Great time travel

Chapter 36. A Chaotic World in which the Empire Collapses

After being ravaged three times by the U.S. Army and the Japanese Army in turn, plus the random killing of their own people, Okinawa County, which originally had a population of only 47, is now full of mourning. There is a funeral... But even so, seeing the rising sun flag again, the surviving Okinawa residents could only hold back the tears in their eyes, and buried all the sadness and hatred deep in their hearts.

There is no way, just like the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom could not stop the Satsuma Fan's remote attack, and now Okinawa has no power to rebel against the strong.

Looking from the wharf of Naha Port, countless large and small steel ships cover the entire sea as far as the eye can see. The masts are as dense as a jungle, and even extend to the distance beyond the sea level, which fully reflects the modern grandeur. Industrial majesty and charm.

Especially when Rear Admiral Shen Shigetoku came from Hainan Island to rendezvous with the battleship formation, looking at the four majestic Yamato-class battleships on the distant sea, even those Ryukyu people who had just been devastated by the war and their families were ruined couldn't help but I was deeply attracted by it, and my mind was rippling.

——The worship and pursuit of all kinds of powerful things have long been engraved in the blood of human beings, and it is by no means unshakable 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 giant ship that looks like a steel floating island, it pales in comparison.

——The total length is 420 meters, which is higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris; the full-load displacement is 30 tons, which exceeds the sum of the four Yamato-class battleships; it has sixteen decks and a draft of nine and a half meters, so that it is impossible to go there When Ba Hong docked, he could only anchor in the deep sea.

This is the world's largest super giant transport ship "Ocean Oasis" just built by Miss Sophie, the ship's mother, using her power of faith, the rich iron ore in Western Australia, and the Doraemon black technology props brought by Wang Qiu. ", now is its maiden voyage.

Its prototype is the main plane, the largest cruise ship of the American "Royal Caribbean" cruise line in the 21st century, and 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 line has [-] cabins and can carry [-] passengers. It can definitely boast of being "the largest and most luxurious". Miracle.In addition to cabins of various grades, there is also a large shopping mall, many bars and restaurants on board, an outdoor amphitheater the size of a football field, and fitness facilities such as swimming pools, carousels, rock climbing walls, and even a walking street on board and an open-air Gardens, with hundreds of palm trees and thousands of shrubs and flowers on board! The name of the ship "Sea Oasis" comes from this.When it sails at sea, it is like a "traveling city".

Of course, the "Ocean Oasis" on Sophie's World War II plane, in order to meet the needs of wartime, does not have such luxury.After enlarging the hull to 30 tons according to a certain proportion, Sophie unceremoniously cut off all entertainment facilities such as cinemas, cafes, skating rinks, amphitheatres, swimming pools, and carousels, especially in the sea garden. Those trees and flowers that both occupy space and consume water are among the first batch of abolition, 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, apart from the most basic canteen, toilet and shower facilities, there are only living quarters for passengers, and they are crowded like a sleeper train, in order to carry as many people as possible——21 The luxury cruise ship "Ocean Oasis" of the century can only carry 8 passengers, while the "Ocean Oasis" from the plane of World War II can transport at least [-] people at a time! !Of course, the price is that the living standard of the passengers has dropped from the standard of a high-end hotel to the standard of a prison in an avalanche, and even the drinking water can only drink desalinated seawater with a strange smell...

However, for a refugee ship originally designed to evacuate expatriates and Latinos, it really couldn't ask for more.

——No matter what kind of prison standard, at least it is much stronger than the "pig boats" 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 in the 21st century, the "Oasis of the Seas" of this plane is advanced in terms of power system, as if science fiction: the energy is Iron Man's famous work from the Marvel world, a palladium metal fusion reactor that can provide almost unlimited power!The turbines on board are all-electric drives that have not been popularized in the 21st century!

——Electric motors drive propellers, electric heating, air-conditioning throughout the ship, 24-hour hot water supply, even microwave ovens and induction cookers are used in the kitchen.More importantly, the abundant energy brought by nuclear fusion allowed this 30-ton super giant ship to run at a high speed of 35 knots!
In the era of World War II, this was already an extraordinary speed for civilian ships.At that time, the large-scale mass-produced "Liberty Wheel" in the United States had a displacement of [-] tons and a maximum speed of only [-] knots, and if it was driven too fast, it was easy to cause engine failure. Generally, it could only be driven to about [-] knots, so even submarines could chase It's worth it... Compared to the 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 and children, carried big bags and small bags, and boarded the sea castle like climbing a mountain on the naval landing craft that served as a guest ferry, all of them could not help but cheered excitedly. , I felt 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, this 30-ton super ship and the commander of the entire million-ton transport fleet, Admiral Horityoshi of the Japanese Navy, stood on the side of the [-]-story top deck of the "Ocean Oasis", watching The continuous stream of refugees on the pier and on the sea was very depressed.

"...the last batch of refugees has assembled at the pier, and boarding is expected to be completed within two hours."

Ms. Sophie's latest avatar, the ship's wife of the 30-ton super ship "Ocean Oasis", a brown-skinned and fit girl wearing a straw hat, a garland around her neck, and a white sleeveless dress, raised her hand to Admiral Hori Tikichi Li said.

"...Understood! Sigh, looking at the appearance of Okinawa Prefecture, it is obviously impossible to use this place as a counterattack base."

Regarding this, General Horitiki just sighed and shook his head, "...After such a catastrophe, the locals no longer have the slightest sense of belonging to the country. Just to wipe out the guerrillas and the remaining US troops on the island will cost at least A few weeks... but do we have this much time?"

——Obviously, today's United Fleet doesn't have much time to dawdle, because the local situation can no longer sustain it.

Although the capture of U.S. commander-in-chief MacArthur last month gave a shot in the arm to the resistance movement in the Japanese archipelago, the defense of Nagoya failed after all. , has been connected into one piece, and this is the essence of the most developed industry, agriculture and economy of the Japanese Empire, and the most densely populated area.As for the rest of the places, they are relatively backcountry.

In other words, the strategic situation of the Japanese archipelago today is almost the same as that of China after the failure of the Wuhan Battle in [-].

With the loss of this most developed hinterland, coupled with the indiscriminate bombing of the remaining industrial cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US military, the military production system of the Japanese Empire has completely stopped.It is difficult to replenish the arms and supplies of various resistance forces in Japan, and they can only rely on the consumption of stocks to fight.

What is even more dangerous is that the U.S. military has found a group of powerful leading parties and the fifth column in Japan, or Japan's "Wang Jingwei"...

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——The so-called imperialism in modern countries is basically a trinity combination of nobles, plutocrats and warlords, that is, a small group of people monopolizes the political power and economic interests of the entire country, and coerces the interests of the people of a country to war. Vitan.Imperialism after industrialization and armed forces is bound to be belligerent, and it has to be belligerent, because only through war can internal conflicts be diverted, otherwise it can only wait for the revolution to come.

As an imperialist country, especially a late-starting imperialist country with low capital, the situation of the Japanese Empire is also the same, and the internal and external environment is even more severe than that of European and American powers.And this determines the political structure and division of power of the Japanese Empire.

On the surface, Japanese people all respect the emperor: Muruhito during the Meiji period, Yohito during the Taisho period, and Hirohito during the Showa period.Its roots go as far back as 600 years ago when Emperor Jimmu established the country.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 be able to tie 200 million Japanese people to chariots.

But in fact, not to mention the shogunate era when the power of the imperial court fell and the emperor was in vain, even after the Meiji Restoration, the power of the emperor of modern Japan was also from time to time, sometimes able to drive the country to run according to his own will, sometimes Completely overshadowed 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, even worse than that of Roosevelt.And in the war, he was also fooled, angry, and helpless by the army and navy.

The power that truly and forever dominates the political situation of the Japanese Empire, like the monarchy in the West, is also the nobles, chaebols, and warlords of Japan.

The first is the Japanese aristocrats, or big landowners.Although Japan has been "civilized" for more than [-] years since the Meiji Restoration, local feudal forces are still deeply rooted.Many rich families from ancient daimyo have taken root in their hometown for hundreds or even thousands of years. Whether it is the abolition of feudal vassals and counties, the equality of the four peoples, or the occupation of the US military in later generations, they can’t really destroy their terrible background. No matter when they are in the government Each has its own spokesperson.This force is indeed old and outdated, and it is in a state of disunity, so 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 young brats. They have already completed the concentration and monopoly of capital, and they control Japan from all aspects. The economy works.Whether it is the old Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and other groups, or the "Manchuria Heavy Industries", "Nippon Nitrogen", "Nippon Soda" and "Mori" consortiums that use the resources of Northeast China and North Korea to make fat, all have a great influence on the political situation of the empire. influence.At some point even the emperor had to bend to their will.

And the only force that can stand against 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 limited national power and a relatively backward society, Japan had to resort to militarism and exhaust its wealth to raise troops .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 chaebols and nobles who actually control Japan also know that the army 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, it is not allowed to engage in "officials and riches", but it is still possible to let nobles and chaebols join the army to gild it, so as to gain some military power.For those poor officers who climbed up through personal struggle, they did not hesitate to use methods such as marriage to win them over.At the same time, it supports some bourgeois liberal political parties in the society to prevent militarism education from going too far and being completely deprived of the right to speak in public opinion.

Therefore, although before World War II, the Japanese navy and army had gradually begun to be rebellious, and they often sang against the government, but in the final analysis, it was still just a struggle for power within the ruling class. In 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 killed or imprisoned.Although because of the harsh exploitation and oppression and the dark and miserable life, the red thoughts among the Japanese people and intellectuals have always been difficult to really ban, and there are even some "socialists" among the top leaders of the country, but unless there is a drastic change, it will be difficult to shake after all. The entire empire 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 the Japanese rulers, this once rock-solid imperial structure has quietly undergone subtle changes inadvertently. Imperialists all like militarism, war and conquest.But the question is, for the rulers of imperialist regimes, is it really true that the larger the army, the better?
Obviously not, because soldiers are not machines, they also have their own thoughts and demands.For imperialists, the existence of the army is first and foremost to protect the interests of the ruling class.What's the point of a saber being sharp if the army can't be held in their hands?Of course, on the other hand, if the saber is so blunt that it can't cut anything, such a useless army is useless even if it is held in the 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 souls of any army in China and abroad are the non-commissioned officers and officers.For the benefit of the ruling class, it must be ensured that the majority of military officers must come from the middle of the ruling class, or at least be won over by the ruling class with interests and marriages after they come out.

But the problem is that in any country, the number of the ruling class is limited, and the interests that can be used 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 it is impossible to include most of them into the upper class, then it may be okay when fighting abroad, and once the army needs to turn around Come on, when the spearhead is aimed at the people of the country, will such an army still suppress the civilians for the benefit of the upper class, instead of resolutely defecting and starting a revolution with the people?
The European and American powers saw this very early on. For example, during the Second German Empire, the Junkers had deliberately limited the size of the German Army for a long time in order to ensure their firm control over the Army. After gathering an unprecedented army of one million and successfully defeating France with a two-to-one force advantage, the Germans should always regard this magic weapon as their standard.But in fact, from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the outbreak of the First World War, the German Empire never really implemented the universal compulsory military service system.

During the Franco-Prussian War, Germany had a population of only 300 million, yet it still raised an army of 100 million.But on the eve of the First World War, the population of Germany increased to 700 million, and the entire navy and army shrank to only 89... This is obviously not because of insufficient money. At that time, Russia's finances were far more difficult than Germany's, but it still maintained a standing army of 130 million , but also to support a large fleet to go around half the world to fight the Japanese.

The real reason is that in the Second German Reich at that time, there were not enough Junker nobles and bourgeois children who could serve as officers. scale.

Although the Junker nobles put almost all their qualified children into the army as non-commissioned officers at that time, in the German Empire on the eve of World War I, only about one-third of the officers and non-commissioned officers were from the nobles at the grassroots level. There are only two-thirds of the non-commissioned officers and officers in the army, which can barely maintain the control of the ruling class over the army-of course, the positions of senior officers are basically monopolized and controlled by the Junker nobles.

However, with the outbreak of the First World War, Germany had to expand its army again and again, and finally mobilized a total of 300 million people during the four years of the war.Once the size of the army expands several times and 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 shattered in the war-the collapse of these dynasties was due to the defeat to a large extent, but before World War I, no matter The Hohenzollern Dynasty in Germany (Prussia), the Habsburg Dynasty in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or the Romanov Dynasty in the Tsarist Russian Empire have all lost many battles in the past.Especially during the Napoleonic War era, all three of these families were beaten terribly by Napoleon the Great.Why was it that although the defeat was miserable at that time, the entire dynasty was not destroyed, but the First World War made them finally perish?Because before the emergence of the general war, war was a fierce 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 uprising populace, but the general war made the officers The main body has changed from nobles to civilians. In this way, the army is actually no longer in the hands of the nobles, and they can only fight abroad and cannot suppress domestic revolutions.

To sum up, only those who wield the strongest force can wield the highest power.For an imperialist country, a general war of comprehensive military expansion and general mobilization means that the army has actually slipped from the upper class to the hands of the civilians. The post-military recovery work will allow the upper class to dominate the officers and non-commissioned officers again, and restore the old order of the empire; if the all-out war is defeated, then the empire is doomed to be wiped out in the civilian uprising, and it is impossible to use force to suppress it.

That is to say, once the general mobilization starts, the imperial chariot can only win or be destroyed, and there is no third way to go.

This principle is true in Europe, and it also applies in Japan.Before World War II, the population of the Japanese archipelago was 200 million. Including North Korea and Taiwan, it can make up about 38 million people.And until the eve of the July 120th Incident, Japan’s standing army was only [-]. It was said to be militaristic, but in fact, the ratio of soldiers to civilians was much lower than that of France and Germany. On the eve of the invasion of Poland, Germany had already expanded its army to [-]. Ten thousand!
Such a "few but fine" Japanese Imperial Army, the ruling class of the Japanese Empire can still barely maintain control of it-because the class contradictions of the Japanese Empire are too serious, even in an army with only 38 people, The revolutionary sentiment is already very serious, and its specific external manifestation is a series of open and secret struggles between the imperial faction representing the lower class and the ruling faction representing the upper class.Although in the eyes of the Chinese, the two groups of people are the same fascism, but for Japanese society, it is no longer a factional struggle between small political groups, but a class struggle in a certain sense.If you have to give a similar example, it is probably similar to the struggle between the common people and the nobles in the ancient Roman Republic: the imperial faction from the grassroots asked the whole people to share the dividends of aggression and expansion, while the ruling faction from the rich and powerful controlled all interests. Unwilling to let go.

——According to the modern international political spectrum, the former can roughly represent "Left", while the latter represents "Right".

Fortunately, the Japanese Army at that time was only 38 people. Although the Emperor's school of thought had a great market among young officers from poor backgrounds, according to the proportion of the number, the upper class officers and non-commissioned officers still had a slight advantage.Coupled with the chaotic organization of the Huangdao faction, the revolution was not like a revolution, and the party struggle was not like a party struggle. In the end, after the "February [-]" mutiny broke out, it was suppressed by the ruling faction and temporarily died down.

But the problem is that next, with the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the triumphant Imperial Japanese Army had to gradually start a general mobilization while occupying a large area of ​​land.At the end of 100, Japan expanded its army to 150 million, and by 220 it was 300 million.Then after declaring war on the United States and Britain, in order to open up the southern battlefield, it expanded to 400 million at the end of 500, followed by [-] million, [-] million, and [-] million...

Thus, just like the Second German Empire during the First World War, the Japanese Empire that launched the total war, with the rapid expansion of the size of the army, the actual power of the army gradually transferred from the upper class to the hands of the civilians, and they are all He naturally hates the chaebols and nobles, and tends to the Emperor's faction in his political attitude... Not to mention that the Japanese army was already seriously unstable before the war, and the Emperor's faction 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 for the ruling class of the Japanese Empire to suppress civilians to a potential revolutionary force!Just like the massively expanded navy and army of the Tsarist Russian Empire before the February Revolution!
In this way, the Japanese Empire has no other choice but victory and destruction.If an armistice is signed with a treaty of "loss of power and humiliation of the country", then there will inevitably be mutiny and revolution like the fall of the Second German Empire-don't think that the Japanese are born servile and have no revolutionary spirit. There are endless incidents of planting and overcoming.Although the possibility of directly overthrowing the emperor system is indeed very small, there have been many precedents in the history of Japan where the original emperor was deposed and exiled, and someone else came to be the emperor.

Not to mention that due to the secret infiltration of certain forces, when the Pacific War lasted until [-], the entire Imperial Japanese Army was already full of red heads that had been "poisoned" by Bolshevik ideology—of course, mainly because of the "Japanese war" Characteristic Imperialist Bolsheviks"...

Originally, because the war was still going on, the situation was barely good, at least it could be maintained by supporting the war with war, coupled with the belief in the emperor's myth, so the revolutionary atmosphere in the army was not too strong.However, as the two atomic bombs of the U.S. Army turned Tokyo and the Emperor into radiation dust, there is no power in this world that can stop the Japanese army from collectively "turning left" and turning around to kill the chaebols and nobles!

At this time, the Great Japanese Imperial Army is no longer the pride and sharp edge of the Japanese ruling class, but a reminder that can overthrow it!
The Japanese chaebols and aristocrats have fully seen this, so they have no intention of continuing to resist at all. Instead, as soon as the news of the emperor's death was confirmed, they began to betray their country and surrender unconditionally to the U.S. military, hoping to rely on the U.S. military to destroy Japan. The army, to avoid revolutions... Just like the French bourgeoisie after the defeat of the Franco-Prussian War, they would rather cede land and pay compensation to Prussia, but also bloodbath the capital to 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 commanding the war, but split into two camps, red and white, at an astonishing speed.In just a few short months, the old Japanese aristocrats and chaebols completely betrayed their nation as a whole, determined to be the lackeys of the Americans, and even tried their best to assist the US military in massacring their compatriots and destroying their own nation. countries and civilizations.Any victory of the Japanese army on the battlefield will only in turn stimulate them to further increase their surrender and kneeling efforts against 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 Given the historical heritage of chaebols, aristocratic families, and powerful 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 joined the revolution.

For the Japanese navy generals who are relatively accustomed to stay away from politics and have never thought of fighting a civil war, such a bloody future where they have to kill each other is really a bit sad.Facing the fact that it 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 army, General Horitiki can't help it. Feel the heart throbbing.