Japan has always had very high expectations for the establishment of a German-Japanese alliance, and the most enthusiastic about this idea is the strength of the Japanese army, on the contrary, there has always been a force in the Japanese navy that opposes it, represented by a group of high-ranking officers who studied in Britain and learned the United States.

After Germany's victory over Britain and France, the call for an alliance in the army became louder, and the Japanese seemed to see the hope of dominating Asia, believing that with the support of the Third Reich, Japan could expel all the traditional European colonial powers from Asia without any scruples.

As long as Japan occupies the British, French, and Dutch colonies, which are rich in metal and oil resources, Japan will be able to continue the difficult Sino War, and eventually create an "Asiatic Asia" with the Japanese occupying absolute dominance.

The so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere has already appeared in Japan, but it has not yet been officially publicized, because Japan also knows that such rhetoric will inevitably provoke many Western powers and even cause a backlash from the entire white society. Japan is not ready to challenge all the strong enemies, and at present it can only lower its stature, and only after accumulating enough strength, it will give the strong enemy a thunderous blow, and then send the enemy into hell with one blow.

Japan's plan for southward expansion was officially put on the table after the German troops landed in Britain in early September, and the planned South Asian raiders had already begun to assemble along the coasts of Shanghai and Zhejiang, and the army had even concentrated a group of staff officers and sent them to the island of Taiwan, where they carried out research and experiments in tropical operations in the tropical rainforest.

The Japanese Cabinet estimates that it will take about a year for all the preparations to be completed. In addition to the mobilization of troops, the replenishment of troops, the adaptation of tactical training in accordance with the local environment, and the joint combat exercises of the army and navy, etc., have all come down to the ground, and the preparation time is actually very rushed.

The problem is that most of Japan's current plans are based on the international environment of Germany's overall pro-Japanese strategy. The Japanese side hoped that after the start of the war, Germany would contain the hostile forces in Europe and the Americas for Japan.

Without the support of Germany, Japan's actions would be tantamount to challenging the entire white Western world, and even the craziest Japanese staff officers would not dare to make such a decision.

Therefore, Germany's every move will affect Japan's subsequent national strategy, and Japanese military and political officials cannot help but feel flustered about Germany's sudden dispatch of a mission to China.

Germany is clearly not following the path Japan had expected, and the German Führer's sudden interest in Asia is not good news for Japan. The fact that Germany was extending its tentacles to the Asian colonies of various European countries, and that Japanese intelligence services had discovered traces of German armed forces all over Asia, could not help but make Japan somewhat suspicious of its attitude towards Germany.

Could it be that Germany was ready to become an enemy of Japan? Theoretically, this should not be the case, but Japan and Germany have always maintained close and good relations, and apart from a few recent unexpected conflicts, there has never been a single red-faced incident. Countless Japanese army officers have gone to Germany to study military affairs, and Germany's heroes and famous generals are also admired by Japanese soldiers, and the Japanese regard Germany as a mentor and friend in a foreign land, which is the intention of the subjects of the whole country.

Is Germany going to abandon Japan as a friend? This thought flashed in the hearts of many people, and when they thought about the consequences it would cause, it made people shudder. Germany already controlled most of Europe, France and Britain had become allies with it, and if Germany turned to Japan, Japan would have to face not a single power, but perhaps an entire European coalition.

Japan's navy can guarantee that its opponents will be kept out of Asia for a short time, but no one can say how long this will last. Let's not forget that Japan has two other powerful enemies, eyeing this tiny island nation at both ends of the Pacific Ocean.

Although the Soviet Union in the north intended to reconcile with Japan, the Japanese were well aware of the character of the Russian nation and absolutely could not trust it, and they must always be vigilant against this giant beast, and the Japanese Army had long been ready to realize that no matter what happened, the border defense between Korea and Manchukuo could not be relaxed at any time.

Another powerful enemy is the United States on the other side of the ocean, Japan has long recognized the true face of this country that claims to be free, while reading aloud the declaration against the war, but at the same time constantly sending the strategic materials that Japan urgently needs to Japan's hands, and the Japanese soldiers threw their blood in China to seize the results and resources, of which at least 30% fell into the pockets of those greedy American chaebols.

There is no justice in this world of the jungle, and the capitalists and plutocrats only have eternal interests in their eyes, and if they can make enough profits, they can even make a deal with the devil, even if they need to sell their own souls.

There are many people in Japan who hold the idea that almost all the great powers in the history of the West have relied on war and plunder to rise rapidly, and that Japan is only adhering to the law of the jungle of the Western powers and forging ahead along the path of success. Now you murderous imperialists have taken off their bloody cloak and put on the faces of civilized gentlemen, and have begun to accuse Japan of waging a war of aggression, without thinking that what Japan is doing now is actually what they did in the past.

This kind of rhetoric is very hidden, and it is very marketable among some simple-minded people, and it seems to make sense, but in fact it is a trick to steal concepts and excuse themselves for war crimes. To put it bluntly, it was a small robber who complained that he was suppressed by a group of big robbers, and the Japanese even felt that they were quite aggrieved.

The attitude of the United States towards the Sino-Japanese war has always wavered, and this has a lot to do with its domestic political struggle, Roosevelt's New Deal did not make much improvement in the American economy, and the domestic isolationist ideology once occupied a dominant position, and the Americans believe that anything that happens outside their homeland has nothing to do with the United States, and refuse to intervene in any foreign conflict, in their opinion, the most important thing at present is to restructure the country's economy, and it is better to do more business if they have that leisure.

In fact, the United States does not have much interest in China, and it entered the Chinese market too late, and it is not as deeply entrenched as the old imperialists, so it has been clamoring for an open door and equal interests, but in fact, it is to see that most of the share of the Chinese market is shared by other European powers.

American capital has been cruising on the fringes of the circle of interests in the Republic of China, and has not established much of the real economy on this land, and most of the time it only does some raw material import and export trade in the gap between Britain and France.

From the opening of China's doors to 1940, the total investment of the United States in China was only $110 million, while his investment in Japan exceeded $170 million during the same period.

More importantly, the United States had little interest in developing the economically backward Far East markets, which they regarded as a source of raw materials for production, and the bulk of American trade at this time was business with Europe. Fifty percent of the United States' exports are sold to European countries, and compared with the Asian market, which only accounts for 12 percent of its foreign trade exports, the Americans' commercial and trade interests are more concerned about Europe's commercial interests, and this is one of the major reasons why the United States has historically chosen the strategy of Europe first and then Asia.

And now, Japan's strong rise in Asia has aroused the vigilance of the US officials, the country's degree of industrialization is getting higher and higher, the export products have begun to seize the share that originally belonged to the United States, the practice of monopolizing the Chinese market has seriously infringed on the interests of American businessmen, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is a piece of meat, coupled with the superiority of the white race, being squeezed out of the market by a group of Asian yellow skin, which is really unacceptable to their psychology.

The attitude of the United States toward Japan is rapidly cooling, and one is that the United States has found that Japan's oil and water have almost been squeezed dry, the wartime economy has seriously damaged normal business activities, the economy has shown signs of a decline, and the United States has found it difficult for its products to enter the Japanese market. Originally, Japan was the largest source of raw silk in the United States, and the export volume accounted for more than ninety percent of the total raw silk imported by the United States, but with the continuation of the war, the export volume of Japanese textile raw materials began to decline rapidly, and American producers had to start looking for other sources of raw materials, and Japan was no longer so important to the United States.

Another reason is that because of the end of the war in Europe, the threat to the United States in the Atlantic direction is increasing day by day, and the US government is considering shifting the focus of national defense to the east coast, and the corresponding defense forces on the west coast are bound to be weakened to a very low level for a period of time. Therefore, in order to safeguard US national security in the Pacific direction, the United States believes that it is necessary to strike at Japan in advance and defeat Japan's arrogance while the current situation can be controlled.

This island nation currently has the world's second-largest navy, and it has always regarded the US Navy as its ultimate imaginary enemy all year round; once it takes advantage of the decline in the US defense capability in the Asia-Pacific region, if it makes some small moves with a hot head, it will inevitably pose a serious threat to US national security.

At this time, the Americans were glad that the Japanese Empire had a weakness that could not be bypassed, that is, this small island was poor in resources, and 90 percent of the raw materials and energy needed to be imported from abroad. With the information currently available to the Americans, most of the country's strategic reserves have been depleted, and now it is only necessary to cut off its source of resources, and there is no fear that it will not be obedient. Because if there is no fuel, no matter how powerful the ship is, it is just a piece of scrap metal floating on the sea.

At present, the international situation facing Japan is already very grim, and if Germany changes its diplomatic attitude toward Japan at the very moment when the United States begins to exert pressure on Japan, it will be a completely unbearable impact on Japan, and the Japanese have never forgotten the humiliation of the three countries when they intervened in the return of the Liaodong Peninsula.

The Japanese cabinet looked forward to Hiroshi Oshima's visit to learn from the Germans the true intentions of the other side. At such a time, even a verbal guarantee from the head of state of an independent country can re-settle the panicked hearts of the people in the country.

Even if the independent country maintains friendship and harmony with Japan for the time being, it only needs to survive this year and a half to give Japan a chance to breathe, and when the empire has accumulated enough strength to take over the South Asian resource production area in one fell swoop and obtain stable war resources, it will no longer be a difficult problem to win the war in China. At that time, the Great Japanese Empire, which sits on all of Asia, will not be afraid of the threat of any enemy, even if the opponent is an invincible country.

"Germany will not change the policy of neutrality held in the Sino-Japanese War, and you don't have to worry about this at all, and if Germany has any policy changes, it will definitely notify your country in advance." Xu Jun replied with a smile.

"I am sure that the Japanese Cabinet and His Majesty the Emperor will be very pleased to hear this news, and Japan will never forget its friendship with the German Empire. If possible, my country would like to invite Marshal Brünnberg to visit Japan after completing his mission to China. We very much look forward to the presence of His Excellency the Field Marshal, and I assure you that the German Mission will be received at the highest level. Hiroshi Oshima couldn't help but be overjoyed when he received Xu Jun's personal acknowledgement, but he finally remembered his mission and hurriedly invited the special envoy to Brummberg for a diplomatic visit.

"This may require a little communication with the marshal, and I personally don't think it's too much of a problem, after all, Japan is very close to China, and I'm sure Marshal Brumberg will be looking forward to a trip to Japan. If it weren't for the fact that Germany is so busy now, I would have liked to visit Japan for myself, and I have heard from my subordinates in your country that the scenery is great and the food is delicious. Xu Jun had a rare joke with the Japanese ambassador.

"On behalf of the Imperial Government of Japan, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to His Excellency the Führer, and I will convey His Excellency's friendship toward Japan to Japan, and all the people of Japan will be proud and happy to receive His Excellency's praise." Hiroshi Oshima stood up with an excited look on his face and bowed deeply to Xu Jun.

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