Chapter 584: Tripartite Balance

The world situation was now very delicate. The Axis powers, with Germany at their core, had declared war on the East Asian bloc led by Japan, and the Allies were also locked in a fierce battle with Japan. Interestingly, the Axis and the Allies were also fighting a heated war in North Africa.

At the same time, China and the United States among the Allies had not declared war on Germany. The Soviet Union had not declared war on Japan. Japan had declared war on all the countries in the Allies, with the sole exception of the Soviet Union. The two sides were maintaining restraint in the vast region of East Asia, and neither was willing to take the first step.

The Japanese were now acting with impunity. After all, Germany currently had neither the energy nor the ability to send troops to the Pacific theater. And Australia was now a huge, almost defenseless temptation. Not to swallow it in one bite would be a great disservice to the Americans’ kind intentions. It had taken the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters almost no time to analyze the pros and cons of the two choices, and almost all of the Japanese high command believed that Germany’s interests in the Pacific region were not core interests and could be compromised.

As a matter of course, the optimistic spirit of the Japanese had risen again. They believed that the Germans would not fall for the trick, would not want the “chicken rib” that was Australia. As for the declaration of war between the two sides, it was just a bargaining chip. Once Japan defeated the United States and dominated the Asia-Pacific region, the Germans would have no choice but to compromise.

A portion of the more rational Japanese officers felt that it was not wise to go to war with the Germans. In many cases, the Japanese understood Germany, their former ally, better than the Americans did. And because they understood, they knew the true terror of the Germans.

German tanks had always been highly regarded by the Japanese, but due to the sabotage of Führer Akado, the two countries had ultimately not cooperated on tank projects. As a result, while the German army was sweeping through the Eastern Front with its Tiger and Panther tanks, annihilating millions of Red Army soldiers, Japan’s small tanks—well, to call these things “tanks” is clearly an exaggeration, but they were indeed called tanks, so let’s not mind it… Japan’s small tanks could only bully the Chinese army, which lacked heavy weapons, in Asia.

The opposite example appeared in the navy. The Japanese Navy’s cooperation with the Germans had always progressed a bit faster than the Army’s. So while the Japanese Army was still using 20-ton “heavy tanks,” the Japanese Navy’s aircraft carriers were already experimenting with the take-off and landing of the new Zero carrier-based aircraft. And so, the Japanese Navy’s carrier-based aircraft had first caused trouble at Pearl Harbor, and then had fought at Wake Island, establishing the fearsome reputation of the “Zero Devil.”

The Zero was the ultimate product of Japanese-German cooperation. At least in materials and some design aspects, the Germans had provided many useful things to support Japan in going further down the road of fighter development. Unfortunately, the cooperation between the two countries soon ended due to Akado’s strategy of managing China and stirring up the situation in the Pacific. The Japanese Navy had not obtained the German engines they had dreamed of.

The Japanese knew that while the U.S. Navy was still keeping its radar detectors a secret, the Germans were already studying how to use radar beams to guide weapons for long-range attacks. The Japanese knew that while the Americans were still using M3 tanks to bully the small Japanese tanks in the jungles of the Philippines, the Germans’ Tiger tanks could already penetrate two M3 tanks with one shot. The Japanese also knew that the Germans had many advanced weapons that made one’s jaw drop, from the individual soldier’s tactical camouflage smock to the terrifying super long-range warning radar on the massive Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers.

These mid- and low-ranking Japanese officers who had had real contact with the Germans knew just how terrifying the country that His Majesty the Emperor had just declared war on was. They even felt that from tactics to strategy to equipment to technology, they were far behind the German Third Reich, which was already dominating Europe. Unfortunately, this country had gone from being an ally to a mortal enemy.

“I hope our superiors are just joking. I hope we can make peace with the Germans in a few months,” Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Japanese Zero fighter, who knew the Germans’ capabilities well, said to his assistant after hearing the news of the declaration of war. He had been able to design the Zero in large part thanks to the inspiration given to him by the Germans.

And the words of a Japanese officer who had accompanied the German advisory group during the Battle of Nomonhan were even more blunt. In a letter to his wife, he had written this about the declaration of war: “Hearing of the declaration of war on Germany, I am truly very pessimistic. The German soldiers I know are undoubtedly very excellent. I dare not have the slightest illusion of luck when fighting them. You are the person I love most, so I can only confide my frustration to you. That His Majesty the Emperor has declared war on Germany is, in my eyes, even more foolish than our going to war with the United States.”

However, the views of these people would never reach the ears of the high-level staff at the Imperial General Headquarters. These senior Japanese bureaucrats were very certain that the Germans could not possibly appear in the Pacific. First, the Germans did not have the ability to come. Second, even if they had the ability, there was no need to come. Third, the Americans, just like the Japanese, did not want the Germans to come. With these three points as their basis, all the high officials, including the Emperor, did not feel there was anything wrong with declaring war on the Axis powers.

Many of the higher-ups even believed that when Japan had provoked the Pacific War, the Axis powers had not only failed to fulfill their obligations as allies but had also expelled Japan from the Axis group. This humiliation had to be avenged. They had not immediately declared war at the time because the time was not ripe. Now that the time was ripe, it was natural to let the Germans see the might of the Japanese.

However, the Japanese understood Germany too little, or rather, they understood a Germany with a Führer like Akado too little. Akado had always felt that the Han Dynasty’s saying, “Those who offend our Han, though far away, will be punished,” was satisfying to the bone, a very stirring slogan. From the depths of his soul, Akado also had a bit of a “fenqing” (angry youth) sentiment of wanting to beat the Japanese devils. And Akado had to give his Axis allies an explanation to consolidate his political position as the leader of Europe.

Of these things, the Japanese devils could guess the last one at best. Even if they racked their brains, they could not figure out why the German Führer had been determined to screw Japan over from the very beginning. So although the Japanese assumptions and analyses were very reasonable, they were wrong from the start, ridiculously wrong.

On the very day of the declaration of war, the German Navy had dispatched its expeditionary fleet, which charged menacingly towards the Pacific. This fleet consisted of 10 ships and was a gathering of many of the German army’s elites. The German Navy had not sent its main fleet, but had dispatched 10 submarines to charge towards Japan in a grand manner.

To supply this submarine force, the German Navy also had Northern Britain dispatch 3 destroyers to protect 3 supply ships on their way to Australia, to provide logistical support for these submarines.

Akado had studied Japan too thoroughly, so thoroughly that even he himself felt a little embarrassed. He knew that the struggle between the Japanese Army and Navy had a long history. He knew of the Japanese Navy’s obsession with big ships and big guns. He knew that the Japanese Navy did not attach much importance to anti-submarine warfare. He also knew that the Japanese did not have radar yet…

In another timeline, even the American submarine force, which had not fought much of a war, could inflict a devastating blow on the Japanese maritime supply lines, could sink Japanese aircraft carriers in their own coastal waters and then escape. So what would be the result if the American submarine force were to be replaced by Germany’s ace submarine force? Akado couldn’t help but touch his own forehead. He even felt a bit of pity for the price Japan was about to pay.

Not attaching importance to anti-submarine warfare had always been a weak point of the Japanese Navy. Strangely, the Japanese Navy had never intended to correct this mistake. They had endured huge losses, gritted their teeth, and turned a blind eye to the achievements of the American submarines, while their own precious submarines were used for tasks like a moving company and a taxi service (the Japanese Navy liked to use submarines to transport personnel, supplies, and even food to besieged islands). If you still don’t think that’s bizarre, then you really can’t find a more bizarre naval decision.

Moreover, the core of the Japanese Navy’s submarine tactics was to attack high-value targets, which was fundamentally different from the German Navy’s submarine force’s practice of attacking whatever they could find. The German Navy was not picky. A 3,000-ton transport ship and a 30,000-ton battleship, as long as there was a chance, they would attack. So the kill count of the German Navy’s submarines was astonishingly high. The Japanese Navy was the exact opposite. They were ordered to attack the enemy’s core warships, and for this, they were not afraid to launch suicide attacks. So the combat record of the Japanese Navy’s submarine force in another timeline was as pitiful as could be.

So Akado had not sent his own High Seas Fleet to fight a life-or-death battle with the Japanese naval air arm. That would have been of no use other than to benefit the Americans. He had accurately calculated the Japanese’s weak point, had sent his submarines to play the autumn wind, to interfere with the speed of Japan’s eastward advance, to prevent Japan from being possessed by a god this time and beating the United States into submission.

Akado now also had to be very careful in dealing with the problems he faced. The things he knew could often only be used as a reference. And the current world situation was already very different from the cruel Second World War he knew. In that timeline, the Axis powers had backstabbed each other to challenge the Allies, which was a bipolar struggle. But in this timeline, because of the wings flapped by this butterfly, it had become a tripartite balance of power.

This tripartite balance was an absolute, genuine one. The three blocs had declared war on each other, and everyone had to worry that after a full-scale attack, the other opponent would come over and pick up the spoils. Thinking of this, Akado couldn’t help but give a wry smile. He looked at the Tobruk campaign report written by Rommel and looked out the window. The world is different. How far can I, this Führer, go this time?

Published: 2025-09-08T03:33:27.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-09T15:46:13.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c584-balance-138390913

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