The Rise of the Third Reich

When the car in which the newly appointed head of the German naval military delegation to Japan, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Machal (the same Lieutenant General Machal who lost the Scharnhorst) drove quickly through the streets of Tokyo, the city A Santa Claus victory celebration had just been held - celebrating the capture of the Bataan Peninsula and the capture of 75,000 American and Philippine soldiers. Inspiring slogans and bright flags hang on the exterior walls of many buildings, exuding a flourishing atmosphere in the spring sunshine.

After occupying the Hawaiian Islands, the Japanese Empire seemed to be out of trouble overnight!

Although the cost of capturing the Hawaiian Islands was high, not only did they lose many outstanding pilots, but they also lost a battleship and two army aircraft carriers. More than 18,000 officers and soldiers died in battle, died of illness, or died on the battlefield in the Hawaiian Islands. seriously injured.

But the success achieved at a high cost is even more eye-catching. If Japan only attacked Pearl Harbor and sank a few old battleships, no one would believe that Japan could maintain its advantage in the Pacific for a long time. The U.S. counterattack would inevitably be very difficult. Come soon!

But now that the Japanese Empire has captured the key point of the Hawaiian Islands, the Americans don't even have an advance base if they want to counterattack. Moreover, the waterway to Australia is under the threat of the Japanese fleet in Hawaii, and at least two fleet aircraft carriers must be used to escort it to ensure safety.

As for the use of submarines and camouflaged attack ships to break diplomatic relations, during the "highest period of breaking diplomatic relations" from December 1941 to February 1942 (actually it was not very high), British and American submarines and attack ships sank a total of 100,000 Japanese ships. (the tonnage was no more than 160,000 tons), it quickly declined. The reason is that after the fall of Singapore and Manila, British and American submarines lost their supply bases closer to the front line and had to use Australia as a base to attack. This makes it difficult for a large number of submarines with insufficient endurance to participate in the war, unless they take the risk of sending submarine supply ships to dangerous waters.

Under this circumstance, the attitudes of the East Asian continent and the Soviet Union towards Japan also made a 180-degree turn, the supply of various industrial raw materials increased significantly, and the once tense situation in Manchuria also significantly eased.

Although Britain and the United States tried their best to destroy oil fields and various mining facilities when they were defeated in the South China Sea, even the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies were attacked by air raids. However, Japan's input of various resource products and grains has continued to rebound since January 1942, and by April 1942 it had almost returned to the level before the British and American sanctions.

The increase in resource input has also given Japan's industrial sector sufficient raw materials to start production. The domestic food supply situation has also been greatly improved, and the market that was originally depressed due to sanctions has also become prosperous.

While the domestic economic situation has improved significantly, one good news after another continues to spread to Tokyo, the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, Wake Island, Midway Island, Manila, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, Burma... The Japanese Imperial Army Singing triumphant songs all the way, invincible. In just a few months, it swept from the Hawaiian Islands to the borders of the British Indian Empire!

Just a few days ago, the Bataan Peninsula, an important American stronghold in the Philippines, was captured by the "invincible Imperial Japanese Army." The garrison commander, U.S. Army Major General Edward King, led the remaining 75,000 troops (including 9,300 U.S. troops). people) surrendered to the Japanese army.

Now the only major U.S. stronghold in the Far East and Western Pacific remains is Corregidor Island, located at the entrance to Manila Bay, but it is only a matter of time before this isolated island falls.

By then, Japan seems to be the absolute hegemon in the entire Far East and Western Pacific region, so during this period of time, Japan is filled with optimism that victory is in sight.

But inside the Japanese Navy Ministry Building in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, there was little optimism. At least when the two Germans, Lieutenant General Machar and Ambassador Taudman, arrived, they felt only a cold emotion.

The indifferent attitude of the Japanese naval officers was certainly justified, because the Germans gave Japan a free hand on the issue of declaring war on the United States. According to the original agreement, the German government should immediately follow up after the Empire of Japan declared war on the United States. However, Hitler's government repeatedly delayed the declaration of war and did not declare war on the United States until April 1942.

The Japanese Army didn't care about Germany's delay - the Imperial Japanese Army was invincible and could win with or without Germany's participation. Moreover, the Germans are just unwilling to declare war immediately, so they should provide a lot of assistance. Although Ceylon Island has not yet been captured, a transport fleet escorted by an aircraft carrier took a detour and arrived in Singapore, transporting hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies, including more than a hundred tanks that the Japanese army wanted most, and German military representatives The regiment also began to help the Japanese Army establish armored divisions to German standards. Therefore, the German Army delegation stationed in Japan (there are currently two German military delegations stationed in Japan) is very popular.

However, most officers of the Japanese Navy know the United States and still know how much they have. Therefore, starting from December 8, 1941, they kept urging the Germans to join the war. But the Germans always tried to delay things, and it was not until a few days ago that things made some progress.

The German Navy is preparing to use the name of the Japanese Navy to attack the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and is also preparing to invade Dutch Guiana in South America - any Japanese naval general who knows the United States knows that, even if the Japanese Navy proactively admits that it sent the battleship Mutsu to attack the United States Fleet, a war between the United States and the United States is a high probability event, because the United States will never tolerate German contamination of South America.

As to whether the war was caused by the German fleet's sneak attack on the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, or whether the war was caused by the incident in Dutch Guiana, it was just a matter of propaganda war.

Therefore, Japanese Navy Minister Shitaro Shimada finalized the "110 Project" and "111 Project" (that is, Yamato's No. 3 and No. 4 ships) assistance plans (Germany will provide the special steel needed to complete the two battleships) and joint After conducting operations to completely open up the Indian Ocean route (mainly to capture the island of Ceylon), it was agreed that the battleship Mutsu, which had long since become a "water ghost", would assume the responsibility of sneak attacks on the Atlantic Fleet.

"A major victory has been achieved!" After meeting Shitaro Shimada in the Minister's Office of the Navy Ministry, Admiral Machar told Shimada in English with a face full of joy, "Sinked two South Dakota-class battleships and an Omar Ha-class light cruiser!”

"Oh? Really?" Shitaro Shimada was very polite to the visiting General Machar and said with a grin.

The loss of two South Dakota-class ships by the Americans means that they currently have only one available cutting-edge battleship.

Now that the Yamato has returned to China for overhaul, the Musashi has not yet entered service, and the Mutsu has sunk again, there is only one Japanese battleship, the Nagato, that can really fight against those American battleships with 406mm caliber cannons.

If the two South Dakotas were not eliminated by the Germans but were used in the Pacific battlefield, then the Second Battle of Hawaii would probably begin in May.

"It seems that it will be impossible for the Americans to counterattack Hawaii in 1942." Lieutenant General Machar said with a smile, "But after 1943, the Americans' Iowa class and Essex class will be in service in large numbers. Moreover, the Americans will definitely imitate our wire-controlled glide bombs.”

Shitaro Shimada laughed: "By 1943, the Hawaiian Fortress will have been consolidated, and our third Yamato-class ship Shinano, as well as the massively built Taiho-class and Unryu-class will begin service, and there will be nothing to worry about by then. Yes."

Due to the power shown by the Yamato in the Battle of Hawaii, the construction of the Yamato-class No. 3 and No. 4 ships will not be canceled, but will also be accelerated. Therefore, the Yamato-class No. 3 ship Shinano will enter service in 1943, and the No. 4 ship Aki will enter service in early 1944.

In addition, the Battle of Hawaii and several large-scale naval battles in Europe also made the Japanese Navy fully aware of the importance of aircraft carriers. Therefore, while expanding the battleship force, an ambitious aircraft carrier construction plan was also formulated, preparing to build 5 Daifeng-class armored aircraft carriers and 15 Unryong-class medium fast aircraft carriers as a countermeasure against the United States' Essex-class and Cleveland-class capital.

And such a huge shipbuilding plan naturally requires strong assistance from Germany. After acquiring resources from the Middle East and North Africa (not only oil, the Sinai Peninsula, Turkey and Iran are rich in rare metals), the metallurgical industries of European countries under the leadership of Germany began to develop steel, especially special steel, in early 1942. The output has reached a new high every month, which not only fully meets the needs of the European and Atlantic battlefields, but also has spare power to support Japan's expansion of its navy to contain the United States. Now we just have to wait for the Indian Ocean route to be fully opened, and supplies will continue to be transported from Europe to Japan.

It is precisely because of these tangible assistance that the Japanese Navy did not get too entangled in the issue of when Germany would declare war on the United States.

Shitaro Shimada understood Lieutenant General Marshall's intention and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lieutenant General, our broadcast ship deployed in Hawaii will soon broadcast the news of Mutsu's victory, and corresponding publicity will be carried out domestically... …This is also very beneficial to improving the morale of the people of our empire.”

Marshal received a satisfactory answer, so he naturally knew that he should express something - the big head had already negotiated the deal before, so now let's add some more to strengthen the relationship.

He took out a document from a leather bag he brought with him, put it on Shitaro Shimada's desk, and said with a smile: "This is some information about the Ju.390 six-engine heavy bomber. I believe it will be useful to you." It is a reference for China to develop an ultra-long-range bomber with a combat radius of 5,000 kilometers. We will provide a prototype later, and the sample of the Hs293 wire-controlled glide bomb will also arrive in Japan along with this aircraft. If you plan to build a super-long-range bomber. Long-range bombers, we will provide more help.”