Episode 82: Two-pronged military and diplomatic approach
At eight o'clock in the morning on July 7, the imperial military and political meeting began in the Forbidden City in Nanjing.
First of all, all the military and political officials in the entire empire quickly reached a consensus: to immediately declare war on Japan and impose a blockade on Japan. Because Japan relied on imported materials to maintain the war and even survive. At this point, the Ming Dynasty had the upper hand. And Japan arrived
So far, most of the oil and steel are imported from the United States. And the United States is a neutral country. Once the Ming Dynasty declares war on Japan, Japan will not be able to buy at least any war supplies from the United States.
In other words, Japan has only two options: either to import supplies through the Nanyang route, which must pass through the control of the Ming Dynasty; or to import from the Soviet Union through the Sea of Japan, which will test the transportation capacity of the Soviet Union's Trans-Siberian Railway
, and the Soviet Union’s loyalty to Japan as an ally. Of course, Japan can also cross the Pacific eastward and purchase supplies from Latin America. Or it can cross the Pacific first,
Then cross the Atlantic and purchase supplies from Europe, that is, the western end of the Soviet Union. In that case, Japan will certainly have to pay a high price (every shipment of goods will have to travel around the world), and facing the superior Japanese navy, Ming Dynasty will not only
There seems to be nothing we can do except engage in large-scale submarine warfare in the Pacific. And the efficiency of submarine warfare is very low. This may be one of the reasons why Japan dares to launch a war.
The next most critical thing is how to balance the relationship between the Mingsu battlefield and the tomorrow's battlefield. That is, who is the main and who is second on the Eastern Front and the Western Front. In other words, who is first and who is last.
This is a decision at the strategic level and an important issue at the imperial meeting. Currently, the Ming Dynasty is already in a stalemate with the Soviet army in the west. The supply lines of both sides are very long, and they are see-sawing from western Gansu to eastern northern Xinjiang. Now Japan has
If the Ming Dynasty attacks Asia, then the Ming Dynasty will fall into a two-front war. It is said that the Ming Dynasty is a big country with great depth and potential for war.
It is also very powerful and can withstand a two-front battle, at least it will not be as fatal as Germany. But a two-front battle is a two-front battle after all, and everyone knows that this is a taboo in war. If two enemies attack in the same direction, that is one plus one.
It's just two. And if two enemies attack from different directions, then one plus one equals three, or even four, or five.
After some discussion, the cabinet and the military fully expressed their opinions and basically reached a consensus: East first, then west.
The top military and political leaders agreed that the Soviet Union was a big country with much stronger national and military power than Japan, and that it would be difficult to win quickly. Moreover, the areas where the two sides fought were located on the "tails" of the two countries. They were secondary areas and non-core areas. Moreover, they were far away from each other.
The industrial and economic centers of both sides are very far away, and supplies are inconvenient. Therefore, this war is expected to be a long-lasting stalemate, and the intensity is not high. No one can do anything to the other in the short term. Therefore, it can be slowed down for a while.
Japan is a small country, and its national and military power are much weaker than the Soviet Union and much weaker than the Ming Dynasty. There is almost no war potential. Moreover, Japan is an island country with a lack of local resources and relies on imports for everything. The Ming Dynasty can mobilize both diplomacy and military power.
Attack and encircle Japan. Diplomatically, try to prevent as many countries from doing business with Japan, and militarily attack Japan's sea lines of communication. It is relatively realistic to achieve a result in the short term.
The so-called "achieving a result" does not mean that Japan can be beaten to surrender, but that Japan can be driven into the sea and driven out of the Northeast Asian continent, and even Japan can sue for peace and withdraw from the war. In this way, Ming Dynasty can turn around.
Come, use all your strength to deal with the Soviet Union.
And although Japan is much weaker than the Soviet Union, it is much more dangerous than the Soviet Union. Japan is right next to Ming Dynasty's pillow, and it can chop off Ming's head with a swing of a knife. A series of political and economic centers in the eastern part of Ming Dynasty can be said to be in Japan.
Within the attack range. Many coastal ports are under the guns of Japanese warships. Even Nanjing is under the gunfire of Japanese warships.
It is within the attack range of the carrier aircraft. Also, the Japanese army is now attacking Fengtian with all its strength. If not, it may penetrate into the pass and threaten the Pingjin area. Also, Japan has a navy more powerful than the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty can threaten Japan's maritime traffic.
Line, why can't Japan threaten Ming Dynasty's maritime communication line? Therefore, Japan must be eliminated as soon as possible.
…
"Although tomorrow's battle is currently on land," the Foreign Secretary said, "but the final way to victory lies at sea. The way to victory I mean is to at least force Japan to sue for peace and let it give us what we previously gave it.
spit out the land and then withdraw from the war. In other words, we mainly rely on blockade. And our navy is weaker than Japan, so it is impossible
Surround the Japanese archipelago. We can block the west side of Japan at most, and if Japan goes from the east side, our navy has no way. At this time, we have to fight for international exchanges and rely on the help of international friends. The two countries are at war.
, to a certain extent, it’s like two people fighting. In addition to looking at whose fists are stronger, it also depends on who is popular and has a wide network of friends.
"We are obviously much more advantageous than Japan at this point. Needless to say, the United States, if we declare war, Japan will no longer be able to buy things from there. Our other main diplomatic target is the United Kingdom. As everyone knows, the United Kingdom is known as 'Japan'
"Unrequited Empire", its sphere of influence spreads all over the world. As long as the United Kingdom stands with us and imposes an embargo on Japan, it will not only be the United Kingdom itself, but also all British colonies and members of the Commonwealth on the earth, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, and South Africa
, Egypt, Myanmar, Malaya... will all close their trade doors to Japan.
"Moreover, we can make further efforts to get the UK to refuse Japanese ships and warships from docking and replenishing in British territory. This will put great pressure on Japan's maritime transportation. And our ocean-going assault ships can operate all over the world.
Repair and replenish supplies in friendly ports. In this way, even if our overall naval strength is
Although it is at a disadvantage, it can maximize efficiency. Japan is just the opposite. Overseas bases are very important and determine whether you can get supplies and repairs far away from home. It can be said that one more overseas base is more useful than a few more battleships.
.Hehe, this... Master Fan and Master Xiong, your navy should know better than me."
Navy Minister Fan Yaochen chuckled and nodded:
"Master He is right, it is true. If it can really reach this point, the chances of winning are really great. Our Ming Navy can be one as two or three overseas, while the Japanese Navy can only be three as two overseas.
, of course. They can only find neutral countries, or countries that we have no influence on, to stop at. In total, this is only Europe.
and South America. At least in the South Ocean - that is, Southeast Asia and Oceania, as well as the Indian Ocean, Japanese ships have no place to stand. For example, in the Indian Ocean, after a naval battle, our warships can sail into the nearest friendly port
Repair, and the Japanese ship can go back if it is slightly injured, but if it is seriously injured, it can only be left here."
Xiong Dingming, Chief of the Naval General Staff, frowned and hesitated:
"Master Fan, Master He, the general is a soldier and is not very proficient in political matters. Please don't take offense if I am wrong. The general always feels that joining the British embargo on Japan does not seem to be a big deal. It is difficult. But if the British refuse all Japanese ships to dock at the port, this seems... a bit overwhelming. The general personally feels that this condition seems too much for the British. According to international practice, injured warships can enter the first port. The ports of the three countries are used for repairs and supplies. Even if the United Kingdom stands with us diplomatically, it has not declared war with Japan after all, and it still belongs to a 'third country'. Moreover, to take a step back, even if the United Kingdom can refuse Japanese warships to enter the port, then Japanese civilians Britain has no reason to refuse ships entering the port for replenishment. This not only violates international practice, but also violates international conventions."
Xiong Dingming's words should be said to be relatively realistic. The relationship between Britain and Ming Dynasty is good, but it seems difficult for Britain to blatantly violate international conventions for you.
Shen Rongxuan spoke. He smiled and said:
"This, what Mr. Fan and Mr. Xiong said makes sense. It is indeed difficult for Britain to refuse Japanese ships to enter the port. But it is not impossible. As long as there are enough benefits in exchange. And we also have Britain in our hands. What we want. For example, we can do it at the expense of alienating Germany. Of course there are other things. Of course, we can't be so optimistic now and have to plan as if it can't be done."
…
Next, Tang Yunsheng, Chief of General Staff of the Ming Army, said:
"Everyone who is dissatisfied says that Tingzhi has repeatedly warned me that the Japanese army will attack the Ming Dynasty. And just yesterday, on the eve of the Japanese attack, it was precisely because of Tingzhi's reminder that the high command issued an emergency preparation order to the Fengtian garrison. , avoiding the unfavorable situation of being caught off guard. Although there is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves in Fengtian, our army resisted very well in Anton. This is also thanks to Tingzhi’s foresight and the courage to defy everyone’s opinions beforehand.”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang with a smile. Many civil servants and generals present also looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang and clapped their hands. For a moment, there was a burst of applause in the hall. Zhu Yourong was sitting in the first seat, and he was also sweet at this time. Looking at Xiang Xiaoqiang, he felt satisfied and gently clapped along.
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled low-key, coughed twice, and waved his hands modestly:
"Ahem... Well, you are all my seniors, so don't praise me so much... I'm just a fluke."
Tang Yunsheng chuckled and said:
"After receiving the alarm from Tingzhi, the command level of the General Staff had some disagreements, not whether Japan would attack, but how we should respond to the attack. At that time, we all knew that the Japanese Army was going to attack from North Korea. That's for sure. But what I can't decide is whether I should quickly withdraw Fengtian's four divisions into the pass to avoid being eaten, or rush to increase troops in Fengtian and risk greater losses and defend Fengtian.
"Now we only have four ordinary army divisions in Fengtian outside the pass, and the Japanese army has at least ten A-type divisions attacking them. Now six hours have passed, and we find that the Japanese army is not advancing as fast as we thought. Their mobility is poor. In view of this, it should not be a problem for our army to move reinforcements into Fengtian before the Japanese army does. Fengtian's strategic location is too important. If there is a glimmer of hope to hold it, we must do our best to defend it."