My German Empire - Chapter 24:

In the original time and space of World War II, Germany had two pig teammates.

When the wind was going well in Germany’s direction, they waved the flag from behind to cheer. In the later stage, seeing Germany’s defeat gradually emerge, they immediately changed the flag and joined the anti Germany camp. (Italy)

Japan, which was stronger than Italy performed a little better, and was able to dominate in Asia because there were no strong countries in Asia at that time.

After the outbreak of World War II, Japan was invincible in Asia. It was rampant for a while, and the limelight was not much worse than that of Germany.

However, as an ally, its direct support to Germany was minimal, and the greatest support is mainly reflected in the overall strategy.

Japan contained the military in the Far East of the Soviet Union and formed a strategic deterrent against Britain and France. Even the United States did not dare to act rashly. But it’s just that. It was not until the outbreak of the Pacific War that Japan played a real (limited) role in helping Germany militarily, that is, Japan attacked the colonies of Western countries such as Britain and the Netherlands.

Although Japan’s actions caused the loss of some colonies and colonial troops to countries such as the United Kingdom, but to the United States and the Netherlands, its actions were undoubtedly very stupid. In other words, the Japanese were simply trying to die.

Britain, France and the United States also formed a pincer attack on Japan in Asia. As Japan’s main trading nation, the United States froze all trade in military resources with Japan.

Japan is a “small country” with insufficient resources. When the freeze from the United States came, oil, which was the blood of the war, became a limited resource. Japan’s domestic reserves were only enough for half a year. If it is not resolved in time, the vast majority of Japanese warships, tanks, and automobiles will be “paralyzed” and will be in a desperate situation of defeat even without a fight.

How to get out of desperation? At that time, there were only two roads before Japan. First listen to the United States obediently, become the younger brother of the United States, to stop the freeze in trade. Or, tear their face with the United States. Since the United States does not sell, then Japan will “grab” it by itself.

Of course, as we all know, Japan finally chose the second path. In addition to subjective reasons, it was largely due to the Japanese “gambler psychology”.

You must know that Japan became a world power through two wars (the Sino-Japanese, which made Japan the leader in Asia; the Russo-Japanese War, which made Japan a world power, both wars were a gambling for Japan). That time also they couldn’t help but think of gambling again. If you can give a powerful blow to the United States, you may really become the hegemon of the Pacific in one fell swoop.

Now that the will to fight is there, the next step is to choose the target.

At that time, they had three goals to choose from: one is the continental United States; one is Wake Island or Guam; the other is Hawaii.

But after all, the United States is far away and large in size, and Japan cannot quickly occupy it. Although Wake Island and Guam are also important bases for the United States in the Pacific, and they are both close to Japan, these two places are too far from the US. The two islands are only a few hundred square kilometers on average, and there are only a few hundred soldiers stationed there. If the two islands are captured, not only will they not get much benefit, a war will definitely break out. It is better to choose the location with the largest US fleet in the Pacific-“Pearl Harbor” to attack.

Japan believed that since they had no possibility of occupying the United States, it was the best choice to attack Pearl Harbor and start a war with the United States. Because if a raid on Pearl Harbor would prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from recovering and participating in the war in a short time, it could not only seize the sea and air dominance at the beginning of the war, ensure the safety of the flank of Japan’s southward advancement, but also dampen the morale of the U.S. Navy and the American people. Eliminate the possibility of a surprise attack by the United States on Japanese territory.

Yamamoto, the planner of the prewar surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, believed that a successful attack should give Japan a strategic advantage for about a year. When the United States recoveres, Japan’s war in East Asia and Southeast Asia has already ended and by then It will be much easier to negotiate with the Americans.

In this way, Japan slapped the tiger fiercely and pulled out a few hairs off it’s face, causing the tiger to roar in pain, revealing its hideous fangs and claws.

Since Germany and Japan are allies and everyone is tied together, Germany can only bite the bullet and declare war on the United States. It’s like a textbook definition of a pig teammate!

If Japan can really slap America in this time and space, Wilhelm doesn’t mind bringing business to Japan. But he always felt that those idiots would definitely challenge Germany in the future.

However, if Japan really dares to do things beyond its own capacity, its failure is also an ironclad matter. Wilhelm also has a little expectation to make the European, Asian and African coalition forces besiege the American continent together.

And he also knows what kind of goods these weapons independently developed by the Japanese are.

It’s better to learn from the Italians next to them than expect something from Japan.

Except for the Zero Fighter, 50 Grenadiers, Oxygen-Powered Torpedoes, and incendiary bombs carried by large hydrogen balloons, the rest can only be called rubbish.

Even if it’s the Type Zero fighter, In fact, most of the early advantages of this aircraft were due to excellent pilots. Of all the countries in World War II, Japanese soldiers had the highest status in the country. Just like financial and civil servants today, there was naturally no shortage of talents. Of course, the legacy of the samurai also must be taken into consideration. The zero-style design was very extreme. Once the body structure is understood by the enemy, it is basically dead. For example, it is difficult to turn right during zero-style high-speed flight. The U.S. also relied on this to offset the maneuver advantage of the aircraft.

The grenadier is a unique infantry weapon of the Japanese Army, and is even regarded by the US Army as “the only Japanese infantry weapon worthy of evaluation.” From the perspective of design features and combat performance, the Japanese grenadier is more like a light mortar that uses visual aiming, and manual launching. The firing angle and direction of the grenadier relied entirely on manual adjustment, so this kind of weapon had very high requirements for shooters, and can only be used proficiently through long-term training. Therefore, grenadiers were usually the most experienced senior veterans, and it was difficult to be replaced by other soldiers in the event of casualties.

As for the oxygen-powered torpedo and the large hydrogen balloon, we will discuss in detail later.