a lord of the domain? ”

Sitting cross-legged opposite Hattori Takushiro Osa was Masanobu Tsuji, who had just returned from the Australian front line to report on his work and was about to be promoted to major general, and he only smiled slightly when he heard this, "...... Hattori-kun, you're jealous! Seriously, with Marshal Yamamoto's merits, isn't it enough to qualify as a feudal lord overseas? Besides, this recruitment thing is actually something that our Australian military and the combined fleet are engaged in together. It's a pity that the army is not as generous as the navy, and it can't get too good treatment, so it can only come hard. On the way back to report on my work, I recruited 5,000 volunteers from Taiwan, 2,000 laborers from Vietnam, and finally tied up 4,000 coolies in Guangzhou, and now I am shipping them to Australia! ”

Speaking of this, Masanobu Tsuji's tone couldn't help but carry a hint of resentment, "...... Hey, on the Australian front line, on the islands of the South Seas, we are short of people everywhere, opening mines, building roads, building airports, taking over the factories, farms and pastures left by Western white animals, and encircling and suppressing all kinds of stubborn and remnant enemies to replenish the consumption of soldiers on the front line, and even the cat's claws are eager to pick up and use. I didn't expect to return to Tokyo to see that there are still so many able-bodied people who have nothing to do and no livelihood because they are unemployed! There are people everywhere in the station docks who want to sell their children, and the women who sell their prostitution because they are unemployed almost fill Ginza and Kabukicho! But it's all done like this, and the base camp actually said that it wants to ensure the number of domestic laborers, and called back our application for large-scale recruitment of armed immigrants! Even a half-grown child refuses to give it! Isn't that forcing us to do it? ”

“…… The labor situation in the country is also very tight, with young and middle-aged people being drafted away from the army, and several coal mines in Kitakyushu are already using Korean and Shina laborers. In this case, if the base camp agrees with you to recruit people from the country on a large scale, Mitsui and several other consortia will have a big opinion. ”

Hattori Takushiro Osa explained, but Masanobu Tsuji was even angrier: "...... Hum! Do they still have the face to complain? Speaking of which, the country has become in this difficult situation, is it not the insatiable chaebols such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo who are digging into the wall? Obviously, when the national crisis is at the head, so many servants and maids are still used to serve at home, and I heard that the total number of servants serving the rich in the country is as high as two million...... And on the Australian front, we are already going to raise reinforcements from the Wang Jingwei government in China to fight against the American and British guerrillas! ”

“…… Well, I know about this, at that time, the General Staff Headquarters thought that the Australian Army Command was crazy, but it was really tight everywhere, and it couldn't squeeze out so many reinforcements that Australia needed, so it could only pinch its nose and borrow troops from the Nanjing Nationalist Government...... Those people are okay, right? Takushiro Hattori replied.

“…… To be honest, the combat effectiveness is really not very good, and many guys are simply strong men temporarily captured by Wang Jingwei's government, but they can still be used as individuals. Even if you can't fight a war, it's not bad to be thrown behind the battle line to farm in Juntun farms, to work as workers in repair shops, and to work as overseers in mines......"

Masa Tsuji craned his neck and took a sip of sake and said, "...... At least much more diligent than those lazy Filipinos......"

“…… Uh, that's not what I meant! I mean, there were a lot of people in the General Staff Headquarters who were worried that they would throw themselves into Australia on a large scale......"

“…… Defection? Then you have to be willing to accept it on the other side! In the eyes of Australian white ghosts, we Japanese, Taiwanese, Koreans, Chinese, and even Vietnamese are all yellow monkeys that should be skinned. If it really falls into the hands of the white animal on the other side, I'm afraid I won't even be able to get a whole corpse! ”

Masanobu Tsuji sneered, "...... In China, they may not be reliable, but in Australia, they just can't be reliable. At most, the white animal guerrillas will let them see blood by the way, and then pick a few leaders to go to the comfort station to find a white woman to open meat, and basically there will be no problem.

However, in the long run, there are still hidden dangers in doing so. Only the army marched south to kill the white animals, and if there was no pioneer regiment to keep up, the imperial army's Australian strategy seemed to be specifically to help Chinese and Koreans migrate south...... Well, there are also some Vietnamese who have also been stained. ”

“…… Your worries are unwarranted, Tsuji-kun. Australia is not Manchurian and Mongolian, it is too far away from Japan, and the empire cannot occupy it in any way. At best, it is just a bargaining chip, and once peace talks with Europe and the United States are opened in the future, most of them will still have to spit it out. ”

Hattori Takushiro Osa replied disappreciatively, "...... At that time, the imperial army will pat its ass and withdraw its troops and go home, so let those inferior nationalities stay in Australia and eat dogs with American and British whites! Well, the Imperial Army can also leave them with more weapons and ammunition to make them fight more lively......"

“…… Alas, I hope so! Let's not talk about that. Just in time for wine today, taste the gift I brought to you from the southern hemisphere! ”

Then, Takushiro Hattori took the rough tin can without any logo from Masanobu Tsuji's hand in confusion, and after a closer look, he found that there was nothing on the surface of the can except for a production date. Next, he took out the dagger and pried open the can, picked out a piece of meat from an unknown animal, frowned and stuffed it into his mouth, his face suddenly changed greatly, and he spit out the meat directly, and complained to Masanobu Tsuji with a foul face, "...... What kind of meat is this! Stinky and stinky! It's like soaking in urine, and it's even more choking than natto! ”

“…… This is an Australian specialty! Canned kangaroo meat! The purest flavor of the battlefield! ”

Masanobu Tsuji grinned and put his fingers into the can, grabbed a piece of urea-rich kangaroo meat without mind, threw it into his mouth and chewed, "...... At the time when supplies were most difficult at the front, we had almost half a year, and we lived entirely on this thing and hare meat, and occasionally a little snake meat and crocodile meat for a change of taste...... Don't say it, there are so many rabbits in that part of Australia that it's a disaster! ”

“…… Then you can bring me some air-dried rabbit meat! Or a rabbit fur hat! Takushiro Hattori rolled his eyes and scolded with a smile, "...... In any case, this officer will share weal and woe with the officers and men of the Australian Army today. Taste the flavor of Australian kangaroo meat...... "It's too far away, the empire can't hold it well." At best, it is just a bargaining chip, and once peace talks with Europe and the United States are opened in the future, most of them will still have to spit it out. ”

Hattori Takushiro Osa replied disappreciatively, "...... At that time, the imperial army will pat its ass and withdraw its troops and go home, so let those inferior nationalities stay in Australia and eat dogs with American and British whites! Well, the Imperial Army can also leave them with more weapons and ammunition to make them fight more lively......"

“…… Alas, I hope so! Let's not talk about that. Just in time for wine today, taste the gift I brought to you from the southern hemisphere! ”

Then, Takushiro Hattori took the rough tin can without any logo from Masanobu Tsuji's hand in confusion, and after a closer look, he found that there was nothing on the surface of the can except for a production date. Next, he took out the dagger and pried open the can, picked out a piece of meat from an unknown animal, frowned and stuffed it into his mouth, his face suddenly changed greatly, and he spit out the meat directly, and complained to Masanobu Tsuji with a foul face, "...... What kind of meat is this! Stinky and stinky! It's like soaking in urine, and it's even more choking than natto! ”

“…… This is an Australian specialty! Canned kangaroo meat! The purest flavor of the battlefield! ”

Masanobu Tsuji grinned and put his fingers into the can, grabbed a piece of urea-rich kangaroo meat without mind, threw it into his mouth and chewed, "...... At the time when supplies were most difficult at the front, we had almost half a year, and we lived entirely on this thing and hare meat, and occasionally a little snake meat and crocodile meat for a change of taste...... Don't say it, there are so many rabbits in that part of Australia that it's a disaster! ”

“…… Then you can bring me some air-dried rabbit meat! Or a rabbit fur hat! Takushiro Hattori rolled his eyes and scolded with a smile, "...... In any case, this officer will share weal and woe with the officers and men of the Australian Army today. Taste the flavours of Australian kangaroo meat......"