Chapter 136 Japan's Choice

A huge seaplane flew over the sky of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, to show the German Empire's future allies its strength - the world's largest aircraft, with 12 powerful engines and capable of flying at speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour. This aircraft could be described as an "industrial miracle" in 1928. Its appearance immediately attracted countless gazes, and even Emperor Showa boarded the balcony of Akasaka Palace (a Western-style palace) accompanied by Admiral Saito Makoto, the privy counselor.

"It's really big, bigger than the Soviet plane that attacked on May 10, right?" Emperor Showa went to Germany a few years ago and met with a group of young military officers who served as military attachés in European countries. At that time, Germany was in the most miserable time after its defeat, but it still made the emperor feel the strength of Germany's industrial strength. Germany's cars, railways, airplanes and large-scale factories in the Ruhr area are far from comparable to Japan.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Saito, who was old and had served as a military attaché in the United States and participated in the naval disarmament conference, was a gentle and honest admiral and a supporter of the "treaty faction" (advocating compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty and opposing blind expansion of armaments).

"In fact, the bombers used by the Soviets to threaten us were also provided by the Germans..." Admiral Saito Makoto told the emperor in a gentle tone, "Our military attaché in Germany reported that the Germans provided the Soviet Union with at least 200 (this number was exaggerated) J.28s in the form of scattered exports. These aircraft are actually bomber-type."

"200!" The emperor took a breath. Now Japan has no fighter jets that can deal with this kind of Soviet bomber. If there are 200, can the Soviet Union really not afford to provoke it?

"But this violates the Treaty of Versailles." The emperor muttered in a low voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Saito said, "but no one will pursue it."

"Why?"

"Because the current situation in Europe is very complicated, and the Allies are already divided. Britain and Germany have close relations, and Italy has also benefited from the "in-kind compensation", so it will support Germany. The United States pursues isolation and is unwilling to interfere too much in Europe. Poland is also seeking to improve its relations with Germany because of the simultaneous rise of the Soviet Union and Germany to avoid a three-front war (and a Baltic). In this case, France does not have the power to pursue Germany's violation of the treaty alone. And France itself has a force seeking to improve relations with Germany..."

The Emperor asked: "So, if we start military cooperation with the Germans, Britain and the United States will not interfere?"

"The United States may ask," Saito replied, "but what can they do to Germany? What can they do to us, Japan?"

...

At this time, Hersman was also overlooking Tokyo from the air. The city is dotted with beautiful parks and ancient temples, as well as a few magnificent palaces. The rest is a large area of ​​slums, all low matchbox-like wooden houses and brand new Western-style buildings - these Western-style buildings are not all newly built, but have been repaired after the earthquake a few years ago.

That earthquake, as well as the previous Siberian intervention, dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese economy, but this hard-working country, which had taken the lead in industrializing its Asian neighbors, has recovered after several years of hard work.

But at this moment, the country suddenly found itself at an important historical turning point again.

"General, our allies are at a critical juncture that will determine the future and destiny of the country." As the plane flew to Yokosuka Naval Base, Hersman withdrew his eyes from the messy and dilapidated urban area of ​​Tokyo and looked at Karl Haushofer.

"They can either go south or west!" Hersman said carefully, "Their neighbor China already has a truly powerful regime. In time, it will be a government that can unite 200 million people. If Japan chooses to go west, it must act immediately, otherwise it will lose its chance.

If they choose to go south, they must maintain good relations with the new Chinese government. And their choice is also extremely critical to us!"

"The National Government in Wuhan..." Karl Haushofer shook his head slightly, "It's really a trouble!"

The Wuhan National Government is indeed troublesome. During the Northern Expedition, many radical policies made the powers very annoying. Also, because the concessions in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Jiujiang and Wuhan had direct conflicts with the powers, some concessions were taken back, which also attracted the intervention of the powers-of course, most of the powers can't take care of China now, and it is impossible to send a large intervention army to China. Only Japan has this ability, and they also sent troops to Shanghai and Xuzhou! At the same time, they also blocked the southern coast of China and inspected merchant ships from various countries in and out to prevent the import of arms.

However, there are as many as 32 transport ships in the Soviet fleet that came with the "Karl Marx" and the "Paris Commune", all of which are estimated to be fully loaded with arms! If these 32 ships of arms fall into the hands of the Wuhan government, it will be very difficult for Japan to intervene. That's why Japan proposed to intercept the Soviet fleet, but the emergence of "TB Express" made them timid again. After all, it is 1928, not 1941, and Japan is not that crazy yet.

But if Japan misses the "historical opportunity" in front of it, it may never be able to invade China! Because after the setback in the Northern Expedition, the Wuhan government announced that it would launch a 10-year land reform movement in its own jurisdiction - basically the area south of the Huaihe River, currently excluding Sichuan and Yunnan and Guizhou, and not including the urban area of ​​Shanghai - with the goal of realizing "those who till the land own the land".

Once "those who till the land own the land" is realized, the Wuhan government's control and mobilization of the people will be greatly enhanced! At that time, the Wuhan government will be an enemy that is difficult to shake!

"They are a trouble!" Hersman smiled and nodded, "A big trouble with a population of 200 million! If the Japanese do not make up their minds to fight a national war in recent years. Then they can only give up the westward advance and choose to go south. So this big trouble is actually a good thing for us."

Hersman certainly hopes that Japan will give up conquering China as soon as possible, so that they can prepare to go south wholeheartedly - if the September 18th Incident is excluded, which brought huge benefits to Japan, their benefits in the 8-year war of aggression against China are definitely a huge negative number. In this time and space, if the Japanese still wanted to start a war on September 18, 1931, they would most likely fall into a pit from which they could never get out.

"So Japan had to make a choice before 1938?" Karl Haushofer understood what Hirschmann meant.

If the Wuhan National Government was given another 10 years, they would not only complete the land reform, but also establish an industrial system that could sustain the operations of millions of light infantrymen - for a government that could complete the land reform with an iron fist, this was not difficult at all.

Because China still had more than 2 billion ounces of silver at that time, as long as a currency reform was completed, the government could collect a large amount of silver coins, enough to purchase machinery and equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars (equivalent to 420 million marks) from abroad.

By then, Japan would no longer be able to conquer China, and the current Wuhan government still had foreign aid like the Soviet Union...

At this time, Hirschmann felt the plane suddenly shake, and he looked out the window, and the plane was already gliding on the sea surface of Yokohama Port. Soon, he would meet his Japanese friends.

"No, we can't let them wait until 1930 to make a choice!" Hessman looked at the Western buildings and dozens of large and small ships in Yokosuka Port and said lightly, "I want them to make a choice within a few days! If they want to conquer China, then I will leave Japan immediately... Let the Japanese fall into the quagmire of China, and I don't care about their Asian affairs!

If they give up conquering China, then I will let Heinkel (an aircraft company established in 1922, the scale cannot be compared with Fokker and Junkers, but Hessman decided to support Heinkel) cooperate with Japan and teach them to make advanced fighters and bombers."

In fact, Hessman's policy is to force the Japanese to give up the westward advance-historically, the Chiang Kai-shek National Government resisted Japan for a full eight years. Now it has been replaced by the millions of land reform soldiers of the Wuhan government. If the Japanese are trapped, there will be no Pacific War. What is there for Germany and Japan to cooperate?

And without Japan's help, it would be even more difficult for Hessman to defeat American imperialism...

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