The year 1894 was a watershed in the destiny of modern China, with two Chinas before and after. In this year, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and Japan completely defeated China for the first time, and since then the political map of Asia has changed from "Sino-Russian Gemini" to "Japanese-Russian Gemini". After the Sino-Japanese naval battle, the Qing dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. Japan was able to hold on to the 200 million taels of silver knocked down.
Treaty of Shimonoseki
After digesting the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan set its sights on northeast China. It is a good place, rich in coal and iron resources and endless black soil, making Japan salivate. But Tsarist Russia disagreed, saying that the place should belong to itself. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Japan did not expect that Japan would win again, and the Russian forces withdrew from northeast China. This was the first time on Earth that the yellow race had triumphed over the white race under the large-scale use of firearms. This result made the jaws of the onlookers drop in shock. Japan's national pride has reached its peak. After that, the 918 incident and the 77 incident were simply invincible.
Although Japan is strong, its war potential is small and it cannot withstand a long toss. Hope for a quick fix. Therefore, at the beginning of the war of aggression against China, it went all out and became terrifying, and it took only five months to capture the Chinese capital. At the end of 1938, at the time of the Battle of Wuhan, Japan began to feel that it was unable to do so and its material reserves were insufficient. Originally, the military bragged about "destroying China in three months", but I did not expect that a dozen would be more than a year. More and more troops are also being sent to China.
China has a vast territory, and Lao Jiang exchanged space for time, took the initiative to give up Wuhan, relying on the southwest and consuming Japan. Nanjing lost Wuhan, Wuhan lost Chongqing, and even the loss of Chongqing was ready to ride yaks in Tibet. As long as he does not surrender, he is the leader of China and qualified to lead the war of resistance. As soon as the Japanese army in Wuhan left the city, there were all kinds of enemies everywhere. The Nationalist Army, the New Fourth Army, bandits, these people were entrenched in small counties and various transportation arteries, waiting for the Japanese transport troops to leave the city, as if hunters were waiting for their prey. As long as Japan dares to luck, they dare to rob. This is very embarrassing for Japan.
Most of Japan's forces were mired in China's war, hoping to have time to digest the fruits of victory by armistice on the Chinese battlefield. But Lao Jiang simply ignored it, neither begging for mercy nor negotiating. Japan is very maddening. The Eighth Army, adapted from the Red Army, is the grandfather of guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare. Japan carried out large-scale sweeps behind enemy lines, and sweeping and sweeping again would not be clean. The Eighth Route Army interspersed in North China, like a dragon entering the sea, a tiger roaring in the mountains and forests, frequently harassing the Japanese army in the occupied areas, making it impossible for the Japanese army to plunder resources from China normally.
In desperate circumstances, Japan set two operational objectives: to go south to capture Southeast Asia and north to capture Far Eastern Siberia. In 1939, the Japanese Army launched a tentative attack on Soviet forces in the Far East. The Soviet Union and Japan clashed again, and the elite Kwantung Army, which was known as the elite of Japan's elite, was hung and beaten by the First Army led by the Soviet god of war Zhukov, which directly knocked Japan out of the psychological shadow. Japan completely abandoned its plan to go north and signed the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Treaty with the Soviet Union. Although everyone knows that this agreement is not even as good as paper.
Signing of the Treaty of Neutrality between Japan and the Soviet Union
The United States was Japan's main source of oil in the early years of World War II. In 1937, the year of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, 54.4% of Japan's strategic imports came from the United States. Even in 1938, when the "moral embargo" was promised, the Americans still sold Japan a full seven times more aircraft than in 1937. It is no exaggeration to say that if Japan is the main culprit in its aggression against China, then the United States is an accomplice behind the scenes. War consumption was like a gold-swallowing behemoth, quickly sucking up Japan's fiscal revenue. In 1941, Japan was deeply trapped in the Chinese battlefield, and Japan had almost been squeezed dry. That year, Japan had only 20,000 German marks in foreign exchange to pay, and could no longer afford American steel and oil. The United States made a quick decision to let Japan get out. Although China is vast in size, it does not have the oil and rubber needed for war. Japan, which could not get mixed up, took the risk and went out directly to grab it, invading the western colony of Southeast Asia.
After World War I, although the hairstyle was messy, they still wore the old colonial imperial coat to walk and fan, although this coat was dirty and torn. Together with the United States, they launched economic sanctions against Japan and cut off all supplies to Japan. At the same time, they negotiated with Japan and demanded that Japan return to the puppet Manchukuo and abandon the fruits of the invasion. Japan's invasion of China lost hundreds of thousands of troops, emptied the foreign exchange reserves accumulated for decades, lost its old capital, and withdrew now, which is equivalent to fighting the entire war of aggression against China in vain. What the United States did stepped on the tail of the Japanese dog.
At this time, the courage sent by its ally Germany to the unwilling Japan was more timely than Liang Jingru. After Germany blitzed Poland, it swept through European countries with the advantage of mechanization. Countless opponents fell before they had time to react. France, which flaunted its might in the Indochina Peninsula and was known as the first army power in Europe, had advanced weapons and equipment and claimed to be the strongest Maginot Line in the world, and actually surrendered after less than six weeks of fighting with Germany. Germany chopped melons and greens all the way, and it seems that the big picture has been decided.
German-occupied zone in World War II
The power of the number one is endless. Japan is excited, Southeast Asia has inexhaustible rice, inexhaustible oil, and inexhaustible rubber. Since the European powers are now crippled by Germany, their colonies in Southeast Asia will not be robbed at this time, let alone when? At this time, there is only one sentence in their heads, and my life is up to me.
To go south to obtain the oil resources of the Dutch colony of Indonesia, you must pass through the United States colony of the Philippines, and must face the powerful Pacific Fleet of the United States. As the saying goes, if you strike first, you will be subject to others. The Japanese Navy decided to attack Pearl Harbor and eliminate the American fleet to give Japan a head start. If the U.S. Navy could be severely damaged early in the war, it would also give the Japanese Navy at least six months of strategic advantage in order to enable the Japanese army to attack the resource sources of Southeast Asia and the East Indies without U.S. naval obstruction. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was not a death, but a desperate gamble of last resort.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The results far exceeded the best expectations of the Japanese base camp. At the cost of just a few dozen planes, dozens of pilots and a few pocket submarines, Japan damaged 70% of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Sea supremacy in the southwest Pacific changed hands overnight. The Southern Army, with the cooperation of the Japanese Navy, rushed to Southeast Asia like a vicious dog out of a cage and began his gobbling. Japan occupied all of Southeast Asia and the southwestern Pacific, and its power expanded as far as the Indian Ocean. Without the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan would not have been able to take the Philippines and Malaysia, let alone completely solve the oil crisis.
The news that Japan had attacked the world's most powerful country lifted the spirit of the Chinese military and civilians, which was struggling to support. Chinese people fought alone against the Japanese invaders for ten years. Although the people are not afraid of death and desperately drag Japan down, China is really exhausted and has reached the most dangerous point. Everyone applauded and frantically praised Japan.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor completely set fire to the entire Pacific Ocean. On December 7, Japan declared war on Britain and the United States; On December 8, Britain and the United States simultaneously declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany, Italy and the United States declared war on each other. Seeing the European and American powers declare war on Japan, Lao Jiang left tears of excitement. After fighting alone for ten years, he finally found an organization, quickly joined the Allies, and declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan at the same time. The largest group fight in human history is finally in full swing. World War II broke out in full force.
Looking at Japan's performance in the War of Aggression against China and the Pacific War, it is nothing more than a small group of gamblers leading a group of fanatical militarists to gamble on national fortune; Like a poor boy who has accumulated all his belongings and found rich people to gamble. Once you lose a game, make a bigger bet and want to turn over. A gambler doesn't have to be rich, but he tends to make desperate bets and try to get away with it. China can lose many times, and Japan loses the war if it loses once.
The United States took advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune in the war, and later participated in the war to reap the fruits of victory. Insult Japan to back, fruit harvested by the United States. Everyone else is losing, and he has been earning, and eventually he has earned a savior. What used to be a dog eats a dog, now there is a licking dog. Japan definitely did not think of the consequences of the sneak attack on pearl powder later, and directly recruited a father. Although the father was not soft at all when he beat his son, will there be another time his son beats his father? They walk hand in hand ...