Time Slip Reiwa Japan

005 - France's Lost Cause

Japan's main diplomatic partners after the time slip were the United States and Britain. But that did not mean that Japan did not engage in diplomatic negotiations with other nations. Naturally, it also made contact with China and the Soviet Union. Among them, it was France that reacted with particular vehemence.

It started with the French ambassador. When he accompanied the Japanese government's delegation to Europe, he broke the rule of refraining from providing information about the future, *1 which had been decided to prevent confusion, and provided it to the French government. However, the Japanese government was also doing everything it could to control the information, so the only information they were able to provide was that there would be a war with Germany in the future and that the French nation would suffer.

The fact that Japan was at a much higher level of civilization than France was conveyed through a temporary pavilion separate from the Japanese Pavilion at the 1925 Paris Expo. Starting with full-color photographs, the pavilion displayed various industrial products and other exhibits. Among them, the one that caught the attention of the French was the anti-pollution measures. In the section on technology to remove toxic materials, the French demanded that Japan address the old battlefields of the world wars that existed in their territory – the poisonous gas pollution zones. In return, the Japanese agreed to import rare metals and other resources from Africa. *2

The Japanese plan to decontaminate and rehabilitate the danger zone of the old battlefield in northern France was much quicker than the French had expected. When political groups in France learned of this, they conducted political diplomacy to have Japan become pro-French and offer benefits. One of the most important issues was Japan's treatment of the difficult Washington Naval Treaty.

France, which was unaware of the details of negotiations between Japan, Britain, and the United States, made an expression of goodwill toward Japan at the conference: permission to build two new 35.000-ton battleships with 14-inch guns. At the same time, battleships will be capped at two, and their surplus holdings will be diverted to aircraft carriers and cruisers. With this, they demanded Japan's continued participation in the Washington Naval Treaty regime.

Japan, Britain, and the US, which had been planning to settle the issue by force, panicked. *3 Japan thought it would be a hassle to build battleships, which it had little need for, and Britain and the US were wary of what Japan would produce. However, only two treaty battleships were to be built. As for the rest of the maritime forces, they were in line with the existing plan, so although there was some confusion in the immediate aftermath of the statement, Britain and the US accepted it favorably. This led to the construction of battleships, which Japan had little need for. *4

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Inclusion in Colonial Management

France, observing the negotiations between Japan and Britain, considered outsourcing the construction of railroads and other facilities in faraway Vietnam to Japan. Since natural resources could be extracted from the area, they thought they could make Japan pay for the construction of port facilities in exchange for the provision of resources. Japan was also a promising supplier of natural rubber and other products, so it agreed to the French government's plan.

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Notes

*1: This request was made in response to fears that future information would be used to target people who are alive today. This request was not made at the sole discretion of the Japanese government, but was considered and approved by the Council of Embassies in Japan, which is comprised mainly of the US and British embassies, in response to a request from the Japanese government. As a result, the treatment of the French Embassy and French nationals in Japan deteriorated drastically after the information dissemination incident was discovered. In addition, this action led to the outburst of the German embassy staff who were hidden neo-Nazis – Nazi sympathizers.

*2: Since it was not a request from the Japanese side, but from the French, they succeeded in securing a reasonable profit on this cost. Large heavy machinery was deployed, and research was conducted on chemical neutralizers for the poison gas. The research facilities for chemical research were set up on French territory, and the findings contributed to the development of France's science and technology.

Later, France, which had been impressed by Japan's civil engineering technology through this experience, entrusted Japan with infrastructure development in Africa and Vietnam. The French government, via the Ground Self-Defense Force, which conducted a field survey, submitted a report to the French government stating that it would take 100 years or more to clean up the area contaminated by poison gas, because the area was extremely vast. The French government agreed to this.

France was to be the single point of contact for the costs necessary for this environmental improvement, but at the same time, the French government imposed half of these costs on Germany. The German government objected to this unilateral request, demand, and order, claiming that compensation for the war damage in northern France should have been included in the Treaty of Versailles in the first place, leading to political tension between France and Germany.

*3: Since the main subject of disarmament was battleships, Japan was considering settling for observer status by not owning battleships and renewing its aircraft carriers within the framework of the treaty. However, France's generosity put an end to this.

*4: The reason why the decision to build the battleship was made easily only at the request of politics was the construction cost. When a trial calculation was made based on the construction cost of the Yamato-class battleship, a figure of approximately 200 billion was obtained, and it was determined that construction would be possible without any particular problems at that level. As a matter of fact, the upgrade of the Kongō-class destroyers, which had been in service for many years, was also under consideration, and the cost of the upgrade was estimated to be 150 billion yen per ship.

However, the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which was ordered to build the ships, was not at all willing to do so. Since the MSDF was about to operate its long-sought 60.000-ton regular aircraft carrier by filling a low-fill ship with the increased manpower it finally obtained in the 2020s, it is natural that the MSDF would not want its manpower to be eaten up by a new, but less-needed ship.

Despite their dissatisfaction, there was no way they could go against politics, and they eventually began considering building an area air defense ship as a replacement for the Kongō-class Aegis ship. It was to have area air defense capability, be a 20.000-ton battleship by standards, and have four 5-inch single-barrel main guns. It was the Ground Self-Defense Force that put a stop to this.

They received information from the US Marine Corps that the battleship was indeed a powerful means of firepower support during landing operations, and they actively support the construction of the ship. In addition, the French government advised the Japanese government that the possession of battleships was proof of national power and prestige in the politics of this era, so the Japanese government ordered the MSDF to build "a ship that is recognizable as a battleship at first glance."

After a year of study, it is finally decided that the ship was built as a 35.000-ton Type A destroyer. With a standard displacement of 35.000 tons and three triple 13,5-inch guns, it is an imposing battleship design. Its basic design was modeled after the Yamato-class, the last of the Imperial Japanese Navy battleships, with a speed set to be at least 30 knots for an escort ship and using the gas turbine as the main powerplant.

As for the main guns, since they did not have the technology to manufacture large-caliber guns, spare barrels from the King George V-class, which had been surplus in Britain, were provided, and the turret itself was newly constructed with the utmost automation of mechanical power. The barrels were to be covered with a water-cooled unit that also served as a thermal jacket to prepare for the increased rate of fire.

When this plan was announced, the IJN enthusiasts said that it was a reworked B-65 super-armored cruiser design, and they were right to point out the obvious. The bridge was not pagoda-shaped, but rather a larger and taller version of the Asahi design, but other than that, the hull shape and main guns were very similar to those of the B-65 super-cruiser.

As for the ship's name, it was Yamato.

Although there was some criticism of the name for a 35.000-ton ship, the name was adopted because it was assumed that these two ships would be the last battleships to be built.