Glorious Mission 1937

The serious imperial meeting was held at 1941 am on January 1, 15 in the first hall of the palace.In addition to the usual attendees, Uchisei Tanabe and Masahiro Ogura were also in attendance.

The meeting was still presided over by the Cabinet Prime Minister Fumma Konoe. When the time came, His Majesty's bodyguards would close the door of the East I Hall. Such a top-secret meeting was absolutely not allowed to be leaked.After the hall door was closed, Konoe Fummo stood up and bowed to His Majesty the Emperor who was sitting on the main seat, and then stood up and said, "Everyone, the meeting is starting now. With your Majesty's permission, I will preside over today's meeting. In view of the fact that the Empire of Japan is now suffering from serious threats from the United States, Britain and other countries, the empire is in an extremely difficult historical period, especially when the empire is caught in the China battlefield and cannot escape. The war is dragging the empire into an abyss from which it cannot extricate itself. After the discussion, it was decided that it would not hesitate to fight against the United States and Britain under unavoidable circumstances! After the joint discussion of the base camp and the cabinet, it was decided to pass the "Implementation Essentials of the Imperial State Policy" plan of the Ministry of the Navy, and hereby present the essentials of the implementation of this national policy to His Majesty the Emperor, and discuss with all ministers and businessmen Discuss to make the final decision!"

All the ministers saw Emperor Hirohito nodded slightly when he was on the throne, and they all understood what he meant. His Majesty the Emperor meant that he had already seen the essentials of implementing this national policy.

Then Fumma Konoe continued: "As the Prime Minister of the Empire, I will first make a statement on the content of the "Implementation Essentials of the Empire's National Policy": As you all know, the international situation surrounding the Empire is becoming increasingly urgent, especially the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands. Countries such as China are fighting against the empire by all means. Not long ago, the United States signed an agreement with the Chinese government. The US government will provide the Chinese government with a low-interest loan of 2.5 million U.S. dollars in a short period of time, and these loans will be used for military innovation in China, and According to the information held by the Imperial Intelligence Department, the loan agreement between the United States and the Chinese government is likely to exceed 2.5 million U.S. dollars."

"The most important thing is that with the protracted war between Germany and the Soviet Union, there is still a tendency for the United States and the Soviet Union to form a united front against Japan. If this continues, the empire will gradually lose the mobility of its national power, so that it will become the same as the United States, Britain and other countries. In comparison, the disparity in national strength will become wider and wider. At present, the empire must of course make various preparations quickly to deal with any situation, and on the other hand, it must still use all diplomatic means to prevent war disasters before they happen. The above-mentioned diplomacy In case the measures fail to be effective within a certain period of time, self-defense will be the last resort. The government and the headquarters of the Army and Navy have repeatedly discussed this issue, and have now reached a consensus. The topic is "Implementation Essentials of the Empire's National Policy". Now, the Minister of Operations of the Ministry of the Navy, His Excellency Nagano Shoshin, will explain the content of the "Implementation Essentials of the Empire's National Policy" in detail!"

After Konoe Fumma sat down, Chief of Naval Operations Nagano Osama immediately got up.Also bowed to Emperor Hirohito, who was on the throne, and said: "Your Majesty, fellow colleagues. Thanks to His Excellency Konoe for his love. I will read the content of "Implementation Essentials of Imperial National Policy" for you. This national policy essentials are divided into main national policies And the attachment, now I will read the content of the main national policy for you. There are 3 items in total: Article 5. In order to ensure self-survival and self-defense, the empire will not hesitate to fight against the United States (Britain and the Netherlands) under the determination, roughly in late May. , to complete the preparations for war. Article 8. While making the preparations in the preceding paragraph, the empire should use all diplomatic means to the United States and Britain, and strive to implement the requirements of the empire. Article [-]. If the diplomatic negotiations in the preceding paragraph cannot be achieved by the first ten days of August, we will When requested by the Chinese side, immediately resolve to go to war against the United States (Britain and the Netherlands). Other policies other than the South should be implemented according to the established national policy, and efforts must be made to prevent the United States and the Soviet Union from forming a joint front against Japan.”

"The attachment is only used in negotiations with the United States, Britain and other countries. Negotiations between the empire and the United States, Britain and other countries must be limited to the minimum requirements in the attachment, otherwise the base camp will not recognize the negotiation results. First, in the negotiation with the United States (UK) In the negotiations, the empire must meet the minimum requirements: 1. The United States and Britain must not interfere or hinder the empire's handling of the Chinese incident. First, it must not hinder the empire's attempt to resolve the incident in accordance with the basic treaty between Japan and China and the joint declaration of the three countries of Japan, Manchuria and China. Second, the closure of "Myanmar "Highway, and shall not assist the Chiang regime militarily, politically, and economically. The above clauses should not hinder the consistent position of the empire in dealing with China's affairs in the work of Japan and the United States, and in particular insist on the stationing of the imperial army in accordance with the newly agreed between Japan and China." However, it is advisable to make it clear that after the incident is resolved, except for the above-mentioned troops sent to China to resolve the issue in China, the other troops are prepared to withdraw in principle. Regarding the economic activities of the United States and Britain in China, it is advisable to make it clear that as long as they are based on justice There will be no restrictions.”

"2. The United States and Britain must not take actions in the Far East that threaten the national defense of the empire: first, the United States, Britain and other countries should not seize military rights and interests in Thailand, the Dutch East Indies, China, and the territory of the Soviet Far East. Second, they must maintain the status quo of armaments in the Far East and no longer increase them. "

"3. The United States and Britain must assist the Empire to obtain the necessary supplies: First, it must resume trade with the Empire, and supply the supplies necessary for the survival of the Empire from the territories of the two countries in the Southwest Pacific. Second, the Empire, Thailand and the Dutch East Indies Economic cooperation requires friendly assistance."

"Second, the limit of the empire's promises: If the United States, Britain and other countries agree to the requirements of the empire in the first item, the empire can make certain concessions on related issues, for example, the empire will not use French Indochina as a base to extend to its neighboring regions. The only exception is China. If the other party asks about the attitude of the empire towards the Soviet Union, you can answer that as long as the Soviet Union abides by the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Treaty and does not take actions that violate the spirit of the treaty, such as threatening Japan, we will not take the initiative Armed action. In addition, the empire can guarantee the withdrawal of troops from French Indochina after the establishment of a just peace in the Far East. The empire can also guarantee the neutrality of the Philippines."

Since this "Implementation Essentials of the National Policy of the Empire" was only discussed in a small area before, most people don't know about it, let alone the content of this national policy implementation essentials. Everyone in the East Hall was taken aback. Although the content of this new national policy is not much, only a few hundred words, its significance should not be underestimated.

You must know that although there are only three new national policies, each of them is full of bloody smell, and some sensitive people have even smelled the smoke of war.This seems to be the final discussion on the relationship between Japan, the United States and Japan and Britain. If this new national policy is passed, then the entire empire will enter a state of war against the United States and Britain.Join the negotiations between the United States and the Empire without an effective agreement within three months, then war will be inevitable.

In addition, the negotiation requirements mentioned in the attachment also made many people feel incredible. In the past few years, the negotiations between the empire and the United States have been in a passive position. To put it bluntly, they are at a disadvantage.But in this annex, the conditions of the empire are extremely strict, and the attitude is extremely tough. It seems that the base camp has already made preparations for war. Of course, this preparation only refers to ideology, not material.

After Nagano sat down, Konoe Fummo stood up again and said: "Now all the ministers and workers can express their opinions. The battle against the south is mainly based on the navy. Your Excellency Oikawa will first talk about your opinions!"

The Minister of the Navy and Admiral Chuanko Shiro hurriedly stood up and said: "The current situation has been summarized by the Prime Minister, and I think you all have some feelings. It goes without saying that it is very difficult for the Empire to try its best to find a way out of the current difficult situation through peaceful means. , The empire does not see the sincerity of the United States regarding the peace talks, so in order to ensure the development and consolidation of the empire in the future, we must be prepared in case there is no peaceful solution, that is, to use war to safeguard the interests of the empire.”

"In this regard, the High Command would like to express some opinions from the operational point of view. The empire is currently in a state where oil and other important military supplies are being depleted, and the national defense force is gradually weakening. If this status quo continues, after a certain period of time, it is inevitable that the country will be reduced. At the same time, the defense of the military installations and key locations of Britain, the United States and other countries in the Far East, as well as the armaments of these countries, especially the United States, are increasing extremely rapidly. According to the estimates of the Imperial Navy Department , by the second half of next year at the latest, because the U.S. military has made great progress, the empire will face a difficult situation to deal with."

"Therefore, it is very dangerous for the current empire to do nothing now and procrastinate. Therefore, if the other party does not recognize the minimum requirements of the empire's self-preservation and self-defense during diplomatic negotiations, so that war is finally inevitable, then the empire will We must adopt the method of surviving from death, make proper preparations first, make up our minds without losing the opportunity, and move towards active combat with a resolute attitude.”

Obviously, Oikawa Koshiro’s opinion is in favor of going to war against the United States and Britain, but think about it, this "Essentials for Implementing the National Policy of the Empire" was originally proposed by the Ministry of the Navy. If he, the marine minister, disagrees, how can others agree.

Fumma Konoe couldn't help feeling a little anxious when he heard this. What Oikawa Koshiro said was based on the national defense of the empire and the external environment. It explained a problem from many aspects, that is, the empire is very dangerous now, and a larger-scale war must be done well. preparation.

But Konoe Fumma is more aware of the current situation in Japan. Even if the United States, Britain and other countries do not participate, it will be very difficult for the empire to withdraw from the China battlefield, let alone launch a larger-scale war.

The most prime minister of the Japanese Empire, Fumma Konoe has analyzed the way out of the empire with his staff on many occasions, but no matter in which field, such as politics, economy, culture, or diplomacy, he cannot see the way out of the empire. The way to restore the empire in a short period of time is to immediately negotiate with the Chinese and then immediately withdraw troops from the Chinese battlefield. It can plunge the empire into the abyss beyond redemption.

Even though I know this, it is now ruled by soldiers, and the base camp is the institution with the most say in Japan. The insiders can’t control the base camp at all. He, the prime minister of the cabinet, is more like a nanny, constantly replenishing nutrition for the tanks in the base camp, When the base camp said that war was going to start, the cabinet had to agree, so he pinned his hopes on the imperial meeting, hoping that the discussion at the imperial meeting could dismiss the decision of the base camp, but now it seems that there is little hope. (To be continued..)