Chapter 4: Iron Ambition: The Empire of the Rising Sun (Part I)

September 29, 1945, Tokyo, capital of the Empire of Japan

In Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, there is a three-story Western-style building made of red bricks, the red bricks on the exterior are imported from England, the top is a light blue roof and white marble arched European-style windows, and then the outside is a fence composed of red brick low walls and metal fences, surrounded by green trees, the regular pattern of the courtyard, full of strong European Baroque style, just like the European-style manor mansion in the girl's comics. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

If it is placed in the future of the 21st century, such a place will definitely attract many literary and artistic young people to take a group photo, and it is even likely that there will be many brides with romantic dreams, holding the groom's arm and pouting, shouting that they must come here to take wedding photos of the two. But at this moment, this beautiful Western building does not show the romantic atmosphere of a girl's dream at all, but exudes an aura of solemnity. There are naval gendarmes wearing white cloth military armbands standing in front of the gate at any time, and you can see many people in military uniforms entering and exiting the gate.

This is the heart of the Japanese Navy in the old imperial era, the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Command Department.

The first and second floors of the building are the offices of the Ministry of the Navy. Although the Ministry of the Navy, which is headed by the Minister of the Navy, it sounds like it is the supreme governing body of the Navy's military administration. But in fact, the naval command department on the third floor of this building is the real soul of the Japanese Navy.

Although the Military Command Department is an organization that occupies only one floor, and there are only about a hundred cleaners, the actual number of active personnel of the Imperial Navy is only about seventy. However, it was such a small naval command department, but it was responsible for formulating all the operational plans of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and also took care of all things related to the war. As long as it is necessary for the "control" of the war, the Military Command Department has the right to issue orders to the Ministry of the Navy, or to other government agencies of the Empire - the whole country must serve the war in wartime, and the military orders are like a mountain, and there is no room for offense or resistance!

At the same time, based on the principle of "independence of the commander-in-chief," the Military Command Department also has absolute autonomy not to be interfered with by other agencies.

In this way, with the exception of His Majesty the Emperor and the Army General Staff Department, which is at the same level as the Naval Command Department, within the Japanese Empire, no matter who or what organization it is, can only make suggestions to the Military Command Department, and whether or not to adopt it depends entirely on the judgment of the Military Command Department.

As a result, the entire Pacific War was actually run by a very small number of people. For example, the combat section of the Military Command Department is assigned to ten staff officers, but it is responsible for formulating all the operational plans for a large area in the entire South Seas......

-- On top of this, some of the senior officials of the Navy's Command Department, together with some senior officials of the Army General Staff Headquarters, and some other representatives who were only qualified to observe, formed the "wartime base camp" directly under the Emperor, representing His Majesty the Supreme Emperor, and in a "state of war" they controlled the fate of all Imperial Japanese soldiers, government functionaries, and all the people of the Imperial Japanese Empire and the entire "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."

At this time, in the center of the building, on the staircase, which was as beautiful and spacious as a Western-style mansion, two senior naval officers who had just come out of their offices were walking together. The naval personnel they met along the way were all respectful, bowing, or saluting.

Because, they are the Minister of Military Orders, Admiral Kantaro Suzuki, and the Commander of the Combined Fleet, Marshal Isoroku Yamamoto.

He was the supreme commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the first admiral of our time, who commanded the Japanese Combined Fleet to achieve many victories.

“…… Yamamoto-kun, the matter in the Indian Ocean has been finalized for the time being, but the imperial capital Tokyo has only been quiet for a few months, and the day before yesterday it was attacked by the US military, not only the people were destroyed and displaced, but also disturbed the peace of the imperial palace, such as today His Majesty is very angry at the imperial meeting! ”

General Kantaro Suzuki said lightly, "...... Is there any solution for the Combined Fleet? ”

“…… To be honest, it's really hard to do. Your Excellency, we have seriously underestimated the courage of the US military. ”

Marshal Yamamoto 56 replied, "...... The bomber formations of the US Air Force that bombed the Imperial Kingdom took off from Midway Island, 4,500 kilometers away from the mainland of our country. However, the B-29 'Flying Fortress' four-engine heavy bomber, which is currently the largest in service in the US military, can barely fly a range of 9,000 to 10,000 kilometers with less ammunition and additional fuel tanks, which is just enough to make a round trip along China's coastline, and then there is no redundancy at all. According to our thinking, it should not be possible for the U.S. military to bomb Japan before the capture of the Mariana Islands. Who knew that the U.S. military had even done the thing of 'using the bomber once and not using it'! It's just throwing money into the water! How can we prevent such a local tyrant's style of play? ”

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-- In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army, the U.S. military has been trying to bomb the mainland of the Japanese Empire for a long time. As early as April 1942, at the beginning of the Pacific War, the U.S. Air Force used sixteen specially modified B-25 twin-engine bombers. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle, they took off from the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and HMS Hornet 600 nautical miles off the coast of Tokyo, carried out air strikes on Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Kobe, and then flew non-stop Chinese mainland made a forced landing in the area controlled by the Kuomintang troops -- the B-25 twin-engine bomber could only take off from the aircraft carrier, but could not land......

Moreover, after the carriers Enterprise and Hornet released the bombers, they must immediately turn around and return to the sea to avoid being pursued by the Japanese.

In short, although the "Doolittle air raid" was very heavily publicized by the United States and Britain, it seemed to have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Empire. But in fact, this time the fast-in and fast-out, like an air raid by a thief breaking into an empty door, caused negligible damage to the Japanese. On the contrary, the price paid by the US forces was extremely heavy, as none of the 16 bombers on the mission returned to the battlefield, and the two aircraft carriers close to the Japanese coastline also took great risks -- six months later, when the second US aircraft carrier group tried to do the same, it was blocked in the middle of the night by the elusive battleship Yamato. Since the naval aviation at this time did not have the ability to fight at night, as a result, they all sank to the bottom of the sea without releasing a single plane.

But even so, in the face of the fiasco of one naval battle after another, as well as the overwhelming sarcasm and ridicule, the US military was so stimulated that it went crazy, and it still kept trying to sneak attack the Japanese archipelago without forgetting to die. Even if it didn't inflict much damage on the war machine of the Japanese Empire, it would be good to be able to slap the arrogant Japanese and give them some psychological blows - at first, they sent an aircraft carrier formation straight to Japan to risk their lives for a sneak attack, and as a result, two out of three did not return. When the B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber with a longer maximum range was successfully developed, a "shuttle bombing" strategy was worked out, that is, let the bomber formation take off from the nearest airport to Japan, drop bombs across the Japanese archipelago, and then land at an airfield in Shandong and Zhejiang off the coast of Chinese mainland, refuel and reload, and then turn around and fly back to Midway, and bomb the Japanese devil again on the way home.

Although the US staff had a good idea, it was a pity that the plan could not keep up with the changes -- it was originally planned to use the Eighth Route Army's base area along the Shandong coast to build a field airfield, with the "Tu Eighth Road" responsible for defending the airfield and the Soviet side providing aviation fuel. Unexpectedly, the second rupture of the Kuomintang-Communist relations followed, and the two sides fought fiercely, and out of the consideration of "political correctness", the cooperation with the Chinese Bolsheviks naturally came to naught.

On the other hand, Chiang in Chongqing, although he was very willing to cooperate with the American father to bomb the Japanese, it would be better to blow up the Eighth Route by the way, but the troops of this cargo were really unable to support the wall, and not only did they lose a big battle in Zhejiang, losing 200,000 troops, and losing the Quzhou airfield that the US military had selected as the base at the other end of the "shuttle bombing," but also unable to provide any aviation fuel at all -- Chongqing's "national capital" did not have any fuel production capacity, and all gasoline depended on imports. However, there was no access to imports: the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the most important lifeline, was cut off at the beginning of the Pacific War, the "Hump Route" across the Himalayas by air was quickly out of reach due to the Indian rebellion, and the Soviet Union lost hope of transportation because of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

At present, this Jiang Guangtou has sent his wife to Washington to reside in Washington, and every day asks the White House for this and that, ammunition, loans, gasoline, airplanes, canned food, flour, and almost everything, but there is no way to transport it in...... In short, the idea of shuttle bombing was declared a failure before it could be implemented.

In a fit of rage, the US military, which was almost driven crazy by the pressure of public opinion, simply went up and played a "one-way bombing" -- let the B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber take off from Midway Island and fly to the Soviet Union's Vladivostok military port after bombing Japan: Of course, because the Soviet Union did not declare war with Japan, the Soviets would not return the plane and pilot to the United States, but would treat it as an "illegal immigrant," and the B-29 plane would be taken to the Western Front to beat the Germans. The pilots were crammed into detention facilities and waited until the end of the war before they were released. But even if there is such a method of fighting dogs with meat buns and no return, in order to be able to slap the face of the Japanese Empire, the Americans with deep pockets are desperate to fight.

It stands to reason that it should be the task of the Imperial Mainland's air defense forces to defend against the attacks of these enemies and to ensure the tranquility of the Imperial Palace and the people. However, the B-29 "Flying Fortress" was bombed at an altitude of nearly 10,000 meters, and the Japanese anti-aircraft guns could not reach the enemy at all. It was also difficult for Japanese fighters to climb to such heights, and even if they barely climbed up, it would be difficult to deal with the countless hedgehog-like self-defense firepower on the B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber. Sometimes, often a formation of Zero fighters is dispatched, but they can't beat a lone B-29 "Flying Fortress"!

In desperation, the Japanese Empire first protested to the Soviet Union through diplomatic channels, and the Soviets said that this was in line with the status of a neutral country - all American bombers and American pilots were detained and would never be put back until the end of the war. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to the Siberian detention center where the American pilots are held for inspection, even if there are a few people stationed to supervise it!

Fortunately, such a bombing that will never return is also extremely painful for the US military, so it can only be done occasionally, and they dare not do too much. There were more than a dozen to twenty bombers attacking each time, and there were even single bombers that attacked by a single plane, which was probably similar to a mosquito bite to the Japanese Empire...... At the beginning of this year, because of the fierce conflict between Britain and the Soviet Union on the European continent, the US military in the Pacific theater also ended the above-mentioned "enemy" behavior -- if it continued, it would be tantamount to sending bombers to the Soviet Bolsheviks to beat the British allies.

As a result, the citizens of Tokyo were able to get a good night's sleep for several months...... But the night before yesterday, the damn American Beast bomber came again! And twenty crosses in one piece! Fortunately, he threw a bomb into the Japanese Imperial Palace, so frightened that the emperor broke his forehead on the way to the bomb shelter!

In this way, the generals of the navy and army in the base camp naturally had to be sincerely afraid, bow down and apologize, and come up with a countermeasure that could at least prevaricate the emperor.

“…… Is there really no way? Admiral Kantaro Suzuki asked with a dissatisfying frown.

“…… There's really no way, manpower is sometimes poor, and what can't be done is what can't be done, Your Excellency Minister. ”

Marshal Yamamoto Fifty-six said sincerely. “…… Last year, we organized a quick sneak attack on the fleet, using the night to shell Midway, and had the Yamato and Musashi drop more than 300 rounds of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the airfield on the island, but according to intelligence, it only took a month for the US military to repair the airfield afterwards. On the contrary, our artillery fleet took a huge risk as a result, and was almost bitten by the tail of the American aircraft carriers...... Besides, even if Midway Island is completely destroyed, as long as the US military is willing to let the bombers and pilots go and never return, they can take off from Hawaii!

To tell the truth, in wartime, a small-scale sneak attack like this like an assassin is simply impossible to prevent. Both the people and Your Majesty should be mentally prepared to endure the flames of war! You know, we're gambling on the fortunes of the country! Fighting against the world's most powerful industrial enemy! ”

“…… You ......" General Kantaro Suzuki glared at him, as if he wanted to reprimand him for being "disrespectful", but the words came to his lips and swallowed back, "...... Since the Combined Fleet has nothing to do with Midway, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can only do the work on the Soviet side......"

“…… You can give it a try, but it's better not to have too high hopes, and not to react to the USSR in any irrational overreaction. ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six nodded, "...... Now the imperial state cannot stimulate and provoke the Soviet Union in any way, in order to maintain harmony and friendship with the Soviet Union, even if it endures humiliation and grovels, it will not hesitate to ......" Speaking of this, he suddenly noticed that Suzuki Kantaro's eyes were a little weird, first inexplicable, and then as if he thought of something, he was suddenly shocked: "...... Wait, in recent months, the Soviet Union and Britain have been fighting in Europe, and the Kwantung Army should not think that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, and want to make trouble in Manchuria and get involved in the Far East, right? Don't let them mess around at the base camp! ”

“…… Yamamoto-kun was too worried, no matter how unruly the Kwantung Army was, it would not provoke the Soviet Union at such a time. Kantaro Suzuki said nonchalantly, "...... However, before the war, Yamamoto-kun always advocated that he should not be enemies of the United States and Britain, so why did he always say good things about the Soviet Union recently? ”

“…… You said it all, it was before the war...... Now that the imperial state has already fought like this with the Americans, if you don't want to be friendly to the Soviet Union, at least stabilize the north, do you want to die? Once the Imperial Power becomes hostile to the Soviet Union again, the Red Army does not even have to do it itself, as long as the Vladivostok military port is opened to the US Air Force to carry out strategic bombing of the Imperial State, Japan will be reduced to a sea of fire at the rate of one city per day......"

Yamamoto Fifty-six smiled bitterly, "...... With all due respect, the Imperial State now relies on the Soviet Union in many places, and the Mino and Shinano were able to be completed on time because the Soviets secretly provided some of the steel and parts. In the past two years, so many Nanyang products have been able to be transported back to the mainland, and it all depends on the merchant ships sold by the Soviet Union, otherwise the imperial country's maritime capacity would have been overwhelmed...... Now everything can be abolished, but the matter of harmony with Soviet Russia must not be forgotten, otherwise the consequences are really unimaginable! Now that the contemptible people are about to take command again, please pay more attention to local affairs. ”

“…… Rest assured! Kantaro Suzuki nodded, "...... I'll send it here, and I wish Yamamoto-kun a long time in martial arts! ”

Next, Yamamoto Fifty-six walked out of the gate, got into the car, and then heard the driver's inquiry: "...... Your Excellency, are you going home now? ”

“…… Good...... Uh, no, wait a minute, let's go to Hibiya Park first! It's been a long time since I've seen autumn leaves in Tokyo......"

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At the same time, at the window of the office of the head of the Navy's military orders, Admiral Suzuki Kantaro silently watched Marshal Yamamoto's 56th car disappear, and his face seemed to be a little cloudy. Seeing this, a henchman standing beside him hurriedly took the opportunity to whisper, "...... Your Excellency, according to the recent information from the Special High School, it seems that Marshal Yamamoto and the people close to him have some secret contacts with the Soviet side, and the evidence is ......"

“…… Don't think about it! This official also knows that some people have secret ties with the United States! So what? ”

Kantaro Suzuki turned around and sat down disapprerovingly, "...... It's not like you don't know what the Imperial Kingdom is like now! Western allies Germany and Italy have been defeated this year. We are left with the enemy of the whole world. Therefore, the current situation of the imperial kingdom seems to be full of flowers and boiling oil, but in fact, it is as dangerous as an egg, and life hangs by a thread, and if you are not careful, you will never recover. It is also a good thing that Yamamoto-kun was able to establish relations with the Soviet Union and maintain a channel of mediation and communication. Even His Majesty the Emperor is vaguely aware of this and is optimistic about its success......"

While reprimanding his ignorant henchmen, he looked at the map of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" on the wall, and frowned.

Although the base camp has been boasting all day long about the "invincibility of the imperial army in the world" in terms of propaganda, in fact, the fact that this "Greater East Asia War" has been able to fight to this point has far exceeded the most optimistic expectations of the entire navy before the war, and can be called a miracle within a miracle.

Based on the success of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, many people think that the Japanese Navy should have been planning for a long time to fight against the United States. As a matter of fact, however, insiders in the top echelons of the Japanese Navy knew that they were simply forced by the situation to climb Liangshan and jump over the wall in a hurry, and the whole army really had no confidence in the whole army beforehand, but in the end they were just lucky enough to get hold -- in the previous years, the so-called regard of the US Navy as the number one imaginary enemy was nothing more than a gimmick to cheat military spending. When it came time to decide whether or not to go to war with the United States, the entire Japanese navy was really beating drums and their legs and feet were weak.

But the problem is that without a war with the United States and Britain, we will not be able to seize the oil of the South Seas, and if we do not seize the oil of the South Seas, the "China Battlefield" will collapse. Although this kind of thing that it is necessary to expand the war in order to maintain the war, because it cannot defeat an opponent and must provoke a stronger opponent to start a group of ridicule, makes the navy really want to scold the mother, but the army has already lost hundreds of thousands of people in the "China battlefield", and it is completely red-eyed, and it is impossible to retreat easily. If the Navy is determined not to support a war against the United States, the Army and those right-wing ♂ groups may mutiny and seize power, and the Navy will not be able to compete at all.

-- The "energetic social groups" such as the Black Dragon Society in Japan during World War II were not the hilarious gangs in post-war Japan that relied on Koreans to wear military uniforms as thugs, but were genuine murderers who dared to go out into the streets to cut people with knives......

According to the internal assessment of the Japanese navy top brass at that time, if the situation really developed like this, the navy would be suppressed by the army within a few months, and the result would still be a war against the United States, but at this time the navy would completely lose its autonomy and completely become a vassal of the army -- this is still good, and many of the navy's leaders and brains might be punished by those radical army red deer as traitors at that time.

As a result, even though it knew that the war against the United States was a big hole, the navy still had to pinch its nose and jump into the pit.

Next, with the "Hooray! Banzai! With the slogan and the flying sun flag, the Japanese Empire's troops fought all the way to the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, creating an unprecedented feat in history. In the face of such a great victory, it is natural for the base camp to be arrogant, and it is also natural to make some optimistic statements in some public places, and it is understandable to occasionally boast that they will fight to London and capture Churchill alive...... But there is another question that needs to be seriously answered: what are the real strategic goals of the Japanese Navy, nay, the Japanese Empire, in a good situation?

The correct answer is: I don't know!

According to common sense, any war should have a goal in mind when it is launched, for example, the American Revolutionary War is to get rid of British rule, and the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is to restore its legal territory. Many wars in the feudal era revolved around the throne or throne - whether or not the goal could be achieved or not was not mentioned for the time being, but there had to be a clear direction of effort, and then everyone could make suggestions around that direction and fight the enemy.

However, unlike the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, which had clear strategic objectives, in the Pacific War, which was even more ambitious, the Japanese themselves did not know their own strategic objectives.

-- Kantaro Suzuki had a discussion with Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in private about this issue, and finally came to the conclusion that his own people could not reach an agreement at all, so they could only wait for the enemy to take the initiative to put forward conditions, and it was best to buy dog food at their own expense, collar and gelding dog knives and line up in a long line to beg to be a dog for Japan......

In this regard, Kantaro Suzuki didn't know what expression to make except for rolling his eyes.

As a result, the Imperial Navy fought dizzily for four years, and although the Imperial Navy was able to withstand the strong attacks of the US Pacific Fleet again and again with a series of naval victories that were recognized as miracles by the whole world and which even the Japanese themselves felt incredible, the dawn of peace was still far away.

What is even worse is that the more victories on the South Sea front are fought, the more frightened the Imperial Navy becomes--so many Yankees have been killed, so many warships and planes have been destroyed, and the tonnage of enemy ships sunk alone far exceeds the combined fleet combined. But the bones of the Americans are harder than diamonds, and the Navy Command Department feels that it has drained their blood, but the Americans just don't kneel!

The Americans, who have been defeated many times, can continue to hold on, but the Japanese Empire, which has won many wars, is gradually unable to bear it, Japan's industrial base is weak after all, even if there are materials plundered from the South Seas to transfuse blood to the mainland, even if there are merchant ships secretly purchased from the Soviet Union to make up for the capacity gap, but after four full years of the Pacific War, manpower and material resources have still been overdrawn to the limit. However, the various filths between the chaebol and the government have also led to a great waste of the only national strength. Since the beginning of this year, the standard of supply of daily necessities in the country has dropped to a record low, people dying of starvation have occurred from time to time in various localities, officers and men are generally war-weary and emotionally unstable, and the people's enthusiasm for war has actually subsided, and it is all under the control of the high pressure of the military department.

Although the war looks good, with the fall of Italy and Germany, Japan is about to take on the whole world - can it still be won?

All the Japanese high-level leaders who still have a little sense in their minds know very well that the war can no longer be fought and that seeking a decent peace is the right way.

But the war has reached this point, and it is completely impossible to end. In the past, he slapped the Yankees in the face too hard, put too much blood, and accumulated too much hatred, and Washington was determined to crush the Japanese dwarfs to death and make an example of them, so as to regain the face and prestige they had lost before.

If it wanted to calm the anger of the American bald eagle, Japan would have to cut flesh and bleed with determination, spitting out almost all the spoils of war. But in this way, it is tantamount to losing without a fight, giving up a large area of territory under the condition that every battle is sure to be won, not only has a bad reputation, but also the domestic contradictions are uneven, at least the important ministers who advocate and are responsible for the peace talks will definitely become traitors and be punished by heaven -- looking around the entire Japanese high-level, no one can afford this responsibility, and even the emperor does not dare or want to bear the infamy on the back of the black pot, and the ball is kicked back and forth, and in the end he can only continue to fight with his eyes closed, while looking for an off-board move......

Therefore, today's Japan is ostensibly united in its efforts to take on the whole world, but in fact, the high-level officials are all showing their magical powers across the sea and looking for a way to seek a decent peace. As for Yamamoto 56's collusion with the Soviet Union, the Japanese top brass naturally turned a blind eye: first, with the legendary record of killing 200,000 enemies in the Pacific Ocean, this guy is already a world-class military star like Hannibal, the god of war, if he is moved, it will cause a devastating blow to the morale of the front, and its impact is similar to the unjust killing of Yue Fei by Zhao Go, the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty of China; Second, similar things are actually being done by many people, but Yamamoto Fifty-six has gone a little too far, but considering that it is indeed necessary to marry the Soviet Union at the moment, he will pinch his nose and admit it!

However, they all seem to have misjudged the extent of Yamamoto's collusion with the Soviets and underestimated the ambitions of the admiral......