When the Japanese mainland was bombed, Yamaguchi Shota, Keiko, and Yamaichiro finally arrived in Saigon.
At this time, Saigon was still the center of French Indochina. Because Vichy France opened French Indochina to Japan, the Japanese army stationed heavy troops in Saigon. There was also a Japanese fleet stationed in the port not far away, consisting of about 20 ships.
The composition of warships.
When the time came to 1942, Saigon was not only unaffected by the war, but instead prospered in a weird and abnormal way. Because Vichy France remained neutral, people believed that the Allies would not launch an attack on French Indochina.
Taking into account Saigon's geographical advantage, if the most serious situation occurs, you can also leave Saigon on a French merchant ship. Therefore, Saigon people have no sense of crisis. Horses run and dance. Even the Japanese believe that Saigon is safe.
After the French invasion in 1859, Saigon became the capital of French Indochina.
In the past hundred years, the French have built many gorgeous buildings full of Western style in Saigon, especially the dock area, which is surrounded by the headquarters of many large companies in Saigon, churches, colonial government agencies, entertainment venues, and wealthy areas. Shota Yamaguchi and his party
People were shocked as soon as they got off the boat.
Even though Japan has won in East Asia for hundreds of years, there is still a gap between Japan and established powers like France.
From an industrial perspective, the gap between Japan and France is actually not that big. The main difference lies in their raw material supply advantages.
The Japanese industry is actually not weak. A country that can build super battleships such as the "Yamato" and "Musashi" has quite strong industrial strength.
Japan's industrial strength is greatly limited by raw materials. The raw materials needed for industrial development mainly rely on imports, especially industrial necessities such as steel, oil, and rubber. It relies heavily on imports. This is also the fundamental reason for Japan's desperate measures.
At the same time as Japan was frantically expanding to the outside world, the lives of the people in Japan were extremely difficult. As early as 1939, Japan had begun to implement a rationing system. The food shortage was particularly serious. Citizens could only buy two liters of rice at a time. Cloth and fuel also began to
Rationing was implemented and all taxis disappeared from the streets because they ran out of gas.
The French are not short of gas. At least there are taxis running on the streets of Saigon, which makes Sanichiro very angry.
The warships of the Combined Fleet have taken the initiative to reduce the number of dispatches due to lack of fuel. Taxis in Saigon actually still have gas. What do the navy people do for food? If there is no gas, can't they rob the French?
You really can't blame the Navy for this.
After the end of World War I, Japan devoted all its efforts to building a combined fleet, and military expenditures were heavily tilted towards the navy. This situation began to gradually change after 37 years.
37 years ago, the Japanese government and opposition parties were so confident that they called for an end to the war in three months.
As time went by, the Japanese people's aspirations were completely extinguished. Three years and three years passed, and the end of the war was far away, but military expenditures continued to increase.
In 2037, the Japanese government's fiscal revenue was only 4.7 billion yen, which is about 1.6 billion US dollars.
The revenue of the Southern African federal government in 2037 was R15.5 billion.
In February 1938, the Japanese government submitted a budget for the next year's armaments budget of 3.25 billion for the Army and only 1.043 billion for the Navy. At this time, the Navy's military expenditures had seriously lagged behind the Army's.
There is no way around it. The scale of Japan's current war is too large. There were 34 divisions at the beginning of the war. By early 1942, there were 65 divisions. Doubling the size was still not enough. The Japanese government decided to expand the size of the army to 115 divisions this year.
, military expenditures soared to 12.5 billion yen, while the navy’s military expenditures were only a pitiful 1.54 billion yen.
Don't be too little.
The results of the Guam Battle have proven that the Combined Fleet is no match for the Southern African Navy and the U.S. Navy.
Before the war, the Japanese media was arrogant. Not to mention distant southern Africa, it even looked down upon the United States. According to the Japanese media, Japan could even easily defeat the United States, so that Japan could continue to obtain the industrial raw materials necessary for the war from the United States.
Reality has proved that words are useless, the strength of southern Africa is unshakable, and the resilience of the Americans also amazed the Japanese.
Under such circumstances, continuing to increase funding for the navy will not be able to build a navy capable of winning in a short period of time, so it is better to spend the limited funds on the army and air force, which may still allow it to struggle.
After the bombing of Nagoya, some people at Japan's special cabinet meeting privately proposed moving the capital away from Japan's mainland.
This advice is correct.
At least after moving the capital, we no longer have to face the constant threat of Allied bombers.
It's a pity that it can't be realized.
Today, Japan still has industrial production capacity, but it faces a serious shortage of raw materials, and even people's livelihood cannot be guaranteed.
The situation in Saigon is obviously much better than that in mainland Japan. The streets are bustling, the pedestrians are rosy-cheeked and well-dressed. Life has not been affected by the war, and prices are far cheaper than in mainland Japan.
Shota Yamaguchi still had money, so he spent 15 centimes on a watermelon on the street.
Poor Keiko's eyes filled with tears when she hugged the watermelon. She had forgotten the last time she ate watermelon. As for such a whole watermelon, she had never had such a whole watermelon in her memory.
Watermelon is a high-end fruit in Japan, and only rich people can afford it. This is really not embarrassing.
"We work hard every day, and the pay we get cannot even afford a watermelon. The people here do nothing every day, relying on the abundant resources to eat and wait to die. This is why we must launch a war." Yamaichiro has not changed his mentality yet.
Still standing on Japan's side.
"There is nothing wrong with working hard to get paid, and there is nothing wrong with pursuing a better life. However, we used the wrong method and chose the wrong target at the same time. It is time for us to correct our mistakes." Yamaguchi Shota's mentality is correct, and Saigon is just
As a transit point, Shota Yamaguchi’s ideal destination is southern Africa.
Of course it would be best to go to southern Africa. Shota Yamaguchi believes that with his ability, he will be able to live in southern Africa.
Considering the anti-Japanese attitude in Southern Africa, if you cannot go to Southern Africa, it is acceptable to go to Europe.
Of course, we cannot go to Europe now. Europe is now under German rule, and Easterners are not welcome in Europe.
Thinking about it this way, it is more realistic to go to the Lion City or East India. The majority of the population in these two places are Chinese. The three of Yamaguchi Shota can speak Chinese and can easily integrate into the environment.
Shota Yamaguchi did not want to stay in Saigon for too long. The people responsible for maintaining order on the Saigon Pier were Japanese soldiers, which gave Shota Yamaguchi an inexplicable sense of crisis.
Because Southern Africa was an ally of France in the last world war, Southern Africa would not attack Vichy France——
Total nonsense!
Now the Japanese army in the Malay Peninsula has been basically wiped out, and the front is advancing towards French Indochina. The Southern African Air Force has carried out multiple air raids on Saigon, and the airport built by the Japanese army in Saigon has been completely destroyed.
This was obviously a precursor to the southern African army's attack. Looking at the people enjoying themselves in front of him, Yamaguchi Shota didn't know how long they could stay happy.
The three people who had just disembarked were out of tune with the surrounding environment and quickly attracted the attention of the Japanese soldiers.
"Who are you?" A Japanese soldier came over and asked, with a bayonet on the rifle on his shoulder and a cold light under the noon sun.
"We are students at Tokyo Imperial University. My name is Yamaguchi Shota, and his name is Yamaguchiro. We came to French Indochina to complete a survey report to evaluate the economic complementarity between French Indochina and the mainland." Yamaguchi Shota
He answered in Japanese and immediately gained the respect of the Japanese soldiers.
In Japan, students at Imperial University still have a good status.
"You'd better report to the superiors. We need more reinforcements here." The soldiers don't know enough about the operating rules of the Japanese government. Although the students of Imperial University are valuable, they are not qualified to directly advise the Japanese government.
"Didn't you say that southern Africans will not attack Saigon?" Yamaichiro still had expectations for the rumors.
The corner of the soldier's mouth twitched and he said nothing, and his eyes suddenly looked a little cold when he looked at Sanichiro.
Are Imperial University students at this level?
"We will do our best -" Yamaguchi Shota tried his best to make up for it, trusting his own judgment even more.
Southern Africans are just like the devils in the United States. They will not let French Indochina go just because they are thinking about old friendship. They are more likely to add insult to injury and take the opportunity to expel French forces from French Indochina.
This is in line with the nature of imperialism.
Yamaguchi Shota was lucky enough to catch a cargo ship bound for Coconut City.
The conditions on cargo ships are definitely not as comfortable as those on merchant ships, and there are not even cabins for passengers to rest.
But under the current conditions, there is nothing to fault, as long as we can leave Saigon.
"From now on, my name is Shan Xiang, your name is Shan Lang, and we are brothers——" Yamaguchi Shota changed his identity. Leaving Saigon did not escape danger. On the contrary, Coconut City was more dangerous for the three of them.
The legendary Brad Office is not a vegetarian. If Yamaguchi Shota and the other three are exposed, their fate will be tragic. Southern Africans will not give them preferential treatment just because they are Imperial University students.
Look at the United States. 110,000 Japanese-Americans have been sent to concentration camps since the war broke out. Many of them are second or even third-generation Japanese. They can’t even speak Japanese, so they still can’t escape being imprisoned.
destiny.
"What about me?" Huizi hugged a dragon fruit and ate it happily. She had not been idle since she got off the boat mouth from Saigon.
"Of course your last name is Shan, just Shan Hui." Shota Yamaguchi took out his ID card and student ID card from his pocket and threw them into the sea.
Japan now has an ID card.
The Japanese government's military expansion this year is to force conscription based on ID cards, which is not appropriate.
This also became an important reason why the Japanese resisted the ID card system after the war. After that, many Japanese governments tried to restore the ID card system, but ultimately failed.
Yamaichiro hesitated while holding his ID card, and finally threw it into the sea.
At this time, there was a faint roar of engines in the sky.
Yamaguchi Shota looked up, but saw nothing.
The plane was beyond Yamaguchi Shota's visual range, but Yamaguchi Shota could still hear the sound. There was more than one plane.
Listening to the sound, the direction of the fleet seemed to be Saigon, which made Yamaguchi Shota once again strengthen his judgment.
Yes, if the Vichy government did not open French Indochina to the Japanese army, then the Allies might be restrained.
Now even if Angel wanted to let go of the Japanese in French Indochina, MacArthur would not agree.
Just when Shota Yamaguchi was heading to Coconut City, the Allied forces had already begun landing in the Philippines. The first wave of landing troops was still composed of Marines. Their mission was to establish a beachhead and open a channel for subsequent attack troops to land.
The counterattack in the Philippines was the Allied forces' first tough battle since the war began.
The Philippines is very rich in resources. There are more than 20 kinds of mineral deposits in the country, including copper, gold, silver, iron, chromium, nickel, etc. The copper reserves are about 4.8 billion tons, nickel 1.09 billion tons, and gold 136 million tons.
There are also oil fields in the Philippines, but they have not been discovered yet, otherwise the Japanese government would pay more attention to the Philippines.
For the Japanese, metal mineral deposits are important, but what Japan values more is natural rubber.
Southeast Asia is the main producing area of natural rubber.
The significance of natural rubber to modern industry does not need to be emphasized. All the rubber needed by Japanese industry depends on imports.
The natural rubber production in the Malay Peninsula is actually higher than that in the Philippines.
With the Japanese army in the Malay Peninsula completely defeated, the significance of the Philippines became even more important.
After several months of crazy supplies by the Japanese army, the total strength of the Japanese army in the Philippines is now about 500,000, most of which are army soldiers, including part of the elite Kwantung Army that has just arrived.
In order to attack the Philippines, the Allied forces also mobilized. Angel prepared 7 Marine Divisions, 9 Marine Brigades, plus 25 East India Divisions, and 6 Australian Divisions, with a total strength of more than 800,000. Even MacArthur provided
2 divisions.
It should be noted that the two divisions of the United States are not colonial servant armies, but army divisions composed purely of Americans. The establishment of these two divisions is relatively small, with each division having only about 15,000 people.
This is already rare.
After the end of World War I, the United States underwent major disarmament. By the time World War II broke out, the U.S. Army was reduced to only 130,000 people. Even counting all the miscellaneous people, the regular army only had three divisions, all of which were understaffed. In addition, there were
Six nominal army divisions, these six divisions are not even as large as the Marine Corps Brigade in Southern Africa.
At this time, the U.S. Army still used old-fashioned rifles supported by Britain and France during World War I. The U.S. media at the time described the U.S. soldiers as follows: panting and grinning, wearing ill-fitting military uniforms, carrying weapons crookedly.
Armed with an outdated rifle, he walked endlessly across the vast and boundless land.
How miserable the U.S. Army was at this time. The rifles and anti-tank guns used for training were even made of wood. The simulated artillery shells were fired with your mouth. There were less than 300 tanks in the entire army. Among all countries in the ranking of strength, the U.S. Army
Its strength ranking is 19th, even worse than Portugal.
After the Pearl Harbor incident broke out, the United States began general mobilization, and the first batch of soldiers recruited was 900,000.
There are no soldiers alone, and the U.S. Army seriously lacks experienced officers, so it can only select outstanding officers from among the soldiers.
But the soldiers have just been recruited. They haven't figured out how to fight or command yet.
At this point, MacArthur still insisted on letting the US troops land in the Philippines with the first batch of troops.
