Chapter 36, The Age of Chaos When the Empire Collapses (Part 1)
After being ravaged three times by the U.S. Army and the Japanese Army, and indiscriminately killed by its own people, Okinawa Prefecture, which originally had a population of only 470,000, is now in mourning. Every household has no funeral, or has become an extinct household. , there is no need to hold a funeral... But even so, looking at the sun flag rising again, the surviving Okinawa residents could only hold back the tears in their eyes and bury all the sadness and hatred deep in their hearts.
There is no way. Just like the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom could not stop the Satsuma clan's remote attack, Okinawa now has no power to rebel against the strong.
Looking from the pier of Naha Port, countless large and small steel ships cover the entire sea surface within sight. The masts are as dense as a jungle, and even extend to the distance beyond the horizon, fully reflecting the modernization of the sea. The power and charm of industry.
Especially when Rear Admiral Kami Shigetoku came from Hainan Island with the battleship formation to rendezvous, looking at the four majestic Yamato-class battleships on the distant sea, even those Ryukyu people who had just been devastated by the war couldn't help but feel... I was deeply attracted by it and my heart was filled with excitement.
——The worship and pursuit of all kinds of powerful things have long been engraved in the blood of mankind and cannot be shaken by any propaganda.
However, although the four majestic Yamato-class battleships are so domineering on the sunny sea, they are like hills standing on the sea. But compared with another super ship that looks like a steel floating island, it pales in comparison.
——It has a total length of 420 meters and is taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It has a full load displacement of 300,000 tons, exceeding the sum of the four Yamato-class battleships. It has sixteen decks and a draft of nine and a half meters, so that There is no way to dock at Naha Port, so we can only anchor in the deep sea.
This is the ship girl Miss Sophie who has just built the world's first super giant transport ship "Ocean Oasis" by using the power of her faith, the rich iron ore in Western Australia, and the black technology props of Doraemon brought by Wang Qiu. ", is now on its maiden voyage.
Its prototype is the largest cruise ship of the American "Royal Caribbean" cruise company in the 21st century on the main plane. It is also the largest cruise ship in the world, another luxury cruise ship "Oasis of the Seas". The "Oasis of the Seas" of the "Royal Caribbean" cruise ship company has 2,000 cabins and can carry 6,000 passengers. It can definitely boast of being the "largest and most luxurious" and is undoubtedly another one in the history of cruise ship construction. Miracle. In addition to cabins of various grades, the ship also has a large shopping mall, numerous bars and restaurants, an outdoor amphitheater the size of a football field, as well as fitness facilities such as swimming pools, carousels, rock climbing walls, and even a pedestrian street on the ship and an open-air Garden, with hundreds of palm trees and thousands of shrubs and flowers planted on board! This is where the name of the ship "Oasis of the Sea" comes from. When it sails on the sea, it is like a "traveling city".
Of course, Sophie's "Ocean Oasis" in the World War II dimension did not have such luxury in order to adapt to wartime needs. After enlarging the hull to 300,000 tons according to a certain proportion, Sophie unceremoniously cut down all entertainment facilities such as movie theaters, cafes, ice rinks, amphitheaters, swimming pools, and carousels, especially the sea gardens. The trees and flowers that took up space and consumed water were among the first batch to be eliminated, thus freeing up a lot of spare space. Then, the originally luxurious and comfortable hotel-level suites were all changed into narrow and crowded third-class steerage cabins.
On the entire huge hull, in addition to the most basic canteen, toilet and shower facilities, there are only accommodation cabins to accommodate passengers, and they are crowded like a sleeper train in order to carry as many people as possible - 2 The eleventh-century luxury cruise ship "Oasis of the Seas" could only carry 6,000 passengers, but the "Oasis of the Seas" from the World War II plane could transport at least 80,000 people at a time! ! Of course, the price is that the living standards of passengers have dropped from high-end hotel standards to prison standards. Even drinking water can only be drank from desalinated seawater with a strange smell...
However, for a refugee ship whose original design function was to evacuate expatriates and rescue immigrants, it really cannot ask for more.
——No matter how good the prison standards are, they are at least much better than the "piggy ships" that trafficked Chinese laborers to the United States in the last century!
On the other hand, although the living conditions are a bit shabby, compared to the heavy oil-burning cruise ship of the 21st century, the power system of the "Ocean Oasis" in this dimension is as advanced as science fiction: The energy source is the palladium metal fusion reactor made famous by Iron Man from the Marvel world, which can provide almost unlimited power! The turbine on the ship is fully electric drive, which has not been popularized in the 21st century!
——Motor-driven propellers, electric heating, air-conditioning throughout the ship, 24-hour hot water supply, and even the kitchen is equipped with microwaves and induction cookers. More importantly, the abundant energy brought by nuclear fusion allows this 300,000-ton super ship to actually run at a high speed of 35 knots!
In the World War II era, this was already an incredible speed for civilian ships. At that time, the "Freewheel" mass-produced in the United States had a displacement of 7,000 tons and a maximum speed of only 11 knots. Moreover, it was easy for the engine to malfunction when driven too fast. Generally, it could only drive to about eight knots, so even submarines could catch up. Comparable...compared to the nuclear fusion-powered "Oasis of the Seas", it's like a turtle crawling slowly.
In short, when the Japanese expatriates evacuated from Okinawa dragged their children, carried large and small bags, and boarded the maritime castle on the navy landing craft that came as a ferry, they all couldn't help but cheered with excitement. , feeling a sense of relief.
——Even if Tokyo no longer exists, as long as the country still has such a huge fleet, there must be hope, right?
However, the commander of this 300,000-ton super ship and the entire million-ton transport fleet, Admiral Horikichi of the Japanese Navy, stood on the side of the twelve-story top deck of the "Ocean Oasis" and watched. Looking at the endless stream of refugees on the pier and on the sea, I felt very depressed.
"...The last batch of refugees has been assembled at the pier, and it is expected that they will be able to board the ship within two hours."
Ms. Sophie's latest avatar, the ship's maid of the 300,000-ton super ship "Oasis of the Seas", a brown-skinned and toned girl wearing a straw hat, a wreath around her neck, and a white sleeveless dress, raised her hand to Admiral Horikichi. He said with a salute.
"...I know! Alas, looking at the state of Okinawa County, it is obviously impossible to use this place as a counterattack base."
In response, General Horikichi just sighed and shook his head, "...After such a catastrophe, the locals no longer have any sense of belonging to the country. Just to wipe out the guerrillas and the remaining U.S. troops on the island will cost at least A few weeks...but do we still have so much time?"
——Obviously, today's combined fleet does not have much time to waste, because the situation on the mainland can no longer sustain it.
Although the capture of US military commander MacArthur last month gave a boost to the resistance movement in the Japanese archipelago, the battle to defend Nagoya ultimately failed. The US military's occupied areas in the Japanese archipelago range from Osaka, Kyoto to Tokyo. , have been connected together, and this is the most developed industrial, agricultural and economic area of the Japanese Empire and the most densely populated area. As for the remaining places, they are relatively backwaters.
In other words, the current strategic situation of the Japanese archipelago is almost the same as that of China after the failure of the Wuhan Battle in 1938.
With the loss of this most developed and elite hinterland, coupled with the indiscriminate bombing of remaining industrial cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US military, the military production system of the Japanese Empire has been completely shut down. It is difficult to replenish the arms and supplies of various Japanese resistance forces, and they can only rely on consuming stocks to fight.
What is even more dangerous is that the US military has found a group of powerful leading parties and fifth columns in Japan, or Japan's "Wang Jingwei"...
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——The so-called imperialism in modern countries is basically a trinity of aristocrats, plutocrats, and warlords. That is, a small group of people monopolize the political power and economic interests of the entire country, and coerce the people of a country into war. Vitan. Imperialism after industrialized armed forces is bound to be bellicose and has no choice but to be warlike, because only through war can internal contradictions be transferred, otherwise it can only wait for the revolution to come.
As an imperialist country, especially a late-developing imperialist country with a late start and small capital, the Japanese Empire is also in the same situation. The internal and external environment is even more severe than that of the European and American powers. And this determined the political structure and division of forces in the Japanese Empire.
On the surface, the Japanese people all respect the emperor: Mutsuhito during the Meiji period, Yoshihito during the Taisho period, and Hirohito during the Showa period. Its roots can be traced back to the time when Emperor Jimmu founded the country 2,600 years ago. According to Shinto teachings, the emperor is the son of the sun goddess, and Japan is an island country under the protection of the sun goddess. Without this deified worship of the emperor, the Imperial Japanese Army would not have been able to strap 72 million Japanese people into chariots.
But in fact, not to mention the decline of imperial power and the shogunate era when the emperor was in name only, even after the Meiji Restoration, the power of the emperor in modern Japan has been varying from time to time. Sometimes he can force the country to operate according to his own will, and sometimes he can't. Being completely ignored by powerful ministers, he has no control over everything.
In general, the power of Emperor Showa before the war was far from that of Stalin and Hitler, and was even much worse than Roosevelt. And during the war, they were deceived by the army and navy, angry, and helpless.
The forces that truly and forever dominate the political situation of the Japanese Empire are Japan's aristocrats, chaebols, and warlords, just like Western monarchies.
The first is Japan's aristocracy, or big landowners. Although Japan has been "civilized" for more than seventy years since the Meiji Restoration, local feudal forces are still deeply rooted. Many wealthy families from ancient daimyo have taken root in their hometowns for hundreds or even thousands of years. No matter whether it is the abolition of feudal vassals and the establishment of counties, the equality of the four peoples, or the US military occupation in later generations, their terrible heritage can not be truly destroyed. No matter when, they have been in the government Each has its own spokesperson. This force is indeed old and outdated, and it is in disarray. It is difficult to show its strength at ordinary times, but it still cannot be taken lightly.
Then there are the Japanese chaebols. Although the history of the Japanese Empire is only a few decades, the Japanese chaebols at this time are no longer just young boys. They have already completed the concentration and monopoly of capital and control all aspects of Japan. The economy is functioning. Whether it is the established Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and other groups, or the "Manchu Heavy Industries", "Japan Nitrogen", "Japan Soda" and "Sen" consortiums that are fed by resources from Northeast China and North Korea, they all have a great influence on the political situation of the empire. influence. At some point, even the emperor had to be at the mercy of their will.
The only force that can compete with the chaebols is the Japanese military. Any real empire must rely on a strong army to maintain and develop. In order to build an army capable of expanding territory and plundering with its limited national strength and relatively backward society, Japan had to resort to military warfare and exhaust its wealth to support its army. . At the same time, because of the tradition of advocating warriors since ancient times, the status of soldiers has been very high from the beginning.
However, the plutocrats and nobles who actually control Japan also know that the military is a double-edged sword that can hurt others as well as themselves, so they attach great importance to the control of military power. Although in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, there cannot be any "officials and nobles", but we still try to let the sons of nobles and plutocrats join the army to gild their ranks and gain some military power. For those poor officers who have climbed up through personal struggle, they do not hesitate to use methods such as marriage to win over them. At the same time, some bourgeois liberal political parties are fostered in society to prevent militaristic education from going too far and being completely deprived of the right to speak in public opinion.
Therefore, although before World War II, Japan's navy and army had gradually become unruly and often antagonized the government, in the final analysis, it was still just a struggle for power within the ruling class. In terms of the general policy of external expansion and internal suppression, There is no real disagreement.
The Japanese Communist Party, which represents the interests of the workers and peasants, has been brutally suppressed since its inception, and a large number of party members were either dead or imprisoned. Although due to the harsh exploitation and oppression and the dark and miserable life, it has been difficult to truly ban red ideas among the Japanese people and intellectuals. There are even some "socialists" among the top leaders of the country. However, unless there is a drastic change, it will be difficult to shake it. The entire imperial structure.
However, with the full-scale outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, as well as the lack of foresight and hasty decision-making of Japanese rulers, this once rock-solid imperial structure has quietly undergone subtle changes inadvertently-everything Imperialists all like to be militaristic and like war and conquest. But the question is, for the rulers of imperialist regimes, is the bigger the army really the better, and the more troops the better?
Obviously this is not the case, because soldiers are not machines, they also have their own thoughts and demands. For imperialists, the existence of the army is first of all to protect the interests of the ruling class. What's the point of a sword, no matter how sharp it is, if the army can't be held in their hands? Of course, conversely, if the saber is too dull to cut anything, such a useless army will be useless even if it is held in hand.
So, how can we ensure that the army has a certain combat effectiveness and is firmly controlled by the ruling class? As an armed group that requires strict discipline, the most important soul of any army at home and abroad is the non-commissioned officers and officers. For the benefit of the ruling class, it is necessary to ensure that most officers must be people from the ruling class, or at least be won over by the ruling class with interests and marriages after they have emerged.
But the problem is that in any country, the number of people in the ruling class is limited, and the interests it can bring to win over people are also limited.
If the size of the army is too large, resulting in a proportional increase in the number of officers and non-commissioned officers, so that most of them cannot be included in the upper class, then it may be acceptable during foreign operations. Once the army needs to turn around, Now, when targeting the people of the country, will such an army still suppress the civilians for the benefit of the upper class, instead of decisively defecting and making revolution with the people?
The European and American powers have seen this very early. For example, during the Second German Empire, the Junkers Corps of Officers deliberately limited the size of the German Army for a long time in order to ensure its stable control over the Army. Logically speaking, they were using the universal compulsory military service system. After assembling an unprecedented one million troops and successfully defeating France with a two to one military advantage, the Germans should always regard this magic weapon as their guide. But in fact, from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the outbreak of World War I, the German Empire never truly implemented universal compulsory military service.
During the Franco-Prussian War, Germany had a population of only 43 million, but it still had an army of one million. But on the eve of World War I, Germany's population had grown to 67 million, and the entire navy and army had shrunk to only 890,000... This was obviously not because of insufficient money. At that time, Russia's finances were far more difficult than Germany's, but it still maintained its There is a standing army of 1.3 million people, and a large fleet has to be supported to go around half the world to fight the Japanese.
The real reason is that in the Second German Empire at that time, there were no longer enough Junker nobles and bourgeois children who could serve as officers. For the fundamental interests of the shameless Junker officer corps, the so-called militaristic Germany had to deliberately limit the army. scale.
Although the Junkers aristocrats at that time devoted almost all their qualified children to the army as non-commissioned officers, on the eve of World War I in the German Empire, only about one-third of the grassroots officers and non-commissioned officers were from aristocratic backgrounds, plus those from bourgeois backgrounds There are only two-thirds of the non-commissioned officers and officers, which is enough to maintain the control of the ruling class over the army - of course, senior officer positions are basically monopolized and controlled by the Junker nobles.
However, with the outbreak of World War I, Germany had to repeatedly expand its army, and finally mobilized a total of 13 million men during the four years of the war. Once the size of the army expands several times or dozens of times like this, civilians will have to become the main body of middle- and low-level officers.
As a result, the crowns of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Russian Empire fell and were shattered in the war. Although the collapse of these dynasties was largely due to defeat, before the First World War, whether it was The Hohenzollern dynasty of Germany (Prussia), the Habsburg dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Romanov dynasty of the Tsarist Russian Empire have all suffered many defeats in history. Especially during the Napoleonic Wars, these three families were all beaten badly by Emperor Napoleon. Why was it that even though the defeat was disastrous at that time, the entire dynasty was not destroyed, but the first battle finally caused them to perish? Because before the emergence of total war, war was an intense sport that only "professional players" could participate in. Even if they failed in the war, the army was still in the hands of the nobles and could still be used to suppress the revolting people. However, total war reduced the ability of officers to The main body changed from the aristocracy to the civilians. As a result, the army was actually no longer in the hands of the aristocrats. It could only fight externally and could not suppress the domestic revolution.
To sum up, only those who wield the strongest force can wield the highest power. For an imperialist country, a general war involving comprehensive military expansion and mobilization means that the army has actually slipped from the upper class to the hands of the civilians. If it wins, it can use the war dividends to alleviate domestic conflicts, and then lead the war The subsequent military rehabilitation work will allow the upper class to regain the dominant position among officers and non-commissioned officers and restore the old order of the empire; if the all-out war is defeated, then the empire is destined to be wiped out in the civilian uprising, which cannot be suppressed by force.
In other words, once general mobilization begins, the imperial tanks can only win or be destroyed. There is no third way.
This principle is true in Europe, and it also applies in Japan. Before World War II, the population of the Japanese archipelago was 72 million. Counting North Korea and Taiwan, there were probably 100 million people. And until the eve of the July 7th Incident, Japan's standing army only had 380,000 people. It was said to be militaristic, but in fact, in terms of the ratio of soldiers to civilians, it was actually much lower than France and Germany. On the eve of the invasion of Poland, Germany had already expanded its army. It’s 1.2 million!
With such a "small but elite" Imperial Japanese Army, the ruling class of the Japanese Empire can still barely maintain control over it - because the class contradictions in the Japanese Empire are too serious, even with an army of only 380,000 people, Here, revolutionary sentiment has become very serious, and its specific external manifestation is a series of bloody open and covert struggles between the Huangdao faction, which represents the lower class, and the ruling faction, which represents the upper class. Although in the eyes of the Chinese, both groups are equally fascist, but for Japanese society, it is no longer a factional struggle among small political groups, but a class struggle in a certain sense. If I had to give a similar example, it would be similar to the dispute between the common people and the nobility in the ancient Roman Republic: the imperialists, who came from the grassroots, demanded that all the people share the dividends of aggression and expansion, while the ruling faction, who came from the rich and powerful, controlled all interests. Not willing to let go at all.
——According to the modern international political spectrum, the former can generally represent the "left" and the latter represents the "right".
Fortunately, the Japanese Army at that time had only 380,000 soldiers. Although the Imperial Way School's ideas were very popular among young officers from poor backgrounds, in terms of numerical ratio, upper-class officers and non-commissioned officers still had a slight advantage. In addition, the Huangdao faction's own organization was chaotic, making the revolution not like a revolution, and the party struggle unlike the party struggle. Finally, after going on a rampage during the "226" mutiny, they were suppressed by the ruling faction and temporarily ceased their activities.
But the problem is that, with the full-scale outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the advancing Imperial Army of Japan had to gradually start general mobilization while occupying large areas of land. By the end of 1937, Japan had expanded its army to one million, and by 1940 it was 1.5 million. Then after the declaration of war against the United States and Britain, in order to open up the southern battlefield, the number was expanded to 2.2 million at the end of 1941, followed by 3 million, 4 million, and 5 million...
Therefore, just like the Second German Empire during World War I, the Japanese Empire launched a total war. With the rapid expansion of the size of its army, the actual power of its army gradually transferred from the upper class to the hands of the civilians, and they were all He naturally hates plutocrats and aristocrats, and his political attitude is inclined to the Imperial Way faction... Not to mention that the Japanese army was already seriously unstable before the war, and the Imperial Way faction's influence in the army has never been eradicated!
In other words, during the Pacific War, the Imperial Japanese Army, which was highly civilianized due to excessive water injection, has changed from a tool of the Japanese imperial ruling class to suppress civilians to a potential revolutionary force! Just like the massive expansion of the Tsarist Empire's navy and army before the February Revolution!
As a result, the Japanese Empire has no other choice except victory and destruction. If an armistice is signed with a treaty that is "degrading and humiliating the country", the next step will be the same mutiny and revolution as when the Second German Empire fell. Don't think that the Japanese are inherently servile and have no revolutionary spirit. In fact, the Japanese have been different from ancient times to the present. There are endless incidents of planting under the influence and overcoming the above. Although it is indeed unlikely to directly overthrow the emperor system, there are many precedents in Japanese history where the original emperor was deposed and exiled and replaced as emperor.
Not to mention that due to the secret infiltration of certain forces, when the Pacific War started in 1945, the entire Imperial Japanese Army was already full of red heads "poisoned" by Bolshevik ideas - of course, mainly because "Japanese The characteristic imperialist Bolsheviks"...
Originally, because the war was still going on, the situation was still relatively good. At least it could be maintained by fighting to support war. Coupled with the belief in the emperor's myth, the revolutionary atmosphere in the army was not strong yet. However, as the two atomic bombs of the US military turned Tokyo and the Emperor into radioactive dust, there was no longer any force in the world that could prevent the Japanese army from collectively "turning left" and turning around to revolutionize the lives of the plutocrats and nobles!
At this time, the Imperial Japanese Army is no longer the pride and sharp edge of the Japanese ruling class, but a talisman that can overthrow it!
Japan's plutocrats and nobles fully saw this, so they had no intention of continuing to resist. Instead, as soon as the news of the emperor's death was confirmed, they began to betray their country and betray their masters, unconditionally surrendering to the US military, hoping to rely on the US military to destroy Japan. The army can prevent the occurrence of revolution... Just like the French bourgeoisie after the failure of the Franco-Prussian War, they would rather cede territory to Prussia and pay indemnity to Prussia, but also want to bloodbath the capital and suppress the Paris Commune.
Therefore, after the collapse of the central government, the Japanese Empire was unable to elect a new leadership group to continue directing the war. Instead, it divided into two camps, red and white, at an alarming speed. In just a few short months, the old Japanese aristocrats and plutocrats completely betrayed their nation as a whole and were determined to be the lackeys of the Americans. They even tried their best to assist the US military in massacring their own compatriots and destroying their own country. Nations and civilizations. Any victory achieved by the Japanese army on the battlefield will only in turn stimulate them to further increase their surrender and kneeling to the US military... What is even more tragic is that even if they completely betrayed the emperor, the country, and the nation, relying on these Due to the historical heritage of chaebols, aristocratic families, and wealthy families, as well as the gun coercion of the American invaders, there will still be some soldiers who will support them and fight against the Japanese resistance forces who have joined the revolution. For the Japanese naval generals who were relatively accustomed to staying away from politics and had never thought about fighting a civil war, such a bloody future of having to fight each other was really sad. Faced with the war between the same brothers that is almost destined to come, no, strictly speaking, it has already begun. When he thinks that the shells of the Yamato-class battleship will fall on the heads of his compatriots and even his colleagues in the military, General Horikichi can't help but I feel my heart twitching.