Chapter 1618: Encirclement of Japan

It is true that the relationship between East Africa and Japan has always been cold and there is hidden hostility between the two sides, but the Japanese government and military are well aware that Japan does not have the capital to engage in full-scale confrontation with a world power like East Africa.

Therefore, Japan's strategic arrangement in East Africa has never been a full-scale confrontation, but rather to achieve "denial" and "anti-intervention" through roundabout means or local wars.

That is, through the combined use of military and non-military means, they would prevent East African military forces from entering specific areas, such as disputed waters, airspace, or land, or significantly increase the costs and risks of East African intervention. They would also restrict East African military freedom of maneuver, narrow the technological gap between the two countries, and establish a defensive "buffer zone" in the disputed area to prevent the superpower from projecting military power in East Africa.

The "buffer" area between Japan and East Africa's sphere of influence is the Pacific Ocean.

Japan itself is an island country surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and East Africa also has many overseas bases, colonial outposts and spheres of influence in the Pacific Ocean.

Moreover, these "nails" inserted by East Africa in the Pacific Ocean have a great impact on Japan's geopolitical strategy.

To the north of Japan is the overseas territory of Alaska in East Africa, which is a relatively important overseas colony in East Africa. Even if East Africa is not taken into account, Alaska can be considered a small country in the world in terms of population, economy and other fields.

As a "small" country, Alaska has a population of two million, which is not a large number among the entire Pacific countries.

In the 1930s, there were more than ten countries and colonies in the Pacific region with a population of over 10 million. Among these ten countries, Canada, which had the smallest population, had a population of over 10.3 million in the 1931 census.

At the same time, there are many countries and regions in the Pacific region with a population of over one million, and Alaska is not even on the list.

However, Alaska's economic and industrial capabilities cannot be ignored. It has a nickname called "Little Canada".

Although Canada is not very active in the international community and mostly participates in international affairs as a British colony, it is undeniable that Canada is a major country with strong economic, industrial and agricultural strengths even in the world.

If there were no United States in North America, Canada would even be like a "hegemon".

Alaska is known as "Little Canada" because it is similar to Canada in many aspects, like a smaller version of Canada.

Relying on relatively rich resources and a certain population size, Alaska has developed a relatively complete industrial system, even ranking first among overseas territories in East Africa.

East Africa also supports the development of Alaska's industry. After all, in the early 20th century, this place had no other way out except to develop industry.

Therefore, Alaska is a relatively industrially developed region in the Pacific region and has a certain degree of independent military power.

To put it bluntly, apart from a few major Pacific powers, there are almost no other Pacific countries that can pose a threat to Alaska.

Among the major powers that can pose a threat to Alaska, Japan is undoubtedly ranked first. On the one hand, Japan is relatively close to Alaska. At the same time, Alaska's geographical location is relatively important to Japan. By occupying Alaska, Japan will have a forward base for advancing into North America and can control the Bering Strait.

If Alaska develops its industry, it will undoubtedly be highly dependent on the Far East market. After all, Canada and the United States are both industrial powers, and Alaska attaches importance to the Far East market, which will lead to competition with Japanese industry.

In the agricultural field, Alaska's arable land resources are relatively limited, so Alaska has a high agricultural utilization rate and vigorously develops fisheries, which often leads to conflicts between Alaska and Japanese fishermen.

In short, although Alaska, the "little cockroach" of the Pacific, cannot pose a threat to Japan, the conflicts between it and Japan are not small.

Then there is the east of Japan, mainly the eastern part of the Asian continent and East Africa. There is no military presence in these places, but East Africa still has some influence in the Far East Empire, especially in the long-term economic and trade exchanges in the past, East Africa has also supported a certain scale of interest groups in the Far East.

Although this interest group cannot influence the decision-making of the Far Eastern Empire, it can at least have a say. Now that the Far Eastern Empire and Japan are hostile countries, East Africa has the ability to influence the attitude of the Jinling government towards Japan through its own interest representatives.

Then there is southern Japan, which is also the area where the interests of East Africa and Japan conflict the most. Among them, the South Ryukyu Islands is more directly a concrete disputed area of ​​​​the contradiction between Japan and East Africa.

At the same time, the further south you go from the South Ryukyu Islands, the stronger the influence of East Africa becomes. It is the main area of ​​activity of the East African Pacific Fleet, and there is also the Zhuhai Economic Zone in East Africa and the Far East in between.

Finally, to the west of Japan, the power of East Africa to the west is almost negligible, with only an insignificant North Hawaiian colony.

Even so, the existence of the North Hawaiian colony completed the last link in the East African "encirclement" of Japan, creating a rough encirclement that "trapped" Japan in the middle on the map.

Therefore, even if East Africa does not pose the greatest threat to Japan in the Pacific region, it can still be ranked at the forefront. The threats before East Africa were nothing more than the United States, the Soviet Union and the Far East Empire.

Of course, it is highly likely that Japan does not take the Far Eastern Empire seriously now.

As soon as the topic of Japan was brought up, Ernst's talkativeness became greatly aroused. He skillfully took out a somewhat worn "Map of the Situation Surrounding Japan" from the drawer of the coffee table and spread it flat on the table.

This map is completely centered on Japan and marks the distribution of military forces in surrounding countries. The areas circled in eye-catching red are the distribution of East African power in the Pacific region.

"You see, our colonies, spheres of influence, and economic zones in the Pacific together form a ring of encirclement around Japan. Although this so-called ring of encirclement is rather nominal, judging by the map alone, it can definitely put tremendous pressure on Japan."

Ernst drew a circle with his hand around the East African outposts surrounding Japan and said to Crown Prince Friedrich.

Crown Prince Friedrich chimed in, saying, "If I were the Japanese government, I would certainly feel anxious just looking at this map, ignoring the weakness of many of our colonies."

"I'm afraid that Britain is the only country in the world that can give Japan this feeling, but Britain itself cannot bring a sense of oppression to Japan."

Britain's sphere of influence in the Pacific is also not small, and it also has particularly powerful colonies such as Canada and Australia, which serve as Britain's strategic fulcrum. At the same time, Britain's military strength in the Far East Empire cannot be ignored.

However, for the Japanese government, Britain and East Africa are more dangerous. Without a doubt, the latter is more dangerous. Not to mention the strength of East Africa itself, the Pacific Fleet of East Africa in the South Pacific alone is enough to make Japan dare not take East Africa lightly.

Ernst moved his hand to where the Soviet Union was: "Now, Japan faces us, just like the countries surrounding the Soviet Union face the Soviet Union."

"Japan is also a neighbor of the Soviet Union. Everyone knows that the Soviet Union's strength in the Far East is very weak, but there is no neighbor of the Soviet Union that is not afraid of the Soviet Union."

"For many of the Soviet Union's neighbors, the mere sense of oppression on the map was enough to make them feel suffocated and deeply fearful."

Ernst himself had a deep understanding of this feeling. After all, he was a citizen of the Far Eastern Empire in his previous life. In his previous life, the Far Eastern Empire was not facing the Soviet Union, but a defective Russia. However, there was no normal person in the Far Eastern Empire who was not wary of Russia deep down in his heart.

As the largest land neighbor of the Far Eastern Empire in the past, Russia brought enormous national defense pressure to the Far Eastern Empire on land. Even without saying it openly, Russia must have been at the forefront of the Far Eastern Empire's army's imaginary enemies in the past.

This concern always surrounded the top leaders of the Far Eastern Empire, even during the best period of relations between the two countries.

The reason is very simple. Russia itself is a very unreliable country to the Far Eastern Imperial Government. After all, the Russians have always had illusions about the West and want to join the Western camp.

If the West "accepts" Russia, even if it is just for use, Russia may really defect and become a pawn of the Western camp to deal with the Far Eastern Empire, changing the direction of the gun to deal with the Far Eastern Empire. This hidden danger has always existed.

If this were to happen, the north of the Far Eastern Empire would instantly become one of the biggest national defense security risks, comparable only to the military pressure exerted on the Far Eastern Empire by the United States in the Pacific and the resurgence of Japanese militarism.

This is the case with Russia alone, let alone the Soviet Union, a complex that far exceeds Russia.

In the early 20th century, not to mention the weak and small countries around the Soviet Union, even the most powerful Germany did not dare to relax its vigilance against the Soviet Union.

Adolf always said that the Soviets were an inferior race, but if he really wanted to take action against the Soviets, he would definitely put all his cards on the table and would not dare to give the Soviets any chance of a comeback.

In the past, when Germany dealt with the Soviet Union, it actually believed from the very beginning that it had paid the highest price it could afford. At the outbreak of the war alone, Germany had assembled more than three million troops on the border between the two countries.

The initial offensive force of this kind of war of annihilation can be said to be unprecedented in previous history, but in the end Germany still failed.

It is easy to imagine how terrifying the oppression of the Soviet Union was in the early 20th century.

Ernst therefore concluded: "Japan, facing the Empire's military deployment in the Pacific, must also be under such pressure. Therefore, in its strategy with the Empire, it is impossible for Japan to completely turn against us."

"Even if the two countries really go to war, Japan's greatest goal should be to drive the imperial forces out of the Pacific Ocean, and then block the imperial navy in the Indian Ocean by controlling strategic locations such as the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait."

"We can also call this strategy denial warfare or anti-access strategy, which is essentially a proactive defense strategy."

Crown Prince Friedrich naturally agreed. He said, "According to this war strategy, Japan only needs to destroy the Empire's Pacific Fleet and occupy several key nodes such as the Strait of Malacca to clear the Empire's sphere of influence in the Pacific."

"Except for the Pacific Fleet, our other military forces in the Pacific are almost negligible."

"The core of the Pacific Fleet is in the South China Sea. If a war breaks out between us and Japan, the South China Sea will be the location for the decisive battle between the two navies in the early stages of the war."

"Let's assume, furthermore, that the Pacific Fleet was truly destroyed or forced to withdraw. The Empire's power in the Pacific would only be a few large colonies that might cause some trouble for Japan, but it wouldn't change the overall situation."

East Africa's major colonies in the Pacific are nothing more than Alaska, East Kalimantan, Mindanao and the Isthmus of Kra, as well as Lan Fang, East Africa's only overseas province in Southeast Asia.

The population of these regions is at least several hundred thousand, while the populations of Alaska, East Kalimantan, and Mindanao each exceed one million.

The total population of these three areas alone was probably close to seven million in 1936, so East Africa was not without other resources in the Pacific except for the military forces and personnel sent from its homeland.

East Africa actually already has a certain population base in the Pacific. Not all of these people support East Africa, but they will also stand on East Africa's side when conflicts and wars break out between East Africa and other countries in the region.

Even if they fall into the hands of the enemy, there will be people who will continue to respond to the call of the East African Central Government and persist in resisting the enemy.

However, their abilities only go so far. They can cause endless trouble to the enemy, but they cannot play a decisive role.

If East Africa really gave up these areas, they would most likely not be able to drive out the invading enemies on their own.

Of course, if they can do this, that would be another matter. If they can persist in resisting the enemy through their own strength and eventually force the enemy to withdraw without external help, then when this happens, the region has actually completed its "graduation."

The so-called "graduation" can be understood in this way: since they have the ability to repel the enemy and then maintain independence, it is a fact that they already have the ability to break away from East Africa and transform into an independent country.

This is like Canada and Australia today. Although they are nominally British colonies, if they really separate from Britain, they will live well and can maintain normal national operations.

Ernst said: "If I really want to pick out our most independent colony in the Pacific, I think the most likely possibility is Alaska."

"Alaska's advantage is that it is the only overseas colony of the empire in the Pacific, or even the world, that has autonomy."

Alaska has autonomy, which is unique among the overseas colonies in East Africa. Of course, Alaska's autonomy is still restricted by the mainland of East Africa, unlike the overseas colonies of Britain with higher autonomy.

More specifically, Alaska's position in East Africa is more like South Africa's position in the United Kingdom. It is considered half a country, and other aspects such as finance, military, and diplomacy are still under local control or influence.

Canada and Australia can be regarded as independent countries. Their relationship with the UK is more like that of partners, including in terms of status. Canada and Australia are sitting at the same table when facing their homeland, and the UK must give them absolute respect, rather than treating them as slaves like it does to places like India.

(End of this chapter)