by gerald hall
Harold also informed Churchill of the German agreement to turn over their nuclear material and research for international safekeeping.
“Do you think that they have given us everything? This was an area that we in the West could not get a consensus on its feasibility as a weapon, especially after Professor Einstein’s refusal to endorse his fellow scientists.” Churchill asked.
Harold’s expression was neutral as he did not wish to even remotely reveal his role in changing Einstein’s decision to not sign Leó Szilárd’s letter.
“I hope so. Obviously, we will have to keep a close eye on the Germans to ensure that they are holding up their end of the bargain.”
“So you recommend that we accept this agreement, Harold?”
“Yes, Sir. I do.”
“The phased withdrawal timelines will give the Germans a lot of time to do mischief if they want to.”
“I know, Winston. But they know that we will be watching. Germans also are fully aware of the imminent threat of the Americans coming into the European conflict in full force. That is something that the Germans desperately do not want to face at all.”
“The Germans know that the Americans are mobilizing by now, I’m sure. They know what that will mean for them if the Americans focus on Germany. Let’s push that knowledge and get the Germans to sign the damned Armistice before everything falls apart here. The British economy is in such poor condition that if elections are called, my government may not remain in power to work with you.”
Harold quickly made sure that his unofficial connections within the German government shared the information. The Americans were definitely coming this time. So the Germans could not afford to wait any longer to come to terms. The message was definitely heard in the halls of power within Berlin.
The new German negotiator had been sitting in a Geneva hotel room reading over some notes with his aide when the tall, well-dressed man was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“We just received the responses from Berlin to the Englanders’ latest peace proposals, Herr von Braun.” Replied the German Foreign Ministry courier that walked in with a large envelope.
Sigismund von Braun had been recently selected to head the peace delegation for the Germans since von Ribbentrop was now very busy negotiating mutual defense treaties with the various former client states of the Soviet Union. Those treaties would secure Germany’s eastern flank as well as establish formal trade relationships with those nations. Weeks earlier, the Germans had allowed the Polish government in exile to be flown into Warsaw to reestablish the government after a draft peace accord had been signed between Poland and Germany. The German Foreign Ministry also recognized that von Braun’s professional relationship with Harold Cavill was proving to be an advantage during the peace negotiations.
Sigismund opened the envelope and quickly read the contents, silently nodding as he read each individual section. He then placed the documents back inside of the envelope and looked over at his assistant.
“Michel, please go and inform Herr Cavill that we are ready to resume the talks. I believe that we have come to terms that will be mutually satisfactory for both parties.” Sigismund told his aide who quickly nodded and left the room.
Sigismund genuinely hoped that this would finally end the bloodshed and begin a new era of peace in Europe. Like almost everyone in Germany, the German diplomat had known far too many friends and relatives that had died or been injured because of the war.
For the next week, a marathon session of meetings and negotiations hammered out the details of the new armistice. Not everyone was happy with the results, but the vast majority of the people involved came to agree that this was the best possible agreement given the situation. Enough blood and treasure had already been expended throughout Europe.
Poland had received land from the former Soviet Union that had been under dispute since the days of the Czar. In return, Germany received territory in East Prussia that had been ceded to Poland by the Versailles Treaty over a quarter century earlier. The German government had agreed to give up all claims on the Sudetenland and to relinquish control to the Czech government as soon as all German troops could be withdrawn to Germany. Germany also formally ended its annexation of Austria, separating the two Germanic speaking countries once again.
Representatives of the Free French government in exile along with those of the Low Countries, Denmark and Norway had also been invited to the final round of peace talks. However, it was made very clear to them that the details of the peace agreement were being written by the English and Germans with a minimum of direct input by the other nations. The Germans were determined that the nations who shed the least blood during the war would not be driving the language of the armistice this time. Harold’s negotiation team did not object to this as long as a relatively fair agreement could finally be crafted and signed.
But this attitude still left a lot of bitterness among the other nations, especially the French. They had asked for reparations and the disarmament of the Rhineland once again, but were rebuffed by both the German and Commonwealth negotiators. However, most were quite content to simply have German troops leave their soil in peace.
The armistice agreement did allow for the prosecution of personnel accused of war crimes. German insistence that the tribunals cover the crimes of all combatants tempered the zeal for most people since it would not only apply to the Nazi and Japanese leaders, but also to individuals on the Allied side who had committed violations of international law.
Still, the vast majority of people being brought before war crime tribunals were Nazis that the Germans themselves had arrested and imprisoned. They would be the blood sacrifices for the sins of the Nazi state that had so wholeheartedly supported Hitler during the early days of the war. Harold insisted on this in addition to the restrictions placed on certain dangerous technologies. These technologies included the nuclear research that Harold had strongly focused on during earlier negotiations.
The Germans also agreed to a general reduction in their overall military forces. The restrictions were still far less draconian than those imposed upon Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Germany had to feel that they could still fulfill their legitimate need for self-defense with the tools at hand. Humiliating Germany had only planted the seeds for someone like Hitler to come to power. Harold went to great pains to explain to Churchill and the other negotiators that this needed to be avoided at all costs.
On the Fifth of January, the Armistice between Germany, England, America and the rest of Europe was signed. Italy had sued for peace a few months earlier after being invaded by Commonwealth forces supported by General Patton’s American Tigers, but provisions had been made so that the former Axis power would be covered by the peace agreement as well.
Now the focus of the war shifted to the far side of the planet and also to a part of the world that the war had seemingly forgotten.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Imperial Japanese Navy Headquarters
Yokohama, Japan
January 5, 1945
Even as the Allies were celebrating the news that an armistice was signed in Geneva that day, the Japanese were making some very fateful decisions of their own. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stood at the head of a conference table with fourteen other senior Japanese naval officers. They were meeting inside a secret base that had been constructed deep underneath Keio University for the Imperial Japanese Navy to serve as its headquarters. The tunnels for the base were first constructed shortly after the beginning of Allied aerial raids that dropped tens of thousands of fire bombs onto Japanese cities.
But there was strong disagreement among Japanese leaders about what should do in the face of ever increasing military pressure by the Allies. The military situation was rapidly degrading with Japanese troops occupying China, Korea and Manchuria slowly starving due to a lack of supplies being brought in by ship from the Japanese Home Islands. As a result, the occupation forces became even more brutal as they sought
to scavenge anything that they could find to stay fed. The civilians who the Japanese preyed upon soon found themselves in an even worse position.
But many Japanese military leaders still harbored the idea that they could possibly still win this war. Unfortunately, they had already started entertaining drastic measures to turn the tide of the war that they had started in 1941 back into their favor.
“Gentlemen, we must find a means to return the odds into our favor. The past two years have seen tremendous setbacks in our operations against our Western enemies, even though our aerial and ground attacks against the Soviet Union have been expectantly fruitful.” Admiral Yamamoto told the other senior naval officers sitting around the conference table.
“Taishō, how can you expect us to do anything more when we are not receiving enough supplies? We have lost another five merchant ships in the past week to enemy submarines. Can we do nothing to stop them? Those supplies were badly needed to keep the 14th Army from running out of food, fuel and ammunition in their fight against Philippine bandits and American criminals who refused to surrender in Luzon.” A senior captain noted bitterly.
“I see the same problems, Taishō. The enemy has been using new submarines that are far faster and quieter than anything in our fleet. We did some experimentation on such vessels before the war. But the Allies have far exceeded anything that we had done obviously. They are slipping right in the middle of our convoys and sinking our ships before we are even aware of it.” Another officer, this one wearing Vice-admiral insignia, also explained.
“Chūshō, we must buy time for our scientists to come up with solutions for the enemy’s new craft. We received much from the Germans in terms of technology before they signed the armistice. It will simply take some time to integrate into our forces. We have already started with the first flights of the new jet aircraft. Our recent success with the Baika craft is another example of what we can do.” Admiral Yamamoto replied.
“I still say that we are doing very little real damage with the high explosive warheads on our Baika craft. We must arm our missiles with much more effective warheads if we are to have a chance against the Americans and their allies. Our scientists from Unit 731 have made great progress with the weapons that they have created. We could kill tens of thousands of our enemy with a single bomb now and create tremendous loss of morale among their civilians and military.”
“I disagree. We have destroyed and crippled more warships in a single day’s operation using conventionally armed Baika than we have since our destruction of the American Pacific Fleet battle line at the beginning of the war. Granted, we had the advantage of surprise on our side for this operation. But we have proven that we can still do considerable damage and disrupt enemy operations using our Baika-armed submarines.” Yamamoto explained.
“If we combine the Baika with our special weapons, we can do far more damage to our adversaries, especially to their morale. They will not be able to stop us from making even more devastating attacks this way.”
“If we pursue this escalation with your special weapons, we will awake a giant with a terrible anger. We can continue to force them to focus on defending their homeland with these new submarines and the weapons that they will launch, but these gas and especially the germ weapons will raise the level of conflict far beyond what we dare imagine.
I urge you, most emphatically, not to arm these weapons with weapons that will bring down the entire wrath of the American people. It is much better to bleed them with conventional weapons until they tire of this war. Then we can find a way to end this war without the utter destruction of our nation and the entire Japanese people. As it is, our people are starving as we speak.”
“Can you be so sure that the Americans will accept a negotiated peace with us?”
“If Winston Churchill can be convinced to sit at the peace table with the Germans and come to a negotiated peace, we should be able to do the same with the Americans.”
“The Americans may not be quite as forgiving, especially after they learn what happened to American soldiers and civilians after we captured the Philippine Islands. Some of our soldiers focused on the dishonor that our prisoners had brought upon themselves and treated them according to Bushido. Unfortunately, by their actions, the tables may be turned upon us.
We have already learned that many people of Japanese ancestry living in America have been rounded up into camps and incarcerated. Up to now, they have treated their internees with relative kindness. I do not know what will happen to those of Japanese blood if we were to pursue the course of action that you propose.” Yamamoto strongly advised.
“What about the British, French and Australians, Taishō? They are much closer to us and pose a greater threat in many ways.”
“You are correct about the threat that the British and their allies pose in the South Pacific. However, do you remember what happened when we attempted to send an invasion force to the northwestern corner of Australia to cripple their weapons manufacturing center there and establish a foothold in Australia? We suffered very heavy losses of troops, ships and aircraft in that operation. The worst part was the losses of the battleship Hiei and the aircraft carriers Ryuho and Ryujo. The aircraft carriers lost were relatively small but useful vessels. The Hiei’s loss will be most felt because she was one of the few battleships that we had that could keep up with the Kido Butai, the Mobile Striking Force, to provide escort.” Yamamoto explained.
“Admiral, don’t you mean, what is left of our Kido Butai? We have lost four of our largest and most powerful fleet carriers already, mostly to enemy submarine attack. The others have also been taking turns undergoing repair in dry dock as a result of enemy attacks. We do not even know whose submarines have been responsible because they are so quiet that the first sign that we have of their presence is the explosion of one of our ships. Even our largest battleships have not been immune. We only have one Kongo class fast battleship remaining in service. Nagato and Mutsu were sunk in operations south of the Philippine Islands. Yamato still survives but has been repeatedly hit and forced to return for repairs. The others have all been sunk, mostly due to submarine and aerial attack.” Vice-Admiral Atsushi Kodai forcefully insisted.
“Yes, this is true. This makes our losses during the operation even more painful. We also lost nearly ten thousand troops and over one hundred and twenty aircraft during that attempted landing. Can we afford to make another such attempt, even if we have received significant intelligence about the importance of the site and personnel there?”
“We were unaware of the heavy coastal defense batteries that had been installed near the primary target. If we attack Australia again, we will find a way to deal with the enemy defensive fortifications.” The vocal Vice-admiral insisted.
“I’m sure that our adversaries will have also improved their defenses since then as well, now that they are aware of our intentions. There is also the issue of the local troops that protect that area. They were particularly effective for what we had considered primitives. Yamamoto noted.
“Are you saying that we should do nothing but wait until the Americans are at our very shores, Taishō?”
“It is my recommendation that we continue to strike at these enemy facilities with our Baika craft. The Baika give us the capability to hit enemy targets in Australia, Singapore and French Indochina with minimal risk to our heavy ships. But like with the Americans, I strongly resist the call to use special weapons against our enemies here as well. They have proven to be remarkably capable in both developing countermeasures, but also in exacting heavy retribution as well. This is especially the case if you threaten their homes and families.
We have actually lost more ships, aircraft and troops to the British and their allies in the South Pacific since the beginning of the war than to the Americans. Our ports are full of warships that have been hit by torpedoes from their submarines or bombed by their attack aircraft. More than three-quarters of our merchant fleet has also been lost due to these pirat
es. Our shipyards were unable to keep up with such losses even in the best of times. Now, we are facing shortages of steel, fuel and other critical materials for our war effort. Our failure to capture the oil fields of Malay has made this even worse.
We have to find an effective counter to their submarines and aircraft if we are going to be able to mount a successful counteroffensive against them. We must make full use of the advanced technology that the Germans provided to us before they agreed to an armistice with the British. But time is growing short for all of us if the new American president is to be believed in his message to his people. He intends to truly go back on the offensive against us with far more than submarines and naval raids in this case.
With the full weight of American industrial might, Japan will lose this war unless we can make the Americans bleed so badly on the front lines that the sounds of their women weeping over the graves of their sons and fathers will drown out the cries for the war to continue. If not, our children will then surely pay the price for our failure. ” Yamamoto concluded.
“Then we must consider very carefully what we do next. We will most certainly bear your words of warning in mind, Admiral. But there is still the issue of our operations in China. We must have the means to neutralize the masses of bandits that plague our troops there. The Emperor has authorized the use of chemical weapons in China in the past. The gaijin did not do anything about it at that time. I strongly push for the resumption of the use of chemical weapons and even our other ‘special’ weapons against the Chinese hordes. That will give us an opportunity to stabilize the situation in China at least.”
Yamamoto watched as all of the other senior Japanese officers nodded their heads in agreement, including a pair of Japanese Army generals who were also in attendance. The decision had now been made that a wave of chemical and biological weapons attacks would soon be launched against the Chinese. It would not matter at all if women, children or any other civilian non-combatants were killed in the attacks either. As far as the Japanese were concerned, they were all dirty foreigners or gaijin and thus unworthy of any mercy in this matter.
