If you want to talk about the original calculation of the staff officers, they actually had only one idea in their minds at that time, they must continue this war no matter what, and they must not give up the results that the army has achieved before. The purpose of attacking the colonies of European countries in Southeast Asia was to continue the war of aggression against China, which was about to bring Japan down. They need fresh blood from Southeast Asia's resource-producing regions to fill Japan's dried blood vessels so that their war machine can continue to operate and finish this war of conquest against Chinese mainland.

French Indochina was the first springboard chosen by those staff officers, not only because of its special geographical location, but more importantly, because of the Japanese government's bold test of the attitude of European and American countries toward Japan, or to see the bottom line of tolerance of European countries. This is the first time since the end of World War I that the Japanese have extended their claws to the sphere of influence of European countries, and the final result will directly affect the Japanese government's formulation and review of the follow-up strategy. Therefore, the Japanese army has done a lot of preliminary work for this purpose, because the southward expansion plan is related to the core interests of the army, and it absolutely cannot be allowed to fail.

In the face of the French Indochina Federation, the Japanese Army was actually a little frightened at first. The strongest army in the world, the invincible European Army, this is the impression that the French Army has always had in the hearts of the Japanese. France's advanced military technology and strategic and tactical thinking were repeatedly preached by instructors in the classrooms of the Japanese Army Noncommissioned Officer School, and the Japanese army was once obsessed with the French army, not only infantry tactics, but also equipment and clothing accessories were full of strong French style, and even some officers directly brought up French army-style beanies, just like a strong European army. However, the bloody and tragic battlefields of World War I, huge losses and stupid tactics made the aura of the French Army dim, but it was Germany, which rose after the defeat, because of its beautiful uniforms and iron-blooded style, it became the object of the Japanese Army's young officers.

But even the French fever in the army has subsided. However, compared with Japan, France is still extremely powerful, even if the French army is full of ugliness on the European battlefield, but the impression of the strongest army in Europe has long been deeply engraved in the minds of army generals. This is an old imperialist country, and it must not be compared with China, and if a contradiction arises, it is better to solve the problem through diplomatic means, which is the most ideal outcome, and every effort should be made to avoid a military conflict with the Federation of French Indochina unless absolutely necessary. This is the code of conduct set by the top echelons of the Army and the Cabinet. And it was issued to the executive unit in a clear written order.

But then the international situation suddenly changed, France suffered a series of crushing defeats on the European battlefield, and before the Japanese could figure out what was happening, the German Army was already parading in the streets of Paris. The defeat of the French army was so miserable and too fast that the Japanese government made a series of miscalculations, and they felt that their previous plans seemed to be too cautious, and that the strength of France was simply an illusion, and that the country was in fact a foreign power.

As a result, the Japanese government's attitude toward the French colonies changed again, and it not only sent a hard-line military and diplomatic negotiating team. In addition, the armed forces of the Fifth Division were stationed on the Sino-Vietnamese border, which was not only for the purpose of cutting off the flow of materials between China and Vietnam, but also for the purpose of showing force to the French. At this time, the Japanese side tried to exert both military and diplomatic pressure on the French government to maintain the government, and force the French colonial authorities to comply. Agree to non-qualifications that they didn't even dare to mention before. Japan demanded that France open its airfields and ports in northern Vietnam and allow Japanese troops to be stationed and pass through French Indochina territory.

The French government did not make any clear response to the government diplomatic documents sent by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoyo Matsuoka to the French ambassador to Japan, but only asked the then French ambassador to Japan, Anri, to do everything in his power to negotiate with Japan. In fact, it is to let him find a way to drag it out. In the French government at that time, the two factions of Petain and Renault were busy with infighting, and there was no spare energy to take care of the affairs of the small colonies half a world away.

Anri is very honest. He began to push away the grinding with Matsuka, and after going back and forth, Matsuoka also understood that there was nothing to talk about with the French ambassador, the other party had no authorization from the French government at all, and it was a waste of time to talk to him. Matsuoka Yoyo was not a fuel-efficient lamp, and he immediately proposed that the breakthrough should be put on the heads of the French colonial authorities, and that Japan could directly sign an agreement with the colonial authorities, and that once the French colonial government gave in, the army must immediately go out to occupy the vital areas of northern French Indochina, creating a fait accompli, so that when the French government wanted to repent, there would be enough room for litigation.

Moreover, the current situation in France should not last long, the German army is moving straight in, has occupied most of the territory of France, once France surrenders to Germany, then there will be no problems. In Matsuoka's view, there is no doubt that Japan will form an alliance with Germany, and as long as it has Germany's support, the Japanese government will be able to take what these European countries colonize in Asia.

As a result, just when the Japanese side was dreaming of concluding a Triple Alliance and dominating Asia with the Japanese Empire, news suddenly came from Paris, France, that Japanese soldiers had assassinated the German Führer. The Japanese side was really frightened, and this was really no joke, and if this caused a turn against Germany and Japan, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As a result, the Japanese government and the foreign affairs department focused all their attention on negotiating with the German government, and making every effort to make up for the contradictions between the two sides arising from the incident and to reverse the consequences of the incident as much as possible. Negotiations on the French colonies were again temporarily frozen and put aside, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs felt that it was absolutely impossible to provoke the Germans at such a time, and if the French colonies were touched at this time, the Germans might give the Germans the impression that Japan was trying to snatch the German spoils of war, which would obviously deepen the misunderstanding between the two countries.

According to international practice, the question of the French Indochina Federation should indeed ask the Germans for their opinions, although France has not yet formally surrendered to Germany, but at this time Germany must have regarded the French colonies as its sphere of influence, and Japan cannot act too hastily and rashly offend the powerful European hegemon.

In the end, the Japanese envoy met with His Excellency the German Führer, although there were some conflicts of ideas and opinions between the two sides in the negotiation process, but the final result was still gratifying to Japan, Germany agreed not to continue to pursue the matter, and Japan only needs to make some compensation to Germany, and the two sides can continue to maintain good relations in the past, and His Excellency the Führer also personally promised Hiroshi Oshima that he would carefully consider the question of further alliance between the two countries,

This made the Japanese cabinet breathe a sigh of relief, but Konoe Fumiro knew very well that the relationship between Germany and Japan could not be restored to the same as it was a few months ago in a short time, and he also saw that the young German Führer should be a more difficult leader than Hitler, and even if he could not become an ally in the end, he would never be allowed to become an opponent of Japan.

In this incident, the German side showed considerable restraint, did not expand the impact of the incident even more, but chose to do its best to block the news and cover up the truth of the matter, and of course Japan also had to reciprocate, not only severely reprimanded the intelligence chief of the General Staff Headquarters, dismissed several senior officers, and forcibly retired a dozen staff officers, but also the two French squad directly responsible for the basketball court in the backyard of the General Staff Headquarters in the direction of the Emperor's Imperial Garden and apologized in public. Major General Tsuchihashi, director of the Second Department of the General Staff Headquarters, personally used a pistol to explain the mistakes of the two young men, and the scene was solemn, and there was a circle of Japanese officers who were sad about the dead rabbits and foxes on the side.

When the dust settled, the Japanese turned back and prepared to continue to solve the problem of French Indochina. His Excellency did not immediately reply to Japan's request for German support, and Hiroshi Oshima said in his report to Tokyo that the Führer was still angry and that he must not put pressure on the other side at this time, as this would be self-defeating. It is better to hold down for a while, and when the time is ripe, we will exchange views with the German diplomatic department in this regard, and I believe that the German side will not refuse the request of Japan, an ally, for the sake of France.

By this time, Japan had slowly realized what terrible strength Germany would accumulate in the event of victory in the European theater, and the clamor of the Japanese people for an alliance between Japan and Germany was growing with the successive victories of the Wehrmacht. At this time, there was a German craze in Japan again, and the portrait of the young and handsome German Führer became a bestseller in bookstores, and various products with German motifs on the outer packaging sold much better than similar products. German Ambassador Eugene. General Ott has become a celebrity in Japan's upper-class social circle, and he is constantly invited to banquets every day, and he is drunk and dead every day, and he is extremely happy.

On the side of French Indochina, the Japanese began to increase their pressure, although they had not yet received German assurances, but they believed that it was only a matter of time, and the Japanese Army decided that this thorny problem must be solved as soon as possible, because they knew that the Fifth Division was really unable to hold on.

This division is the main force of the Japanese Army, and it has been incorporated into the sequence of the Southern Army, which is an elite corps formed by the Japanese Army specifically for the implementation of the southward expansion plan. Now the Fifth Division is stuck in Nanning, what makes the Japanese feel even more headache is that they have no way to replace the garrison in the control area, don't look at the straight line distance from Qinzhou Port to Nanning is not even 100 kilometers, but that piece is all undulating mountains, the road can only go through the mountains in a tortuous way, the road conditions at that time do not want to be in the 21st century, the road can only be built along the original terrain, the actual distance from Qinzhou to Nanning, at least four times longer.

If a smoother supply route could not be opened, any troops would be in the same predicament as the Fifth Division. The best way to deal with it is to supply materials and mobilize troops through the French colonies, because with the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Yunnan-Vietnam Highway as the backbone, and the more well-equipped Haiphong Port as the backing, plus Vietnam's local grain and agricultural products, even if it is to supply four or five corps such as the Fifth Division, there is no problem. Now it will be up to the French to say yes or not.

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Thank you all (to be continued.) )