Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that is sovereign and independent at this time. Its independence is not because it is strong enough to protect itself like Japan or because it has too many people, too much land, and a long history to annex it like China.
Independence is caused by the unique historical and geographical environment.
After entering the 19th century, Southeast Asia was gradually divided and colonized by Britain and France. Because Britain occupied India, it continued eastward along India and took over places such as Myanmar and Malaysia. France occupied Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and other places. Even because of
Vietnam also went to war with China.
After the two countries occupied the country, they turned around and found that the other side was already very close to them. At this time, Thailand had woken up. The then King Rama IV carried out a series of Westernization reforms for the country and began to continuously contact the two countries, hoping that
Use diplomacy to relieve their crisis of national subjugation. The two countries happened to feel that if the colonies of the two countries were closely connected, there would be conflicts. At this time, Prussia had risen on the European continent. The two countries hit it off and decided to let Thailand go.
By making Thailand a buffer zone between the two countries, Thailand has preserved its independent sovereignty.
By 1941, things had changed, and the King of Thailand became King Rama VIII. This king had ascended the throne as early as 1935, when he was nine years old, but he had been studying in Switzerland and did not return to Thailand until 1939.
Thailand, still in the form of a visit, returned to Switzerland after a short stay to continue studying. Historically, this trip did not come back until the end of the war. All rights in Thailand are actually in the hands of the Minister of Education. The reason for choosing this
A child, probably for such a purpose.
The real power holder in Thailand at this time was Luang Phibun Songkhram. He was a Chinese born in Nonthaburi in 1987. After studying in France to study military affairs, he returned to China and participated in the 1932 Thai military coup. He has been prosperous ever since.
It took only two years for him to serve as deputy commander-in-chief of the army and minister of defense. In 1938, when Phayaphaphon resigned, he took over as prime minister and concurrently served as minister of defense, minister of interior and commander-in-chief of the army. He consolidated power into one person and began a military autocratic rule. Although he
He is of Chinese origin, but he pursues the policy of Thai nationalism in Thailand, provokes border disputes externally, incites ethnic estrangement between Thais and Chinese internally, and diplomatically makes good friends with fascist regimes such as Japan and Germany, and implements a strategy of distant diplomacy and close attack.
At this time, when he saw France's defeat in Europe, he immediately became interested in the vast French colonies around him. However, he also understood Thailand's national strength. He did not dare to take action until he had a backer. It happened that at this time, someone
Pillows were delivered.
The time is forwarded half a month, and the location is Tokyo, Japan.
It can be said that Konoe was very ambitious when he formed the cabinet for the second time. The defeat of France made him feel that he had reached a critical point in history. He spent two months reorganizing and reforming Japan from the inside out.
, strengthening the centralization of power in all aspects such as the party, government, military, and economy, so that the last vitality of Japan has been injected into the expansion of the military. It can be said that this is already the biggest gamble.
——Tokyo Imperial Conference
The Konoe cabinet and some elders sat in two rows. This time it was an enlarged meeting. The main reason was that this meeting would determine Japan's next strategic developments.
"Since the Meiji period, the empire has always aimed to go north." Ishihara became a lecturer on strategic history. He continued, "From the Sino-Japanese War to the Japanese War, we successively occupied Korea, Port Arthur, Dalian
It can be said that these battles were the foundation for the empire to take off. From the intervention in the White Russian War to the Manchuria Incident, they were all for the purpose of moving north. The definition of Manchuria from the beginning was to serve as a military depot and supply base for the empire when it went north to attack the Soviet Union.
Until today, Manchuria has developed into the empire's most important sphere of influence after the mainland." After speaking, Ishihara sat down. He just wanted to talk about history and was not asked to give his opinion on the subsequent strategy.
In fact, the argument for going north has always been dominant in Japan. It was not until after the February 26th Incident that the ruling faction proposed going south again. After the naval holiday, the Japanese army failed to reach an agreement with other powers on naval tonnage. In 1936
In April, the Navy officially submitted a document, hoping to change the defense in the north to attack in the south as a national policy, stating that it would not only ensure the empire's position on the East Asian continent, but also develop into the southern sea. At that cabinet meeting, it was finally decided to "advance the north and the south simultaneously."
" strategic policy, but the specific steps and agenda of the "southern advance" were not mentioned.
Among the Japanese army, people such as Tojo Hideki, Ishihara Kanji and others unanimously believed that the Soviet Union's eastward policy was its national policy for three hundred years and would not change. Therefore, the Soviet Union was Japan's biggest enemy, but among them
There are differences. Tojo Hideki and others believe that in order to deal with the Soviet Union, China must be solved first, while Ishihara Kanji and others believe that Manchuria is enough. As long as China does not become a friend of the Soviet Union, it can be said that the entire war of aggression against China
In the eyes of the Japanese army, it was just a prelude to the war against the Soviet Union. But no one expected that this prelude would be so long and difficult to end.
The quagmire of the war in China and the temptation on the threshold have told me that it is now impossible for the Japanese army to move north. In addition, Germany is sweeping across Europe, and countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and France are either defeated or surrendered. The United Kingdom is trapped in the three islands and is in danger.
There was a vacuum of power in the entire Nanyang region, and the argument for going south suddenly rose sharply. Some newspapers even openly declared, "Don't miss the bus. This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for the empire and a chance to liberate Asia."
Konoe waited for Ishihara to sit down and said, "The international situation is now clear. Germany has gained an absolute advantage in Western Europe and is about to make a final blow to Britain. We must make a decision on where to go."
Tojo Hideki stood up. At this time, he was attracted by the Konoe and became the new Minister of War. He said loudly, "It is already obvious. What else needs to be discussed? What the empire needs to do now is to go south. Nanyang is already waiting for
They are like lambs to the slaughter. If we don’t take action, once the war in Europe ends, Nanyang will become the world of the white race again.”
Admiral Yoshida Zengo said with some doubts, "Britain, France and other countries have nothing to fear, but the United States has to consider whether we are ready if the United States also joins the war."
Hideki Tojo hummed, "Americans are a group of people who are greedy for enjoyment and afraid of death. Do they dare to fight the empire at the cost of sacrificing millions of people? If whoever has a strong economy can win, the Song Dynasty will still win."
Will it be destroyed?"
Finance Minister Kawada Retsunori stood up and said, "No matter how we fight, we need money. The empire's financial resources are already at stake in the China War. If the Nanyang crisis breaks out again, I am afraid that the empire will be completely bankrupt in less than half a year. By then, the frontline troops may not even be able to I can’t even eat a rice ball.”
Tojo Hideki said disapprovingly, "Then let the war end within three months. Besides, Nanyang is rich and there is so much rice there that it will rot in the fields. What is there to worry about?"
Hearing Tojo Hideki say that the war would end in three months, Hirohito couldn't help but remember that these people had said the same thing back then. He was dissatisfied and snorted coldly. Tojo Hideki also realized that he might have said the wrong thing and lowered his voice. He sat down with his head bowed.
Seeing that Hirohito was dissatisfied with Tojo, Ishihara smiled proudly and stood up and said, "If the empire wants to go south, it should first ensure two things. The first is that the Soviet Union will not take the opportunity to go to war against the empire, and the second is that the United States will not take advantage of the opportunity to go to war against the empire." The empire launches a surprise attack. Otherwise, once the empire falls into a three-front war situation, it will be too difficult to win."
Hirohito felt justified and looked at Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yoyo.
Matsuoka Hiroshi stood up and said, "We are willing to contact the European and American powers, including the Soviet Union, to determine each country's attitude toward our country's move south."
Hirohito hummed and said, "Son."
Tojo Hideki suddenly felt unhappy. After this trip, it will take more than half a year. We will prepare by then. If the fight really starts, it will be next year, or even the year after that. After such a long time, God knows what will happen. His eyes He turned around and said, "Gentlemen, I think we should test the attitudes of European countries towards Nanyang."
Konoe asked, "How to test?"
Tojo Hideki said with a smile, "Thailand is located in Nanyang. Don't they understand the situation at this time? Don't they have any ideas? I think we can let Thailand take the initiative first and then look at the attitudes of other countries. If Thailand attacks, the other countries will not be fierce. If you object, the empire is a hundred times more powerful than Thailand, so you will naturally have less to worry about."
Tojo Hideki's idea of asking for directions immediately made everyone nod. Even Ishihara Kanji couldn't say anything wrong with this plan. After all, no matter what the final outcome of Thailand, this matter will have no impact on Japan. If Thailand does this, To perish, we will liberate another Thailand when we go south.
Hirohito was extremely satisfied with this plan and nodded, "Good!"
It's settled again.
Tojo Hideki struck while the iron was hot and said, "Gentlemen, once we go south, the empire's strategic force deployment must change. We should make preparations now to prevent us from being in a hurry and missing the opportunity."
This sentence brought everyone back to reality, because this strategic force adjustment will involve an issue that everyone deliberately avoided just now - the war in China.
Konoe also knew that this matter could not be avoided. He was the first to speak and said, "The war in China cannot continue like this. Changes must be made. If the army can guarantee to defeat China within half a year, then we will continue to fight. If not, we will continue to fight." , then let’s have peace talks.”
When it came to peace talks, Tojo Hideki was about to explode. He jumped up and shouted, "Peace talks? We have been in contact with Chiang Kai-shek's intermediary. Don't you know his conditions? He wants us to withdraw from China and Manchuria. If this is the case , the empire doesn’t need to go south, just wait for death!”
Suddenly the whole meeting was in chaos. You said we should negotiate for peace, I said we should fight resolutely, this person said we could return to Manchuria, and the other said you were disloyal to the empire. It was a mess.
"Pa" Hirohito lightly knocked on the table with Ruyi, and everyone fell silent immediately.
"Ishihara, please tell me what you think." Hirohito said to Ishihara Wanji. In fact, Ishihara Wanji had already told Hirohito his thoughts. Now he is just telling the outside world, but this also means that Hirohito is very concerned about Ishihara's thoughts.
Agree.
Ishihara Wanji nodded to Hirohito and said, "Gentlemen, it has been almost four years since the Peking Incident and almost ten years since the Manchuria Incident. The Empire has paid too much for this war, especially
It is Manchuria, and it is built as the homeland of the empire. It is absolutely unacceptable to withdraw from Manchuria."
Everyone nodded and expressed their understanding. Indeed, whoever really signs a contract to withdraw from all of China or even Manchuria under the currently dominant strategy may be executed by crazy soldiers the next day.
"But everyone, the world situation has changed, and it is impossible for the empire to continue to fight the war in China with all its strength. Now we cannot completely defeat China in a short time. If we want to defeat China while opening up new battlefields in the south or other directions, I personally
There is no certainty." Ishihara sighed and said, "But everyone should also see that in the entire China War, the empire's biggest defeat was not lost to Chiang Kai-shek's intermediary government in Chongqing, but to the Chinese Red Party armed forces in Yan'an, Shanxi,
Suiyuan and even Shandong and the Taihang Mountains, wherever we fought, the Chinese Red Party armed forces followed us. It can be said that the Chinese Red Party armed forces were our biggest threat in the China War."
Ishihara continued, "But I believe that Jiang's intermediary must also have seen it, so I think that there is no need for the empire to withdraw from China, as long as China's red and white parties can engage in full-scale war, then the empire can sit back and relax in China."
"We have also thought of many ways, but although there are frictions between the Chinese Red Party and the White Party, they also have a consensus. They are not fools and will not be fooled so easily." Tojo Hideki shouted.
Ishihara Wanji nodded and said, "Indeed, but the conflicts between the two parties have been going on for a long time, and I already have evidence that in addition to the Soviet Union, there are other forces supporting China behind it, even within the empire.
People are supporting them, and these people are very powerful. Let me tell you one thing. During the battle in South China, someone secretly released a large amount of arms ashore from Guangzhou and sent them to Hengyang City. That was not just a little bit.
But it’s arms for tens of thousands of people, do you think there are no insiders?”
"What?"
"impossible?"
"How could this happen?"
This stone stirred up a thousand waves, and everyone was stunned. It would be okay to say that the Soviet Union was supporting the Chinese Red Party, but if there were people in Japan who were supporting the Chinese Red Party, then it was also possible. After all, the Red Party did not distinguish between regions.
Well, but if there is a powerful force in Japan supporting China, or even the Chinese Red Party, that would be incredible. You must know that Japan is a single-ethnic country, and education with the Emperor as the spiritual pillar has been for decades.
Years later, it is hard to believe that a large number of Japanese rebelled. This idea did not change until the war with the United States.
"No! If you put it this way, those people are supporting Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing?" Tojo Hideki immediately discovered the problem and said, "But Chongqing's strength has not become much stronger?"
Ishihara Wanji nodded and said, "This matter needs to be investigated again, but what can be said is that this force is not only supporting Chiang Kai-shek's intermediary government in Chongqing, the Red Party armed forces in northern China, and even the so-called anti-alliance alliance in Manchuria.
They all have their shadows! The purpose of saying this is to tell you, don’t think that the enemies of the empire are only the people in front of you. There are also unknown people watching and waiting for us in the dark! Therefore, the empire can no longer
Worry about this, worry about that, you must give up what you should give up, and you will get something if you give up. For example, in Shandong now, General Okamura Neiji gave up a lot of land and villages, but strengthened the supervision of big cities.
, now the situation has gradually stabilized, that’s why.”
Konoe said doubtfully, "Does your opinion mean that most parts of China should be abandoned?"
Ishihara Wanji did not dare to say this. As long as he said that he would give up China, he would probably receive a friendly visit from Bullets and Katanas in a few days. He said, "I said it from the beginning, of course it is not like this, but to change it."
In this way, the empire can return some places bordering the Red Party armed forces to the Chiang Kai-shek intermediary government in Chongqing, and can even abandon some big cities. In this way, the situation can be changed from the armed forces of the Red and White parties in China to jointly deal with the Empire to that of the White Party.
We were under attack from the Empire and the Red Party armed forces, and then we shouted the slogan of joining forces with Chiang Kai-shek to fight against the Red Party, and even allowed some troops to support the anti-Red armed forces brokered by Chiang Kai-shek, without fear that the Red and White Parties would not go to war."
"Hiss!" Everyone gasped. This move can be said to be extremely vicious. If it is really successful, the Japanese army will be able to watch the show from behind.
Ishihara smiled and said, "Actually, this strategy has been used in China's Warring States Period. In the past, Zhang Yi, Su and Qin joined forces and used land to induce Qi and Chu to fight. Your Majesty, although this strategy will make the empire occupy the land
Losing part of it can also reduce the losses of the troops, which is also cost-effective from an economic perspective."
Hirohito understood what Ishihara Kanji meant, which actually meant that this plan must be released by him. Otherwise, anyone who releases it may be punished by those fanatical militarists.
Hirohito stood up and said, "The purpose of the empire is for world peace and the freedom of the yellow race. To achieve this purpose, all sacrifices are worth it."
Ishihara breathed a long sigh of relief. It was finally possible to drag Japan out of the quagmire of China. He vaguely felt in his heart that if Japan went south, sooner or later it would have a head-on confrontation with the United States. By then, Japan would still be dominated by China.
Pulling back, does Japan still have enough strength to defeat the United States? He doesn't believe it, so he must try every means to concentrate Japan's power. He understands that the war between Japan and the United States is a war between a child and an adult. Although this
A child holds a knife and has fighting experience, but once he gets into a long-term battle, he will be defeated by an adult with a musket sooner or later. The only chance is from the very beginning, before the adult can react, to strike a decisive blow - the chance is only
once.
--Bangkok
Luang Phibun Songkham strode to the conference room. When he saw the Japanese special envoy Kanemoto, he reached out his hand and said, "Mr. Kanemoto, I am glad to see you. I wish His Majesty the Emperor good health."
Jin Honda put his hands together in gratitude and said, "I also wish His Majesty Rama VIII good health. It's a pleasure to meet you."
After the two sat down, they talked in detail for half an hour. Luang Phibun and Songkham happily saw off Jin Honda and said to the confidants next to him, "It's great. Japan is willing to assist us to deal with the French and British. This is really true."
marvelous."
Sheni Bamo, who was standing next to him, said, "Although France was defeated in Europe, its strength should not be underestimated. The foundation of our country in Thailand is to win living space among the various powers, but now we have to join the game of the great powers."
Go, if you win, it will be good, but if you fail, I'm afraid Thailand will be in dire straits."
Luang Phibun Songkham said dissatisfied, "I think you are too cowardly. France has been defeated. Their armies in Asia must be in panic all day long. I'm afraid they will surrender as soon as they see us, and the local people
We all hate the French. As long as we send troops there, we will fight against the French together. What is there to worry about?"
Sheny Bamo shook his head and expressed that he was still not optimistic. Luang Pibun Songkan said impatiently, "You don't understand the army and war." Then he began to prepare for war.
The Thai army quickly dispatched. Without any preparation, the French defense line was broken through at once. The Thai army invaded Cambodia. After receiving the order from Pétain, the French Governor-General Jean Degoux immediately began a comprehensive counterattack.
Since the French army had a smaller number, he decided to use the navy to win. On April 9, Deku appointed Captain Béranger, the captain of the light cruiser "La Motte Bige", as the commander of the French combat formation, looking for an opportunity to attack the Thai Navy.
Carry out an attack.
Although Thailand is not big, it has made some achievements in naval construction due to years of peace. The French army is targeting the base camp of the Thai Navy - Koh Chang Island, where the Thai army has gathered 2 Japanese-made armored coastal defense ships and 10
It has a torpedo boat, 2 guard ships, 1 submarine and 2 minelayers, with a strength of more than 4,000 men, and a total tonnage of battleships of 30,000 tons. In contrast, the French army only has 5 ships that can participate in the battle, that is, 1 light cruiser and 2 light cruisers.
The frigate and 2 guard ships have a strength of 600 and the total tonnage of the battleship is 12,500 tons.
Then, an interesting war began. Although the French navy was smaller in number, the Thai navy began to divide its forces. This gave the French navy opportunities to defeat each other. The French navy first arrived at Koh Chang Island at 6 a.m.
Twelve kilometers away, there was a battle with two Thai torpedo boats. There were no cannons on the torpedo boats, only small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, but the French had 155mm naval guns. It only took less than ten minutes to end the battle.
Then they searched for fighter planes, sank and damaged many Thai warships. After a whole day of fighting, not one French soldier was killed, but the Thai army suffered more than 500 casualties, including more than 300 killed in action, which was an even greater loss.
With a quarter of its battleships, Vichy France's first victory was not won in a battle with Britain and de Gaulle's Free France, but in distant Asia, and it became a story that later generations of historians could not help but laugh at.
Interesting things.
What's more interesting is that after the Thai army received the battle report, Luang Phibun and Songkham were unwilling to admit defeat. They pretended to be a fat man and said that it was a victory. They repelled the French fleet and allowed the French to land.
The strategic conspiracy did not succeed. God knows how many people this French fleet of only 600 people planned to send to land in Thailand and then go straight to Bangkok.
——Yan'an
Chairman Mao looked at the telegram and waved it to Zhou Guansheng and reported, "Come, let's take a look. Our little Jiang is doing well overseas. The French are really disgusted with us there. They have incited the local indigenous people to riot. Little Jiang
Jiang found an opportunity to unite with the local Red Party to fight back. Not only did he suppress the riot, but he also surrounded the French people in the name of the local indigenous people. Haha, what a trick. By the way, this little Jiang
In the telegram, it was only said that they are aborigines. What kind of ethnic group are these? They are all oppressed proletarians. It is not appropriate to use a discriminatory term like aborigines!"
Zhou Guansheng took the telegram and said, "I didn't expect Xiao Jiang to be a general. I even asked some professors at our university to ask this question. This Polynesian is actually a mixed race of Australian native race and Mongolian race. There are also some
Some of the special features of our yellow race are shared by various local ethnic groups, so it’s hard to explain clearly. This is probably why Xiao Jiang said he is an aborigine.”
Chairman Mao took out a cigarette and said, "Mongoloid? Aren't these Mongolians Chinese! In this case, these people are still our cousins?"
Zhou Guansheng smiled and said, "You can also put it this way. In fact, in terms of race, Southeast Asia is somewhat related to us, but it is not exactly the same. It is difficult to explain clearly about this race. I am afraid we need to consult those experts."
As he said that, Zhou Guansheng started to think. Due to some reasons, Jiang Cheng told Chairman Mao, Zhou Guansheng, Boss Zhu and others about many things of later generations. For example, Chairman Mao did not know about Lan Ping, and Zhou Guansheng
But he knew some things, such as the Ten Years of Catastrophe, Chairman Mao knew less, but Zhou Guansheng and Mr. Zhu knew more about some details. For example, about the anti-Chinese incident in Southeast Asia, Chairman Mao only knew some general information, but Zhou Guansheng and Mr.
Jiang Cheng has had some discussions and ideas.
In history, because of the saying that the proletariat of the world unite, China's older generation of politicians often sincerely believe that the red parties in other countries are their fraternal parties. When some parties purge people close to China, it makes
Later, he encountered a lot of obstacles in the international arena. After Zhou Guansheng learned about later generations, he understood that it was out of helplessness. China was very poor and did not have much strength to intervene in international affairs. However, he did not want to be angry anymore, so he attacked Mao
The chairman said, "Chairman, I think we can let historians study it. I heard Xiao Jiang said before that the indigenous Indians in the Americas are probably the descendants of our Chinese people during the Shang Dynasty, and the people on the Polynesian islands may also be the descendants of our Chinese people.
Well. If so, I wonder if we can unite them and become our overseas Chinese?"
Chairman Mao immediately felt something. He looked at Zhou Guansheng and wanted to say something, but finally held back. After a while, he said, "This is still too far. Don't force it."
Zhou Guansheng smiled and said, "Let's talk more recently. Xiao Jiang has made such a big deal in Polynesia. I'm afraid France also knows about it, and I don't know how it will react."
Chairman Mao was not worried and said, "Xiao Jiang is very prudent in his work. He must have thought about this matter. This will cause some dissatisfaction with the emperor's order. We should not interfere with him. It's better for this drought."
We need to hurry up. A few days ago, Mr. Zhu came to tell me that the troops have been almost repaired during this period, especially the troops in Suiyuan and Shanxi. They can launch a large-scale battle at any time. I knew that Mr. Zhu
I saw an opportunity."
Zhou Guansheng nodded and said, "Mr. Zhu is a military strategist and has always had a good military sense. Once a drought occurs, the people in the Japanese-occupied areas will definitely be excited. If we have enough food, it will be easy to defeat others without fighting.
After all, the number of puppet troops is increasing now. If a drought occurs, they will definitely not have enough to eat. There are also imperial troops who need their support. I don’t believe Okamura Neji will let the Japanese starve.
, and let the puppet troops have their fill."
Chairman Mao nodded and said, "That makes sense! But according to Xiao Jiang, I'm afraid this drought will be unprecedented. Even with Xiao Jiang's support, I'm afraid it won't be able to feed the entire disaster area."
Of course it can’t be filled. You must know that the population affected by this drought is nearly 100 million. When later generations talk about the 1942 drought, they only talk about Henan. In fact, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and other places at that time were affected in various ways, just because Henan
It was located in the yellow flood zone and suffered the most heavy losses due to military disasters and man-made disasters. At that time, no less than seven to eight million people died of starvation in the country due to the drought that only eased from 1941 to 1943. In Henan alone, one million people died of starvation in 1941.
In 1942, the number of people who starved to death was between 3 million and 5 million. Even in the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu anti-Japanese base areas led by the Red Party, the number of people who starved to death was in the hundreds of thousands. In later movies, Deng Xianxian appeared in
The scene of eating locusts in the Taihang Mountain base area is about this period. It was much more serious in history than in the movie. Due to the blockade of the Japanese army, the people in the base area had no choice but to find ways to save themselves. Later, even Boss Peng and others had to go to a meeting because they were too hungry.
I can talk while lying in bed. If we really want to find a way to provide disaster relief, we must at least prepare enough food to feed 10 million people for a year. How much is that? It must be at least more than 16.7 million tons of food.
It's only two million cubic meters in size. For such a large quantity, not to mention the price alone, it would be around 7 billion, and even transportation would take half a year.
Zhou Guansheng said, "Chairman, the real key is for us to save ourselves. We now have a population of tens of millions in the base area. If we can ensure that our base area can survive without Xiaojiang's assistance, then the food brought by Xiaojiang will be enough for us."
It’s working.”
Chairman Mao took a puff of cigarette and said, "We have to discuss this matter carefully and come up with a solution. You are right, self-rescue is the key. This large-scale production movement cannot be stopped for a moment!"
