Beiyang reactionaries

"Shimada-kun, how is the situation?"

Didn't sleep all night.

Because he knew today's plan, Hideki Tojo didn't dare to sleep.For the suddenness of the attack, Yamamoto 56 required both the First Air Fleet and the Second Air Fleet to conduct radio silence.After the call, the radio was turned on.

Hideki Tojo was in a hurry.

But I was worried that it would affect the command of Yamamoto 56, so I never sent him a telegram.Instead, he quietly waited for Yamamoto 56's report.Time passed by, and at noon, Hideki Tojo stood up immediately when he saw Shintaro Shimada approaching.

Go to war with America.

Although it has been prepared for a long time, it is definitely a very difficult decision for Japan.Hideki Tojo, who had just served as the deputy chief of the army, was dismissed within a few days.It was because he publicly declared at the time that he would go to war with Britain and the United States.At that time, Japan was already at war with Britain, so everyone was not concerned about this.Everyone heard him say that he would go to war with the United States, so it caused a big disturbance in Japan.

Because everyone was so surprised.

How can Japan go to war with the United States?

That's America.

Needless to say, the Japanese military at that time, the Japanese business community was really in an uproar.Everyone thought Hideki Tojo was crazy.The reason why Hideki Tojo's speech caused such a frenzy is because the United States is really powerful.Not that their army is strong.In fact, the U.S. military is not strong at all. In 1938 and 1939, the number of U.S. troops was very small, and the annual military expenditure of the U.S. was also very small.After entering 1940, because of the outbreak of the World War, although the United States did not participate in the war, it also began to increase its military expenditure.

But even with the increase in military spending by the United States, the size of the US military has expanded a lot.But overall, it is still relatively weak compared to the great powers.The total number of U.S. troops is only 40 million, which is not enough when compared with the general army of more than one million troops of the great powers, and even the millions of troops of many European powers.

Hideki Tojo, including the Japanese political, military, and business circles, is not worried about the current military strength of the United States, but the strong industrial strength of the United States.The strong industrial strength of the United States has been demonstrated as early as World War I.

When World War I broke out, the U.S. military had only about 10 people.

But when the United States decided to join the war, how many troops the United States exploded in a short period of time.In a very short period of time, more than 200 million troops were sent to Europe, and more than 200 million troops were armed in China.In other words, the United States armed 400 million troops within a year.Not to mention the ability to equip troops, just transporting 200 million troops across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe is not something that ordinary countries can do.Not to mention 20 years ago, even if it is now capable of sending 200 million troops to Europe to fight in a short period of time like the United States, most countries cannot do it.

what is the reason?

It is because the United States is very rich, and it is because the United States has strong industrial strength.

The industrial data of the United States can blind all the powers.Annual output of 6000 million tons of crude steel, 1 million tons of oil, nearly 7000 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 2000 million tons of coal, and 4 million tons of cement.The industrial output of the United States is even comparable to the sum of the major countries of Britain, France, Germany and the Soviet Union.A fraction of the industrial data of the United States can be compared with that of Japan.

Tojo Hideki clearly understands such industrial strength.With strong industrial strength, there will be a strong enough military industrial base.According to the situation of the First World War, as long as the United States is willing, the United States can quickly produce the required munitions and quickly arm new troops.It is not Tojo's goal to fight a protracted war with the United States.

Because Hideki Tojo knows that if it is a protracted war, Japan's industrial capabilities will be several levels behind that of the United States.Not to mention Japan as a country, even if Japan adds up the colonies they occupy and allies in Southeast Asia, compared with the United States, there is a gap between heaven and earth.Even China's full support for Japan is much worse than that of the United States.Under such circumstances, even if Hideki Tojo is a war lunatic, he will not arrogantly think that he can fight the war of attrition with the United States, and can defeat the United States in the war of attrition.

So Hideki Tojo's purpose is simple.

Annihilated the US Pacific Fleet, occupied the Philippines, the only US colony in Asia, and took down Australia, which the US had a chance to use as a springboard.As long as these steps are completed, the United States can be forced to leave Asia.No matter how powerful the United States is, how can it attack without a springboard.After all, Asia and the United States are separated by tens of thousands of kilometers. Without a suitable springboard and suitable military bases in the Pacific Ocean, the United States will never be able to fly over.

When Yoshiichi Tanaka was there, he hoped to vigorously develop the strength of the Japanese navy and make the United States afraid, so as to deter the United States.The main thing is to avoid direct military conflict with the United States, as long as the United States does not interfere with Japan's military operations by force.Even as long as the United States agrees to Japan's conditions, Japan is willing to make appropriate concessions.

When it comes to Hideki Tojo, it is different.

Hideki Tojo extended Tanaka's idea a little further.Hideki Tojo is preparing to completely destroy the US Pacific Fleet, making the US powerless to interfere in Asian affairs.Therefore, Hideki Tojo attaches great importance to the attack on Pearl Harbor.Only when the attack on Pearl Harbor is successful, can Japan's following plans continue to be implemented.Because all future strategies of Japan must be based on the success of this sneak attack.Once the sneak attack fails, Japan's future situation will become very difficult.After all, it will anger a giant like the United States.

Seeing Shintaro Shimada come in now, Hideki Tojo is of course very nervous.

"Good news, good news."

Shintaro Shimada ran in excitedly.

As soon as Shigetaro Shimada spoke, a smile appeared on Hideki Tojo's face.Because he knew that it must be the news of victory, otherwise Shigetaro Shimada wouldn't be so excited.Shintaro Shimada calmed himself down a bit, and then continued to announce the good news: "Prime Minister, overjoyed, overjoyed. Yamamoto-kun sent a telegram, and the attack on Pearl Harbor was a great success. The First Air Fleet and the Second Air Fleet each carried out two waves. The air strikes did not give the U.S. military any respite. So far, our military has participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor with 637 aircraft, and lost 48 aircraft and 83 pilots. There may be more reports of casualties in the future.”

"The result of the battle, the result of the battle."

Hideki Tojo is not very interested in how many people his side has lost.

What Hideki Tojo wants to know most now is the result of this attack.Has it caused serious damage to the US Pacific Fleet?Only by destroying the main force of the Pacific Fleet can this attack be considered to have achieved its goal.

"Our reconnaissance plane reports that we have caused the Pacific Fleet to sink one aircraft carrier, five battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, and nine other types of ships. The number of destroyed aircraft is still being counted. , but the preliminary statistics should be more than 300. These are all confirmed, and there are still many damaged warships, which have not been counted. These damaged warships should still sink."

"Okay, okay. With the blessing of the Emperor, the Imperial Japanese Army is invincible."

Hideki Tojo looked at the reported battle report and couldn't help shouting "The Emperor's Blessing".

The results of Japan's cooperation with China in the past few years are vividly reflected in this attack.With Chinese shipyards building those warships for Japan, Japanese shipyards can concentrate on building large ships such as aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers.

As a result, Japan used a large number of battleships and heavy cruisers to implement a relatively perfect strategic deception.Let all intelligence agencies think that Japan's target is Australia, and then concentrate 9 aircraft carriers and 5 escort aircraft carriers to attack Pearl Harbor.

In history, Japan used about 440 planes to attack Pearl Harbor.But this time Japan used about 1060 aircraft.Because half of the aircraft carriers used by Japan this time are newly built, and the aircraft carriers are larger than in history, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is also larger than in history.

The results are also very brilliant, far exceeding the historical results.

Hideki Tojo has information on the Pacific Fleet.Judging from the current battle reports, although the attack on Pearl Harbor failed to completely wipe out the Pacific Fleet, the warships that have been sunk so far have already severely damaged the US Pacific Fleet.Moreover, it is impossible for such an air strike to only sink and injure a large number of warships.Those warships that have not had time to count will sink if they are too seriously injured.

That's why Tojo Hideki is so happy.

"General Yamamoto, what are they doing now?"

The time has come to 12 noon.

It has been about 6 hours since the offensive order was issued around 6 o'clock in the morning.Divided into two air fleets, each carried out two waves of attacks. There are more than 1000 aircraft, and the number of dispatched aircraft is about 600.

"General Yamamoto reported that before dark, the First Air Fleet and the Second Air Fleet are preparing for the last wave of attack. To deal the final blow to the US Pacific Fleet, they are also preparing to destroy the oil depots and airports owned by Pearl Harbor. and blow up."

"it is good."

Looking at the map, Hideki Tojo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately said: "Send a telegram to General Yamamoto to express my respect for the naval forces. I hope they will continue their efforts to completely annihilate the US Pacific Fleet. This will lay a solid foundation for our military's next plan."

"Yes."

Hideki Tojo saw Shintaro Shimada leave, immediately tidied up, and said to the people below: "Get ready, I'm going to meet His Majesty the Emperor."

Although Japan as a whole supports Hideki Tojo, it is very suspicious of attacking the United States.Hideki Tojo wanted to show the emperor that his choice was correct.So when I heard the battle report, I immediately went to see the emperor.

665

"Damn, really damn."

Hitler slammed the telegram on the ground.

Hitler has been in a bad mood lately.

very bad.

For Hitler, the most important thing now was to defeat the Soviet Union.According to the Barbarossa plan, Germany should have taken Moscow at this time.When the Battle of Moscow was launched, although Germany suffered from increasingly strong resistance from the Soviet Union, the upper echelons of Germany have always been very optimistic.They even said that Hitler could parade in Moscow within this year.

Everyone thinks that Moscow will be taken soon.

Progress was indeed very successful at the beginning.On the Vyazma-Bryansk line, the German army surrounded and annihilated seven Soviet armies, which shocked the Soviet army.After all, these are the 7 armies, an important force protecting Moscow, and they were annihilated by the German army just like that.The anxious Moscow even ignored China, and mobilized 7 troops from the Novosibirsk Military Region to help Moscow.

The Soviet Union was shocked, while Germany was elated, thinking that Moscow was just around the corner.However, the subsequent Battle of Moscow did not proceed according to Germany's ideas.Although the casualties of the Soviet army were much higher than that of the German army, the German army was still unable to break through the Moscow defense line.Now that the Battle of Moscow has progressed, the advantage of the German army is getting smaller and smaller.