Beiyang reactionaries

"anything else?"

"The trade between the Chinese people and the United States has not been interrupted, but it has been more frequent during this period. It's just that the cargo ships that come and go are flying the flag of China, and it's not easy for us to stop them."

"Damn Chinese people."

The fire in Hideki Tojo's heart was burning upwards.

Hideki Tojo understood that many of the ships traveling between China and the United States were American merchant ships.But in order to evade Japanese inspection, they hung their ships under the name of the Chinese shipping company and hung the Chinese flag.

Because at present, the relationship between China and Japan is still very good.Japan does not want to offend China, so it basically allows Chinese ships to pass.The result is to take advantage of this, and the trade between China and the United States is becoming more and more rampant.As long as those American merchant ships pay a little money, they can put their ships under the name of the Chinese shipping company, and then conduct trade blatantly.

"talk."

Hideki Tojo finally made up his mind and said: "Talk to the Chinese people, one by one. The longer the talk, the better. You can make concessions step by step, so that the Chinese people can see the hope of successful negotiations."

No one is a fool.

Hideki Tojo does not want to turn against China at this stage, so this secret Sino-Japanese talks must continue.After Japan has completely expelled the Americans, it will not be too late to settle accounts with China.At this stage, China must see that Japan is negotiating in good faith, so as to maintain relations with China.

"it is good."

Gu Zhengzhi nodded.

After Hideki Tojo made up his mind, he became more and more calm, but at the same time he became more and more bold.Facing Shigetaro Shimada, he said: "Mr. Shimada, can the naval forces annihilate the US Pacific Fleet."

"can."

"Really?"

"Yes. We have recently received information that the U.S. Pacific Fleet will send a fleet to the Coral Sea to support the Anglo-Australian coalition forces here. We are going to annihilate this part of the U.S. fleet in the Coral Sea. As long as the Battle of the Coral Sea wins, the strength of the United States in the Pacific will be greatly reduced.”

After the outbreak of the Japan-US War, the intelligence war between the two sides was also in full swing.

Because the United States mastered Japan's action plan, the Japanese navy suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Midway Island.But again, Japan quickly seized the opportunity.That is, the situation in Australia is very dangerous now, and the United States can only send a fleet to support Australia.But this information was known by the Japanese, and the Japanese navy was preparing to encircle and wipe out the American fleet in the Coral Sea.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet has gone through the Pearl Harbor Incident, the Battle of Midway, and some peacetime conflicts, so its strength in the Pacific is not strong.Once part of it is annihilated by the Japanese navy, Japan's advantage in the Pacific will be further expanded.

"Zang Xiang, I want to add equipment to the navy. Can you come up with five hundred tons of gold?"

"can."

The Minister of Finance of Hideki Tojo, Osamu Kaya, did not speak much, but his answer was very calm and affirmative.Kawu Xingxuan was Takahashi Shiqing's favorite general, and it was Takahashi Shiqing who promoted him step by step.

This person is a very good financial expert in Japan.

Back then, Yoshiichi Tanaka controlled the army not only by relying on his prestige in the army and his excellent skills, but also the cooperation of the Ministry of Finance.The Ministry of Finance has great power and controls the use of finances.Even the military department dare not offend the Ministry of Finance at will.

And Yoshiichi Tanaka controlled the Ministry of Finance and suppressed the army with military spending.And it was He Ya Xingxuan who came up with this plan.

After the war broke out, Kaya Konobu managed Japan's finances and did a very good job.After the outbreak of the war, Japan's government budget rose rapidly and doubled several times.Up to now, Japan's fiscal budget has exceeded 200 billion yen a year.Many people questioned Kaya Xingxuan, how do you get money with such a high government budget.The government budget is three times that of Japan's fiscal revenue, which is completely impossible economically.He Ya Xingxuan said very directly that the easiest way to get money is of course to print money.

After printing money, He Wu Xingxuan began to advocate the "Patriotic Savings Movement".His purpose is to get these extra printed money back into the hands of the bank.In this way, the banknotes on the market have not skyrocketed, and prices will not follow the skyrocketing skyrocketing, and there is no inflation.Since the war until now, there has been no serious inflation in Japan.Compared with some people's proposal to raise taxes to recover the funds on the market, I don't know how many times wiser it is.

The result is that many people think that they have money. After all, they deposit their money in the bank and are psychologically satisfied.The government used this method to solve the excess banknotes on the market.Deposits in these banks can also be used again to continue investing.

Of course, there are still many such problems.

That is, the government's debt is staggering, and it has reached the point where it cannot be repaid at all.But Kaya Xingxuan himself was not in a hurry.He told Hideki Tojo very directly that if Japan wins this war, it will get an amazing return, and that little debt is nothing.If Japan is defeated in this war, there is no need to consider the issue of government debt.

This is Konobu Kaya.

"Five hundred tons, is it okay?"

"No problem. We still have some Buddha statues collected from Southeast Asia. They are all pure gold Buddha statues, and many of them are of very high value. If you need them, you can take them out."

Japan has robbed the temples of Southeast Asian countries, and the banks of European and American countries such as Britain, the United States and France in Southeast Asia.A large amount of gold, platinum, and jewels were gathered in his hands, including many Buddha statues and antiques worth thousands of gold.

Like some high-value Buddha statues, the gold used in a Buddha statue alone is worth a meal.In addition, this is still a Buddha statue, so the price is even higher. Japan can still get 500 tons of gold.

"it is good."

Hideki Tojo nodded.

Looking at Shintaro Shimada, he said: "We must always maintain the ability to fight on two fronts. We suffered too many casualties in the Battle of Midway Island, and it is very difficult to maintain two-line operations. We have to compete with the United States. China will purchase several light aircraft carriers, or escort aircraft carriers, to supplement our naval forces."

681

"Mr. Wallace, this is the news that just came from the front."

While Stalin sat there, Molotov handed Henry Wallace an intelligence report.

Roosevelt decided to send a heavyweight to the Soviet Union to discuss some issues with Stalin face to face.Therefore, Henry Wallace, the vice president of the United States, accepted the order and came to Moscow in person.

His task is to connect China and the Soviet Union.For the United States, selling the territory of the Soviet Union in exchange for China's support is a very cost-effective deal.Anyway, what is lost is not the land of the United States. The United States is very willing to be generous to others.So Henry Wallace came to the Soviet Union to meet Stalin in person.

But he had just arrived in Moscow, and before he had discussed any further issues with Stalin, he heard bad news.That is, the Soviet army suffered repeated defeats on the front line, and suffered heavy casualties.Manstein commanded the German army to launch the Crimea campaign, and within a week, the Soviet army lost its armor and armor.In the Battle of Crimea, the Soviet army had 17 prisoners alone, which can be said to have experienced another disastrous defeat.Less than ten days after the outbreak of the Crimean War, the Soviet army suffered more than 20 casualties and prisoners.

Of course it's not a big deal.

After all, when the Soviet Union suffered the heaviest casualties, it was not uncommon for millions of casualties within a month.For a country like the Soviet Union with millions of troops and tens of millions of reserves, the casualties of 20 troops are really nothing.After the Soviet-German War, the Soviet army lost too much, so the Soviet Union has become accustomed to this situation.

However, the Crimean War had just ended, and the Soviet Union suffered another major defeat.

The Battle of Kharkov, this is the second battle of Kharkov since the outbreak of the Soviet-German War.The first Battle of Kharkov was launched by the German army, with the goal of occupying Kharkov.The second battle of Kharkov was initiated by the Soviet army.Regardless of the opposition of the General Staff, Stalin asked Marshal Timoshenko to assemble a large Soviet army and launch a major counterattack.Prepare to retake Kharkov in one fell swoop and expel the German troops here.As a result, it was surrounded by the German army instead, with 8 people killed and more than 25 captured.In the entire battle, the casualties reached nearly 40 people.

What a fiasco.

The failure of this major counter-offensive seriously hit the morale of the Soviet army.After the victory of the Moscow Defense War, the morale of the Soviet army improved a lot.That's why Stalin organized such a counterattack, and he did not expect such a disastrous defeat.

Two disastrous defeats, the Soviet casualties reached 60 people.

This is the Soviet Union. If it is placed in other countries, it will definitely hurt its vitality.

Stalin did not hide the fiasco at all, and immediately handed over the battle report to Henry Wallace.Henry Wallace looked at the data, his expression was not very good.The United States judges that there will be no major problems in Europe, so it decides to "first Asia and then Europe."The United States hopes that Britain and the Soviet Union can block Germany and Italy, and expectations for the Soviet Union are very high.

Originally, after the victory of the Moscow Defense War, the United States still had confidence in the Soviet Union.

However, after entering 1941, the Soviet army suffered consecutive defeats on the battlefield, and the German army's offensive was still fierce.Moreover, Germany not only sent local troops to support the Soviet-German battlefield, but maintained the size of 500 million troops on the Soviet-German battlefield.And start recruiting troops from allies and minions again.Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, and even Spain have all sent troops, forming more than 60 divisions and nearly a million troops.As a result, although the German army failed in Moscow, it still deployed millions of troops in the direction of Moscow, and Germany maintained about 600 million troops in the entire Soviet Union.

Then the main force began to move towards Stalingrad, with more than 150 million troops assembled, far exceeding the time when the Moscow campaign was launched.

"Mr. Vice President, our war with Germany has entered the most dangerous period. I believe that your country does not want to see German fascists controlling Europe. Now the whole world is watching and waiting for your country."

Molotov lowered his posture.

He really lowered his profile and talked to Henry Wallace in an almost begging tone.Stalin sitting aside didn't say anything, just smoked quietly.In fact, these words were what Stalin wanted to say, but Stalin couldn't let go of his airs.

So it was Molotov who spoke for Stalin.