"That's great!" Hideki Tojo raised his arms and shouted, and said with a long breath: "God bless Yamato, after receiving such a large amount of materials completely, the Great Japanese Empire will firmly hold the Hawaiian Islands and make it a powerful forward offensive base for the Great Japanese Empire in the Pacific Ocean!" Shunroku Hata echoed excitedly: "Yes, the imperial army stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, even without supply input, is enough to sustain fuel consumption for 3 years!"

In this way, the urgent pressure on the consumption of oil in the empire is much less! "You can't say that!" Mitsumasa Minai looked at the eight-character beard and retorted: "The empire's current annual oil consumption is only about 2 million tons on the surface, but it's not that the empire can't consume it, but because of the lack of oil resources, the empire's consumption is restricted!"

If the supply of oil is sufficient, it is not impossible that the empire's annual oil consumption can at least double, or even reach tens of millions of tons! For the Empire, of course, the more crude oil the better, and the Great Japanese Empire would not be too much oil! So even with the big oil depot on the island of Hawaii, Borneo's oil fields still need to be collected as completely as possible into the empire's pocket as soon as possible. ”

Hirohito nodded happily and said, "What Minuchi-kun said is extremely true, as long as the Great Japanese Empire has enough oil, it can create a more powerful air force and navy, and it will no longer be afraid of any war attrition!" "Your Majesty is wise!" Mitsumasa Minai paused, and then said excitedly: "There is also exciting news, although the ships of the US Pacific Fleet have basically been sunk, the dockyard repair yard on Oahu is extremely intact.

The Empire of Japan could have salvaged the sunken American warships. After repairing and putting it back into service, maybe even the American aircraft carriers and battleships have a chance to be repaired! "Yo Si! It would be great if American aircraft carriers and battleships could be repaired, which would not only greatly strengthen the naval strength of the Great Japanese Empire, but also deal a heavy blow to the Americans! ”

Hirohito waved his fist again with great excitement, he has never been so happy in his life as today, and it is still wave after wave of climaxes! At this time, Hideki Tojo said very hypocritically: "Hey, if I knew this, I would have beaten lightly at the beginning of the air raid, and if I could have pocketed the three aircraft carriers and nine battleships of the Americans, it would be great!" ”

"Tojo-kun, you're excessive!" "Yes, if they hadn't sunk all the American warships, how could they have complied so easily?" "Hahaha!" Hideki Tojo's words once again caused laughter in the room.

After tossing for a while, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Sugiyama Yuan, nodded at Hirohito and said: "Your Majesty, there is no suspense in the battle of the Hawaiian Islands now, so whether you will pursue the victory according to the original plan, please ask His Majesty the Emperor to judge!" "A year ago, Japan had already formulated a fairly complete southern operation plan, especially after Hirohito made a decision to implement the Pearl Harbor sneak attack operation plan, which was further refined and implemented.

The plan of the first phase of the army was to occupy important resource areas and destroy the enemy's main base in Southeast Asia. The offensive steps were: first capture the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and attack Burma, cut off the Yunnan-Burma highway where the United States and Britain transported supplies to China, and intimidate India.

The important areas to be occupied in Japan's plan include; Philippines, Malay Peninsula, Guam, Hong Kong, Thailand, Myanmar, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Liebers, West Sulawesi, Barnyard Islands, Tihan, Gilbert Islands, etc. The southern operation will begin simultaneously in the Philippines and the Malay Peninsula with the close coordination of the army and navy, and the goal must be achieved in a short period of time.

In order to achieve this goal, the army set up a new headquarters of the Southern Army in Saigon, and sent General Terauchi Shouichi as the commander-in-chief, with six corps under it, with a total of 10 divisions, two brigades, six army headquarters, and three flying divisions. The navy's coordinated combat units include the Southern Force, the Malay Force, the Surveillance and Attack Force, the Aviation Unit, the Philippine Force, the Nanyang Force, the Northern Force, and the Chinese Force.

"Needless to say! Everything will be carried out according to the original battle plan, and the southern operation will officially start in the early hours of tomorrow morning! Hirohito waved his hand without hesitation, then glanced around with sharp eyes and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Great Japanese Empire has taken solid steps towards the world, but it is still far from the real victory we need. Therefore, I implore you to guard against arrogance and rashness, and continue to work together to create the great cause of the Yamato nation until it becomes the master of the whole world!

Gentlemen, please! After saying that, Hirohito bent down to the ground at the military ministers. Hello! "Great Japanese Empire onboard!" "His Majesty the Emperor is onboard!" Hideki Tojo and others followed suit, bending their heads and touching the ground with their hands, solemnly shouting long live!

Chongqing Presidential Palace. In the early morning of December 26, Dai Li hurriedly found the chairman of the committee with a telegram, and at this time the chairman was discussing with Song Ziwen about borrowing money. "Yunong, what are you talking about? The Japanese army made a surprise attack on Hawaii? The U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet was wiped out, and the main island of Hawaii fell into the hands of the Japanese? And Japan and the United States have already declared war on each other? ”

After listening to Dai Li's oral report, the chairman couldn't believe his ears, and looked at Dai Li in a daze, his brain buzzing! Dai Li nodded very seriously and said: "Commission, the information is true, President Roosevelt has held a press conference, and announced in an extremely strong tone that he will declare war with the Japanese, and this matter has spread all over the world!" After a pause, Dai Lian continued: "Germany and Italy have also declared war on the United States, while Britain has officially declared war on Japan, and now the world pattern has been completely clear, Germany, Italy and Japan have formed an Axis alliance, and the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union have established a stronger anti-war alliance." ”

"Mother Xipi, it's so good!" "Little Japan is so arrogant that it really went to war with the United States, and wiped out the US Pacific Fleet at once, and now the US government can't even go to war if it doesn't want to!" "With the two powerful allies of the United States and the United Kingdom, the process of our war of resistance against Japan in China will certainly be greatly shortened, which is great news!"

"Declare war, declare war immediately! We must kill these turtle grandchildren! After thoroughly understanding the situation, the chairman of the committee shouted excitedly, and after a long period of broken thoughts, he waved his big hand with an excited expression: "Immediately inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that tomorrow we will also hold a press conference and send a note to Japan, and we will declare war with them." ”？“ Be. ”

Lin Wei, who was standing on the side, responded very respectfully. "Brother-in-law, do we still need to declare war on the Japanese?" At this time, Song Ziwen asked with some puzzlement: "We have fought with the Japanese for 9 years, nearly half of the land has been lost, and more than 10 million people have been killed or wounded!" Isn't this state of war already at war? ”

"You're okay in terms of economics, but on the political level, you're a complete layman!" The chairman of the committee joked in a good mood, and then explained: "Declaring war is not a joke! The reason why war has not been declared on the Japanese before is due to many political considerations! Just as Song Ziwen did not understand, Huaxia and the Japanese had long been red-eyed and had formed an enmity with each other, but until now the Nationalist Government has not declared war on the Japanese.

As an ordinary person, I have to say that this phenomenon is very strange and difficult to understand. Because according to the general logic, if countries want to go to war with each other, they must first declare war on each other, and then they will turn into a state of war. However, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, China and Japan had already started a complete war in 1937, but the Kuomintang government, which was in charge of China, was slow to declare war on Japan.

It was not until after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by the United States that the Kuomintang followed the steps of the United States in declaring war on Japan. The reason why it is so strange is mainly that there are three "fears" at work:

First, I am afraid that I can't beat it. Although the Kuomintang unified the southeastern provinces in 1927, it still failed to eliminate various forces, and its ability to control the country was still weak. Therefore, when the Japanese army marched toward China, the Kuomintang was afraid that its own strength would be weak and would not be able to defeat the invading Japanese army, so it resisted the Japanese invasion with a negative and one-sided attitude, and repeatedly tried to "make peace" with Japan, putting forward slogans such as "If you want to fight outside, you must first settle down at home."

Second, the fear of being blocked. In the 20th century, the rules of war were dictated by international law enacted by a few major powers. Once the Kuomintang government declares war on Japan, other major powers may resort to international law and impose a military embargo on the belligerents because of their interests. At that time, China was poor and white, its industry was backward, and most of its weapons, ammunition, and oil were provided by foreign countries. Without this foreign aid, it would be difficult for the Kuomintang government to continue the war. As long as war is not declared, some major powers may still "turn a blind eye" and continue to sell the arms urgently needed by the Kuomintang to make "war money."

Third, I am afraid that I will "stand on the wrong side" in the early days of the all-out war of resistance, and the situation in the world is still very unclear. For example, at that time, Germany was a supplier of arms to China, and at the same time Germany was allied with Japan; At that time, the Soviet Union supported the Chinese War of Resistance, but the Soviet Union conspired with Germany to carve up Eastern Europe. Britain, France, the United States, and other countries, which are major Western powers, are still pursuing a "policy of appeasement" and have a laissez-faire attitude toward the expansion of Germany and Japan. Under these circumstances, the Kuomintang feared that if they declared war too early, they would take the wrong side and create a stronger enemy.

After briefly explaining his "good intentions," the chairman said excitedly: "As long as we can get comprehensive military assistance from the Americans, we will certainly be able to defeat the Japanese within a few years!" Since we have the most powerful allies and can defeat the Japanese as a victorious country and gain greater benefits, why don't we declare war? ”

After a pause, the chairman continued with a twinkle in his eyes: "The icing on the cake is not as good as charcoal in the snow, the Americans must be in a state of extreme anger now, as long as we declare war on the Japanese immediately now, and stand firmly with the Americans." We will be bound to a ship of war with the mighty Americans, and we will form a deep friendship, and when we achieve the final victory, we will surely get a great deal of benefits from China. ”

Song Ziwen suddenly asked another question: "But the crux of the matter is that the Germans are also very strong, and the German-Italian-Japanese Axis alliance is currently in a state of all-out offensive, can it really win against them?" "The Germans have the Soviet Union in their way, Italy is too far away from us, and we are facing only the Japanese! So, worrying too much is completely unnecessary! ”

The chairman waved his hand, and then his eyes flashed with a gleam and said, "However, what you said reminded me that in order to maximize our interests, we should declare war on Japan's allies Germany and Italy at the same time. Thinking of this, the chairman became even more excited, and shouted: "Yunong, hurry up and invite Lin Lao to come over and ask him to write the book of the declaration of war!"

Tomorrow morning, I would like to declare to the whole world that for the sake of world peace and national liberation, we, the Chinese people, are not afraid of any strong enemy, and we will declare war on the Japanese, Germany, and Italy! In the end, the chairman couldn't help but roar, after so many years of grievance, he could finally speak loudly.

Lin Wei nodded again and said, "Yes!" Dai Li then broke the news: "Commission, the Japanese army has officially entered the Tianjin Public Concession and the French Concession, and the British army in Tianjin has surrendered to the Japanese army!" After the successful attack on the Hawaiian Islands, the Japanese troops stationed in Tianjin took over all the assets of the Anglo-American and French forces in Tianjin. Today, Tianjin is already under the world of the Japanese, and there is no safety zone, and it has become a big cage.

"These wastes, just surrendered like this? This is the high-flying foreigner? The chairman snorted coldly, and with the foreshadowing in front of him, he easily accepted the news. Dai Li then said: "Commission, the technical department has just deciphered a telegram from the Japanese army, and the Japanese army base camp has ordered the formation of the Southern Army, and it is judged that the Japanese will soon send troops to Southeast Asia!" ”

The chairman of the committee said with a stunned face: "Huh? Is the Japanese really going to send troops to Southeast Asia? Doesn't that mean that Burma will really be the next target of the Japanese attack? Although Jiang Qiang had given the chairman of the committee a friendly reminder through Chen Bui before, the chairman had also asked someone to discuss this issue. But later it was concluded that the Japanese did not have the ability and the courage to do so.

Because Southeast Asia has always been the traditional sphere of influence of the United States and Britain, among which the Philippines has 70,000 U.S. troops and Malaysia has more than 100,000 British troops! Britain and the United States are both superpowers and superpowers, and they have always believed that in terms of the size of the little devils, unless they are crazy and completely lose their minds, they will not easily offend these two giants who cannot be provoked! However, the situation will not be controlled by people's subjective consciousness, and the Japanese devils brazenly dispatched a huge task force to attack for a long distance.

Everything changed overnight, Pearl Harbor was attacked, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was destroyed, and the Hawaiian Islands fell. And now the Japanese have shown more greedy and dangerous offensive intentions, if Southeast Asia, especially Burma, is captured by the little devils again, even if the Americans want to vigorously provide military assistance, there will be no place to receive it! "It's a big problem!"

The chairman of the committee was full of black lines, and his happy mood disappeared in an instant, and he hurriedly said to Lin Wei, who had not yet walked away: "Immediately notify the various officers of the Military Commission and the General Staff to come to the meeting." Move fast! After Lin Wei and Dai Li walked out of the presidential office, Chairman Jiang turned his head to look at Song Ziwen and said:

"Ziwen, now that the international situation has changed, soon the United States and China will conclude a military alliance, and large-scale military assistance from the Americans will follow. So diplomatic relations with the United States will naturally become the most important task in the future, and you have a very good relationship with the United States, and I want you to be the foreign minister.

Then send an envoy to the United States as soon as possible to sign a Sino-US military alliance agreement with it, and then be stationed in New York in order to better seek the support of major European and American powers! I don't know, what do you think? "Since the day when the Japanese devils invaded China on a large scale, the chairman of the NPC Committee has been looking forward to the intervention and mediation and military assistance of Britain and the United States and other European and American powers.

Now that this day is coming, the chairman of the committee is naturally jubilant and attaches great importance to it, not only declaring war on Germany, Italy and Japan in a high-profile manner at the first time, but also sending elite soldiers and strong generals to station at the station! Song Ziwen did not hesitate at all, and immediately nodded: "I will definitely live up to my mission!" Song Ziwen graduated from St. John's University in Shanghai in his early years, and later went to Harvard University in the United States to study economics for a master's degree, and then went on to Columbia University to obtain a doctorate.

Just in the first half of this year, Soong Ziwen also sent an envoy to the United States to obtain $25 million in lend-lease materials, so now the former foreign minister is absolutely familiar with the way to the United States to sign a treaty and ask for help. "Good! Very good! The chairman nodded happily, and then said with a smile: "Ziwen, there is another tricky matter, and I still need your help!" Seeing the polite appearance of the chairman, Song Ziwen couldn't help but tremble: "It won't be borrowing money again, right?" ”

The chairman of the committee did not admit or deny it, and said with a sad face: "Alas, since Little Japan occupied all the coastal port cities and the rich Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, the national fiscal revenue has plummeted, and it has long been unable to make ends meet. Now that military spending is getting bigger and bigger, the front-line troops are not even able to pay their salaries! ……”

"But, where do I have any money left! Don't you know my little bit of money? Without waiting for the chairman to finish speaking, Song Ziwen frowned and said: "Military spending is certainly related to the future of the Anti-Japanese War, but now the military spending in various places is obviously overspending, which is very abnormal. As I have told you before, in addition to the budgets and approved war expenses, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the provinces often ask for money on the grounds of temporary expenditures, but in fact, most of this money is filled into their own pockets, and the phenomenon of empty salaries for troops has become widespread.

If we blindly satisfy and connive at these corrupt officials and corrupt officials, we will not only breed more serious corruption and reduce the combat effectiveness of the troops, but will also make the people's livelihood miserable! If we want to get out of the current predicament and reduce the financial burden, we must be ruthless in thoroughly investigating the vacancies and punishing corruption. ”

"Alright, alright, what's the use of talking about that now? Do you think I don't want to? The chairman waved his hand, how could he not know about the increasingly serious corruption, but the roots were rotten, and it could not be cured unless the flesh and bones were scraped. However, at present, the Japanese have conquered nearly half of the country, and China is full of pessimism and a tendency to surrender.

After a pause, the chairman said helplessly: "Since this is the case, then I know that the central bank will print more fiat currency to solve the urgent need!" "......" Song Ziwen rolled his eyes speechlessly, this is simply drinking to quench his thirst! After the Battle of Wuhan, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered a phase of stalemate, and the Japanese army stopped its large-scale frontal offensive, but the military expenditure in various theaters continued unabated.

Prices began to soar in the rear of the Anti-Japanese War, which has seriously affected people's livelihood, which is caused by the central bank's uncontrolled printing and issuance of fiat currency.

The total amount of legal tender issued in June 1937 was 1.4 billion yuan before the 77 Incident, and doubled to 2.8 billion yuan in April 1939. It increased to 15.1 billion yuan at the end of 1941, 189.4 billion yuan at the end of 1944, and 556.9 billion yuan in August 1945. In eight years, the amount of fiat currency has increased by a factor of 400. In this case, the price level in the rear continues to rise. If the price index in the rear of the Great Rear in the first half of 1937 is set at 100, it was 213 in 1939, 1294 in 1941, and 184455 in 1945.

This means that prices in the rear have increased more than 1,800 times in eight years. If no effort is made to reverse this situation, in three to five years at most, there will be serious inflation and a complete collapse of the economic order in the Kuomintang region. When the time comes, if the Japanese do not fight, the Nationalist Government will collapse on its own! "Well, needless to say, there's only one way at the moment!" Seeing that Song Ziwen wanted to speak and stopped, the chairman waved his hand, how could he not know how powerful it was.

As a matter of fact, as early as 1939, Kong Xiangxi proposed to the chairman of the NPC National Committee that it was necessary to strictly enforce all military expenditures, and pointed out that tightening military spending would not weaken the national army, but would curb corruption in the army, enhance combat effectiveness, and reduce the fiscal deficit and the issuance of legal tender. However, due to too much resistance, Chiang Kai-shek was never able to implement these proposals. As a result, inflation intensified during the Anti-Japanese War and eventually became uncontrollable. ……

At 4:15 a.m. on December 27, 1940, five large Japanese transport ships anchored in the moonlight, and the 18th Division of the 25th Army led by Major General Tomi prepared to land. At 4:30 a.m., the Second and Second Fleets began shelling the sea and land from afar. Two hours later, the vanguard of the Japanese army landed. The British troops defending the shore responded violently, and shells and bullets rained down, and the Japanese had to bury their heads and shoulders in the sand and crawl forward. The British army was laid with mines and barbed wire in front of the formation, and stone pillboxes lined up behind, and the battle was fierce.

In the end, the Japanese army successfully landed in a roundabout way, suffering 120 casualties, and more than 80 of them sneaked into the dense forest and waited for an opportunity to pounce on the airfield. At the same time, the units of the 23rd Army of the Japanese Army, which were stationed on the front line of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, also received an urgent telegram from the base camp saying "flowers are blooming" and "flowers are blooming." This was a code word to inform the Japanese army that they had landed on the Malay Peninsula, and after receiving the telegram, the commander of the 23rd Army, Lieutenant General Takashi Sakai, gave the order to attack at 5 a.m. on the same day.

The artillery bombarded the forward positions of the British army, and as soon as the day dawned, the Japanese planes bombed the Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon, annihilating the British air force. The 2nd Dispatch Chinese Fleet blocked Hong Kong by sea, and then the ground forces launched an attack, breaking through the defenses of Shenzhen and attacking the "drunkard" defense line on the Kowloon Peninsula without fierce resistance. Two hours later, the Japanese 5th Division landed on the Malay Peninsula and had repelled the defenders of Kota Bharu and took control of the first beachhead of Japan's new empire in Southeast Asia.