Capítulo 24: Planning 5
During World War II, Germany found two unreliable allies in the original timeline.
When Germany was enjoying a smooth sailing period, these allies were cheering from behind and often faltered in crucial moments. As Germany's defeat became apparent in the later stages of the war, they immediately switched sides and joined the anti-*** camp. I won't go into the details about Italy's involvement.
Japan, on the other hand, had a slightly stronger power and performed better. At that time, there were no strong nations in Asia, allowing Japan to dominate the region.
After the outbreak of World War II, Japan had a remarkable presence in Asia, comparable to Germany's prominence. However, as an ally, Japan's direct support to Germany was minimal, primarily manifesting in strategic aspects.
Japan tied down Soviet forces in the Far East, forming a strategic deterrent against Britain and France, and even making the United States think twice about intervening. But that was about it. It was only during the Pacific War that Japan provided limited (yet significant) military assistance to Germany by attacking Western countries' colonies such as Britain and the Netherlands.
Although Japan's actions caused some territorial losses and casualties to countries like Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands, their behavior was undoubtedly foolish. In other words, the Japanese were acting recklessly.
Britain, France, and the United States formed a pincer movement against Japan in Asia. The United States, being Japan's major trading partner, froze all military resource trades with Japan.
Japan, as a resource-deficient "small country," immediately faced an oil crisis when the freeze from the United States arrived. The reserves within Japan could only last for six months. If the issue wasn't resolved promptly, the majority of Japan's warships, tanks, and cars would be immobilized, pushing them into a situation of defeat without even engaging in battle.
How could they escape this predicament? Japan had only two options at that time: either obediently follow the United States' instructions and become its puppet, seeking a thaw in trade relations, or confront the United States directly, considering that if the United States refused to sell, Japan would "seize" it on their own.
Of course, as we all know, Japan ultimately chose the latter option. Besides subjective factors, to a large extent, it was due to the Japanese people's "gambling mentality."
It's worth noting that Japan had become a major world power through two previous wars (the First Sino-Japanese War, which made Japan the leader in Asia, and the Russo-Japanese War, which established Japan as a global power). Once again, they couldn't resist the temptation. If they launched a powerful strike against the United States, they believed they could tip the scales and potentially become the dominant power in the Pacific overnight.
Since they were preparing for an attack, the next step was to choose the target.
At that time, they had three options: the United States mainland, Wake Island or Guam, and Hawaii.
However, the United States mainland was far away and vast, making it impossible for Japan to quickly occupy it. While Wake Island and Guam were also important American bases in the Pacific and closer to Japan, they were too small. On average, these two islands were only a few hundred square kilometers in size, with only a few hundred soldiers stationed there. If Japan captured these islands, they would gain little advantage, but it would likely provoke the wrath of the American people, leading to the outbreak of war. Instead of choosing that path, it was better to target the location of the largest fleet in the Pacific—the "Pearl Harbor" in Hawaii—for the attack.
Japan believed that since it was not possible to occupy American territory, attacking Pearl Harbor and engaging in war with the United States was the best choice. By launching a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan could prevent the rapid recovery and participation of the US Pacific Fleet, gaining early naval and air superiority. This would ensure the safety of Japan's southern advance and demoralize the US Navy and its people, eliminating the possibility of a sudden attack on Japanese territory.
The planner of the pre-war surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, believed that a successful attack would bring Japan about a year of strategic advantage. By the time the United States recovered, Japan would have already concluded its wars in East Asia and Southeast Asia, making negotiations with the United States much easier.
In this way, Japan gave the tiger a hard slap, pulling out a few whiskers and causing the tiger to wince in pain, revealing its fierce fangs and claws.
Since Germany and Japan were allies and bound together, Germany had no choice but to declare war on the United States. They were the textbook definition of unreliable allies!
If this space-time Japan could also slap the face of the United States, Wilhelm wouldn't mind bringing some business to Japan. But he always felt that those idiots would definitely challenge Germany in the future.
But if Japan dared to overestimate its capabilities and take action, its failure would be a certainty. Wilhelm was even looking forward to the scenario of a joint Eurasian-African force besieging the American continent.
He also knew what kind of weapons these Japanese people had developed on their own, and it was better to learn from their neighboring Italy than from them.
Except for the Zero fighter, the 50 mm mortar, oxygen-powered torpedoes, and incendiary bombs carried by large hydrogen balloons, the rest were just rubbish.
Even the Zero fighter, which was interesting for the Axis powers (basically modifying piston-engined fighters in the war, except for those Nazi jet rockets), owed most of its early advantages to the excellent pilots. Among all the countries involved in World War II, Japanese military personnel had the highest status in their country, similar to finance and civil servants today. Naturally, there was no lack of talent, and the remnants of the samurai spirit were also factors to consider. The design of the Zero fighter was quite extreme, and once the enemy understood its structural characteristics, it was in big trouble.
For example, the Zero fighter had difficulty making right turns at high speeds, which the American Empire took advantage of to neutralize the Japanese aircraft's maneuverability. There were many types of bear aircraft; if it weren't for being ambushed by the little mustache, their research and development and manufacturing capabilities would have been much stronger. Among them were many excellent and classic aircraft, with regular pilots and a strong training system, unlike the Japanese, where if an experienced old fighter died, the young ones could only resort to Kamikaze attacks. As for bombers and dive bombers, the Japanese didn't have many models worth mentioning.
The mortar was a unique infantry weapon of the Japanese Army and was even regarded by the American military as the "only commendable Japanese infantry weapon." From the design characteristics and combat performance, the Japanese mortar was more like a light mortar that omitted a tripod and sighting device, using visual aiming and manual firing. The firing angle and direction of the mortar were entirely adjusted by manpower, so this weapon required highly skilled gunners. Only through long-term training could they use it proficiently, making mortar operators usually experienced and veteran soldiers who were difficult to replace if they were injured or killed.
As for oxygen-powered torpedoes and large hydrogen balloons, we will discuss them in more detail later.
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