Glorious Mission 1937

The negotiations between Japan and the Netherlands have reached a deadlock. Although Japan intends to use force to force the Dutch East Indies to submit, Japan has to restrain itself due to the strong obstruction of Britain, France and the United States in Southeast Asia.

Since the Netherlands cannot open up the situation, the Japanese government has to turn its attention to the Indochina Peninsula, which is connected to mainland China, so this site is also the most coveted place in Japan.The Indochina Peninsula is now in a situation of three kingdoms. In addition to the native kingdom of Thailand, there are also colonies of Britain and France.If Japan wants to enter Southeast Asia, it is necessary to deal with these countries, so the Japanese government feels that it is necessary to talk to Britain and France. If they can take the initiative to give up some benefits, Japan does not mind to resolve this issue peacefully.

Thailand is an important part of Japan's southward work. Prior to this, Japan and Thailand concluded the Japan-Thailand Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship, which strengthened the relationship between Japan and Thailand.In order to strengthen the relationship with Thailand, the Ministry of the Army, the headquarters of the Japanese army, specially set up an army attache office in Thailand.Military attaché Hiroshi Tamura and Thai Prime Minister Luang Phibun had a close relationship, which further strengthened Prime Minister Luang Phibun's pro-Japanese attitude.

However, Thailand has had a hard time since the [-]th century. Due to its geographical location, there is French Indochina in the east of Thailand, and there are also a large number of French troops stationed there.To the west of Thailand is Burma, and at this time Burma was a British colony, with a large number of British troops stationed, namely the British Burmese Army.As British forces have penetrated Thailand for many years and are deeply entrenched, Prime Minister Luang Phibun's political power is also limited to a certain extent, so the strengthening of substantive cooperation between Japan and Thailand is often hindered.

The issue of whether the relationship between Britain, France, and the Netherlands is separable has been debated in Japan for some time.For now, the theory of indivisibility has prevailed.Not long ago, the "Outline of Measures to the South" was roughly drafted among military officers below the head of the department in charge in the Ministry of War in the headquarters.This plan believes that the UK and the Netherlands are one and inseparable.Its idea is to seize the opportunity and use force against the Malays and the Dutch East Indies in order to fundamentally resolve the so-called southern issue.

However, Director of Military Affairs Muto of the Ministry of the Army advocated that the southern issue must be played by the navy. Therefore, the army should not raise the case to the navy, and in principle should wait for the navy's proposal.Subsequently, the 20th squad leader of the Army Department of the base camp had the last major.Focus on the above-mentioned "Outline of Measures for the South".Submitted as a personal idea to the Navy's executives.At this time, the naval executives immediately emphasized that the use of force against the South is the use of force against the United States, and Britain and the United States are inseparable.

Then, the naval executives came to the staff headquarters.Major comments from the Navy's side were prompted in writing.The gist of it is.The United States and Britain are absolutely inseparable.To use force against the South is to fight against the United States, so we must promote preparations in this regard.As for the preparations for the use of force against Britain and the Netherlands, the navy has already made preparations for this.This means that.The Army's plan was to use force against the South while avoiding war against the United States as much as possible while preparing for war against the United States. However, the Navy advocated that once it used force against the South, it would start with a war against the United States.It seems that the navy's opinion that Britain and the United States are inseparable is quite strong. Therefore, the army feels that it is extremely difficult to realize the plan to use force against the South.

Afterwards, after several discussions among the principals of the Army and Navy Command, they came to the following clear conclusions on the issue of the Navy's use of force against the South.If Japan used force against the Dutch East Indies, Britain would of course have to do it, so it was necessary to use force against the Malays.To this end, the acquisition of military bases in southern French Indochina and Thailand is an indispensable condition, which is the inevitable conclusion that should be drawn as the strategic research on the base camp is concretized.

In addition, even if such a policy of advancing southward by force is not adopted, obtaining strategic materials such as rice, rubber, and tin from French Indochina and Thailand should be a top priority in order to establish Japan's self-sufficiency.

In this way, first pulling French Indochina and Thailand into the Japanese camp became a prerequisite, and it was also expected that many difficulties would be encountered in order to achieve this goal.Under such circumstances, it must be estimated that Japan's relations with Britain and the United States will inevitably deteriorate as Japan expands to the south of French Indochina and Thailand.Therefore, the actions of the Japanese army at this time were relatively moderate, mainly using political negotiations as a means.

While the Japan-Dutch negotiations were going on, Japan also dispatched negotiating teams to Thailand and French Indochina.Moreover, the Japanese government's attitude is very firm, requiring the negotiating team to obtain military bases in Thailand and the right to march in Thailand no matter what.

In fact, the Japanese government has already felt that since the Japanese government came forward to mediate the border conflict between Thailand and French Indochina half a year ago, Thailand has recovered the territories of the two border provinces that were forcibly occupied by French Indochina. After losing the territory, Luang Phibun Songkham, who began to notice the Japanese ambitions, began to change politically to a certain extent, alienating Japan and moving closer to the United States and Britain, which made Japan extremely disturbed.

Thailand's important position prevents Japan from losing this nominal "ally". Therefore, this time, Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka personally led a delegation to Thailand. The level was higher than Thailand's expectations.Faced with Japan's aggressive posture, the military dictator in Thailand could only choose to submit. However, although Luang Phibun Songkham chose to submit, he did not completely obey the Japanese arrangements.When the Thai cabinet was discussing the policy toward Japan, there were serious differences of opinion. In the end, the prime minister decided to choose a compromise plan, not to sign a military alliance treaty with Japan, nor to declare war on China, but only to allow the Japanese army to use it as an excuse.

On August 8, Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka and Thai Prime Minister Luang Phibun Songkham signed the "Thailand-Japan Agreement" in Bangkok. There are three items:

In order to quickly deal with the situation in East Asia, Thailand allowed the Japanese army to pass through Thailand and did everything possible to facilitate it.

In order to implement the Regulations in Paragraph 1, the military authorities of both sides shall negotiate detailed supplementary regulations.

Japan guarantees Thailand the respect it deserves.

The signing of the "Thailand-Japan Agreement" legalized the Japanese army's entry into Thailand, and the actions of the Japanese army far exceeded the scope entrusted by the treaty.Not only did the Japanese quickly occupy Songkhla, the new airport on the outskirts of Pattani.At this time, Bangkok's Mantang Airport was occupied, and the railways and ports were also taken over by the Japanese army, and a large number of troops were stationed in various places.

After achieving great success in Thailand, Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka transferred to Thailand on August 1940, 8 to French Indochina, where he held talks with General Asto of France.The relationship between Japan and French Indochina has never been very good, but this close relationship has changed after Japan mediated the dispute between Thailand and France, and this change was caused by Matsuoka Yosuke .

In early April this year, the mediation talks held in Tokyo were mainly between Foreign Minister Matsuoka and French Ambassador Amway and Thai representative Wan White Yagan.Japan's original policy was to suppress the demands of French Indochina.Support Thailand's request.In order to obtain Japan's relevant privileges in Thailand, if possible, it can also form a military offensive and defensive alliance with Thailand.

However, because Matsuoka Gai was dissatisfied with the high-handed attitude of the Thai side, he instead led the talks to favor the side of French Indochina.While talking.There have also been many joint talks between the base camp and the government.He kept in touch with Foreign Minister Matsuoka who presided over the talks.

but.However, foreign ministers mostly act according to their own ideas, and tend to ignore the above-mentioned established national policies.The base camp felt helpless about Foreign Minister Matsuoka's deviant behavior.During this period, the army, navy and government were in view of the delaying attitude of the French side.The use of force against French Indochina has been discussed several times. Around the end of February, the headquarters of the Army and Navy Department even once made the determination to use force.

On April 4, mediation was finally successful.Following the success of the mediation, an agreement was reached between Japan, France, and Japan and Thailand that neither French Indochina nor Thailand should sign any form of political or military cooperation with a third country.However, the Japan-Thailand Agreement and the Japan-French Indochina Agreement, whose main purpose is military cooperation, decided not to hold talks because Foreign Minister Matsuoka thought it was too late, and had to wait for the development of the situation in the future. disappointment.

Because of Yosuke Matsuoka's protection, General Anli of France had a good impression of Japan, and then signed the so-called Matsuoka-Anli Agreement with Japan. The physical intimacy seems to be increasing.

This time, Matsuoka Yosuke came to Hanoi mainly to obtain important materials such as rice and rubber, especially rice. The food crisis in Japan is deepening day by day, and the living standards of the people are declining rapidly, especially rice, which is a daily necessities.In the past, the main food of Japanese people was rice, but now rice is evolving into a high-end food. In the past, Japanese people had to eat rice for at least 6 days a week, but now it is a good life to be able to eat delicious rice for two days a week. Most of the time, the Japanese live on coarse grains.

Regarding the economic negotiations with French Indochina this time, Yosuke Matsuoka does not have much confidence.After all, within French Indochina, the two factions of the Vichy regime and the Charles de Gaulle regime were fighting each other, and the Charles de Gaulle faction was instigating anti-Japanese behind the scenes.Although it is said that Anli, the French general in charge of French Indochina, has a good impression of Matsuoka Yosuke, but from the bottom of his heart, Anli is a member of the Charles de Gaulle faction. Therefore, the attitude of French Indochina towards Japan can actually be said to be inseparable. .

Sure enough, the negotiations were extremely difficult from the very beginning. France seemed not at all interested in the series of requests it made with Japan. Anli just entertained Matsuoka Yosuke in Hanoi for a few days out of the friendship between friends, and then disappeared. This made Yosuke Matsuoka extremely depressed, and he had no choice but to bring people back to Japan.

After returning to Japan, Yosuke Matsuoka reported the relevant situation of the negotiations to Emperor Hirohito, and at the same time suggested that the navy and army could prepare for action. He judged that a tacit understanding had been reached between Britain, France, the Netherlands and even the United States, whether it was with the Netherlands or France alone. Negotiations are just a matter of Japan's wishful thinking. The above-mentioned countries only want to maintain the current situation in Southeast Asia. If Japan insists on interfering, it will definitely be boycotted by these countries.

After the negotiations with the Netherlands and France ended, the upper echelons of Japan already knew that war against Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries was inevitable. Therefore, the headquarters required an accurate judgment on the country’s material strength, so the General Staff Headquarters ordered the Ministry of Army’s Combat Readiness Division to deal with the war if the empire was in the Showa era. In the spring of 16 (1941), in the spring of 8, when the United States and Britain went to war, or if war was absolutely avoided, the possible changes in Japan’s national material power were studied. On August 15, the Ministry of Army’s Combat Readiness Division reported the research results to the head of the General Staff Headquarters.The main points are as follows:

In case of war.If Japan's national material power wages a long-term war against the United States and Britain, it will be worrying.That is to say, at the end of the second year of the war, there may still be sufficient potential to destroy the enemy's offensive, but by then liquid fuel may temporarily cause difficulties, and as the war continues, the economic support for the war may be shaken.

This will happen due to the cut off of imports and the poor situation for expanding production capacity.As long as there is no large amount of consumption of ships, steel and light metals are expected to grow rapidly year by year, but the small domestic production capacity of rare metals and nonferrous metals cannot make up for the losses caused by cutting off imports.It can still be perfunctory for two years by gradually depleting reserves, but after the third year, it will gradually fall into the plight of a significant reduction in supply.At that point liquid flammability will be worrisome.Between progress in restoring and developing occupied territory resources and depletion of reserves.There will be a period of time when there will be a situation where there is no response.In addition, the shipping problem will also be serious, especially since this will bring about a general shrinkage of industry due to the reduction of coal transportation, and the shortage of light industrial resources will also add to domestic problems.

When a war has to be waged due to the evolution of the situation.In order to relieve the above worries.In addition to striving for a swift end to the war against the South.In particular, every effort should be made to spare the resources of the Dutch East Indies.In addition, regarding the issue of ships, it is necessary to deeply consider the cooperation relationship between operations and economy.

At the same time, the Combat Readiness Division of the Army Ministry also conducted research on Japan's material strength if it could avoid war with Britain, France, the United States and the Netherlands.And formed a written document and reported it to the base camp.If Japan does not break off diplomatic relations with the United States and Britain economically, maintains a certain degree of trade with their colonies in East Asia, and gradually makes progress in economic negotiations with the southern regions, Japan's material strength will decline in the first two years. , but there will be some degree of recovery year by year in the future.

If economic relations with the United States and Britain are severed, the country's material strength will decline sharply, and its recovery will also be very difficult.In particular, oil reserves will decrease year by year, and national power and war power will decline due to consumption.In either case, after several years, Japan's rapid development of national power and real expansion of armaments will be difficult to achieve.

The most important thing is that Japan should strive to establish a Greater East Asian self-sufficiency circle; at the same time, it should avoid unnecessary stimulation of the United States and Britain, rely on the resources of the United States and Britain as much as possible to cultivate national strength, and be ready to deal with any situation immediately.

The report of the Army Ministry’s Combat Readiness Division greatly stimulated the Japanese army and navy, and even the Japanese government. This report fully considered Japan’s material reserves and available forces in various situations, including human, financial and material resources. Japan was extremely frustrated.

For this reason, high-level Japanese officials believed that it was necessary to conduct deeper communication with the U.S. government to ensure Japan’s supply and reserves of war materials. At this time, Japan suddenly received a U.S.-Japan understanding plan from the U.S. government. The content is as follows:

Take joint responsibility for negotiating and concluding a comprehensive agreement aimed at restoring the traditional friendly relations between the Governments of Japan and the United States.The two Governments no longer argue about the reasons for the recent estrangement of relations between the two countries, and sincerely hope that there will be no more incidents that will worsen the friendship between the two peoples, and that their unexpected development will be curbed.

It is the earnest hope of the two Governments that, through the joint efforts of the two countries, a peace based on morality will be established in the Pacific region, and a sincere and friendly understanding between the two countries will be reached quickly to eliminate the deplorable threat of chaos that is enough to destroy civilization; if it is impossible, it will It should be quickly prevented from expanding.In order to take the above-mentioned decisive actions, long-term negotiations are inappropriate and time-consuming. Therefore, from the perspective of realizing comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, it is recommended to draft a document as an appropriate means of morally binding the governments of the two countries and limiting their actions.

The above-mentioned understanding should be limited to urgent and major issues, which should be submitted to the meeting for consideration; as for incidental matters that the two governments should negotiate at any time in the future, it is advisable not to include them.Both sides believe that if the following points can be clarified and improved, the relationship between the two governments will be significantly improved.Based on the above situation, the following understanding has been reached. After the above understanding has been revised by the US government, it needs to wait for the Japanese government to make a final and formal decision.

In the U.S.-Japan understanding plan, the U.S. government mentioned seven things of mutual importance to the two countries, including the international concepts and national concepts held by Japan and the U.S., the attitudes of the two governments towards the war in Europe, and the attitudes of the two governments towards the events in China. Relations between the two countries, naval and aviation forces in the Pacific, and maritime relations, commercial and financial cooperation between the two countries, economic activities between the two countries in the Southwest Pacific, and the policies of the two governments on stabilizing the politics of the Pacific region.

After receiving this understanding plan from the United States, the Japanese government was ecstatic. Although it was only an understanding plan, the information revealed by the United States made the Japanese extremely excited, and it was a harbinger of easing relations between the United States and Japan. If the United States Japanese relations can return to the state they were 37 years ago, and Japan is not afraid of any challenges at all. (To be continued..)