Chapter 70: Between the Peace and War (16)

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While the Joint Chiefs of Staff was painstakingly judging the authenticity of the "Strange Man of the High Castle" plan and discussing how to deal with it, the second negotiation between Dulles and Ribbentrop was held in Lisbon, Portugal.

With regard to the second round of negotiations, the German side has given a premise basis: if the United States still insists on the original conditions, there is no need for negotiations to begin.

After the Battle of the Caribbean and the Oak Ridge Raid, Dulles, as a veteran diplomat, of course, knew that the German side had gained a significant psychological advantage, and that he had no choice but to anticipate the deterioration of the situation, so he tried his best to persuade Dewey to accept more realistic and harsher conditions. With room for dialogue and negotiation, the Portuguese and the Swiss who deliver the message have room to move around.

Dulles considered the second round of negotiations very clearly, and even prepared some new and unauthorized conditions to be thrown out when the timing was unfavorable, and at the same time he also wanted to hear about the progress of Germany's nuclear program from the CIA's spy network in Europe, but the Germans obviously did not leak anything, except for the vague knowledge that there was an important German scientific research base near Penemünde. But even if it knew the news of Peneminde, the United States had no means to attack, so it could only sigh with admiration. This was in stark contrast to the German attack on the Manhattan Project, but on the surface, Dulles was trying to show that he was in control of everything and that he had no need to worry about Oak Ridge.

"Old friend, I didn't expect us to meet so soon." Ribbentrop's face was full of spring breeze, as if he were not meeting negotiators from hostile countries, but rather with diplomats from the Axis camp.

The first question made Dulles frown, "I wonder when your country plans to resume the excavation of the Panama Canal?" ”

"Recovery?" As if he had heard the best joke in the world, Dulles smiled and asked, "Are you kidding me?" ”

Ribbentrop feigned surprise and asked, "You don't want to recover?" The East Coast never wants to send a ship to protect the West Coast and Hawaii? ”

Dulles immediately found something special about it and showed a playful smile: "It seems that your country does not approve of Japan's invasion of Hawaii?" ”

"We don't agree with Japan's complete occupation of Hawaii, but we don't agree with Japan having nothing to gain, you know, from the position of the Axis, we welcome all of Japan's actions to weaken the United States, but from the position of the same Western countries, you know ......" Ribbentrop said very directly, "Today we are negotiating in secret, and we can meet frankly, so I don't want to use diplomatic rhetoric with you, that is a waste of each other's time, and this sentence just now is our best expression of sincerity." I also know that you are secretly negotiating peace with Japan, and we are not interested in this, so you don't have to use this means to pressure us. ”

Dulles nodded: It is one thing to guess that there is a little problem in Japanese-German relations, and it is another thing for the Germans to openly admit that they are even willing to show themselves in front of the United States, but it is indeed as Ribbentrop said - the Germans have "sincerity"!

"Panama we must control, but we do not have the desire and ambition to control alone. You have to be clear that as long as Panama is in our hands and international condominium is realized, Japan can rest assured, otherwise, what do you think Japan will think of the German-American peace? "The Panama question is a core issue that cannot be avoided between Germany, the United States, and Japan. ”

"We don't necessarily recover, if we don't adequately guarantee our interests."

"For Germany, there is no harm in not opening the Panama Canal, but for Japan it is an undesirable act, after all, the Panama Canal is not a threat to us, but it is a great threat to Japan......"

Dulles asked tentatively: "Assuming that Germany and Japan are still at war after the German-American peace, what action will Germany take?" ”

"We will maintain our armed neutrality."

"Armed neutrality?"

"The Japanese-German alliance will be maintained, but we will not take the policy of direct military help and armed intervention, and the European axis forces will not use military means against the North American continent ......"

"I know that...... I mean, what is the attitude of Germany to the war with Japan through the Panama Canal? ”

"Of course, but the Japanese fleet can also go to the Caribbean Sea through ......the Panama Canal," Ribbentrop smiled, "as long as you pay the standard navigation fee, we can let it go, and even for the belligerents, we will take additional neutral protection measures to prevent one side from being attacked by the other side during the navigation process." ”

Dulles understood what Ribbentrop meant, and his face was very solemn: If the United States insists on not sending engineers and providing relevant materials, the opening of the Panama Canal will be far away, and even if the Germans occupy Panama, it will be meaningless, but if Panama is not opened for a day, the communication between the two oceans and the deployment of forces by the United States will be hindered, and the economic factors of whether or not to open it and the cost of navigation will only be a small one, and political and military factors will be the main one.

"If the United States does not agree to open it, we will regard it as your country giving up the use of the Panama Canal, and will dredge and control it separately, then the United States will be excluded from the related countries, and Japan will be among the international condominium members, in other words, Japan will have the right of veto on whether your ship can pass through the Panama Canal, and then Japan will have a separate navigation right......"

This statement put Dulles in a dilemma: if the Panama Canal is not dredged, the American fleet will not be able to pass, and if it is dredged, the canal condominium system under German control will allow the Japanese fleet to pass through, although from the size and navigability of the Panama Canal, Japan's three super battleships cannot pass, but other warships can pass, assuming that Japan and Germany join forces, it is a great threat to the defense of the two oceans of the United States. Moreover, Dulles discussed with the Joint Chiefs of Staff before his departure that the opening of the Panama Canal would involve a more troublesome issue - the successful dredging of the canal also meant that it would be easier for Japan to obtain supplies from Germany.

Now if you want to fight Japan, you must pass through the waterways controlled by Germany, whether it is a bypass to the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn or the Panama Canal, all under the nose of Germany, without the nod of the German side, there are major problems in the communication between the two oceans and the projection of military power of the United States.

Germany and the United States were not the only ones who recognized this problem, and Horikichi sent a similar analysis to Tokyo in a telegram: "German-American peace, even the most just and neutral plan, is actually beneficial to the United States, because the factors restricting the United States from projecting power on the west coast do not exist, and the United States can use its national forces against Japan -- this is the key to Japan's demand for Germany and Germany's dependence on Japan, and it is also the key difference between active and passive in Japan-German relations......

He saw it very clearly: It is absolutely impossible for Japan to repay its debts to Germany, Germany does not need to actually take action against Japan, and as long as the conditions for the United States are relaxed a little, Japan will be in big trouble, and it is possible to solve this problem unless Japan and the United States join forces -- this is a much lower probability than that of Germany and the United States.

This situation made Dulles feel very difficult.

(End of chapter)

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