Chapter 151: Japan Is Desperate (End)
"I heard that you brought back two planes of tungsten ore this time? The Japanese are so generous to you." Hoffman turned to ask Speer, "How many more times will we do this again? That tungsten mine in Oriental Province Do we no longer have to buy the high-priced black-core tungsten provided by Portugal and Spain before the scale of mining is established?”
"It's absolutely possible. The mine will be in full production on New Year's Day next year, and there will be no shortage of tungsten by then. But if you have it, you might as well get more, so that the Japanese can take advantage of it." Speer said with a smile, "Look. For Lieutenant Colonel Cole’s hard work, would you consider giving him a medal?”
"Führer, if you read this document, you won't say that Portugal and Spain are high-priced and black-hearted businessmen." Cole took out the document containing Japan's requirements and handed it over.
After reading it, Hoffman's expression changed, but he did not express his opinion immediately. Instead, he silently handed it to Speer.
"This request for assistance is a bit...a bit..." Speer originally wanted to say "whimsical", but then felt that Hoffmann had not expressed his position yet, so he modified the wording and said, "It's a bit excessive. We have so many resources of our own." They can conquer the Middle East..."
Hoffman shook his head slightly, looking unhappy.
"How about we communicate with the Japanese again and see if we can get a discount?" Speer frowned, "What the Japanese paid is completely out of proportion to what they asked for. It's not like they captured it and gave it to us. Just ask them to help provide naval support."
"How long can the imperial oil reserves last?" Hoffman asked this question unexpectedly. He remembered that Speer was here to report on the oil reserves.
"The situation is not optimistic. With the large number of new tanks and aircraft put into use and the supply of fuel to the Italian navy, it is expected that there will be a gap in fuel supply next month. The balance of payments cannot be balanced that month and can only be made up with reserves." Shi. Pell handed over a form, "According to my prediction, with the further strengthening of tank and aircraft production, fuel consumption is expected to further increase. If new sources or other reserves are not obtained, the overall fuel reserve will be in 1943." Falling into the danger zone at the end of the year..."
Hoffman clearly remembers that the reason why Germany did not fall into an oil crisis in 1943 was partly because it lost a large number of tanks and aircraft in the Battle of Stalingrad. At the same time, it also failed completely in the North African direction and lost a lot of fuel. Guy; on the other hand, it was because after Italy surrendered, Germany took control of northern Italy and seized a large amount of oil hidden by the Italians there. Now that these two factors no longer exist, coupled with the early explosion of arms supply, the oil crisis will occur earlier than in history.
He waved his hand and said: "We don't have that much time. You have to know that there have been no particularly fierce battles on the Eastern Front in the past two months. If there are two more large-scale battles like Typhoon, fuel consumption will increase at an accelerated rate - this crisis may It will be brought forward to the end of August or even earlier.”
Speer understood what Hoffman meant: after giving up the fight for the Caucasus oil fields, the oil-producing areas in the Middle East were far more important than he thought. He tentatively asked: "Then agree to the Japanese conditions? Or give a slight discount. ?”
"I agreed to them, but asked them to double the supply of gold, tungsten, chromium, tin, and lead. In return, I will provide them with 10 additional sets of large-scale ground early warning radars and 100 sets of ship-based radars. In addition, that Two Indians..." At this point, Hoffman suddenly got stuck.
"Indian independence leader Chandra Bose and his main assistant Major Habib Hassan." Cole prompted.
"These few people immediately flew them to the Japanese."
"Yes, Führer."
"Go to Minister Ribbentrop as soon as possible to prepare the certificate of plenipotentiary and then fly to Japan to sign it." Hoffman patted Cole on the shoulder, "You have worked hard during this period and you have done a great job. Now you are a colonel. When you return, you will receive a Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves as a reward.”
"Thank you, Führer."
After Cole left, Hoffman immediately called Chief Deputy Dargos: "Inform Guderian that Japan has basically got it done, and he can take action..."
"Yes, Head of State, I just want to report to you." Dargos said, "The high command has just forwarded a battle report. The Russian counterattack on the southern flank of the Eastern Front has begun."
"Stalin really couldn't bear the loneliness, that's good." Hoffman sneered, "Let Manstein and Zeitzler deal with it, I believe them."
Cole sent the revised opinions to his secretary in Tokyo on the evening of the next day, and told him that he would fly to Tokyo with Chandra Bose and others two days later.
"The news from your country is very exciting. I can agree to all other amendments, but gold..." Gu Zhengzhi, who came to greet him, said sheepishly, "Our country doesn't have that much..."
Of course Cole knew that the other party was talking nonsense. Japan had made a lot of gold just by attacking Southeast Asia. What he said now was just to lower the price. He ignored the twists and turns during the period and instead pretended to be surprised and said: "Your Excellency, Of course, the costs required to promote India's independence and national liberation cannot be paid entirely by Japan. Should the Indian people also bear some of this help? I heard that there are thousands of tons of gold hidden in temples in India. …”
"Is this true?" Gu Zhengzhi didn't know whether it was true or not, so he cast his questioning gaze on Chandra Bose.
Chandra Bose knew that whether the whole matter would be successful or not depended on his own stance. He gritted his teeth and said: "The people of our country have the custom of wearing and using gold. The temples in various places do have some gold through historical accumulation, but there is no Thousands of tons are such an exaggeration. There may be hundreds of tons. As long as the friendly countries of the Axis Alliance help India get rid of British colonial rule and provide the arms and equipment needed for armed struggle, we are willing to pay for them. I can promise to provide no less than 200 tons in the future. tons of gold, the gold needed by Germany was paid by India, and the remaining part was used to purchase Japanese arms and pay for the wounded and sacrificed Japanese soldiers.”
"200 tons?" Gu Zhengzhi felt dizzy. India is really a fat place. No wonder people say that the Indian subcontinent is the crown jewel of the British Empire. This statement is true. Now that the wrongdoer was paying the bill, all the problems were solved. Gu Zhengzhi was too embarrassed to pretend any longer, so he reported it to Hirohito.
“After repeated consultations with the United States through secret channels, the situation has developed to such a clear step, that is, the reform of Plan A and Plan A that we prepared have completely failed, and the base camp and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have considered that it is necessary to adopt Case B. At this point, after preliminary communication, we believe that Germany and Italy have a particularly favorable attitude towards Case B, and both parties have communicated on the relevant conditions. Chandra Bose, the leader of the Indian independence movement, has also returned and expressed his willingness to cooperate with Japan formed a close alliance and participated in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, while promising to pay India when it gained independence.”
When the ministers attending the meeting heard about the resources and equipment that Germany had promised to provide, they could not contain their excitement. When they heard that the Indians offered 200 tons of gold and hinted that there would be other additional rewards after success, if they were not worried about the occasion of the imperial meeting, Many people almost jumped for joy, and Hirohito, who had always kept his emotions secret, also smiled.
Even a calm man like Shun Tada was a little excited by the excitement and said: "In this case, why are we still suffering on the battlefield in China? The Chinese are so poor. Going to the countryside to collect food is not as much as maintaining the army. The Chinese army is no better than beggars. Many soldiers have no more than 10 rounds of bullets. The Germans didn't even take a look at our 75 field guns. The Chinese army captured our mortars and were as excited as the Chinese New Year. They should have gone there long ago. India is robbing the British..."
"Prime Minister Lu, you are reckless..."
Tada Shun originally thought that Hirohito did not agree with his point of view, but he realized it after being reminded by Gu Zhengzhi - How can he openly use the word "rob" in front of His Majesty? It should be "open up thousands of miles of waves and spread the country's prestige in all directions". A civilized way of saying it. He laughed and said hurriedly: "I have spoken out of turn, please be punished by your majesty."
Narumi Inoue, on behalf of the Navy, and Sadao Shimomura, on behalf of the Army, also elaborated on the unfavorable factors in the implementation of Case B. For example, in addition to withdrawing a large number of troops from the Chinese theater, it is also necessary to withdraw troops from some islands in Southeast Asia and reduce the number of troops while ensuring the security of the homeland and smooth shipping routes. But overall, they think Case B is "positive and constructive." Everyone noticed that even Marine Minister Isoroku Yamamoto, who has always maintained a steady attitude, also recognized the Indian Ocean strategy and considered it a key step for Japan to survive and reverse the situation.
Finally, Cabinet Prime Minister Ugaki Kazunari concluded: "I have reached a consensus on the issue of Case B and now respectfully request His Majesty's judgment..."
"Your Majesty has an edict..." Interior Minister Kido Koichi announced Hirohito's point of view:
"... India, with thousands of years of history and glorious cultural traditions, is now at an excellent opportunity to break away from the tyrannical rule of the British. The empire earnestly hopes that India, as an Indian, will regain its original status, and will not hesitate to provide assistance to its patriotic efforts. , if India ignores this history and tradition, does not realize its mission, and is still deceived and driven by the British sweet talk and bait, I cannot help but be deeply worried and restless that the Indian nation will forever lose its chance of rejuvenation... "
"I obey the order."
On November 1, 1942, the "Joint Declaration of Japan, Germany and Italy on the Indian and Arab Questions" was officially signed and unanimously agreed to be publicly released after the strategy was implemented:
...Although India and Arabia both have glorious cultural traditions, they have become the targets of British imperialism and are still groaning under its shackles. This is the biggest stain on modern civilization. It is also a wish for all ethnic groups to find their own place and contribute to building a new world. Japan, Germany and Italy, which are fighting for order, deeply regret it. The reason why Britain has a huge empire is not only due to its unparalleled hypocrisy and deception and cunning divide and rule policy, but also its military force. Today, Britain's military strongholds in East Asia have been completely destroyed, and its power in Europe has long been dominated by Germany. Axis was cleared, and the British Empire, unwilling to fail, tried to use the Indian and Arab people and their beautiful land to make a desperate struggle... Now India and Arab are in the position of becoming the lackeys of the British Empire and serving them to the end, or rising up to drive away British imperialism. Out of India and Arabia, we will build a crossroads between India and Arabia for the glorious Indians and Arabia for the Arabs... The three countries will resolutely go all out to overthrow British imperialism. If India and Arabia continue to serve as defense strongholds for the dying British Empire, the three countries will It absolutely cannot be ignored.
Japan, Germany and Italy hereby solemnly declare that the three countries have no ambition to replace Britain in India and Arabia. The three countries hope to quickly realize India for Indians and Arabia for Arabs, and look forward to India and Arabia as free nations to make valuable contributions to world culture again as soon as possible. If Indians and Arabs rise up to gain freedom and hope for the assistance of the three countries, the three countries will not hesitate to provide all possible assistance.
... When the British influence in India and Arabia is about to be completely destroyed, the three countries once again hope that all the people of India and Arabia will work hard to smash the British shackles for many years, truly realize India for Indians and Arabia for Arabs, and bravely move forward to realize the great revival and historical rise of India and Arabia!
The fourth volume is over, please look forward to the next volume "Collision: The Contest of Steel"