At the door of the conference room in the Wolf's Lair, Manstein found Führer Accardo, who was preparing to hold a battle meeting. He felt a little strange that the Empire had intervened in the war with Japan for an insignificant Allied Power. Germany's declaration of war on Japan did not yield any substantial benefits, and even Japan's declaration of war on Germany would not cause Germany to lose anything, and he did not understand why everyone cared so much about superficial articles that did not benefit him.

"My Führer, is it too hasty to go to war with Japan for a distant land that does not belong to Britain in the north at all?" said Manstein as soon as they met, "We will not pay any attention to Japan's declaration of war, and just wait for a result in the Pacific." ”

"It's a political issue, and if I think about it purely from a military point of view, I won't even accept Australia's statement, I'll go back and watch the Japanese occupy it. Accardo glanced at Manstein and explained with a smile: "But once it comes to political interests, then the pros and cons of many things have to be re-analyzed. ”

"We planted the seeds of friendship in China, and if we get too close to the Japanese, then General Sickett's previous strategic investments will be in vain. This is clearly not in the interests of the Empire, nor is it in line with the Empire's long-term strategic arrangements. Accardo handed a copy of the text in his hand to Anna on the side: "Moreover, if you do not immediately respond to the Japanese declaration of war, then Germany's influence on the surrounding allies will be weakened." As soon as the Northern British find a reason to look at the Americans, then there will be a weakness in our Atlantic barriers, which is not a consequence that the Reich can tolerate. ”

"Then, my Führer, we can declare war, but why send so many submarines to the Pacific Ocean, it is obviously not in our interests to help the United States fight the Japanese Navy. Manstein continued to ask.

Accardo pointed at Manstein and said, "You, you, if it were Augustus, I wouldn't have asked such a stupid question, I sent so many submarines, but I didn't move our main fleet, haven't you seen the difference? ”

Why did Accardo waste his saliva explaining this to his general? Because it wasn't just Manstein who was puzzled by Accardo's decision, even Dönitz, the Navy's submarine commander-in-chief, was unhappy that Accardo had taken away his 10 submarines. However, because of the distance, Dönitz, who was inspecting the construction of the submarine base off the coast of Norway, was not in a position to ask Accardo the reason in person.

So Accardo now explained to Manstein that he needed Manstein to spread his ideas and convince more people to support the decision to declare war on Japan this time. So Accardo decided to say more: "In the past, I would not have dared to let the submarine force go so far away to carry out a mission. However, everything needs to accumulate experience, and the same is true for ocean dispatch and command. Therefore, I feel that this method can be used to accumulate valuable experience for the navy and lay the foundation for the fleet expedition. ”

In addition, the maturity of the Navy's submarine technology and the extremely low failure rate of the new and improved submarines are also the guarantee of this expedition. Such a long voyage at sea is an opportunity to test the ability of our submarine forces to fight for a long time, and as far as the mission itself is concerned, I believe that when the captains of 10 submarines return, I will issue another order for the issuance of 10 medals. Accardo smiled and didn't plan to say anything more, there were several generals from North Africa in the conference room, as well as General Schellner, who was about to go to North Africa to command Army Group K.

Manstein watched as Accardo led Anna into the conference room and stood outside for a few more seconds, he now knew a lot about the Empire's considerations, some of which Accardo had said that he had already guessed, and some of which he hadn't thought of. He was a general, not a politician, and most of the time he only had to think about how to reduce losses and win the war, and nothing else.

Germany sent 10 submarines to Australia, and this action had to be done for Chamberlain to see, which was political, and these 10 submarines had to accumulate experience for the fleet's navigation along the way, and finally participate in the breaking of the engagement, which was military. Mixing this political policy in the military to achieve diplomatic goals, and mixing the military in the political government to reduce wasteful expenditures is a kind of science that is worth learning and considering.

At this very moment, Chamberlain flew to Berlin to meet with the Reich Chancellor Augustus, and the two men discussed the question of Australia for a whole morning. Chamberlain meant not to abandon Australia as much as possible, and even hoped that the Germans would send 1 or 2 divisions there to help the British hold on to this vast colony.

But even he himself knew that this plan was a dream, and even the most confident German commander could not approve of it. So this plan to send troops to Australia is just a front, a bargaining chip for each other. In fact, what Chamberlain really wanted to say was the latter sentence: since army reinforcements are not feasible, then ask the Reich to send the navy there, right?

"Mr. Prime Minister, I believe that even you agree with our view that the High Seas Fleet must not be used, right?" Augustus and Raeder were in charge of meeting with Chamberlain, and received the "British Prime Minister" in a grand reception at the Grand Hotel in Berlin.

But even Chamberlain was not a fool, of course he saw that the huge hole in Australia was just a trap dug for him by the British royal family and the Americans. He wants to be a "hero" who thives and preserves Britain, and naturally he can't and doesn't dare to play with his own life.

The Germans would never agree to the transfer of the High Seas Fleet as Augustus said, even if Chamberlain asked for it, not to mention that Chamberlain knew better than anyone that the High Seas Fleet could never be moved.

Once the High Seas Fleet goes to the Pacific Ocean, let's not mention the victory or defeat for the time being, and say that the British naval fleet in the Atlantic will immediately regain its superiority, and at that time, if the British really fight back to the mainland, he, the "British traitor", will naturally be the first to die, so it is even more impossible for him to make such a stupid request to use the High Seas Fleet.

Ideally, the German navy would send a detachment of cruisers or destroyers to flex their muscles for Britain in the north, even if all of them were sunk. If the Japanese are afraid, it is good, but even if they do do it, the losses are all Germans, and they have nothing to do with him Chamberlain.

However, the Germans clearly had a better option, sending a fleet of ocean-going submarines to the Pacific Ocean. In this way, Chamberlain is not easy to say anything, after all, the Germans gave the British face in the north and sent a considerable lineup of 10 submarines.

However, compared with the speed of cruisers and destroyers at 30 knots, the speed of submarines does make people feel like crying without tears, and in the area where they sail all the way to the Pacific Ocean, most of the time submarines can only have a speed of about 10 knots, and if they encounter a situation, they even have to dive to reduce their speed to 5 knots. This speed is nothing short of brutal torture for distant Australia, which is waiting for rescue.

With a distance of nearly 20,000 kilometers, it will take several months to drive all the way, which is not so much to reinforce Australia as to retaliate against the Japanese invasion of Australia. It is estimated that by the time this fleet entered the Pacific Ocean, Japan had already occupied Australia and was singing all the way to the US mainland.

But Chamberlain did not raise any objections, knowing that even if the German High Seas Fleet was now desperately rushing to Australia, it was estimated that the Japanese would have occupied Australia by the time they got there—the Americans did not really send Australia to the Germans, but had used a ploy to trap the Germans once. So this is not at all to blame the Germans for not saving them in the face of death, but to blame the Americans for being despicable and shameless.

While Germany was in a hurry to send submarines to show their sense of existence in the Pacific, the Japanese were not idle. They seized almost all Axis merchant ships in Asia and completely turned against the Axis bloc. This made Japan a windfall and added a lot of free goods from the Axis powers.

These merchant ships could not return to Europe because of the war, after all, the Indian Ocean, which was full of British naval warships, was definitely a no-go zone for Axis merchant ships. So these merchant ships stayed in Asia, doing some short-haul business, and occasionally making cameos in intelligence gathering work. Taking advantage of Sickert's face and Japan's scruples, these merchant ships even engaged in smuggling business and smuggled American arms to China.

However, this time, it was clear that the Japanese really planned to tear their faces apart and start a full-scale war, and they actually seized these merchant ships. And killed the owner of the ship, sent the crew to the concentration camp, confiscated all kinds of cargo on board. This includes rubber and food, and even guns and ammunition.

The German government in Berlin, having received this news, did not make any statements, after all, there was already a war between the two countries, and nothing more would help. Now all the Germans have to do is wait, wait for the submarines that go to the Pacific Ocean, send back some news that can be used.

"Gentlemen. On the fifth day after the submarine left port, Dönitz said to the submarine commander who was going to the Arctic Ocean to carry out the blockade mission: "Our fighters are already on the way to the Pacific Ocean, and our submarine force will always be the sword of revenge of the Führer, and the killer weapon of the pride of the Empire! I hope that you will bring back more glory to the Empire when you go to the battlefield this time!"