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Text Chapter 429 The Impact of Sanctions

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    Precisely because he was worried about being used as a scapegoat, the new Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army had been firmly opposed to Umezu Yoshijiro's crazy military expansion plan when he first took office.  In particular, there is strong opposition to the practice of recruiting so-called demobilized soldiers in Manchuria to supplement active service without the consent of the base camp.

    But after General Umezu Yoshijiro¡¯s move was acquiesced in disguise by the base camp.  This guy who was extremely good at adapting to the situation suddenly changed his mind and worked hard for General Umezu Yoshijiro.  Even the plan to use puppet Manchukuo funds to purchase German trophies was proposed and implemented by him.

    ¡°After all, this guy is an artilleryman, and he is the most outstanding artillery expert in the Japanese military.  Although there are some shortcomings in the ability to lead the overall situation, this guy who has been engaged in artillery for many years and has presided over the introduction of Japanese artillery technology for many years still has a very vicious eye and is very familiar with the development of Western artillery technology.

    Although I hate this guy¡¯s clumsy style, I am also quite dissatisfied with his abilities.  He believes that his abilities are far inferior to those of his predecessor, Lieutenant General Iimura Jo.  But for the sake of the Prime Minister behind this man, General Umezu Yoshijiro could only tolerate this shameless guy.

    Although he has the support of the emperor, General Umezu Yoshijiro believes that it is better not to offend the narrow-minded Prime Minister behind him now.  Otherwise, although that guy would not dare to conflict with the emperor, it would be too embarrassing for him.  But that guy who must report his flaws will definitely get some shoes for himself and even the Kwantung Army in other matters to regain his face.

    Fortunately, although this guy has a very annoying personality, at least his ability is not so low that it is unacceptable.  His mouth was not like the guy behind him who liked to shoot off firecrackers at random, and he spoke without hesitation.  And in the process of recovering its strength, the Kwantung Army did several things that satisfied itself.

    ¡°At least the Kwantung Army was able to quickly make up for the large number of artillery lost last year when domestic production capacity could not keep up.  Especially on the premise that the army's precious funds were not used, Yoshijiro Umezu was quite satisfied with the fact that he could fill the gaps in heavy equipment so quickly.

    But today, General Umezu Yoshijiro can break his habit of never entertaining military officers of all levels at his official residence after taking office.  The reason why he summoned this chief of staff, whom he did not appreciate and who he considered to be far less capable than his predecessor Lieutenant General Iimura Jo, to his official residence to discuss matters was not because General Umezu Yoshijiro had completely changed his attitude towards this guy.  .  It was a top-secret telegram received from the Tokyo base camp yesterday.

    Just when General Umezu Yoshijiro was preparing to avenge his humiliation, an extremely strong-worded telegram came from the base camp yesterday. Because the supplementary plan was progressing smoothly, General Umezu Yoshijiro's adrenaline was once extremely high.  It was as if a basin of ice water had been poured on it during the ninth day of the junior year, and it slid down quickly.

    In the telegram from the base camp, the Kwantung Army was repeatedly asked to at least temporarily abandon its plan to advance northward and fight the decisive battle with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and seize the time to stock up on ammunition and supplies to cope with changes in the international situation.  Although the base camp did not say it explicitly, General Umezu was told between the lines that Japan's ally, the Germans, would make a big move this year.

    So the meaning of the base camp is that the Kwantung Army can now make certain preparations for the decisive battle northward with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, but it is not a top priority.  All plans can be implemented after the international situation changes and the Soviet Union itself is unable to protect itself after the Anti-Japanese Alliance.

    By then sending troops will be cooperating with the German allies in fighting and fulfilling their obligations as an ally.  For Japan, it does not have to face the huge military power of the Soviet Union alone, which can greatly reduce the losses it may cause to Japan.  For Japan, this is a win-win situation.

    The base camp believes that as long as it loses the full support of the Soviet Union, it is not difficult to eliminate the currently strong resistance alliance.  But the base camp also believes that if the current war against the Soviet Union is entirely borne by Japan, it will not be a good thing for Japan, which is currently trapped in the civil war in China.

    Rather than bear the burden of fighting the Soviet Union, Japan shouldered all the pressure alone.  It is better to wait for the European allies to take action, and the Soviet troops stationed in the Far East will move westward before taking action.  In this way, the resistance the Japanese army may encounter will be much smaller.  At the same time, the necessary losses on the battlefield will be reduced to a range acceptable to Japan's national strength.

    And the base camp clearly informed Umezu Yoshijiro in the telegram that the United States has begun to implement economic sanctions and embargo against Japan.  Japan, which relies heavily on imported resources from the United States, is now experiencing a shortage of strategic resources.  Carrying out large-scale operations requires a long process of hoarding supplies.

    Especially last month, the U.S. government summoned the Japanese ambassador to the United States and announced in a high-profile manner that it would continue to maintain?This is in addition to the export licensing system implemented last year and the ban on the export of aircraft and parts.  At the beginning of the year, the export of brass and all brass products to Japan was completely stopped.  In addition to a series of sanctions including a ban on the export of steel products and aviation gasoline.

    ??If Japan does not stop its so-called aggressive ambitions and accept the conditions of the Americans.  This year, the U.S. government will completely stop exports of all petroleum products to Japan, including basic crude oil, when Americans deem it appropriate.  In other words, the Americans are prepared to prevent the Japanese from getting a drop of oil.

    Although the Americans have not said clearly when the appropriate time will finally be.  But the Japanese also know that if they don't do what the Americans say, such sanctions will be launched in the shortest possible time.  The Americans' announcement of such sanctions is undoubtedly an ultimatum to the Japanese.

    The governments of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which occupy Southeast Asia, another important source of oil for Japan, now have extremely tough attitudes.  The Dutch East Indies government even used the excuse that Japan was an ally with Germany, which invaded its homeland, and had already announced before the United States that it would stop all exports of oil and strategic metals to Japan, including rubber that Japan urgently needed.

    With the support of Americans.  The colonial government of British Burma also changed from its weakness under the heavy pressure of Japan last year and summoned the Japanese envoy in Yangon to announce.  If Japan continues its current aggressive posture, the British colony of Burma will freeze all exports to Japan.  These include all strategic resources such as oil and rubber.

    Faced with the drastic changes in the international situation, the base camp requested the Kwantung Army in the telegram. Before the base camp has decided on the next strategic goal, the Kwantung Army should accumulate strength and stick to the front line.  To protect southern Manchuria's industrial areas and major grain-producing areas.  As for when to move north, we have to wait for the decision from the base camp.  The Kwantung Army must not act without authorization at present.

    The headquarters repeatedly emphasized in the telegram that this was the intention of His Majesty the Emperor.  This was something that Umezu Yoshijiro had no choice but to accept reluctantly.  For Umezu Yoshijiro, who had always regarded himself as the most loyal samurai to the emperor, the emperor's holy will was heaven.  It is absolutely impossible for him to disobey the emperor's holy will.

    And he has always regarded himself as a regular soldier. Unlike other Japanese soldiers who regard intervening in politics as a common practice, Umezu Yoshijiro, who hates soldiers interfering in politics, hates the Japanese army very much, especially the army's style of constantly overpowering the superiors.  The first thing he did after joining the Kwantung Army was to rectify the officers and put a stop to this trend.

    Therefore, even if the base camp did not mention in the telegram that this was the emperor's holy judgment, he would not be prepared to be like his colleagues who violated the will of the base camp and expanded the scope of the war without permission in the early days of the Sino-Japanese War.  The bottom overcomes the top and gives Tokyo a fait accompli.

    After receiving the telegram from the base camp, Umezu Yoshijiro was somewhat reluctant.  However, the grim reality described in the telegram, coupled with the news that he secretly obtained from the mainland through his personal connections and the high-level military officials' quarrels between the south and the north, made him deeply worried.  As a senior officer of the Japanese army, he clearly knows what the Americans' current actions mean to Japan.

    Especially among the top brass of the Japanese army, he is even less optimistic about the current trend of the southern movement gaining the upper hand.  Moving south means that there will inevitably be a conflict with the United States. Once a war breaks out with the United States, Umezu Yoshijiro is far less optimistic than his colleagues in Tokyo about whether Japan can gain the upper hand.

    Eighty percent of Japan¡¯s annual oil consumption comes from the United States, and the remaining 13 percent comes from the Dutch East Indies colonies.  The remainder came from British Burma, except for a small amount provided by the South Sakhalin oil fields.  Not only oil, but also rubber, tin, and other strategic metals needed to maintain the war are 100% dependent on imports.

    The governments of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands announced a freeze on exports to Japan, especially exports of strategic metals and oil, which almost dealt a fatal blow to the Japanese military's ability to sustain war.  Although Japan's domestic energy consumption is still dominated by coal.  But that is only civilian consumption. For a modern army, oil is the blood.  In particular, the huge navy that Japan needs to survive will lose its supply of oil, and those warships will be no different than scrap metal.

    Without oil, the modern military equipment of the Japanese army would almost become a pile of scrap metal.  Without the strategic metals needed to manufacture weapons steel and precision machinery and equipment, Japan's military industry will be paralyzed.  Without nickel and chromium, Japan will no longer be able to produce qualified guns and armor steel.

    "The loss of sources of oil and rare strategic metals is a fatal blow to Japan's war potential.  However, if the United States complies with the requirements of the United States and asks the Japanese to spit out the fat meat that they have already held in their mouths or even swallowed part of, it will be unacceptable to the Japanese.

    Once this news came out, compared with the previous army's insistence on advancing northward, the Soviet Union's northern advance faction was completely defeated.  In American politicsAfter this announcement was made, the number of southward factions in the military who took advantage of the opportunity to occupy Southeast Asia to completely solve Japan's strategic metal and oil sources suddenly increased.

    Even some senior officials believe that compared with paying a certain price, there is no big benefit in exchange for going north except for the ice and snow of Siberia.  In the eyes of a considerable number of people in the military, Southeast Asia, which has almost become a terra incognita and contains countless strategic resources that Japan urgently needs, is even more attractive
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