Oscar. Paul. Dr. Todmann was the Ambassador of the German Reich to China, serving for many years in Wuhan and Beijing. However, before being sent to China, he also served in Japan for five years, serving as consul general in Kobe, assistant to the ambassador to Japan, and chargé d'affaires. Earlier, in 1907-1914, he also served as a diplomat in Russia. It can be said that his entire diplomatic career revolved around Russia, Japan, and China.

Therefore, from the beginning of 1939, he became a central figure in the coordination of Soviet-Japanese relations, and frequently traveled between Wuhan, Vladivostok, and Tokyo. On the instructions of German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, his task was to relieve the Japanese Empire of worries about its southward advance.

Enabling the southward expansion of the Japanese Empire has always been at the heart of Hersmann's Eastern policy! Because Hersman never fantasized about peaceful coexistence with the United States. And if it is to start a war with the United States, it is naturally indispensable for Japan to contain it in the Pacific direction.

For this reason, Germany has gradually moved closer to Japan since 1928 and has launched economic and technical cooperation between Japan and Germany for 10 years. The focus of economic and technical cooperation between Japan and Germany was to increase the armed forces of the Japanese Empire at sea and in the air.

In addition to economic and technical cooperation, reconciling the contradictions between Japan and Germany's other partner, the Soviet Union, was another important means of promoting the southward expansion of the Japanese Empire. After all, Japan's national strength is limited, and it is simply not able to undertake the three major tasks of going north, west, and south at the same time.

Moreover, since the status of Soviet-German relations was above that of Japanese-German relations, once the contradictions between Japan and the Soviet Union escalated into an armed conflict, Germany would have to side with the Soviet Union. Although it was impossible for Germany to send troops directly to fight Japan (and in Hersmann's view, it was not necessary, because the Japanese Army could not defeat the Soviet Red Army), all Japanese-German cooperation projects had to be stopped, which would have a serious impact on Japan's future southward operations.

But by the beginning of 1939, however, this policy of coordination had encountered great trouble, and relations between the Soviet Union and Japan had a tendency to deteriorate sharply.

Therefore, Todmann, the German ambassador to China, was busy mediating between the Soviet Union and Japan.

However, before his mediation could succeed, Hitler and Stalin, "close comrades-in-arms of socialism", met in Riga and issued the Declaration of the Liberators. Although the "declaration" was not directed at Japan, it caused an uproar in Japan and caused a lot of trouble for Dr. Todman's mediation.

Stepping off a Lufthansa Junkers 52 plane, Dr. Todman sensed a change in attitude on the Japanese side.

The gangway was empty and was greeted by few high-ranking Japanese officials, only Dixon, the German ambassador to Japan, and Eugene, the German military attache to Japan. Colonel Ott, and a director of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of East Asian affairs, Ibita Otaro. He had worked in Shanghai and Wuhan, and was an old acquaintance of Mr. Todman. In March 1937, he became the director of the East Asia Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and became the official in charge of Soviet-Japanese coordination on the Japanese side.

"This Otaro is finally here." "This shows that the Japanese are not closing the door to negotiations," Todman thought to himself. ”

"Inotaro," Todman stepped forward quickly, speaking fluent Japanese, "it's good to see you here." ”

He shook hands with Inotaro, who bent down and bowed, and said, "Mr. Ambassador, there is an important meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, and the minister and the vice minister are inseparable, so I have to come to the airport to greet him." ”

"Oh, that's right." Todman smiled, as if he didn't care, and went to shake hands with Ambassador Dixon and Colonel Ott. Both of them had heavy faces, and it seemed that the Japanese were alienating Germany.

After a brief pleasantries, Toddman and Eugene . Colonel Ott got into a Mercedes W07 from the German Embassy, while Ambassador Dixon and Ihataro Ishiku got into a Nissan 70 sedan sent by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two sedans went one after the other and headed for downtown Tokyo.

Sitting in a car, Mr. Todman took a closer look at Tokyo, the capital of the Empire of Japan, which was bustling with its large swaths of low-rise timber-paneled houses and a handful of Western-style buildings. The fact that there are many cars on the streets shows that Japan has not yet imposed strict regulations on gasoline – which may indicate that Japan has not yet decided to go to war with the Soviet Union.

"They don't want to fight, do they?" Todman asked Colonel Ott beside him.

"Mr. Ambassador, it should be said that they are not ready for war." Eugene. Colonel Ott said. "The situation has changed drastically, far beyond Japan's expectations. Moreover, their army was poorly prepared, with only 17 divisions and regiments equivalent to Polish infantry divisions and some independent brigades, and the full manning rate was not very high, and it was difficult to win with these forces.

For this reason, fierce divisions arose within the Japanese military. Some people believe that it is necessary to take advantage of the Soviet Union's war on the Western Front to expand Japan's interests and launch a large-scale war;

Others, on the other hand, believe that the current changes will not harm Japan's interests, because the other side has guaranteed that Japan's existing rights and interests will not be damaged, and is willing to continue to provide cheap coal, iron ore, and non-ferrous metals in greater quantities than in the past, and that there is no need to start a war under such circumstances, and the risks are difficult to control. ”

"So do they know where the empire stands?" Toddman immediately asked.

"Ambassador Dixon has made the position of the Reich clear to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Eugene Brown. Colonel Ott said.

"And what about Anglo-American?" "How did their ambassador to Japan react?" ”

"Anglo-American and French both supported Japan," Eugene said. "They wanted Japan to be drawn into a long and arduous ground war so that Japan's maritime power would not threaten the Anglo-American-French colonies in Southeast Asia," Ott said. It is precisely because of the attitude of Britain, the United States, and France that the Japanese army and navy are now divided into two factions and quarrel endlessly. ”

"Five-phase meeting?" Todman suddenly became nervous, and although he had spent many years in the Far East, he still did not know much about the strange thinking of the Japanese. Perhaps they will really leave the large and easily available fat in the south and go to fight another larger "Russo-Japanese War".

"So what is Prime Minister Abe's position?" Todman asked.

Prime Minister Abe was Nobuyuki Abe, an army general who belonged to the "Ugaki faction" (with Ugakiichi as the leader) in the Japanese Army, so he was free from the struggle between the unification faction and the imperial faction, but he was still in 1936. He was kicked out of active duty after the 26 incident.

However, Nobuyuki Abe was very popular in the Japanese Army and Navy, and the Ugaki faction was still strong in the Japanese Army, so he was able to replace Fumihiro Konoe, who was helpless in the face of major changes in the situation, as prime minister.

However, Nobuyuki Abe's ability was also insufficient to solve the current crisis, and now he had to convene a meeting of the five ministers of the Imperial Council to put the problem on the army, navy, and the emperor.

And the intellectually deficient Emperor Hirohito, who currently rules the Japanese Empire, is similarly helpless about the current situation.

"At present, the lifeline of our empire has been seriously threatened by the Red Russian forces, and if we do not take resolute measures, the future and fate of the empire will be in the hands of others." War Minister Shunroku Hata shouted at a meeting of important ministers, "Therefore, the army proposes to fight a decisive battle with Red Russia by force!" At the same time, however, it was not necessary to abandon preparations for the southward advance, and once a situation appeared in favor of Germany in the European theater, the Imperial Navy and Army would not hesitate to undertake the mission of going south to liberate the oppressed nations of Asia. ”

Emperor Hirohito glanced lightly at the dry-looking Minister of War, knowing that what the Minister was trying to convey was not consistent with what he had said, and that he needed to analyze carefully to draw the correct conclusion.

The army seemed to be suggesting a war with the Soviet Union – but the Japanese army had not been prepared for the past 10 years. Most of Japan's military spending is on the navy, and the army, if you don't count the air force, has about the same weapons and equipment as it did in World War I, and the number is too small. Now let the army rush to attack, it will definitely not be able to defeat.

In other words, in order to start fighting, you must first prepare for war, expand the number of troops, and purchase equipment...... There is a lot of military spending!

While preparing to move westward, the army should also prepare to go south - in fact, this is actually the same thing for the army, and it will greatly increase military spending.

However, the southward movement cannot rely on the army alone, but must be coordinated by land and sea. For most of the past decade, because the Western continent was too peaceful, most of Japan's military spending was spent on the navy. At the beginning of 1937, the "03 Ship Replenishment Plan" was adopted, and it was determined to build 4 "Yamato" class battleships and 4 "ideal aircraft carriers".

Because Japan has had a relatively stable situation in the Far East in the past 10 years, and the channels for obtaining raw materials and selling industrial products (mainly machinery, steel and chemical products) are also very smooth, Japan's economic development is good, and it has relatively strong financial resources to invest in naval construction, so that the eight capital ships with high hopes can be started at the same time.

According to the plan, these 8 capital ships were to be completed by the end of 1943, when the Japanese Navy would have the most powerful battleships and aircraft carriers!

In the eyes of the Army, the Navy has so many expensive capital ships, of course, it has to show its skills in the South Seas. The Army can also follow suit to liberate the oppressed people of Southeast Asia...... That's a big credit!

Therefore, the Japanese Army has now unanimously agreed on the expansion of armaments and warfare first! If you don't hurry up and invest military funds, you won't be able to defeat the army in the west, south, and north!

Emperor Hirohito understood the meaning of the army, so now it depends on the meaning of the navy. He turned his gaze to the admiral Zengo Yoshida, who was emaciated physically and mentally, as if he was suffering from depression. (To be continued.) )