Chapter 1621 Bait
As the "crossroads" of the North Atlantic, Anchorage is also a nail in Ernst's future plan for East Africa to contain Europe. The straight-line distance from Anchorage to the core area of Western Europe is only 8,000 kilometers.
The distance from East Africa to the route covering most of Europe is about the same. Therefore, by controlling Alaska headed by Anchorage, East Africa can monitor the European airspace from both the north and south directions.
In this way, through Alaska, East Africa can simultaneously gain strategic advantages over Asia, North America and Europe.
Of course, Alaska's role cannot be effectively realized under current technical conditions, otherwise East Africa would not be so negligent in its defense of Alaska. Now Alaska's main role is reflected in two aspects: one is to provide logistical services for the East African Pacific Fleet, and the other is to serve as an aviation hub that is being planned and constructed.
Keishita Yasuji and the Japanese government were also particularly concerned about these two uses of Alaska. He said, "Alaska is a place that the Imperial Navy must strive for in the future. Therefore, we have been investigating Alaska's topography and hydrology for years. The United States and other countries have also done the same."
For a long time, Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, has been a key area for frequent activities and reconnaissance by North Atlantic powers.
The United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan are all actively collecting hydrological data in the Alaskan waters in various forms.
For example, through scientific expeditions, open research on the local climate, geography and oceans is conducted, intelligence is obtained through disguised fishing activities, or the navy directly collects intelligence.
Among these three main ways, fishing activities are directly and strictly restricted by the Alaskan government because they directly involve Alaska's core interests. Marine fisheries can be said to be the economic pillar of Alaska.
Therefore, in this regard, the conflict between Alaska and Japan is the most intense. However, this does not mean that there are no conflicts between fishermen in Alaska and Canada and the United States. It is just that compared with resource-scarce Japan, these two countries do not attach much importance to their interests in this regard.
Alaska's emphasis on fishery resources is somewhat similar to that of Iceland in its previous life. Of course, more importantly, Alaska is backed by East Africa, which is why it can be so strong in the North Atlantic, a region where powerful countries gather.
Xixia Aner mentioned: "If it weren't for the East African platform, the Empire would have already marched north and taken Alaska. Strategically, Alaska's position is very important. Economically, Alaska is also a major competitor of the Empire. Alaska's fishermen and even its industry are an infringement on the interests of the Empire."
"Although Alaska's industry isn't very strong, it's still competitive in the Far East market. At the same time, due to resource shortages, the Empire has to pay high prices to import some minerals from Alaska."
"Originally, we didn't have to pay these costs, but unfortunately we have to consider East Africa behind Alaska."
"East Africa itself has conflicts with the Empire. Southern Okinawa was not returned to the Empire because of East Africa's obstruction."
The so-called South Okinawa is what East Africa calls the South Ryukyu Islands. In the eyes of the Japanese, the South Ryukyu Islands are the result of East Africa's oppression of Japan in the past, so it has always been regarded as a national humiliation.
With new and old grudges, Japan naturally has no good feelings towards this Western country in East Africa.
Although Fujino is a bit of a slacker, his attitude towards East Africa is the same as Keishita Yasuji's.
He said: "East Africa is a stumbling block blocking the empire's rise in the Pacific, and their power distribution is disgusting."
"Each of these is a key node in the empire's external expansion: Alaska, the Far East Empire, southern Okinawa, northern Hawaii, and the East African colonies in the Southeast Asia."
Fujino's evaluation was very sharp. The strategic layout of East Africa in the Pacific is "disgusting" to the Japanese government.
If we really want to discuss the threat to Japan's dominance in the Pacific, East Africa is far less threatening than the United States and the Soviet Union, because these two countries are Pacific countries themselves, with their homelands on the Pacific coast, while East Africa appears to have many colonies and a wide sphere of influence in the Pacific.
But for Japan, East Africa is more of a "bluff" and is not enough to pose a fatal threat to Japan's Pacific strategy. It is an enhanced version of "Britain" and "France".
The characteristic of these three countries is that their homelands are far away from the Pacific Ocean, so as long as Japan cuts off their access to the Pacific Ocean, the influence of these three countries in the Pacific Ocean will become easy to deal with.
If it were a country like the Soviet Union and the United States, Japan would not only have to use its naval forces, but also have to prepare for a large-scale land war. But to be honest, Japan has no chance of winning against the United States and the Soviet Union on land.
Even in the face of the relatively weak Soviet Union in the Far East, Japan was quite anxious. Japan was not worried about the Soviet Union's naval power, but wanting to confront such a European power on land was a different matter.
Not to mention the Soviet Union, even Tsarist Russia, Japan did not dare to underestimate the strength of its army. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian army was a headache for Japan. And it was precisely because of the existence of the Russian army that Japan, as the victor of the Russo-Japanese War, did not get a satisfactory result, such as Russia's refusal to cede land and pay compensation.
Compared with Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union was obviously a more difficult opponent to deal with.
In addition, the Soviet Union also had irreconcilable contradictions with Japan on the issue of the interests of the Far Eastern Empire, and the Soviet Union did have great influence in the Far Eastern Empire, especially in the north, including the Northeast which is now occupied by Japan.
The resistance forces in Northeast China have the support of the Soviets. Although it is not obvious, when the two countries conflict, they will inevitably become bargaining chips in the hands of the Soviet Union.
Then there is the United States. It is indisputable that the United States is Japan's number one enemy. The United States' interests in the Pacific are second only to those in the Atlantic. Moreover, the west coast of the United States is not an unimportant region like the Soviet Far East, but the core territory of the United States.
To be honest, if the Soviet Union lost its Far Eastern territory, it would still be within the acceptable range of the Soviet Union. However, the United States could never remain indifferent to the loss of its west coast, unless the enemy was strong enough to suffocate the United States.
But even if Japan and the United States are countries of the same size, it is impossible for the United States to give up its interests in the Pacific.
Therefore, compared with the United States and the Soviet Union, East Africa seems somewhat "harmless", but this is also what disgusts Japan about East Africa.
In Japan's view, East Africa should not have too much investment in the Pacific region and establish so many colonies, and many colonies are stuck at key nodes of Japan's external expansion.
For example, the South Ryukyu Islands once curbed Japan's invasion of an island in the southeast of the Far East Empire.
There are also North Hawaii and Alaska, which will become important obstacles for Japan to control the Pacific in the future.
Fujino said, "If we want to take Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands in the future, we will inevitably confront East Africa, but these two places are the key points for the empire to control the Pacific."
"With these two locations as strategic support points, we can block the US Navy in the waters near the United States and minimize the threat the United States poses to the empire."
"Therefore, if the Empire later captures Hawaii, it would be best to eliminate both the American and East African enemies at the same time. If we succeed, the North Pacific will be ours."
Although East Africa also has a share of the Hawaiian Islands, the main force is the Americans who occupied Pearl Harbor. Therefore, in Fujino's view, if one wants to completely control Hawaii, he must deal with the United States and East Africa at the same time.
Keishita Anji had a different view. He said, "The Empire's future Pacific strategy should prioritize East Africa and put the United States behind it."
"This has two advantages. First, the Empire doesn't have to deal with two world powers, East Africa and the United States, at the same time in the early stages of the war. That would be too difficult and almost impossible to succeed."
"Therefore, the Empire must first eliminate the weakest East African from the Pacific Ocean, and even drive out East African forces in the South Pacific."
"Secondly, if we choose to attack East Africa first, the Americans will definitely be happy to see it happen. The competition between East Africa and the United States is very fierce. So in the early stages, if a war breaks out between us and East Africa, the United States will not only sit back and watch the fight, but may even be happy to help the Empire."
"Relax export restrictions on strategic resources such as oil to the Empire, and even lower sales prices."
"So, by making good use of the contradictions between East Africa and the United States, we can maximize our interests. Finally, by taking over the many colonies in East Africa, we can in turn get rid of our dependence on the United States."
"After all, the East African colonies are rich in important strategic resources such as oil, coal, and rubber, which can solve the empire's urgent needs."
"Then we can use East Africa's resources to develop our industry and turn it into ammunition to fight against the United States. At the same time, the East African colonies can also be our weapon against the United States. The East African colonies in Southeast Asia can be used to deal with the US troops stationed in the Philippines."
"The Mariana Islands can be used to counter Guam, North Hawaii can become a frontier position for further attacking Hawaii, and Alaska is our strategic base for confronting the U.S. mainland."
It has to be said that the Japanese have a very discerning vision. In addition to disgusting Japan, the United States also feels the same way about the Pacific colonies in East Africa.
Some colonies in East Africa are almost close to the United States' strategic fulcrum in the Pacific. For example, the Philippines corresponds to the Mindanao and Palau colonies in East Africa. Most of the other islands in the Mariana Islands north of Guam are also in the hands of East Africa. This was snatched by East Africa from Spain during the Spanish-American War.
The Hawaiian Islands and East Africa are also a thorn in the side, and Alaska is a springboard that can threaten the security of the US mainland.
In other words, East Africa is not on the Pacific coast. Otherwise, relying on these strategic fulcrums, East Africa would have become the overlord of the Pacific region.
After discussing with Fujino, Anji Keishita began to carefully summarize the information about Anchorage Airport.
According to the news, in the next two years, the Anchorage government will plan a piece of land in the southwest of the city for airport construction, and this airport will also become Anchorage's window to the outside world. At the same time, this airport is not a military airport, but a civilian airport.
Xixia Aner was very surprised by this news. He said, "A civilian airport is great! This will make it easier for the empire to take over this important property in the future."
“If East Africa really builds a military airport in Anchorage, it will not only threaten the security of our empire’s homeland, but the empire will also have to pay a certain price if it wants to acquire the Anchorage airport.”
If you want to capture a military airport, you have to destroy the enemy's air force and make it lose its combat effectiveness, just like in the past, Germany bombarded various Soviet airports in the early days of the war in order to destroy the Soviet Air Force.
If Anchorage Airport was a military airport, Japan might have to adopt this approach if it wanted to seize it in the future. It is not difficult to bomb Anchorage Airport, but it will take time to rebuild it and restore its functions.
Now that it has been confirmed that Anchorage Airport is not used for military purposes, Keishita Anji is naturally very happy. This also means that if Japan wants to seize Anchorage Airport in the future, as long as the navy can successfully land in Anchorage, it can take over Anchorage Airport with almost no damage.
Then it was quickly put into use, converting Anchorage Airport from a civilian airport to military use. The Japanese Air Force could use it as a base and islands such as Hawaii to form an air defense line to blockade the west coast of the United States.
If necessary, it can also be used as a base to bomb the US mainland and destroy important US military facilities such as ports and airports in the Pacific.
Xixia Anji said, "We must send this intelligence back to mainland China as soon as possible. I believe that with this information, the Empire's occupation of Alaska will be much easier in the future, and it will also be more conducive to the Empire's future military deployment against the United States."
…
Sure enough, the Japanese government attached great importance to the information provided by the Keisha An-er intelligence group, and was even delighted. In their view, Anchorage Airport was simply in Japan's pocket.
Now that East Africa is spending so much effort and money to build Anchorage Airport, it will only benefit Japan in the future. This is a major decision-making mistake made by the East African government!
Rhine City.
Ernst did not really fail to consider the role of Anchorage Airport as the Japanese government thought. In fact, this was a bait he deliberately arranged.
"Anchorage Airport is a feast we prepared in advance for Japan. If war breaks out between the two countries in the future, Japan will definitely take the bait first."
Crown Prince Friedrich asked, "Father, why are we doing this?"
Ernst explained to him, "Anchorage and all of Alaska, to put it bluntly, are impossible to hold in East Africa if the three powers in the North Pacific want to take them from us."
"So, on our chessboard, Alaska itself is a 'discarded piece'. It's not worth investing too much military force and deployment there now. If Alaska wants to play a role, it will probably have to wait for more than a decade, when military technology has made a leap forward and improved."
"As for now, Alaska is just an important bargaining chip for the Empire. We can use this place to sow discord between the United States and Japan in the future, especially to let Japan use this place to strike back at the United States."
If Anchorage Airport fell into the hands of Japan, how would Japan use it? No need to think too much, it can only be used to deal with the Americans. After all, Japan cannot use Anchorage Airport to turn against East Africa. Anchorage is very far away from the East African mainland, and even the nearest North Hawaiian colony is more than 4,000 kilometers away.
(End of this chapter)
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