Spring is here, the warm sunshine has returned to the earth, and the branches and leaves are springing up like bamboo shoots after a rain, revealing their buds. Even in Ryukyu, which has no four seasons, you can still notice the recovery on the mainland. Standing at Shureimon Gate in Shuri Castle and looking eastward, a large group of masts is moving southward between the sea and the sky. It is the Pacific Fleet consisting of more than 200 merchant ships. More than twenty alert frigates, under the command of an escort aircraft carrier, were scattered around the fleet, and two road-based Harpoon twin-engine maritime patrol aircraft that took off from Ryukyu passed over the fleet.
This is a wartime Pacific supply fleet that set out from Qingdao. After arriving in the waters of Wake Island, some of them will go to Marshall and other places to transport supplies for the "Pacific Haven" plan that has been launched, and more will continue to San Francisco. , from razors, toothbrushes, military uniforms to radios and navigators, a total of 1.5 million tons of goods in the ship's cabin will bring considerable benefits to 300,000 Chinese families.
This is the alliance, and it is also one of the reasons why Yang Qiu firmly tied the country to the Allied chariot, because nothing can promote the export of goods more than joining the alliance! The old idea of ??using colonial populations to dump goods is outdated. The way China and the United States use war to force countries to open their markets and promote the export of their own goods is the future! The annexation of Siberia is not so much about land expansion to solve the hidden dangers in the north, but it is better seen as a supplementary measure taken by Yang Qiu to treat local resources that are not as abundant as those of the United States. Therefore, after the Cape Town Declaration laid the foundation for cooperation, a steady stream of Chinese goods began to flow into the great river of the Allies. Yes, the United States has the most powerful industry in the world and can manufacture all goods, but Americans trapped in war also need to prioritize military industry, so a large number of domestic civilian markets and markets such as South America are waiting to be filled. The British were not even satisfied with themselves. Only China, the mainland, was basically not affected by the war. However, countries with a large number of national light industries can provide supplies to make up for these gaps. Roosevelt would not be willing to do so, but at least he had a cool head and understood the status quo, so the United States would not restrict the inflow of Chinese goods before the war was over. Of course, Roosevelt would also use the Cape Town Declaration to ask Yang Qiu to open more capital industry markets (capital industry refers to optics, technical equipment, metal goods, shipbuilding, vehicles, chemicals, pig iron and crude steel, etc.). This is a war with no smoke in sight, with each other restricting and attacking each other. But for ordinary Chinese, they can get benefits. On the one hand, the import quantity and price will be reduced, and the goods will be more abundant. On the other hand, the strong exports will bring huge returns and stable jobs. Although it is impossible for Japan to obtain Beijing's accurate export figures, Hirota Koki, a former foreign minister, can also estimate it. At least until the end of the war, the total annual trade tonnage between China and the United States during the war will be at least 30 million tons. The total trade volume may exceed 50 billion yuan! China, which mainly exports light industry, accounts for at least 70% of the share. After all, the most advantageous capital industry in the United States has to deal with the war first, and China's light industry products did not help the country in the war. The proportion is not very large. Export in large quantities without affecting the domestic market.
This is only the trade volume with the Americas. The Sino-British trade volume is also huge due to Churchill's "prodigal". The 150 wartime standard ships alone are worth hundreds of millions of pounds. The Persian Gulf, the traditional export destination after Malacca was unblocked. Central Asia, which has been occupied by force and has signed a super contract, as well as South Korea and other places in South Korea ceded by Japan, can be expected to rise from less than 10% of the world's pre-war share of China's commodity exports over a long period of time. to at least 30%, becoming another major foreign trade country after Britain and the United States!
This does not include the highly profitable arms exports and weapons counterfeiting patents! Just before and after the Cape Town Conference, Yang Qiu used the super ship of the Allies to sign a large number of arms export orders, including hundreds of long-range transport aircraft, tanks, ships, and fighter jets. Just the past few days. The Turkish ambassador to China reached an order with China to purchase 1,500 31T improved tanks, 400 second-hand "Li Feng" naval fighter jets and thousands of artillery pieces. Japan also doesn¡¯t know the total amount of arms exports, but it is at least nearly 10 billion yuan! And the benefits are unimaginable!
In addition, China has also used war loans to accelerate the expansion of capital. According to information from the Special High School, by the end of 2041, the Chinese government and banks had provided total loans to countries such as Vietnam, North Korea, Central Asia, the Persian Gulf, and even Poland, Free France, and the United Kingdom. Export 8 billion yuan in loans, equivalent to 4 billion U.S. dollars! From a debtor country to a creditor country in one fell swoop. The British government even raised 300 million pounds of national military bonds for the first time on the Shanghai Stock Exchange early last year. Although the scale is much smaller than that raised in the United States, it is the first national financial bond issued by white people in the Far East.
China also uses its military alliance to raise supplies to defeat its enemies, transporting large amounts of cheap ore, rubber, oil, food and other supplies back from Australia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, India and other places at a rate of hundreds of millions of tons per year. Within a week after the Malacca Strait was opened to navigation, more than twenty ore transport ships rushed to Calcutta. At least five of them are large ocean-going ships carrying more than 30,000 tons, and seven large oil tankers stranded in the Persian Gulf have returned from the Persian Gulf fully loaded with oil. And they stay?The local yuan was used by local people to buy more Chinese goods.
This round of invisible commodity and capital expansion has benefited at least 30 million Chinese households. While the economic benefits are huge, the political benefits are also huge. The Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War in Japanese history have proven that rapid economic growth and foreign wars can effectively release the huge social problems accumulated in the development of the country. Victory in foreign wars can also boost national morale and promote national self-confidence, which is more effective than any verbal propaganda. Before the war, the Chinese felt a little inferior to foreigners. What about now? At least during his time in Ryukyu, he witnessed a dispute in a bar between an ordinary Chinese sailor and some American sailors escorting the fleet passing here. The sailor's voice was several times higher than that of his American counterpart, and his last sentence, "We'll talk about this after you set foot on German soil," was even more lethal.
Hirota turned his attention to Naha Port. The three 50,000-ton oil tankers at the outermost terminal came from the Persian Gulf. They transported 120,000 tons of processed light crude oil and 20,000 tons to Naha in one go. tons of gasoline to meet the needs of Ryukyu reconstruction and military garrisoning.
This is the difference between the Axis and the Alliance! Compared with Yang Qiu Roosevelt and Churchill, those in Tokyo never understood what kind of war could benefit the country. Although the Japanese army plundered thousands of tons of gold, silver and other floating wealth after moving south, gold is not steel, oil and food, and it cannot help win the war. Once you lose, you will become the jealous wealth of others. Therefore, even if the Allies are temporarily frustrated, he is still not optimistic about the Axis, because the alliance has begun to complement each other industrially and militarily, and has enough resources and manufacturing capabilities to consume, and gradually polish the enemy's war potential and confidence. All it takes is time. Apart from anything else, the Three Kingdoms alone produce hundreds of millions of tons of steel every year, occupy 70% of the world's strategic resources, and can produce 50 million tons every year, accounting for 80% of the world's total shipbuilding tonnage, which is enough to dwarf the Axis. . The Axis powers have yet to cooperate in a real sense, even if the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance. Because he had visited Moscow and stayed in the Soviet Union for half a year, he knew it very well. The Soviet Union was simply unable to manufacture exquisite German weapons, and the Germans looked down on the Soviet Union's shoddy weapons.
??The simplest example is that the Soviet Union has oil but insufficient refining. The Urals, Stalingrad and Sevastopol, where the main refineries are located, were all bombed by China last year, and their production capacity was severely reduced. Germany has no domestic oil and relies entirely on Romania, the Soviet Union and coal liquefaction technology. Refining capacity can only meet domestic demand, so the oil industries of the two countries cannot complement each other at all. Instead, both countries have huge shortcomings. As long as the oil fields in Baku and Romania are blown up, Sud and Germany will have a Japanese-style oil shortage. Looking at the allies, China and the United States alone control an annual mining, transportation and smelting capacity of 300 million tons.
¡°One world and one Europethe results are self-evident.
"Mr. Guangtian, please come this way." Jiang Baili interrupted Guangtian's thoughts and raised his hand to invite him to continue walking in.
"Thank you." Guangtian bowed politely.
Because Shuri Castle was severely damaged in the war. So craftsmen from mainland China are rebuilding it. Scenes like this are all over the island. So far, 50,000 Chinese workers have arrived here, bringing many family members with them. The invisible integration is beginning little by little. Japan has completely lost Ryukyu. Hirota is very clear about this, so he has no interest in visiting and asked: "Mr. Jiang, how long should I stay here?"
"Why, Mr. Guangtian misses his hometown?" Jiang Baili chuckled. After Hirota arrived in Ryukyu, he was ordered to negotiate with Shi Zhaoji. However, since substantive negotiations have not yet entered, Yang Qiu was not interested, so he detained Guangtian Hongyi here in disguise. However, he is still relatively free here. Except that he is not allowed to enter the military base, he can visit other places.
This approach also made Guangtian realize that Yang Qiu did not want to negotiate at all. So I came up with the idea of ??leaving.
"Don't be anxious, Mr. Hirota. We are all here with the future of the Far East on our shoulders, but those things you proposed before are too vain. Yes, everyone wants to end the war, but how to end it is a question. You are better than We know the reasons and culprits for starting the war, so if we want to end it, we must be more frank and repentant. Handing them over and facing trial is a good way. In addition, the president also deeply sympathizes with the suffering of the Japanese people, so The treaty needs to include Japan's comprehensive reform and other matters, stop the persecution of the national society, and allow multiple parties to take turns in power"
Jiang Baili knew what he was thinking, with a faint smile on his lips, he expressed his thoughts on surrender and thorough reform of Japan. The more Hirota listened, the more frightened he became. Not to mention how difficult it was to get those guys from the military department to stand on the court, there was no need to discuss the issue of the emperor. You know, the imperial family has become a symbol of Japan since the Meiji Restoration. If the emperor steps down, and the multi-party government takes turns after the Japanese National Society comes to power, how will this be different from the shogunate era? As forIn order to promote reform, Japanese people with lofty ideals have always hoped to force Yang Qiu's "Chengcheng Act", but in the end nothing happened. why? Because this will touch on Japan's deepest landlord and chaebol problems. Once these things are induced, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Hirota Hongyi suddenly felt that the sea breeze was very cold, and even Jiang Baili, who had a full head of white hair, became ferocious in his eyes. Although the current conversation is informal, given Jiang Baili's status in China, these words must have been confessed by Yang Qiu, with the intention of completely breaking Japan's backbone! "Mr. Jiang, continuing the war in East Asia will not do any good for your country. Your interests are in Nanyang. Our country is willing to give up all of them. Rabaul and Guinea can also be given up. And you should know that the situation in Europe is very, very bad. You Our allies are failing continuously! The Persian Gulf and Central Asia are also in a very, very dangerous position."
After he used two "very, very" words in succession to remind Jiang Baili not to push people too far, a cold light began to accumulate in his eyes: "Japan has not failed yet! There are still millions of soldiers in our country, and .¡±
"Yes, Europe is really a troublesome thing." But before he could finish, Jiang Baili interrupted and choked: "But Mr. Hirota really thinks that the anti-aircraft bamboo poles of the Fujita Weapons Research Institute can stop our country. Bombers? Can you dodge artillery shells by holding a cauldron? Can a bamboo arrow with a warhead penetrate the armor of our tanks? "
With just one word, all the cold light gathering in Guangtian was pierced. He did not expect that Jiang Baili actually knew the national decisive battle weapons manufactured and researched by Fujita. This shows how deeply China has penetrated Japan! In fact, although the military has been clamoring for a decisive battle on home soil, it believes that as long as China does not set foot on Japanese soil, the war will not be lost. However, the protracted bombing has caused serious disasters to the people, the manufacturing industry has basically been paralyzed, and the local troops are severely lacking in weapons and equipment, including uniforms. Therefore, even he does not know where the military's confidence for the decisive battle on the mainland comes from.
"Haha, it's spring again before you know it." Jiang Baili said, walked to the center of the hall and deliberately stretched. To Hirota's ears, it was clearly reminding him of the biggest and most difficult problem.
Food¡.
Negotiations have reached a deadlock again, and Guangtian can¡¯t even remember the first time this happened. After returning to his temporary residence, he was just about to lie down and meditate when his secretary Ito, who had come to Ryukyu with him, walked in.
Ito was his old subordinate when he was foreign minister. He once served as Japan's counselor to the League of Nations. After Japan withdrew from the League of Nations, he returned to China and was one of the few Japanese government officials who had seen the world and had a clear mind. But after the war broke out, he lost his job because he boycotted the war, so Hirota took him in and helped him. "Your Excellency, this is a telegram from Tokyo. Foreign Minister Aoi Shigemitsu asks you to stop negotiations and wait for news from your allies." To facilitate communication, Hirota brought an encrypted radio station. The Chinese government knew about this and did not obstruct it.
"Idiots! These stupid guys!"
Guangtian jumped up from the chair. He could no longer hold back the breath he had just been choked by Jiang Baili. Originally, he did not want to get involved in this matter, because he had long thought that Shigemitsu Aoi and Koiso Kuniaki might change his mind about Hirohito. They didn't expect it to happen. Did they really think Su De could make a comeback? You know, what I just said to Jiang Baili was nothing more than a means of conversation.
Germany is no longer the Germany that defeated France. Otherwise, how could it not even win Spain in more than a year? Tš¹rkiye has also been at war for three weeks, and Ankara is still in the hands of the Allies. In the just-concluded naval battle of Cape Matapan, Italy lost one battleship and three cruisers, which was no better than the combined fleet. On the contrary, the U.S. Sixth Task Force, which lost three aircraft carriers, suddenly increased by 6 aircraft carriers, and the total number of aircraft carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean has increased to 11! This all shows that Germany is already at the end of its strength. As for the Soviet Unionwithout blood transfusions, meat, cotton, nickel, and copper from Asia, it could no longer make ends meet. The Caucasus is under people's nose again. Once Tehran and the Urals are firmly established by China, Ukraine and the little property in Europe will be blown to pieces.
The United States has begun to exert force, and the British mainland is already safe. Yang Qiu's dillydallying in Asia is not because he is unable to win, but he deliberately uses Japan as a target, not wanting to give Britain and the United States an excuse to ask him to participate in the Mediterranean war. Does the military really think it can rely on the tens of thousands of troops surviving in Southeast Asia and North Korea to survive the counterattack?
Thinking of this, Guang Tian felt agitated. In fact, he knew who was behind the suspension of negotiations.
Is it really inevitable to abolish the emperor? What does Japan's future look like?