Chapter 4, Hearts of Iron: Empire of the Rising Sun (Part 1)
September 29, 1945, Tokyo, capital of the Empire of Japan
In Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, there is a three-story Western-style building built with red bricks. The red bricks on the exterior walls are all imported from the United Kingdom. Above is a light blue roof and white marble arched European-style windows. Outside It is a fence composed of a low red brick wall and a metal fence, surrounding a tree-lined and regular courtyard. It is full of a strong European Baroque style, and it is just like a European-style manor mansion in a girl's comic.
If placed in the future of the 21st century, such a place will definitely attract many literary and artistic young people to take photos, and there may even be many brides with romantic dreams, holding the groom's arms, pouting and yelling. Be sure to come here to take wedding photos of the two of you. But at this moment, this beautiful Western building does not have the romantic atmosphere of a girl's dream at all, but exudes a chilling atmosphere. Naval policemen wearing white cloth military police armbands are always standing in front of the gate, and many people in military uniforms can be seen coming in and out of the gate.
This is the heart of the Japanese navy in the old imperial era - the Navy Ministry and the Naval Command.
The first and second floors of this building are where the Navy Ministry has its offices. Although the Navy Ministry, which is run by the Lord of the Navy, sounds like the highest leadership organization of the navy and military affairs. 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 is an organization that only occupies one floor, and there are only about a hundred people including cleaners, there are actually only about seventy active Imperial Navy personnel working on it. However, such a small naval command department is responsible for formulating all combat plans of the Imperial Japanese Navy and also taking charge of all war-related matters. As long as it is for the purpose of "controlling" the war, the Military Command has the right to issue orders to the Navy Ministry or other government agencies of the empire. During wartime, the entire country must serve the war. Military orders are like a mountain and cannot be offended or resisted!
At the same time, based on the principle of "independence of command power," the Military Command also has absolute autonomy from interference from other agencies.
In this way, except for His Majesty the Emperor and the Army Headquarters, which is at the same level as the Naval Command, within the Japanese Empire, no matter who or what organization they are, they can only make suggestions to the Military Command. As for whether to adopt them, it is up to them. It all depends on the judgment of the military command department.
This resulted in the entire Pacific War being actually run by a very small number of people. For example, the combat section of the Military Command Department is only assigned ten staff officers, but they are responsible for formulating all combat plans for a large area of Nanyang...
——On top of this, some senior officials of the Navy Command, some senior officials of the Army General Staff Headquarters, and some other representatives who are only qualified to observe, together form the "wartime headquarters" directly under the Emperor, representing the supreme His Majesty the Emperor, in a "state of war", presides over the fate of all Imperial Japanese soldiers, staff of government agencies, and everyone in the Empire of Japan and the entire Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
At this time, in the center of this building, on a beautiful and spacious staircase that looked like a Western-style mansion, two senior naval officers who had just come out of the office were walking together. All the naval personnel they met along the way were respectful, bowed or saluted.
Because they are General Suzuki Kantaro, the Chief of Military Command, and Marshal Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet.
The supreme helmsman who actually controls the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the most famous naval admiral of our time who commands the Japanese combined fleet to achieve repeated victories.
"...Yamamoto-kun, the matter in the Indian Ocean has been settled for the time being, but the imperial capital Tokyo has only been quiet for a few months. The day before yesterday, it was attacked by the US military air strike. Not only did the people become destitute and displaced, but it also disturbed Antai in the imperial palace. Now His Majesty the Emperor was very angry at the imperial meeting!”
Admiral Suzuki Kantaro said calmly, "...Does the combined fleet have any solutions?"
"...To be honest, it is really difficult to handle. Your Excellency, Minister, we have seriously underestimated the courage of the US military before."
Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku replied, "...the U.S. Air Force bomber formations that bombed the Imperial Kingdom these times took off from Midway Island, 4,500 kilometers away from our country. And the U.S. military's largest B-29' Flying Fortress currently in service 'A four-engine heavy bomber, with reduced ammunition and additional auxiliary fuel tanks, can barely fly a range of 9,000 to 10,000 kilometers, just enough to wipe out our country. After a round trip to the coastline, there would be no redundancy at all. According to our thinking, it should be impossible for the US military to bomb Japan before capturing the Mariana Islands. Who would have thought that the US military would not even use bombers once. 'You can do everything! It's like throwing money into the water! How can we defend against such a wealthy man's style of play?"
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——In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army, the US military has been trying to bomb the mainland of the Japanese Empire for a long time. As early as April 1942, when the Pacific War broke out, the U.S. Air Force used sixteen specially modified B-25 twin-engine bombers, led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, to fly from the aircraft carrier Enterprise 600 nautical miles off the coast of Tokyo. and Taking off from the Hornet, it carried out air strikes on Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe, and then flew directly to mainland China and made an emergency landing in the area controlled by the Kuomintang army - the B-25 twin-engine bomber could only take off from the aircraft carrier, but could not land...
Moreover, after the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet released their bombers, they must immediately turn around and return to avoid being pursued by the Japanese.
In short, although the "Doolittle Raid" was highly publicized by the United States and Britain, it seemed to have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Empire. But in fact, this time, this time, it was like a thief breaking through the empty door, and the damage caused to the Japanese was actually so small that it can be ignored. On the contrary, the U.S. military paid an extremely heavy price for this. None of the sixteen bombers that performed the mission returned to the battlefield, and the two aircraft carriers close to the Japanese coastline also took great risks-half a year later, when the second When the U.S. aircraft carrier formation tried to follow the same pattern, it was blocked by the elusive Yamato battleship in the middle of the night. Since the naval aviation at this time did not have the ability to fight at night, all the aircraft sank to the bottom of the sea without being able to release a single aircraft.
But even so, in the face of disastrous defeats in naval battles one after another, and in the face of overwhelming sarcasm and ridicule, the US military was stimulated to madness, and continued to risk their lives in trying to sneak attack the Japanese archipelago. Even if it can't cause much damage to the Japanese Empire's war machine, it would be good to give the arrogant Japanese a slap in the face and give them some psychological blows - at first, they sent an aircraft carrier formation straight to Japan to risk their lives for sneak attacks, but three times There were two times where I never came back. After the B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber with a longer maximum range was successfully developed, a "shuttle bombing" strategy was devised, that is, the bomber formation took off from the Midway Airport closest to Japan and carried out operations across the Japanese archipelago. Drop the bomb, then land at an airport in Shandong and Zhejiang along the coast of mainland China, refuel and load the bomb, then turn around and fly back to Midway, where you can bomb the Japanese again on the way home.
Although the US military 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 on the coast of Shandong to build a field airport, with the "Tuba Road" responsible for the airport security and the Soviet Union providing aviation fuel. Unexpectedly, the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down for the second time, and the two sides fought fiercely. Out of considerations of "political correctness," the cooperation with the Chinese Bolsheviks naturally came to nothing.
As for Jiang in Chongqing, although he was very happy to cooperate with the American father to bomb the Japanese, it would be better to bomb the Eighth Route Army on the way, but his troops were really unable to hold up the wall, and not only suffered a huge defeat in Zhejiang , lost 200,000 troops, lost Quzhou Airport, which was selected by the US military as the base at the other end of the "shuttle bombing", and was unable to provide any aviation fuel at all - - Chongqing's "national government" does not have any fuel production capacity. All gasoline is imported, but there is no import channel: the most important lifeline, the Burma Highway, was cut off at the beginning of the Pacific War. The "Hump Route" soon ran out of cargo because of the Indian rebellion, and the Soviet Union's transportation was also hopeless because the Kuomintang and the Communist Party turned against each other.
Currently, Bald Chiang has sent his wife to stay in Washington, asking for this and that from the White House every day, asking for ammunition, loans, gasoline, planes, cans, flour, almost everything, but there is no way to transport it in... In short, the idea of shuttle bombing failed before it was implemented.
Frustrated and driven almost crazy by the pressure of public opinion, the U.S. military simply acted recklessly and started a "one-way bombing" - letting B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bombers take off from Midway, bomb Japan and then fly to the Soviet Union. Landing at the naval port of Vladivostok: Of course, because the Soviet Union did not declare war with Japan, the Soviets would not return the aircraft and pilots to the United States. Instead, they would treat them as "illegal immigrants." The B-29 aircraft was taken to the Western Front to beat the Germans, and the pilot They were put into detention centers and released after the war was over. But even with such a tactic of fighting a dog with no return, in order to slap the Japanese Empire in the face, Americans with deep pockets are desperate to fight.
Logically speaking, resisting the attacks of these enemies and ensuring the tranquility of the Imperial Palace and the people should be the task of the empire's local air defense forces. However, the B-29 "Flying Fortress" bombed at an altitude of nearly 10,000 meters, and the Japanese anti-aircraft guns could not reach the enemy. It is also difficult for Japanese fighter jets to climb to such a height. Even if they manage to climb up, it will be difficult to deal with the numerous self-defense firepower densely packed like hedgehogs on the B-29 "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bomber. Sometimes, even a formation of Zero fighters cannot defeat 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 detained until the end of the war. If we put it back, what else does Japan want to do? If you don’t believe it, you can send someone to the Siberian detention center where American pilots are detained to conduct inspections. Even if there are a few people stationed there for supervision, there will be no problem!
Fortunately, such a bombing that will never return is also extremely painful for the US military, so it can only be done occasionally and does not dare to do too much. There are only a dozen to twenty bombers in each sortie, and there are even single-plane sneak attacks. To the Japanese Empire, they are probably no more than mosquito bites... At the beginning of this year, because the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were on the European continent, A fierce conflict broke out on the battlefield, and the US military in the Pacific Theater also ended the above-mentioned "enemies" behavior - if it continued, it would be equivalent to sending bombers to the Soviet Bolsheviks to beat the British allies.
As a result, the citizens of Tokyo were able to sleep well for a few months...but the night before yesterday, the damn beautiful bomber came again! And there are twenty of them! Fortunately, he managed to drop a bomb into the Japanese Imperial Palace, scaring the emperor so much that he broke his forehead while escaping to the air raid shelter!
As a result, the navy and army generals in the base camp were naturally frightened, bowed to apologize, and came up with a countermeasure that could at least frustrate the emperor.
"...Is there really no other way?" General Suzuki Kantaro asked with an unsatisfied frown.
"...There is really no other way. Manpower is sometimes poor, and what cannot be done cannot be done, Mr. Minister."
Marshal Yamamoto Fifty-Six said sincerely. "...Last year we organized a rapid sneak attack fleet and bombarded Midway Island at night, allowing the Yamato and Musashi to drop more than 300 high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs at the island's airport. However, according to intelligence, the U.S. military later Instead, we repaired the airport in just one month. However, the artillery fleet took huge risks and was almost bitten by the US aircraft carrier aircraft... Moreover, even if Midway Island is completely destroyed, as long as the US military is willing to let the bombers and pilots never return, they can also start from Take off in Hawaii!
To be honest, during war, small-scale sneak attacks like this, like assassins, are simply impossible to prevent. Both the citizens and your Majesty should be mentally prepared to endure the flames of war! You know, we are gambling on the fate of the country! We are at war with the most powerful enemy in the world in terms of industrial power! ”
"...You..." Admiral Suzuki Kantaro glared at him, as if he wanted to scold him for being "disrespectful", but he swallowed his words again, "...Since the combined fleet has nothing to do about Midway, then... We can only ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do some work on the Soviet Union..."
"...You can give it a try, but it's best not to have too high expectations, let alone make any irrational overreaction to the Soviet Union."
Yamamoto Isoroku nodded, "...Now the Imperial Kingdom cannot provoke or provoke the Soviet Union under any circumstances. In order to maintain harmony and goodwill with the Soviet Union, it will not hesitate to endure humiliation and humiliation..." At this point, he suddenly noticed Suzuki Kanuki Taro's eyes were a little strange, inexplicable at first , and then seemed to think of something, and suddenly became frightened: "...Wait a minute, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have been fighting fiercely in Europe in recent months. Could it be that the Kwantung Army thought it had an opportunity and wanted to cause trouble in Manchuria? Are you trying to get involved in the Far East? Don’t let them mess around in the base camp!”
"...Yamamoto-kun is overly concerned. No matter how unruly the Kwantung Army is, it will not provoke the Soviet Union at this time." Suzuki Kantaro said calmly, "...Yamamoto-kun has always advocated non-compliance before the war. The United States and Britain are enemies, so why do they always say good things about the Soviet Union recently? ”
"...You have said that it was before the war... Now that the Imperial Kingdom is at war with the Americans, if we don't find a way to be friendly with the Soviet Union or at least stabilize the north, are we looking for death? Once the Imperial Kingdom is at odds with the Soviet Union again , the Red Army does not even need to do it themselves, as long as it opens the Vladivostok military port to the U.S. Air Force and conducts strategic bombing of the Imperial Kingdom, Japan will be reduced to a sea of fire at the rate of one city per week..."
Yamamoto Isoroku smiled bitterly and said, "...With all due respect, the Empire now relies on the Soviet Union a lot. The Meino and Shinano were able to be completed on schedule only because the Soviets secretly provided some steel and parts. And the last two The ability to transport so many Southeast Asian products back to the mainland in 2016 was all due to Soviet sales. merchant ships, otherwise the empire’s maritime transport capacity would have been overwhelmed... Everything can be abandoned now, but the matter of peace with Soviet Russia must not be forgotten, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable! Now that I am about to take command again, I will ask your Excellency, Minister, for domestic matters. Pay more attention.”
"...Don't worry!" Suzuki Kantaro nodded, "...I will send it here. I wish Yamamoto-kun a long career in martial arts!"
Next, Yamamoto Isoroku walked out of the gate, got into the car, and then heard the driver ask: "...Sir, do you want to go home now?"
"...Okay...Uh, no, wait a minute, let's go to Hibiya Park first! It's been a long time since I've seen the red leaves in Tokyo..."
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At the same time, at the window of the office of the Chief of Naval Command, Admiral Kantaro Suzuki silently watched Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku's car drive away, his face seemed a little uncertain. When a confidant standing next to him saw this, he quickly took the opportunity and said, "...Your Excellency, Minister, according to the recent intelligence coming from the Super High School, Marshal Yamamoto and the people around him seem to have some secret contacts with the Soviet Union. The evidence is..."
"...No need to worry too much! I also know that some people have secret connections with the United States! So what?"
Suzuki Kantaro turned around and sat down disapprovingly, "...it's not like you don't know what the Imperial Kingdom is like now! The Western allies Germany and Italy have been defeated and destroyed this year. We are the only ones left to be enemies of the whole world. So the Imperial Kingdom is now The situation looks like flowers blooming and fire cooking oil, In fact, everything is at risk and life hangs on a thread. If you are not careful, it will be doomed. It is a good thing that Mr. Yamamoto can establish a relationship with the Soviet Union and maintain a channel of mediation and communication. Even His Majesty the Emperor is vaguely aware of this. Be optimistic about the success..."
While scolding his ignorant confidants, he looked at the map of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" on the wall, frowning.
Although the base camp has been boasting about "the invincibility of the imperial army" all day long, in fact, the "Greater East Asia War" has been able to reach this point, which has far exceeded the entire navy's most optimistic view before the war. The prediction can be called a miracle among miracles.
Based on the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor, many people believe that the Japanese Navy's war against the United States must have been planned and prepared for a long time. But in fact, everyone in the high-level circles of the Japanese Navy knows that they were simply forced by the situation and jumped over the wall in a hurry. The entire army had no confidence at all beforehand, but they succeeded by luck in the end. In the past years, the so-called defeat of the United States The navy, as the first imaginary enemy, is simply a gimmick to defraud military expenditures. When it came time to actually decide whether to go to war with the United States, the entire Japanese navy was really worried and their legs were weak.
But the problem is that if we don't go to war with the United States and Britain, we can't seize the oil in Nanyang. If we don't seize the oil in Nanyang, the "China battlefield" will collapse. Although the war must be expanded in order to maintain the war, and the fact that one opponent must be provoked to ridicule by a stronger opponent because it cannot defeat one makes the navy really want to scold them, but the army has already suffered losses in the "China Battlefield" Hundreds of thousands of people were completely stunned and could not retreat easily. If the Navy is determined not to support war against the United States, the Army and those right-wing groups may launch a mutiny to seize power, and the Navy will be unable to compete.
——"Vibrant social groups" such as the Japanese Black Dragon Club during World War II are not the hilarious gangs in postwar Japan that relied on Koreans wearing military uniforms as thugs. They actually dared to go on the streets and kill people with knives. The real murderer "the passionate warrior"...
According to the internal assessment of the top brass of the Japanese Navy at the time, if things really develop like this, the Navy will be suppressed by the Army within a few months. The result will still be war against the United States, but at this time the Navy will completely lose its autonomy and become the Army. They are just vassals - this is still a good thing, and many of the leaders of the navy may be regarded as traitors by the radical army Red Deer and be punished by heaven.
As a result, even though it knew that war with the United States would be a big pit, the Navy still had to hold its nose and jump into the pit.
Next, with the slogans of "Long live! Long live!" and the flying sun flag, the Japanese Empire's soldiers fought all the way to the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, creating an unprecedented feat unprecedented in history. In the face of such a great victory, it is natural for the base camp to be extremely arrogant. It is also natural for them to make some optimistic remarks in some public places. It is also understandable to occasionally boast that they will fight to London to capture Churchill alive... But there is still one question that needs to be answered. Seriously answer: Under such a good situation, what is the real strategic goal of the Japanese Navy, no, the Japanese Empire?
The correct answer is actually: I don’t know!
According to common sense, any war should have a goal when it is launched. For example, the American War of Independence was to get rid of British rule, and the Chinese Anti-Japanese War was to restore legal territory. Many wars in the feudal era revolved around the throne or throne - regardless of whether the goal could be achieved or not, there must always be a clear direction of efforts, and then everyone could make plans around this direction and compete with the enemy in a battle of wits and courage.
However, unlike the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, which had clear strategic goals, in the larger Pacific War, the Japanese themselves did not know their strategic goals. From beginning to end, none of the base camp documents defined what this meant. The "victory" of a war is basically fought in a muddle-headed manner based on instinct - how can one win a war that doesn't even know what victory is?
—— Regarding this issue, Suzuki Kantaro once had a private discussion with Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. The final conclusion was that we could not reach an agreement at all and could only wait for the enemy to take the initiative to propose conditions, preferably at our own expense. After buying dog food, a collar, a castration knife, and a long line of people waiting to become a dog in Japan...
In response, Suzuki Kantaro didn't know what expression to make other than rolling his eyes.
As a result, they fought like this for four years. Although with a series of naval battle victories that were recognized by the world as miracles and even the Japanese themselves found incredible, the Imperial Navy managed to withstand the attacks of the U.S. Pacific Fleet again and again, but peace The dawn of the future is still far away.
What's even worse is that the more victorious battles were fought on the Nanyang front, the more frightened the Imperial Navy became - so many Americans were killed, so many battleships and aircraft were destroyed, and the tonnage of the enemy ships sunk alone was far greater. It’s more than the combined fleet, why don’t the American Yankees kneel down? But the bones of Americans are harder than diamonds. No matter how you calculate, the Naval Command feels that their blood has been drained, but the Americans just don't kneel!
The Americans, who have been repeatedly defeated in battles, can continue to hold on, but the Japanese Empire, which has been victorious in many battles, is gradually unable to bear it. After all, Japan's industrial base is weak, even if there are materials plundered from Southeast Asia to transfuse the mainland, even if there are secrets from the Soviet Union The purchased merchant ships made up for the gap in transportation capacity, but after four full years of the Pacific War, manpower and material resources were still stretched to the limit. However, the various conflicts between the chaebols and the government also led to a huge waste of the only national power. Since the beginning of this year, the domestic supply standard of daily necessities has dropped to an all-time low. People starve to death in various places. Officers and soldiers are generally war-weary and emotionally unstable. The people's enthusiasm for war has actually subsided, all thanks to the high pressure of the military. Barely under control.
Although the war situation looks good, with the destruction of Italy and Germany, Japan is about to challenge the whole world alone - can it still win?
All Japanese senior officials who still have some sense in their minds know that the war can no longer be fought, and seeking a decent peace is the right way.
But the war has reached this stage and has no way of ending. They had slapped the Yankees in the face too hard, spilled too much blood, and accumulated too much hatred. Washington was determined to crush the Japanese dwarf to scare the monkeys, so as to restore the lost face and prestige.
If they want to appease the American bald eagle, Japan will have to make a determined effort to cut its flesh, bleed it, and vomit out almost all of its spoils. But this is tantamount to defeat without a fight. Giving up large areas of territory when every battle is certain to win will not only have a bad reputation, but also domestic conflicts will not be settled. At least the ministers who initiated and were responsible for the peace talks will definitely become traitors and be punished by God - —Looking around the entire Japanese leadership, no one can bear this responsibility, not even the Emperor dares or is willing. Unwilling to take the blame and bear the infamy, the ball was kicked around, but in the end they could only continue to play with their eyes closed while looking for outside moves... So, on the surface, Japan today is united to challenge the whole world, but in fact The top officials are all showing their magical powers in Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, looking for ways to seek a decent peace. Regarding Yamamoto Isoroku's collusion with the Soviet Union, Japan's top brass naturally turned a blind eye: First, with his legendary record of killing 200,000 enemies in the Pacific, this guy was already as powerful as the military god Hanni A world-class military star. If he is touched, it will cause harm to frontline soldiers. The devastating blow of anger is similar to the unjust killing of Yue Fei by Emperor Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty in China; secondly, many people are actually doing similar things, but Yamamoto Isoroku did it a little too much, but considering that it is indeed It is necessary to establish a good relationship with the Soviet Union, so just admit it holding your nose!
However, they all seemed to have misjudged the extent of Yamamoto Isoroku's collusion with the Soviet Union, and also underestimated the navy marshal's ambition...