Glorious Mission 1937

The cabinet of the "government" of Japan has also given overall consideration to the request made by the Ministry of the Army. As the Ministry of the Army said, the external environment of the Empire of Japan is already extremely harsh.In addition to the deadly heavy pressure of the above-mentioned "liquid" fuel, the so-called b (the United States, Britain, China, and the Netherlands) in East Asia are increasingly encircling Japan. This can be seen from the encounter of the Imperial Army in the China battlefield figure it out.

Three years ago, the empire sent troops to China. Although the empire had only 25 troops at that time, it was still invincible in the face of more than 200 divisions and more than 190 million troops in China. It occupied almost all large and medium-sized cities along the coast of China in a very short period of time. , and even took Nanjing, the capital of China.

Time has passed, and in just three years, the empire has become more and more powerless for this war.Although the total strength of the imperial army has increased by nearly 8 times in the past three years, the war did not end as soon as possible because of this.The resistance of the "government" in this China has also become stronger and stronger, and these are not what the empire wants to see.

What frightens the empire even more is that the US economy is recovering rapidly, but due to the drag of the war, the economy of the Empire of Japan is taking a big step back, and the gap between the empire and the US economy is accelerating.

For the rapid recovery of the US economy, the Japanese are envious and jealous from the bottom of their hearts, but they can do nothing about it. Who makes the US's internal and external environment so unique.The North American continent has been peaceful since the end of the American Civil War.Before that, it developed for nearly a century from 1780. After the end of the Civil War and entered the early 20th century, the United States experienced the Industrial Revolution, and the rapid expansion of capital was the same as other capitalist games. But shortly thereafter, from 1870 to 1914, the second stage of the Industrial Revolution At this stage, the United States was ahead in technology.Just like Germany was leading in science at that time.

The United States has abundant resources, cheap labor, a huge domestic market, capital supply from Europe, and so on.However, Britain, which was the most developed country in the past, was unwilling to invest money to change the production equipment at that time, and gradually fell behind.When World War I broke out, the old capitalist powers competed with each other.Consuming its own strength, the United States has gained huge benefits from it, and it is even more beneficial to the development of others.

Although the worldwide economic crisis in 1929 caused the U.S. economy to retreat for decades overnight, the U.S. responded quickly.Especially after Roosevelt came to power, he vigorously implemented the New Deal to promote employment through engineering construction to get rid of the economic crisis.

The effect of Roosevelt's New Deal was evident in just a few years.The U.S. gp is soaring. By the end of 1939, the fiscal revenue of the U.S. "government" had reached 1249 billion U.S. dollars.However, the fiscal revenue of the Great Japanese Empire during the same period was less than 160 billion US dollars.The gap between the two sides is simply appalling.

In addition, according to a secret document provided by the Ministry of War.Due to the shackles of the upper-level thinking model, the empire did not know enough about the mechanization of the army, and could not see the impact of tank tactics on warfare, so the mechanization process was far behind that of European countries.The tanks equipped by the imperial army were light tanks, and it was only after the imperial army suffered a disastrous defeat in Northern China that they developed real medium tanks.Prior to this, the tank models equipped by the Imperial Army were Type 89, 94, 95, and 97 light tanks (called medium tanks). 94 light reconnaissance tanks, 95 types, 97 types are the main tank equipment of the imperial army.The best Type 97 of the imperial army still stays on the basis of riveted hull and small-caliber 47mm short gun. [

Compared with mainstream equipment in mainstream European countries.The imperial army is still far from complete mechanization, not only having tanks, but also depending on the accessories of other vehicles.The imperial army doesn't even have many ordinary trucks, let alone other wheeled or tracked vehicles.The current imperial tank guns can't even penetrate the frontal armor of the American m100 light tank even if several volleys are fired as close as 3 meters. The difference in firepower can be seen from this.

Due to the poor national strength, especially the low steel production, the empire could not develop heavy tanks at all.Comparing the steel production of 2000 million tons in the United States and 1800 million tons in Germany, the empire can only produce a mere 400 million tons of low-quality steel every year, and most of the steel and military expenses are used to build the navy, and even the so-called armored forces of the empire, in China with backward equipment In front of the infantry, they showed off their power, but in Nuomenkan and Peiping, they were vulnerable to the well-equipped Soviet army and the armored troops under Chen Feng in China.

All this makes the Japanese "government" panic, especially the Philippines under the control of the United States is very close to the Japanese mainland, and even closer to Taiwan Island controlled by Japan. The Japanese Empire is full of hostility, and the Japanese "government" must reconsider its relationship with the US "government", and must also face up to the opinions put forward by the Army.

In addition, with the strengthening of US military equipment, especially the air force equipment, the gap between Japan and the US military equipment has increased at an accelerated rate.Not long ago, US Secretary of the Navy Knox said in a speech in Boston: "Now is the time to use the US Navy", and then publicly said: "In order to carry out the US Far East policy, the US Navy can decisively take necessary measures."

On November 11, the United States established the US Far East Army Command in the Philippines, commanded by General MacArthur.Subsequently, the Malay administration announced that British reinforcements had arrived in Singapore. On November 26, President Roosevelt announced that he would send a military mission headed by Brigadier Magrud to Chongqing.

Facing the above serious and critical situation in national defense, the headquarters of the Army and Navy racked their brains to find out the countermeasures to open the situation. It's just that the law will spend a long time with the United States, Britain and other countries, not to mention that Chen Feng's troops are watching over the Chinese battlefield.

In order to temporarily stabilize the situation, the Japanese "government" proposed to the United States on December 12 a solution for a local area centered on French Indochina.He also proposed that if he agrees to this proposal, he would like to properly add this case to the past Japan-US understanding plan.The plan proposed by Japan was based on the talks between Ambassador Nomura and President Roosevelt. President Roosevelt had impromptuly talked about the neutralization of French Indochina.The main points of the proposal are as follows:

[-]. Except for stationing in French Indochina, Japan will not expand to other areas of the Southwest Pacific; and once the incident in China is resolved, the Japanese army in French Indochina will be withdrawn immediately.

[-]. Japan guarantees the neutrality of the Philippines.

[-]. Japan cooperates with the United States in the production and acquisition of necessary natural resources.

[-]. The United States ceases military measures in the Southwest Pacific that may threaten Japan, and advises Britain and the Netherlands to take similar measures.

[-]. The United States will assist Japan in producing and obtaining the natural resources Japan needs in the Southwest Pacific region, especially in the Dutch East Indies, and in resolving outstanding issues between Japan and the Netherlands.

[-]. The United States promptly takes necessary measures to restore normal commercial relations between Japan and the United States.

[-]. In order to resolve the incident in China, the United States mediates the start of direct negotiations between Japan and the Chiang regime.

Then, on December 12, the Japanese "government" proposed to hold direct talks between the heads of the Japanese and American "governments" proposed by Prime Minister Konoe.However, the United States was not very interested in local regional solutions centered on French Indochina; Secretary of State Hull was also extremely indifferent to the Japan-US summit talks, but President Roosevelt seemed to have some interest at first glance. [

Seeing that the attitude of the United States was not very positive, on December 12, Japanese Prime Minister Fumma Konoe sent a message to US President Roosevelt, proposing to quickly realize the Japan-US summit talks.

In this telegram, Konoe Fummo mentioned: "At the time of the current world turmoil, the last two countries that hold the key to international peace, Japan and the United States, the deterioration of relations in this way is not only the fault of the two countries themselves. It is a great misfortune, and it means the decline of world civilization. The reason why we hope to maintain peace in the Pacific is not only to improve the relationship between Japan and the United States, but also to take this opportunity to lead to world peace."

"I think the deterioration of the relationship between Japan and the United States to today's level can be considered to be mainly due to the lack of exchange of views between the two 'governments', the repeated occurrence of doubts and misunderstandings, and the result of conspiracy by a third country. If Without first eliminating these reasons, it will be difficult to improve the diplomatic relations between the two countries, which is why this minister wants to meet with your president directly, so as to frankly explain the views of both sides."

"The spirit and content of the interrupted preparatory informal consultations are generally acceptable, but if the consultations are continued as previously envisaged and then confirmed between the two heads of state, it is no longer suitable for rapid development, or The current situation that may cause unexpected developments. The most urgent thing at present is that the heads of state of the two countries first meet directly. This is not limited to the traditional "business" consultations. Discussions should be held to explore whether there is a "possibility" to save the situation. As for the relevant details, after the summit meeting, it can be handed over to the affairs authorities for negotiation if necessary."

"This is the purpose of this minister's proposal. I hope that your president will fully understand this point and exchange views. Based on the above reasons, we hope that the time of the meeting will be advanced as much as possible. As for the meeting place, taking into account various circumstances, I think Nearby Hawaii is more appropriate."

Regarding Konoe's telegram, Ambassador Nomura held specific discussions with President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull on the date and venue of the talks, and it seemed that there was hope of realization.However, President Roosevelt replied to Prime Minister Konoe on the last day of 1940, saying: "If there is no prior agreement on important issues of principle, it will be difficult to agree to talks."

The "important issue of principle" that Roosevelt mentioned actually refers to the "four principles" proposed by Hull before. I want to tell Konoe that peace talks are possible, but the "four principles" in Hull's statement must be used as a prerequisite for the talks, and an agreement must be reached on this.

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