Not long ago, in order to show the whole Shijie his determination for peaceful development and his adherence to the "Washington Treaty," the Chinese government ordered the decommissioning and dismantling of six "Republic"-class battleships and six "Glorious"-class battlecruisers, which had made great achievements in World War I. As soon as the news broke, public opinion in the Chinese government and the opposition was in an uproar, and many naval officers and non-governmental figures believed that this was a move to "self-destruct the Great Wall." Some scholars compared this move with the secret plan of the Qing Ministry Shangshu Weng Tong to avenge his "private" revenge against the Beiyang Navy, and expressed their resolute opposition to the resolution of the government, and at the same time demanded that the government "reopen negotiations and revise the Warsaw Pact." Despite the constant opposition from the Chinese side and the people, perhaps because of the excessive financial pressure, the Chinese government still adhered to the original decision to "forge the sword into a plowshare", and the bill to reduce the navy was passed by a narrow majority in the National Assembly.

The Japanese Navy and the fanatical militarist groups of the Chinese Navy were naturally ecstatic about the Chinese Navy's "self-abolition of martial arts", but Yamamoto Isoroku at that time was very calm after learning the news, and he was initially worried that this was a smoke bomb set by the Chinese in order to deceive Quan Shijie, because if the same thing happened in Japan, the Japanese Navy would have risen up to kill the Minister of Politics and Fu a long time ago, and the Chinese Navy officers and men did not act excessively at all except for taking to the streets to protest with the people. But it was only when he went to China as an observer from Europe and saw the battlecruiser "Glorious" with the main turret dismantled by Yijing at the Shanghai shipyard that he believed in this fact.

But even so, Yamamoto 56 also knows that this does not mean that the Chinese Navy will stand still and be inferior to the Japanese Navy, and that the Chinese government has made such a decision more out of financial difficulties, and with the current pace of China's industrial development and the abundant resources that China has, it will not take a few years for China to have a little more abundant financial resources, and it is not impossible to build more powerful warships than the "Republic" and "Glorious" classes.

What's more, behind China, there is also the United States.

Even, as Kenji Ide said, if Japan goes to war against China when its navy is relatively weak, how much strength will the Japanese navy have to fight against the powerful U.S. navy after defeating the Chinese navy?

Kenji Iide saw the strangeness of Yamamoto Fifty-six's expression, and he asked a little unwillingly: "Does Yamamoto-kun think that Japan can't defeat Shina now?" ”

"The final result of the war with China is to start a war with the United States." Yamamoto said, "I don't think it's a wise choice for Japan to go to war with the United States, but I don't think Japan can't defeat the United States. ”

Listening to Yamamoto Fifty-six's answer, Kenji Iide looked a little excited.

"What do you think Japan can do to defeat the United States?"

"The Imperial Navy, which was forced to accept the inferior proportion, wanted to fight against the superior US Navy, and from the beginning, it could only give the enemy a green "color" novel network in the form of air strikes.

"By air strikes?" Kenji Iide was taken aback.

"Yes, there's no better way than that." Yamamoto Fifty-six looked at Kenji Iide and said, "There is a book written by a man from the United States called "Theory of Air National Defense", have you heard of it?" ”

"I've read the contents of this book." Kenji Iide nodded and said, "The content in it is very innovative. ”

"Not only is it new, but this book suggests a new way of warfare in future naval warfare." Yamamoto said.

In 1924, there was a book called "On Air National Defense" that shook all the worlds, the author was Major General William of the United States Army? Mitchell. The book lists a series of U.S. military test figures to prove the conclusion that "all warships can be sunk by air strikes."

In 1922, after the First Shijie War, the United States conducted aircraft bombing tests using the German trophy submarine "U117", the destroyer "U102", the cruiser "Frankfurt", and the United States' own decommissioned old battleships "Alabama", "New Jersey" and "Virginia". Experiments have shown that all warships, including battleships, can be sunk with bombs alone without the need for torpedoes.

This book rightfully caught the attention of Isoroku Yamamoto, who was in the United States at the time. Although Yamamoto Isoroku used to be like many officers of the Japanese Navy, he was still a "big ship and big gun" in his bones. But the content of the book made Yamamoto realize the huge role of aircraft in future naval warfare. At this time, Yamamoto Fifty-six, Yijing was a real "aviation master" theorist. …,

"Yamamoto-kun's meaning is to use air raids to destroy the capital ships of the enemy navy to the greatest extent and change the liliang contrast between the enemy and us." Kenji Ide's voice was full of excitement, "I see"

"I'm just a soldier, and I can't understand the advanced ideas of war. I never thought it was a smart choice to go to war with the United States, but I also don't think it was a taboo to go to war with the United States. When I consider the strategy against the United States, I have never proceeded from the perspective of a simple war, but from the perspective of specific combat methods or strategies. Yamamoto Isoroku was glad that Kenji Inide understood what he meant, and nodded with a smile.

"But what should we do now?" Kenji Iide asked anxiously.

"The day of the war between Japan and the United States will not be very early, but it will not be too late, and before the war, how to make a leap forward in aviation is the most urgent priority." Yamamoto looked up at the blue sky, where several biplanes were speeding overhead.

Now Yamamoto Fifty-six, Yijing has developed from the idea of "winning by aviation" to the height of "aviation first". But when he remembered Japan's indifference to aviation, he felt very lonely and miserable.

"I really don't know what these guys are thinking, do they have to suffer other people's losses in the war to wake up? If we take a wait-and-see attitude, we will be left far behind in the field of aviation," Yamamoto said with a sigh. "Well, when I think about this situation, I don't even know what to say."

Listening to Yamamoto's words, Kenji Iide also sighed helplessly.

Kenji Iide himself is well aware of this, and with his current position and that of Yamamoto Isoroku, it is simply impossible to carry out the plan to develop naval aviation in the navy.

"For the Navy, the most important thing is to be cautious and self-respecting, to work hard, and the top priority at the moment is to rapidly develop the maritime aviation force no matter what." Yamamoto continued, "We can imagine that Germany before the Great War, if it had endured for another 50 years, would have been able to match the European powers now, but unfortunately, it has not been able to endure it. The car in front is overturned, and the car behind is a lesson. Today, we, the Japanese Empire, must be calm and self-respecting, accumulate liliang, and strengthen the country. Although it is likely that future negotiations in London will not be a shengli for Japan, as long as we are soberly aware of the power of aircraft warfare and put it into practice, we will not be able to defeat China and Britain. ”

"Yes, the national strength of the Japanese Empire is indeed very different from that of the United States, and it is time for the Japanese Empire to be cautious and self-respecting, and work hard." Kenji Inide said approvingly.

Many years later, the Japanese Navy's Shozo Sanhe Yoshiyong, who was also on the cruiser "Isuzu", recorded this seemingly inconspicuous scene in his diary, and he did not know at that time that the era of aviation of the Japanese Navy had begun.

Later, in his book "Memories of Marshal Yamamoto," Miwa Yoshiyoshi talked about the development of Yamamoto's idea of "winning by aviation" during his second trip to the United States. In his book, Miwa says, "Military Attache Yamamoto has been watching the development of American aviation with a keen eye. At that time, the American aviation community was trying to fly across the Atlantic. It wasn't long before Lindbergh finally achieved this goal, and was called a feat in the aviation industry, thus shaking Shijie. Bird then flew over again, and although he failed to land at the scheduled time and place, he was in fact largely successful. Regrettably, however, the technological level of Japan's aviation industry is clearly backward from that of the United States, and it is simply not comparable to it. Therefore, Yamamoto told me to fully understand and study this new trend in the American aviation industry, and asked for a viewpoint and opinion that was relatively close to reality. After in-depth investigation and research, I realized that it was essential to fly by instrument and to conduct celestial navigation for such long-distance flights across the oceans. The United States has long been aware of this and has carried out fruitful research and development work. Bird used this advanced aircraft navigation equipment during his flight across the Atlantic. However, in Japan, naval aviation still adheres to the old rules of the British 'St. Pelle' flight regiment and relies entirely on the intuitive feeling of the pilots...... I didn't care about that, but I drafted a report and presented it to Military Attache Yamamoto. I deliberately emphasize in my report that the Japanese naval aviation will be in a desperate situation if it does not get rid of the old framework of relying solely on the intuitive feeling of the pilots in flight and instead focus on the study and use of navigation instruments. To this end, I have also proposed the measures that should be taken to carry out this new reform of aviation technology. Yamamoto read the report and said, "It makes sense, I totally agree. The report is sitting with me for the time being, and I intend to make some changes. He focused on revising the concluding section to make the rhetoric more convincing and well-reasoned. After reading the content of his revisions, I deeply felt that Yamamoto had a very deep understanding of the "sexual" ability of this navigation device, and that the significance of learning this advanced technology in Japan was even more profound than mine. Military Attache Yamamoto then ordered me to send the report to Japan, and it was later published in the Navy's monthly newsletter. ”…,

As Sanhe Yiyong said, at this time, Yamamoto Fifty-six, Yijing was more convinced of the role of aviation in the future battlefield. Yamamoto worked very hard in the United States, often working until one or two o'clock in the evening, and sometimes even all-nighters studying aviation. He consulted a large amount of information, and his idea of "winning by aviation" became more mature at this stage. In 1927, Isoroku Yamamoto read the book "On Air National Defense" by the American Mitchell, which specifically introduced the development of aviation forces in the United States in the mid-twenties, and the fact that the idea that aviation liliang would dominate naval warfare began to attract enough attention in the US Navy. The publication of the book caused great repercussions in the US military criticism circles. At the same time, it also touched the nerves of Yamamoto Isoroku, who deeply felt that the development of the Japanese naval aviation was a matter of great urgency, and if the Japanese navy could not realize its important "nature," then the gap in strength between Japan and the United States in future wars would be further widened. Since the Washington Treaty mainly stipulates the standards for the construction of capital ships, there are no restrictions on non-capital ships. The Washington Conference was followed by a conference on naval reductions in Geneva, which focused on the limitation of non-capital ships. However, the Geneva Conference was inconclusive. In order to determine the proportion of auxiliary ships below each cruiser and to strike at competitors, British Prime Minister John McDonald went to the United States to consult with US President Herbert Hoover and decided to hold a naval disarmament conference in London in the future. When Yamamoto fifty-six fifty-six learned the news, he fell into deep thought. The issue of naval disarmament is a very complex political issue in Japan. Many Japanese did not approve of the shipbuilding ratio set by the Washington Conference, because this ratio recognized in the form of law Japan's inferior position to the United States and Britain in the navy and was a disgrace to Japan, so they insisted that this ratio be revised, and insisted on superiority over Britain and the United States in auxiliary ships. However, as a thoughtful officer, Yamamoto was well aware that it was this ratio that saved Japan money on building capital ships, allowing Japan to carry out a secret naval development program and build the latest aircraft carriers. Yamamoto believes that future naval warfare will depend on such warships, rather than on the large battleships that countries are rushing to build. Japan should avoid costly competition with the economically powerful United States for the construction of battleships, and should continue to develop unorthodox weapons, especially aircraft, which can ensure that Japan fights an offensive war if necessary.

In March 1928, Isoroku Yamamoto ended his career as a naval attaché in the United States and returned to Japan, where he served first as captain of the cruiser Isuzu and then as captain of the aircraft carrier Soryu. As a result, Isoroku Yamamoto was able to begin to build up the Japanese naval aviation according to his own plan.

And the establishment of Japanese naval aviation could not have done without the help of the Germans.

The Japanese Navy received great help from the British in the localization of ships other than submarines, but it received strong support from the Germans in the development of aviation weapons. The deterioration of relations between Japan and the United States made it impossible for Japan to continue to receive military and technical support from the British, and even the University of Greenwich, which had been accepting Japanese shipbuilding students, stopped accepting Japanese students from 1923 onwards, but this did not make it difficult for the Japanese.

After the First Shijie War, Japan sent a German investigation team led by Kato Kanji to Germany to investigate, and Kato Kanji came to the conclusion that "Germany surpassed Britain in the level of military industry technology", and after the end of the First Shijie War, due to the League of Nations' arms restrictions on Germany, the Germans adopted the method of transferring military technology to Japan and the Soviet Union for technical reserves to secretly confront Britain and the United States. The result of this was that Germany did not encounter any major difficulties in rearmament, but instead caused the Soviet Union and Japan to ignore the Germans and each have a powerful air force.

A very important figure in the cooperation between Japan and Germany in the aviation industry was Friedrich? Huck. Haque had been held as a prisoner of war in a prisoner of war camp in Fukuoka during the Japanese occupation of Qingdao during the First Shijie War, but was later released and given residency in Japan after it was found out that Haque had served as an advisor to the Manchuria Railway Company before the war. After the war, Huck founded a "Schutzin? The Hack Business Association", which was responsible for the transfer of German technology to Japan, and he also received his help in the establishment of the Japanese Navy office in Berlin. …,

Danshi Hack was the first person to come into contact with Yamamoto Isoroku in the whole process of Japanese-German cooperation. Although Isoroku Yamamoto was sometimes mistaken for a "pro-American" faction in Japan because of his Harvard education, his experience as a military attache in the United States, and his opposition to war with the United States, Isoroku Yamamoto was in fact first and foremost a member of the Japanese Navy, and some favorable feelings toward American society did not affect his efforts to develop the entire Japanese Navy and to seek support for this development strategy.

From the very beginning, there was a pro-German faction in the Japanese Navy, but in the era of Gonbei Yamamoto and King Hiroko Fushimiya, this pro-German force was only a "current" of thought, and the success of this "current" of thought depended on the increasingly close flow of technology between the Japanese Navy and the German Navy, and the biggest promoter of this flow of technology was Yamamoto Isoroku.

Cooperation between Japan and Germany in the aviation industry was first carried out through private trading companies. At that time, the major Japanese aircraft manufacturers recruited technicians from a specific German manufacturer, such as "Aichi Airplane" (later "Aichi Machinery Industry Co., Ltd.") from "Henkel", "Mitsubishi" from "Junker", and "Kawasaki" from "Dornier". For example, the famous "Zero" fighter in the history of Japanese aviation later left the "Mitsubishi" company, and the Dura aluminum imported from the "Junkers" is impossible to talk about.

Haque later visited Isoroku Yamamoto, who was preparing to return home after the breakdown of negotiations with the Japanese representatives who were "negotiating" at the preparatory meeting of the Naval Disarmament Conference in London, and it was with the direct participation of Yamamoto Isoroku that the German "Hinkel" company transferred dive bomber technology to Japan, and the "Type 99" ship-based crit fighter, which later played a major role in a series of surprise attacks by the Japanese naval air force in the Second Shijie War, was based on the "Hinkel" Provision of technology development.