Due to the lag in intelligence and information transmission, Horiyoshi, who was still sitting in the direction of Hawaii, did not understand the "Doomsday Judgment" operation, and what he received was a report of a bloody battle between the main fleet of the Axis and the Atlantic Fleet, and both sides were defeated.

But what puzzled everyone was that such a big and cheerful good news didn't show much joy on Hori's face, but instead looked gloomy and full of preoccupations, and he locked himself in the cabin of the Yamato and pondered it vigorously, and no one else, including Tsukahara, knew his attitude.

There was only one thing that everyone was sure of: the Chief's mood did not want to be so good, or even worse.

The people who were baffled didn't know how to speak, and finally pushed Chiaki Matsuda, who knew the chief's mind best, to inquire about the situation, and there must be a root behind this abnormal mood that everyone didn't know.

"Sir, are you still sad about the price that the domestic lion is asking for?"

Horikichi shook his head: "This matter is in the past, and the really tricky thing is in the future"

In Hori's view, the asking price of $100 billion is impossible for the United States to agree, and he is completely crazy, and he can't figure out why there are cautious factions such as Minoru Higashikunomiya, Ishihara, and Yamamoto in charge, and the cabinet would still put forward such unrealistic goals. But then it became clear that this was the tone that Hirohito set at the meeting.

As soon as Horikichi went to sea, Hirohito, who had no one to restrain him, began to be active again, and the government and the opposition were anxious to take Hawaii for a long time, and finally the navy was very satisfied with the continuous supply of materials because of the ransom policy, and according to the requirements of the navy, in addition to the sale of these materials in Shanghai, all items suitable for personal and family use should be distributed in the country to commend meritorious soldiers and compensate the families of the war dead.

This routine was learned by Horiyoshi from Germany's move of distributing spoils of war according to medals, which was originally intended to stimulate morale and soothe the people, but there was a national situation that he ignored intentionally or unintentionally: Germany is a developed capitalist country, and although the people are happy to distribute this spoils, they are not so excited about it that they can't help themselves; Japan is a country that is accustomed to suffering, except for a handful of chaebols, the rest of the people from top to bottom see that these Americans are leaking from their fingers with red skin and green eyes, which stimulates greed even more.

In addition, the army was already suffering from the fact that it could not use its strength because the war in all aspects was basically over, and it put forward the request of "attacking Australia and New Zealand", believing that the Americans could not maintain it in the western Pacific at all, and that "Tianyufu would take the blame for it", and the Kwantung Army relied on the newly made equipment to constantly show off its might on the border of East Russia, and also had the intention of advancing northward.

In order to explain to the government and the opposition, the demand for $100 billion in compensation was released against this background. Of course, the base camp also knows that this is impossible, but in order to stop the mouths of the people below, they can only sing high-pitched.

Although Horikichi resolutely opposes this kind of lion's big mouth, the people and the grassroots do not know the actual situation, but think that Horiyokishi, who is besieging Hawaii and continuously providing supplies to the country, is "Japan's savior of the world". Fortunately, everyone's brains have not been completely broken, and no one dares to mention the name of "General Zhengyi", otherwise Hori Yiji will go to "Jingjing".

"In the future," Chiaki Matsuda muttered, "If it weren't for the Americans to buy them every day, the two islands of Hawaii would have been in the pockets of our army, and now the Americans are in a hurry and even the officers and pilots are being ransomed, is it unimaginable that this kind of force is still effective?" ”

Horikichi shook his head: "What you see is that the Americans are stupidly saving people who don't need to be saved, what I see is the strategy of the United States, if I hadn't gone to Tarawa to save people, would there have been the combat effectiveness of Keiji Shibasaki and the Marine Corps?" Did I look stupid at the time? ”

Chiaki Matsuda subconsciously retorted, "Our army in Tarawa is at least fighting until the last moment, and the Americans won't fight."

"If Americans are really as afraid of death as you say, why do they refuse to make peace after so many years of fighting? And knowing that the balance of strength is very unfavorable, isn't it the style of the army red deer to rush forward and die? ”

Chiaki Matsuda sneered: Brave and fearless and jade smashing pig are actually only a thin line, and it is not easy to distinguish them finely.

"Okay, I know what you think, you probably came to ask me about my abnormal behavior in the past two days." Horikichi sighed, "According to many people's thoughts, the battle between the United States and Germany in the Caribbean was fought well, and after the battle, not only did the United States almost lose its main navy, but Germany was also greatly damaged, and even speculated whether Ozawa-kun did it on purpose."

"Well," Chiaki Matsuda commented, "I'm sure he won't have such dishonorable thoughts." ”

"I'm sure Ozawa-kun won't either, but that's the case, if you were a German high-level, would you have other ideas?"

Matsuda's face stiffened slightly.

"The second point is that your complacent so-called Imperial Navy has become the strongest in the world, surpassing the sum of the second and third places is very dangerous in my opinion," Horikichi shook his head and said, "Many people seem to have forgotten how our army's combat effectiveness came from, without the million-ton merchant ships and oil tankers provided by Germany and European countries, without the advanced fighters and other equipment provided by Germany, and without the assistance given by Germany in personnel training, the combined fleet has such a strong strength?" Without the armed barrier of the Combined Fleet, can a few million army red deer hold the current territory and trophies? ”

Chiaki Matsuda agreed, but was still a little confused: "Germany still has a good relationship with us, so it shouldn't be stuck in this regard, right?" In the aftermath of the Tokai earthquake, Germany also stepped up its assistance with aircraft and key equipment. ”

"Of course, the relationship is good, but I owe a lot of money," Horikichi sneered, "If the Germans force us to pay off our debts, do you plan to pay them back?" ”

"This" Matsuda Chiaki's face was very embarrassed, and he said that if he didn't pay it back, the Germans would easily cut off the follow-up armaments, and said that he would return it, where to find so much money?

"No wonder the Commander agreed that the Americans would buy off the civilians and military personnel of Hawaii."

"Fighting a war is about making money, and if you only think about how to make weapons and don't think about how the funds come from, even if you succeed for a while, it will be difficult to be effective." Horikiyoshi said, "Relying on Hawaii's funds can only sustain the consumption of the combined fleet during the expedition, and it takes great wisdom to really pay off the debt." ”

"For example"

"Give back the southern part of Indochina to the French, and let the French pay off part of our debt to Germany; Negotiate peace with the Americans, pay off the debts to Germany after the necessary security guarantees from the United States, according to you, the United States is now being beaten to a stumbling block, what are we afraid of? ”

Chiaki Matsuda was speechless: At the beginning, the Caribbean Battle was not fought, the US Atlantic Fleet still had good strength, and the senior admirals of the Navy thought that the demand for 130 billion reparations was indeed too high, and now that the war is over, the United States has suffered many casualties, not to mention 130 billion, many people think that the price of 200 billion should be.

"Sir, I can understand what you say, but it's a pity that the country may not be willing to listen, not to mention that the radicals can't listen to it, even the moderate faction like Minister Yamamoto and Chief Ishihara may not be able to accept it, although they are politicians, they are still soldiers in their bones."

"This is where I suffer, with the reversal of naval strength, the US military is further weakened, and the United States and Germany are getting closer and closer. The German Führer is much more rational than you think, he never had the idea of conquering the United States, he did not even annex France and England close to him, how could he fight with the Americans to the point of irreconcilability? Don't you think that attitudes in Germany are quietly starting to change? We asked Germany for rocket technology, but the other side did not refuse to give it, but put forward a high price, and stated that this amount could not be indebted, because France paid the cash. Now that the naval strength has reversed, it is difficult to guarantee that Germany will not have other ideas. Horiyoshi glanced out of the gunwale, "For example, in the era of the Three Kingdoms of China, Wu and Shu were close allies against Wei, but there was still the Battle of Yiling between Wu and Shu, and now the strength of the United States is not as strong as that of Wei, and the strength of Germany is stronger than that of Wu, and it is very dangerous for us to be caught in the middle." Can Wei and Wu unite, can Wei and Shu unite? Ito Junichi pointed out the danger of this situation in his investigation report, and we must guard against it! ”

Chiaki Matsuda was shocked: he immediately understood Horikichi's worries, and was afraid that Japan would become the target of public criticism. As long as the United States and Germany are given a year to recuperate and build ships, they are guaranteed to be able to return to the point of balance of strength, and Japan is far inferior in terms of stamina.

"So what is the Chief's idea?"

"I want to go to the country as soon as possible, and the Hawaii campaign will be commanded by Tsukahara-kun, anyway, he is better than me in the war."

"That's fine." Chiaki Matsuda nodded in agreement, "The current dynamics of the center are incomprehensible, you really shouldn't be out with troops for a long time. ”

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