Iron Cross

On August 17, Japan and Britain signed the Cairo Armistice Agreement, officially announcing the end of the hostile relationship between Japan and Great Britain (London). Although both sides tried to keep it secret, most of the contents were known to the top leaders of various countries.

The first article included recognizing the independence of British India and establishing the Dominion of Pakistan.

The Dominion, with Jinnah as the Prime Minister, has different characteristics compared with the historical partition of India and Pakistan: first, there is no East Pakistan, which remains in the framework of Japanese India; second, the Kashmir region is obtained, instead of being suspenseful as in history, with India and Pakistan controlling one piece each; finally, the western boundary with Iran was adjusted in favor of Iran, and Pahlavi gained more than 40,000 square kilometers. Although they are all mountainous and barren land, they can be regarded as expanding territory.

All these were expected by various countries. The only unexpected thing was that Japan agreed to the independence of Gorkha (Nepal) and its inclusion in the British Dominion, for which Britain made another offer.

Is Japan coveting British arms? Of course not. Gorkha is also a piece of meat, and it is stuck in China's Tibet region, so its location is very important. But the Gurkhas were different from the Indians. They were very unruly after the Japanese occupation and made trouble every other day. The Gurkhas were very tough and carried a machete. If the machetes were not confiscated, there would be vicious incidents everywhere. After the machetes were confiscated, the crowds were excited and it was a mass incident. Coupled with the special humanities and environment, Yamashita Tomoyuki was very troubled.

It was strange that the Gurkhas had a good impression of the British. In the end, the Tokyo headquarters simply made a big stroke of the pen and let the Gurkhas be independent, which was also considered a dominion of Great Britain, provided that the British could not station troops and could only rule by civilians. The London government was overjoyed and immediately paid for it.

The final compensation paid by Britain to Japan and the purchase price of Pakistan and Gurkha were changed to:

1. 4 Colossus-class aircraft carriers, 1.2 million tons of commercial ship tonnage;

2. 3,000 tanks (1,000 Cromwells, 1,000 Crusaders, 1,000 Churchills), 6,000 aircraft (2,000 Hurricanes, 1,000 Spitfires, 1,000 Mosquitoes, 1,000 Wellingtons or Handsome Warriors, 1,000 Halifaxes or Lancasters), 500 guns with a caliber of 100mm or more;

3. 3 million tons of oil (compensation by Iran);

4. 4 million tons of steel, of which half was special steel;

5. Transfer of three technologies: radar, Merlin engine, and 17-pound gun.

The delivery time of all equipment, warships, and materials started from September 1, 1944, and the overall delivery time was 2 years. The delivery was made according to the progress and guaranteed by Germany and other EU countries. Japan repatriated British prisoners of war according to the delivery of the British side, and there were basically no Japanese prisoners of war in the UK.

The last three technologies were high-tech technologies specially selected by Japan. The British side was quite reluctant, but they handed them over in the end, because these had been shown on the battlefield in India, and they could not be kept secret. Hoffman believed that it would be impossible for Japan to truly master and manufacture them without 5-8 years of accumulation, and he instructed Britain not to hand over other technologies that Japan did not know, such as jet engines, Griffin engines, high-temperature alloy formulas, etc. - of course, they could not be hidden from Germany.

Watching Prince Toshihiko Higashikuni and Masayuki Tani sign, Tada Shun was very satisfied: when this batch of arms is obtained, plus the number that can be obtained from the trade of Guinea with Germany, Japan will also be a major army with more than 10,000 mechas. In this world, except for Germany and the United States, there seems to be no other country with more than 10,000 tanks. Once the German-supervised Wolf-Guan infantry fighting vehicle is equipped, the Japanese army's mecha force will be more perfect!

Japan and France also discussed the idea of ​​exchanging weapons and materials for southern Indochina. However, except for artillery, there were not many French weapons that Japan was interested in. France could not pay the money. Oil and steel were not France's strengths. Japan had little demand for luxury goods and civilian industries that France was good at. In the end, it was stuck and could not make any progress. However, France has now obtained and digested the full set of No. 3 and No. 4 technologies from Germany, obtained the production license for DB601\\801 engines, and obtained the full set of will wheel and axis stage technologies. The technology and equipment are rapidly approaching and unifying with Germany.

Therefore, Japan left a hole. If the German tanks, engines and Axis aircraft carriers built by France were of good quality, they could be used to offset the purchase cost of Indochina. The premise was that there must be a large number of products first. The two sides agreed to discuss it in detail a few months later. France also accepted this. Now the French military industry is still recovering, and the overall output is not high. Even if it is halved according to the number of the United Kingdom, France cannot take it out all at once. Besides, the French National Defense Forces’ own armaments have not been fully equipped. After France officially declared war on Britain, Hoffman agreed to expand the French army to 1.2 million, of which the army would not exceed 800,000 and the navy and air force would not exceed 400,000. He then agreed to expand the army to 1.5 million by the end of 1945. Now France is catching up.

Germany and Japan signed a memorandum to formally implement the German New Guinea Handover Treaty after the end of the South African Campaign. Troops and weapons can be carried on ships. Japan expressed satisfaction with this, and of course it had to go through the procedures back home.

During the meeting, all countries discussed future bilateral cooperation with each other. Vlasov personally took the lead and showed goodwill to the developed European countries, preparing to "attract investment" and develop "three-in-one" trade. Western Russia will provide preferential conditions, and even hopes that countries will invest in agriculture. The largest and best land and industries will definitely be reserved by Germany, but Germany cannot take everything. There are still many cooperation opportunities waiting for various countries.

The Japanese delegation was also quite moved after reading it, and expressed the hope that European countries would invest and set up factories in India in the future. At the same time, they were willing to provide rubber and other tropical specialties to all countries. Now that Brazil is caught in the war and rubber plantations are stagnant, Southeast Asian rubber has become Japan's largest export product for earning foreign exchange, and all countries generally need it.

As for the real text of the Cairo Declaration, it had been sent to various countries for review long before the conference began, and generally agreed. Even the second and third leaders of the Axis, such as Italy and Japan, rushed to express their approval and echo at the conference. Smart people would never jump out to raise objections to the world order dominated by Germany. Besides, the plan given by Germany was discussed, brewed, and mediated by many parties, and no one could deny it outright.

On August 20, the Cairo Declaration was officially announced.

The head of the German Empire, the Prime Minister of the Japanese Empire, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, the head of the French Republic, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Newfoundland, the head of the Russian National Socialist Republic, etc., 47 Axis allies' political leaders, diplomatic representatives and military advisers held a meeting in North Africa a few days ago. The meeting has been concluded and the following summary statement is hereby issued:

Our Axis countries have reached a consensus on the future war plan against the United States and its vassal states: Our allies are determined to continue to impose unremitting pressure on the brutal enemy from the sea, land and air, and this pressure is growing. At the time of this declaration, the European Combined Fleet is going to South America to engage in a fierce battle with the US military, and the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Empire is going to Midway Island to engage in a fierce battle with the US military...Our Axis allies are determined to advance east and west to destroy the enemy.

The purpose of our Axis allies' war this time is to resist the oppression and aggression of American capital and to save the working people of various countries who are groaning and suffering under the oppression of American capitalists. Each country will never seek profit for itself, nor has the ambition to expand its territory.

To this day, the Axis allies still call on the US government to abandon the war and sign a fair contract with the Axis that does not pay compensation, cede territory, or punish those responsible. However, the brutal financial groups and bad politicians who manipulate the US government turn a deaf ear to it, continue to squander the welfare of the American people, continue to deceive the people with lies, and continue to sacrifice the lives of the majority of officers and soldiers to be hostile to the Axis camp, so our allies have to fight together.

The Axis war goals have long been clarified: to stop the ability of American capital to continue to export oppression and aggression abroad; to promote the establishment of a truly democratic and free political system in the United States; to deprive the United States of its overseas territories and territories occupied since the 1880s, so that the territories stolen by the United States, such as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Samoa, the Philippines, Cuba, etc., declare independence; to enable South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia and other countries under the control of the United States to truly gain independence and autonomy.

According to the above-mentioned goals, our allies will carry out a persevering, major and long-term war to deprive the United States of its ability to continue the war and punish the culprits who started the war in the United States.

The Axis countries once again warned the American people: Our allies have no intention to enslave the American people; no intention to demand the people's property and freedom; no intention to deprive the United States of its own territory; but if the war continues, the entire United States will become a battlefield, and the entire American people will not be spared. Please reflect on what to do next.

After the official release of the "Declaration", the three major leaders Hoffman, Ciano and Prince Toshihiko Higashikuni were interviewed by reporters and made clear their positions:

"... The speculation that Germany, Italy or Japan will make a separate peace with the United States, leaving aside other allies and abandoning the Axis alliance is pure nonsense. Since the establishment of the alliance, the three founding countries of the Axis have always been of one mind, supporting each other, fighting together and withstood the test of history. Their iron will, common beliefs, and fighting friendship forged by the blood of soldiers are unbreakable. The pursuit of establishing a new international order is unswerving, and the determination to oppose the oppression of American capital is unwavering. Unwavering. In future operations, the three countries will further strengthen coordination, support and cooperate with each other in equipment, materials, personnel and other elements, realize global strategy, fight against the United States together and persevere to the end.

The three countries discussed the establishment of a global combat headquarters in North Africa, with the German head of state as the supreme commander, the Italian prime minister and the Japanese prime minister as the supreme deputy commanders, and the establishment of a joint meeting mechanism of the Axis Chiefs of Staff to fully dispatch all Axis armed forces and realize joint operations..."

The last thing that was frozen in the newspaper was a photo of the three people holding hands and shouting "Long live the Axis!" together...