Chapter 568: Coercion

There’s an old saying in China: “Walk by the river often, and your shoes are bound to get wet.”

There’s another old saying in China: “Nine out of ten bets are losses.”

Unfortunately, the Emperor of Japan was clearly not Chinese and had never heard these proverbs. He believed what his ministers always told him: “Eternal good fortune in war.”

That’s why sometimes it’s better for emperors to be replaced more often. For example, if it were a Chinese emperor, he would never have believed his underlings’ fawning slogan of “Long live the Emperor for ten thousand years.”

In any case, the higher-ups in Japan had come to believe in the auspicious words they used to encourage each other, feeling that they were a superior nation favored by the heavens. They were confident that since they had won the first gamble, and the second, they would surely win this most crucial one.

And so, Japan committed all the forces it could find, went to America’s Pearl Harbor, and smashed the place up like never before, suddenly feeling like the leader of the most vicious gang in the global village. Unfortunately, the place they smashed had some background; its name was the police station.

As you know from Hollywood movies, in most cases, the story begins with a big scene where gangsters burst into a police station with submachine guns and rocket launchers, guns blazing. But an hour and a half later, the police often manage to successfully turn the tables. Real life is pretty much the same. America had taken a beating at Pearl Harbor, but it was already starting to think about how to punch back.

Within a month, the United States had repaired three battleships and one aircraft carrier, while simultaneously building seven new cruisers and eleven destroyers. This terrifying shipbuilding capability shocked the entire world. To prevent a Japanese surprise attack on Australia, the United States even shipped 500 tanks there and transferred General MacArthur from the Philippines to Australia to stabilize the situation.

In all of Australia, there were a total of 14 divisions composed of locals, plus 5 divisions sent over by the United States, which were combined into two army groups. These forces were deployed to the areas where Japan was likely to land, to protect the security of the entire continent. Although the number of troops seemed slightly insufficient at present, the number of forces Japan could spare was even smaller, so it was barely passable.

The Americans were also frustrated. Their warships were either damaged or sunk, and the remaining forces were stretched thin just dealing with Japan. And the Germans in North Africa were stirring restlessly, ready to launch a large-scale attack at any moment. Once the oil resources of the Middle East were threatened by the Germans, then America would lose another bargaining chip in the future struggle for hegemony.

If it were just a bargaining chip, it would be fine. But if it were to lose its voice in the Middle East, then the United States would be completely excluded from the mainstream world circle and become a marginalized country. For the United States, which was eager to seek a leading position in the world, this was an unbearable loss.

Of course, all of this would have to wait until America had beaten Japan, that trouble-making punk, to a pulp. If Japan were to flip the table, then let alone competing with Germany for future world hegemony, it was questionable whether America could even secure the number two spot.

And so, gritting its teeth, the U.S. Navy found a highly accomplished carrier commander, Spruance, and ordered him to launch an effective local counter-attack against Japan in the waters near the Philippines.

Spruance lived up to expectations and successfully won this important naval battle, which was crucial to the future fate of Australia. With the help of British radar technology, the U.S. Navy had developed a new type of naval radar that could be installed on a mast. This radar, having just entered service, had helped the U.S. Navy achieve a great victory in the naval battle off the coast of the Philippines.

It was only at this moment that the U.S. Navy and the British Royal Navy finally understood just how great an advantage the German Navy, with its radar technology, had held in the Battle of the Atlantic. It was also at this time that they discovered that their defeat in the Atlantic had not been unjust in the slightest.

And the Japanese Navy, now without the help of the German Siemens company, was even further behind in the research and production of radar systems. They still did not have radar that could be installed on their ships, nor did they have any effective means to counter this terrifying electronic weapon.

During the war of aggression against China, Japan had demonstrated the meticulous planning of a small country challenging a large one. Long before the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese had begun to infiltrate China. Their spy network was all-pervasive; they had even infiltrated Japanese agents into China’s military-industrial enterprises. These spies scouted, drew maps, and some women even seduced Chinese generals to obtain core secrets like military deployment plans. Even the highly effective espionage methods that Akado had launched after 1920 were largely influenced by Japanese espionage activities.

But in the two important battles of Nomonhan and the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese spy agency had only performed at a tactical, not its usual exaggerated strategic, level. The Japanese spy agency had not provided a complete analysis of American industry, nor had it been able to remind the Japanese Army that the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Far East forces was no longer what it used to be.

Perhaps the spy agency had indeed provided reliable intelligence and a thorough analysis of the enemy’s national strength, but the terminally ill Japanese high command had turned a blind eye. Who could say for sure? But one thing was certain: Japan had wrongly estimated America’s war potential and had also wrongly ignored America’s determination to wage war.

The Japanese had thought that America would lose its nerve under their fierce offensive and, after a few defeats in the Pacific, would hastily compromise and make some concessions, as capitalist countries usually do. And then Japan would give up some places to appease America, and the entire coast of China would be swallowed by the Japanese.

But they had not expected that, in the most hidden corners, the United States was already doing everything it could to prepare to provoke a war to cope with the continuous expansion of its rival, Germany. The American high command naturally knew that earning money was not as fast as robbing it. So, watching Germany get rich through robbery, the Americans also wanted to do the same… Originally, the place the Americans had chosen was the Middle East, but Japan had impatiently jumped out, crying and begging for America to beat it first.

The Japanese intelligence services were completely paralyzed by America’s internment policy. Within a month of the Pearl Harbor incident, all Japanese nationals in the United States had been placed under control and concentrated in a certain area for monitoring, to prevent Japanese spies from providing any intelligence to their home country. This move was indeed effective; within a few days, the Japanese intelligence agencies had become completely blind.

Due to racial reasons, it was difficult for Japan to find spies of European descent to help in the United States. They could only rely on Japanese nationals to obtain American intelligence. This problem ultimately led to their loss of all intelligence sources on the U.S. mainland at the end of May 1939. They did not even get a single decent piece of information.

However, Japan did receive news from some sources that the U.S. Navy was equipping radar. This news was unfortunately left behind in a conference table by a German military attaché, and was then coincidentally sent as an ordinary document to the mayor’s office, which was full of Japanese spies. And the Japanese spy network in China was still very efficient. The Japanese quickly obtained this important intelligence, which was undoubtedly a gift from Germany.

“Nagumo-kun, what do you think of the intelligence that the Americans have equipped their ships with radar?” Isoroku Yamamoto asked, sitting in a chair on the bridge of the carrier Akagi, drinking his carefully brewed tea as he spoke to Chuichi Nagumo, who was sitting to the side.

It was clear that the commander of the Japanese carrier fleet was not optimistic about Japan’s research and development capabilities. “With all due respect, Your Excellency, the matter of our ships being equipped with similar devices to counter the American ships will not happen in the short term. We can only rely on our numbers to fight a decisive battle with the enemy in the daytime and to crush the remnants of the U.S. Navy in one fell swoop.”

“In the waters near the Philippines, we were careless and let the Americans get the better of us. The General Headquarters is demanding that we achieve a victory as soon as possible to stabilize the morale of the army,” Isoroku Yamamoto said, his eyes narrowed sinisterly. “We must choose an assault point, force the U.S. Navy to fight, and then dispatch our superior naval air forces to annihilate the U.S. Navy, seize American islands, and force the United States to surrender and sue for peace.”

In his heart, Isoroku Yamamoto had never had the idea of defeating the United States and dominating the Pacific. He had always pinned Japan’s victory on hurting the United States and forcing it to compromise, and then Japan would exchange its interests in the Pacific for its interests in China in the Far East. For this goal, he had to inflict the most terrifying damage on the United States in the shortest possible time, to create the illusion for the Americans that they could not defeat Japan.

Once this time was dragged out by the Americans, then the Americans would see themselves more and more clearly, and also see Japan’s bluff. At that time, Japan would never be able to win the war.

“In my humble opinion, if we must choose a location, we can launch a forced landing on America’s Wake Island. This way, the American fleet will be forced to come and fight,” Chuichi Nagumo said, pointing to an inconspicuous small island on the sea chart. “If the Americans ignore it, then we will continue to advance east, occupy Midway Island, and press on to Hawaii.”

“That’s a solution. I’m just afraid that the Americans will give up these islands and continue to play hide-and-seek with us,” Isoroku Yamamoto said. What he feared most now was that America would not care at all about how many islands and territories it lost and would just single-mindedly build up ten aircraft carriers at home before coming out to fight. This turtle strategy really left Japan with no options.

“Then, let our people advise His Majesty to urge the Army to advance into Australia?” Chuichi Nagumo offered another idea.

“Not appropriate. We have no confidence that the Army will necessarily win in Australia. If it’s another Nomonhan, we will all be finished,” Isoroku Yamamoto said, as if he had made up his mind. “So be it! Order the fleet to turn around, rendezvous with the main battleship fleet and the landing fleet, and capture Wake Island!”

Published: 2025-09-06T04:25:32.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-31T11:46:56.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c568-138254034

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