January 8th, 1936
January 8th, 11th year of Showa
Meeting of the gosho kaigi (five minister conference)
The quiet conversations in the small room were disrupted when an elderly man entered. Like the other three men in the room Yamamoto turned towards the newcomer and bowed. Okada Keisuke wore his Admiral’s uniform, but he lacked the powerful appearance he had when Yamamoto first met him about ten years ago. He looked exhausted, strained. How old was he anyways? Almost seventy?
All sat down and waited patiently for Okada. He shuffled some papers and then raised his voice.
"Konnichiwa, gentlemen. The German Empire has reoccupied the Rhineland. Hirota-san, would you give us more specific information, please?"
German troops entering the Rhineland
Yamamoto studied the foreign minister’s face. Hirota Koki seemed to be uncertain how to begin. Yamamoto had never felt sympathy for him. Hirota was opportunistic, always eager to be on good terms with everybody. A typical bureaucrat.
"Hai, Okada-san. German troops have entered the demilitarised zone at its western border. It's a breach of the Versailles treaty and a deliberate one at that. Reaction in most European countries was disbelief and shock. The people fear a new war. The French public and their government reacted indignant, but according to our sources did not mobilize yet. The Netherlands and Belgium expressed sorrows, but won't do anything without France and England backing them. England seems not too worried, saying that the Germans only took what is theirs."
Count Terauchi Hisaichi, the army minister asked Hirota. "So, France won't go to war?"
Hirota thought about it and then answered slowly, in well placed words. "No, at least our experts deem it very improbable. The situation is very interesting. When France and England won't act when their arch-nemesis shows open aggression and approaches their borders once more, they will undoubtedly not take steps when we realize our plans in China."
"Hopefully. On the other hand China can hardly be called our own territory."
Yamamoto didn’t think that neither the United Kingdom nor the French were a threat. He wondered why the others didn’t perceive that. Did they really not see it? Were they so stubborn? "Well, the only real menace for our plans in China are the United States. The Europeans are weak. Look at what the League of Nations did against the Italian aggression in Ethiopia. The League is not inclined to do anything but filing official protests. As demonstrated today, England and France are weary to fight another war less than twenty years after what they call the Great War. England and France will try to appease us as they did with that ridiculous Lytton paper in 1933.
The Americans on the other hand are a threat to our ambitions in China. They remain a problem. They look down on us. I'm pretty certain that they'll not agree to naval parity in London next month. They still can't accept a non-western great power. As discussed before, everything but parity is unacceptable."
Terauchi smiled knowingly. "And because of that you need more funds for our precious navy."
Yamamoto was surprised. Sure, he had asked for more money recently. In particular when the decision was made to postpone the construction of another carrier and a heavy cruiser. But this time he just meant it as a reminder.
"Ahem, no. Not this time. We’ve already discussed that last week, haven’t we?"
Okada suppressed the upcoming debate. Both criticized the opponent every now and than. That conflict was not personal, but between their institutions, as both the army and the navy always wanted more funding. "Back to China, gentlemen." He turned to Hirota.
Hirota cleared his throat and avoided to look at someone.
"Hai, Okada-san. There's still a raging civil war in China between communist forces and the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang, with Chiang Kai-shek still leading them, is also fighting against warlords in the north-western province of Sinkiang. Maybe we should support these warlords to weaken the Kuomintang?"
Okada thought about this proposition. "Hmm, that's something to think about. What could we do?"
"We could send them military advisors to improve their tactics. Or we could send them weapons. But that'll be hard, as Sinkiang is land-locked and neither the Kuomintang nor the Russians will let us pass. A transport over the Himalaya doesn't seem reasonable. The military advisors must suffice. Terauchi-san, could you send a team?"
Terauchi thought a few moments about it: "Yes, yes. That's possible."
Okada nodded. "Good, do it."
Hirota proceeded with his report on China. "Some powerful politicians and military leaders try to convince Chiang to concentrate his forces against us, but his hatred of communism seems to surpass his fear of our military. If we let him feel secure, he won't give much thought about us as a threat. That'll help our cause in China tremendously. The warlords are still strong in some parts in China and are force to be reckoned with. But all-in-all China will be an easy prey for us when we finally seize it. Its political class is constant quarrels and its military is no match for us. Or is it, Terauchi-san?
"No. While similar in numbers, only up to 15 of their divisions can be seen as regular divisions, the rest are conscripted farmers with bad training and even worse equipment. Their air force is comparable to ours, but not well organized. Their navy is laughable."
Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong
Hirota continued: "The communist forces under Mao Zedong aren't any threat for us as long as Chiang fights them. But they gain more and more backing through-out the whole country. We'll have to pay close attention to them. That ideology remains a threat to our interests and even to peace in Japan."
Okada seemed to have heard enough. "Anything else? Terauchi-san, what's the situation with the Kodoha movement?"
"It has worsened over the last few weeks. They get more and more support. My sources in the 'Tokyo' Hoheishidan informed me that the number of sympathizing men is growing fast. Kita Ikki, Araki Sadao, Mazaki Jinzaburo and other popular man have joined their ranks. An attempt for a coup d'etat is possible. We can't tolerate this any longer. We have to remove this threat. The easiest possibility is to redeploy the whole division to Manchukuo. That way they're too far away from Tokyo to harm us."
"Good. Do it. We can't permit men like Araki and Kita to lead the Empire. Anything else?"
