sjar Chapter 1272 The Role of Manager Sun
Chapter 1272 The Role of Manager Sun
This shipment is meaningless to the consul. Therefore, we must purchase it. Furthermore, there are still some channels for transporting these goods back to the Gallo-Gallic colonies in the south. These items won't be of much use locally, but they will be very useful back home.
The consul reluctantly completed this underground deal. Although he made a profit, life was far from easy for him. From now on, his life was essentially in their hands. However, Manager Sun had repeatedly assured him that the money would only be used when competing with the Japanese, and would never be used at other times, thus ensuring the consul's safety.
Furthermore, Manager Sun stated that the consul's safety guarantees our advantage in the area. No matter what methods the Japanese businessmen use, we will be in no danger. The consul will provide us with preferential treatment. If something were to happen to the consul, we would have to find a way to satisfy the demands of another consul. Wouldn't that mean increased operating costs for us? We would absolutely never do such a thing, so the current consul is absolutely safe; there's no need to worry about us reporting you.
The consul thought about it and realized it made sense, similar to what Manager Sun had said. It was just that this passive way of making money made the consul somewhat uncomfortable. However, after a while, things generally calmed down. It was much better than being reported and going to jail. As for those Japanese, they could only blame their bad luck.
Thanks to Manager Sun's efforts, over a dozen Japanese businessmen were imprisoned this month, and some even developed serious illnesses while incarcerated, seemingly unlikely to survive much longer. Furthermore, all their assets in Southeast Asia were seized. The Japanese side insists on an explanation as to where these assets went. Unfortunately, the courts in various locations are very efficient; in short, these assets were involved in various illegal activities and were all confiscated by local authorities.
Some of these merchants were genuine businessmen who were already active in the region, while others were spies who were funded by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish themselves there. Regardless of their background, for a long time, the colonizers of Southeast Asia had no opportunity to make money, and now the wealth of these Japanese merchants was enough to feed them.
Of course, for the 72nd Group Army, our mission can be considered accomplished. That was to prevent Japan from acquiring a single resource in Southeast Asia. As for the United States, we can't concern ourselves with that for now.
The Japanese currently have two main routes for obtaining resources. While the cost from the US and Spain is slightly higher, the main problem is the sheer distance. Southeast Asia is a shorter route and can be adjusted more readily. But now, with the 72nd Army in command, you can basically forget about it.
The Japanese navy's attack on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs resulted in a complete lack of diplomatic achievements. These countries had previously established good diplomatic relations with us, but after being corrupted by the 72nd Army, they all turned against us – a disgrace indeed.
But for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomacy has always been linked to military affairs. If you could have been more assertive in Southeast Asia, how could we be facing this situation? All the warships in Southeast Asia belong to the 72nd Group Army. If any of the Combined Fleet's warships appear outside any port, we can negotiate with them locally.
Where are our warships now? Our merchants' property has been severely threatened, and many merchants' assets have been confiscated by local authorities. Our foreign affairs department's protests have been completely ineffective, because they have also seen the reasons why the Joint Fleet dares not go south, so they are not hesitant to confiscate these assets.
As for the reasons given for confiscating property, they are simply nonexistent. These reasons sound utterly absurd, and if they want to do it, you can only listen; there's no point in refutating them, because they can easily fabricate any evidence.
The major chambers of commerce in Japan also began to stir up trouble over this matter. They didn't mind serving the Empire's war effort; in fact, they were quite willing to do so. However, they believed that the Empire should take care of everything for them, including things that weren't their responsibility. Only in this way could they serve the Empire with peace of mind. Currently, neither the Empire's foreign affairs department nor the Imperial Navy seemed to have found an extremely safe business environment for them.
With the arrest of numerous businessmen in Southeast Asia, the region will inevitably need to find replacements. However, given the current situation, who would be willing to go there to fill the void? Anyone with a modicum of common sense would avoid such a place.
From their perspective, we come to this region with our families to fight for resources for the empire, but when our rights are treated unfairly, the empire does nothing substantial except make a few noises or lodge some diplomatic protests from our rear. Doesn't that mean all our losses have been for nothing?
Patriotism is certainly present, but to test one's patriotism by using their family's savings of decades is something few can do. Therefore, when the second batch of merchants was supposed to depart, many delayed their journeys for various reasons.
The Japanese high command had realized that there were only two ways to maintain the supply of goods from Southeast Asia. One way was to send troops to directly occupy the region, but the timing wasn't right yet; their war reserves weren't sufficient to completely occupy the entire Southeast Asia region.
Another option is to send a joint fleet there first. Instead of treating the entire Southeast Asia region as a battlefield, we should first eliminate the 72nd Army's forces in Southeast Asia. This would be an opportunity for us. If we can eliminate the 72nd Army's forces in Southeast Asia, we can occupy more than a dozen airfields in Southeast Asia, including the surrounding land.
But are some things really that simple?