In fact, as early as the beginning of 1941, Japan had already decided to go south and occupy Southeast Asia in order to obtain the necessary materials needed for the war.Southeast Asia has colonies of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, and if you conquer Southeast Asia, you will inevitably be unable to bypass these three countries.At this time, the Netherlands had already declined, and it was directly occupied by Germany on the European mainland, so Japan would not take the Netherlands seriously at all.As for Britain, it also gradually declined after the First World War, and now in the European theater, it is even more defeated by Germany, and there is almost no way to fight back.At this time, the British government was already busy taking care of itself, so Japan was not worried about the United Kingdom.Japan's greatest concern was the United States, which at this time had gradually grown into a superpower.If it were not forced to be helpless, Japan would not want to provoke such a country.Although at this time, the United States had not yet entered the war due to the prevalence of isolationism.But if the Japanese attack Southeast Asia, will the Americans still stand idly by, at least the Japanese will never dare to make such an assumption?
Therefore, Japan decided to eliminate the US naval power in the Pacific region first, so that Japan could gain the strategic initiative in the Pacific region and thus conquer the entire Southeast Asian region in one fell swoop.Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean is the main hub of transportation, Hawaii is east of the United States West Coast, west of Japan, southwest to the islands, north to Alaska and the Bering Strait, all between 2,000 nautical miles and 3,000 nautical miles, across the Pacific Ocean from the south to the north of the plane, all with Hawaii as the stopover.Japan believed that seizing air and sea supremacy in the Pacific Ocean first meant that the road to the south was unimpeded, and Pearl Harbor must be destroyed first, and as early as early 1941, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, began to plan an attack on Pearl Harbor.Yamamoto's plan, even within the Navy, met with strong opposition, but Yamamoto threatened to retire if the plan was aborted.A few months later, after some preliminary investigations, in the summer of 1941, at a meeting attended by the emperor, the bold plan was finally approved, and Yamamoto Isoroku began to actively prepare for the attack.In November 1941, the Japanese army won victories in the offensive in Northeast China, North China and East China, causing heavy losses to the Eighth Route Army and a large area of the base area being occupied by the Japanese army.At this time, the Japanese thought that the situation on the Chinese battlefield had stabilized, at least temporarily.At a meeting in November at a meeting of the Imperial Court of Yamamoto and others, the plan to send troops to the South Seas was finally approved, and it was decided that the operation would not be suspended unless the United States fully agreed to the Japanese demands.Due to the gradual expansion of Japan's aggressive ambitions, it has touched the interests of Britain and the United States and other countries, so Britain and the United States and other countries have imposed an embargo on Japan.Since the embargo began, negotiations between Japan and the United States have not been suspended.However, this time, Britain and the United States and other countries took a very tough attitude, demanding that Japan withdraw its troops from China and stop its expansion and aggression.The meat that has already been eaten in the mouth, Japan is naturally unwilling to spit it out.On the US side, US President Roosevelt had already made up his mind to enter the war, because the war situation had developed to such a level that the United States could no longer be left alone, and once Britain, the Soviet Union, and other countries were defeated, it would inevitably seriously endanger US interests.But the United States is a so-called democracy, and it is not up to the president of the United States to decide whether to go to war alone.So it takes another opportunity to force the members of Congress who oppose the war to agree.That's why the attitude of the Americans is so tough, Japan is a mad dog, and if it is pressed, it will bite people, and only when Japan jumps out and bites the Americans, can the Americans have enough excuses to enter the war.Therefore, against this background, it is clear that no progress will be made in the negotiations between Japan and the United States.On December 1, under the impetus of the cabinet of Hideki Tojo, the main battle faction, the Imperial Council finally decided to declare war on the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries.In the early morning of the 8th, at 3:20 a.m.
Japanese time on the 8th and 7:50 a.m.
Hawaii time on the 7th, the Japanese army, under the command of Combined Fleet Commander Isoroku Yamamoto, attacked Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, the largest naval and air base of the United States in the Pacific.In the early morning of December 7, 1941, the first attack wave of 183 planes that took off from six aircraft carriers pierced through the clouds and fog and pounced on Pearl Harbor.At 7:53, a signal of "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" was sent back, indicating that the surprise attack was successful.After that, 168 aircraft of the second attack wave attacked again.The American troops, who rushed to the battle, suffered heavy losses, of the 8 battleships, 4 were sunk, one ran aground, and the rest were seriously damaged; Six cruisers and three destroyers were damaged, 188 aircraft were destroyed, and thousands of officers and men were killed or wounded.Japan lost only 29 aircraft and 55 pilots, as well as several pocket submarines.American Radio repeatedly broadcast: "Pearl Harbor was attacked" President Roosevelt shouted: "We must remember this day of great shame" The US Congress finally approved the declaration of war against Japan.On December 8, 1941, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan.At the same time, the United States declared war on Germany, Italy and other Axis powers.Then, more than 20 countries, including Australia and the Netherlands, declared war on Japan, and the scale of World War II was further expanded.It is worth mentioning that China, which had been engaged in a full-scale war with Japan for four years at that time, did not officially declare war on Japan until December 9.It is ridiculous to say that the Chinese government has never formally declared war on Japan, and the reason is that Lao Chiang was afraid that once war was declared, China and Japan would officially enter a state of war, and Lao Chiang was afraid that he would not be able to get foreign assistance because of this, so he never officially declared war on Japan.After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan also officially declared war on the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and other countries, and Germany and Italy, as allies, also officially declared war on the United States.Subsequently, Japan formed the Southern Army, with General Terauchi Shouichi as the commander, mobilized 400,000 troops and began to launch an attack on Southeast Asia.At 1:30 a.m. on December 8, 1941, the Lunmei Detachment, the vanguard of the Southern Army, successfully landed at Kota Bharu in British Malaya.In the months that followed, the Japanese largely completed their plans on schedule, and even reached early occupation in several areas.In the Philippine direction, Manila was occupied on January 2, 1942, and on April 9, the United States and the Philippines were forced to surrender to the Bataan Peninsula.In Malaya, it took only 55 days to occupy the entire peninsula, and on February 15, 1942, Singapore was captured, ending the fighting 30 days earlier than originally planned.In the Dutch East Indies, Palembang fell on 16 February, Batavia on 5 March, and the Dutch-Indian military authorities announced their surrender on 9 March.In Burma, Yangon was captured on 8 March and Mandalay on 1 May.At the beginning of the war, the Japanese blitzkrieg achieved remarkable results: it basically smashed the Allied army, captured a large area of land 10 times the size of the Japanese mainland, with the richest natural resources and a population of more than 150 million, while its own losses were extremely light, including the navy, only 150,000 people, 380 aircraft, and 4 destroyers.aa2705221: