Chapter 529: America Enters the War

Japan, of course, would not just attack Pearl Harbor and call it a day. While Japanese planes were wreaking havoc in Hawaii, the main force of the Japanese Army, like a long-suppressed beast, began a fierce assault on the Philippines and the Malaysian region.

This was no small skirmish. Japan committed four army corps, hundreds of thousands of men, into the tropical rainforests to attack the American garrisons in these areas. The local American defenders held out for only an hour before they were beaten back by the well-prepared Japanese army.

The American troops stationed in the Philippines were not elite units to begin with, and the war had broken out too suddenly. So, after being ambushed by the Japanese Army, the nearby American forces were thrown into chaos, just like the Navy at Pearl Harbor. The defensive fortifications, built at great expense, were handed over to the enemy before they could even be used.

In the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, the short and tenacious Japanese soldiers were clearly more imbued with a fighting spirit than the American troops. The terrain, which was unfavorable to their armored forces, meant that the Japanese army was even more in its element, its offensive like a hot knife through butter.

The Japanese army’s training philosophy, which emphasized bayonet fighting and marksmanship, was even more effective in the jungle. The Japanese Army, which had been thoroughly beaten at Nomonhan by the Soviet armored forces and their massive artillery, seemed to have rediscovered its former courage and feeling in the tropical rainforest.

In fact, looking at the columns of American prisoners of war, hands on their heads, squatting by the side of the road, many Japanese army officers had a strange thought: We never should have listened to the Germans’ nonsense and gone to fight at Nomonhan in Mongolia. If we had come to Southeast Asia sooner, would we have had to lose face in front of the Navy?

And so, a strange thing happened. An American army equipped with trucks and howitzers was being chased by a Japanese army on bicycles and carrying grenade launchers. Along the way, they abandoned cities and highways, lost rubber plantations and oil fields, and were routed all the way back towards the great rear base of Australia.

However, on May 3rd, 1938, the day after the Pearl Harbor incident, the President of the United States delivered a speech to Congress declaring war. On this day, the world war erupted in full force. All the major countries of the world were drawn into the war on this day, with no one spared.

Roosevelt, at the podium, was helped to his feet by his secretary. He stood strong on his disabled legs, letting the sweat drip from his face like rain. He knew that everything he had fought for would come to pass in the days to come. He firmly believed that his ideals would protect America and win the future.

So he insisted on standing, insisted on using his spirit to inspire all the American people. On this day, the American people were filled with righteous indignation. On this day, all dissonant voices were drowned out by the two words “war.” America had never been so united in preparing for a war, had never been so eager to win a war.

In the past, it had pulled the strings of other countries, even extending its own dark hand from behind. That was a war played and arranged by a few. This time, America had finally gotten its own shoes wet after walking by the river for so long. It had been slapped twice, hard, by the tiny island nation of Japan, and had joined this world war of unknown outcome in a rage.

Before the countless flashing cameras, under the gaze of countless people, Roosevelt delivered his war speech. Everyone knew that after this speech, the configuration of the world would change. Everyone knew that their motherland would join this war after this speech.

After a wait that seemed as long as an hour, President Roosevelt slowly opened his mouth, his voice dry. He had not rested all night after the attack. An hour ago, he was still compiling the report on America’s losses at Pearl Harbor:

“Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:”

“Yesterday, May 2nd, 1938—a date which will live in infamy—the territory of the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan!… The distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive and confuse the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace!”

“Yesterday, the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya!”

“Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam!”

“Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands!”

“…Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger!… No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory!”

“With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God! I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on May 2nd, 1938, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire!”

“America will be victorious!” he said, putting away his speech and standing on the high platform, looking at the reporters and congressmen before him.

“America will be victorious!” everyone shouted. The U.S. Congress unanimously passed the decision to declare war on Japan. From this moment on, the United States of America was drawn into the war, into a life-or-death struggle with Japan on the other side of the Pacific.

“China and the United States have formed an alliance and are at war with Japan on all fronts in the Pacific. The British government-in-exile of the Royal Family in Iceland has joined the Sino-American alliance, and the French government-in-exile has also declared war on Japan. To stop Japanese expansion in the Pacific, a four-nation military alliance has been formally established,” the New York Times reported the latest news in bold headlines.

Surprisingly, the reaction of the Axis powers seemed even more intense than that of the attacked America. The Führer of the Third Reich, Akado Rudolph, personally published an article condemning the war crimes committed by Japan in the Far East and announced the termination of the alliance agreement between the two countries. Subsequently, the Italian Duce, Mussolini, also issued a statement, announcing that Italy was severing diplomatic relations with Japan at the ambassadorial level.

This was a truly helpless move for Akado. He had encountered almost all the most tragic things in life. What is bad luck? It is having a god-like opponent on your path forward. And the opponents standing in front of Germany were more than one; Britain, America, the Soviet Union, each one more tyrannical than the last… So what is even worse luck? It is facing a group of god-like opponents while also having a group of pig-like teammates. It was a great pity that Germany had gotten both Italy and Japan.

Since Germany wanted to advance, it had to challenge one god-like opponent after another. This was a point that not even Akado could change. So, since he could not choose his opponents, he had to carefully consider how to choose his teammates. Kicking out a member who was useless at accomplishing things but a master at ruining them was clearly in everyone’s interest.

This matter was passed almost unanimously within the Axis. Italy was fighting for its life against the remnants of the British in North Africa and certainly did not want to see American troops appear on the battlefield on a large scale. For Mussolini, the Japanese were “making trouble” for him. Similarly, another relatively effective ally, Turkey, also felt that at a time when everyone was reaching for the Middle East, to provoke the Americans ahead of time was a very unwise move.

Any discerning person could see that the Axis powers were not willing to have a falling out with the Allies, where the United States was present, at least not before they had finished carving up the interests of the Middle East. So these countries would rather expel Japan from the Axis than bear the consequences of being forced to declare war on the United States.

Subsequently, the Japanese Emperor, at the urging of the Imperial General Headquarters, also issued a declaration, calling Germany a country that did not keep its word and calling on the other members of the Axis powers to boycott Germany’s evil dictatorial leadership.

Of course, if you were to carefully count the Axis powers: Vichy France, Ireland, and Northern Britain, which all depended on Germany’s whim to exist; Italy, which had just gotten some benefits in North Africa, and Turkey, which had only just joined the Axis a few days ago; and Romania, which was practically in the same boat as Germany—which of these countries would listen to the nonsense of a short Asian country?

And so, a situation that made one unsure whether to laugh or cry had truly appeared before everyone. On the one hand, the Axis did not want Japan. On the other, the Allies were preparing to take revenge on Japan. The poor great Japanese Empire had not faced such a grim international situation since the Russo-Japanese War.

But Japan was Japan, after all. When it was at a dead end, it shouted a slogan that made the British grit their teeth: “Liberate Southeast Asia.” The Great Japanese Empire, which had been strenuously denying that it was an Asian country since the First Sino-Japanese War, had this time chosen to have selective amnesia. It insisted that it was helping the people of Southeast Asia to liberate their countries from the hands of the European colonialists and, in one go, established a dazzling array of puppet states.

Japan first formed an alliance with the puppet state of Manchukuo in northeast China and with Korea, then allied with the former French colony of Vietnam and the British colony of Burma. It also came up with a five-nation alliance, called the Greater East Asia Group. Of course, the slogan of this Greater East Asia Group was that shameless phrase, “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity.”

Unfortunately, for the major powers of the world, this newly rising group could only be described as laughable. Since Burma had fallen into Japanese hands, it had only about two divisions of puppet troops. Vietnam had about the same strength. Korea and the puppet state of Manchukuo had troops, but their combat effectiveness, which was enough to compete with the third-rate Italian army for the title of last place in World War II, was really not something the Japanese high officials could feel at ease about.

But amidst a chorus of boos, a new world order was established in the middle of May of this year.

Published: 2025-09-02T03:49:46.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-13T19:37:32.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c529-america-137921007

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