Here Britain had to be named again. After Japan launched its full-scale invasion of the Far East Empire, Britain was undoubtedly the Imperialist country that had suffered the greatest losses to its interests in the Far East Empire.
Yet ever since the war broke out, Britain had made virtually no move at all.
This was, in fact, Britain's "Asian appeasement policy," and the strategy Britain pursued toward Japan happened to clash with East Africa's.
This so-called Asian appeasement policy was almost exactly the same as the one Britain had practiced in Europe. Its core objective was to steer Japan into war with the Soviet Union, an objective that coincided without prior consultation with the faction within Japan that supported the "northward advance" policy.
But as mentioned before, East Africa preferred Japan to "advance southward," so East Africa and Britain's diplomatic policies toward Japan fundamentally conflicted.
Umezu Yoshijiro did not know what the two nations were plotting, but he had made some guesses about the British mindset.
"Although Britain's interests in the Far East Empire were damaged by this war of the Empire's, at this stage they simply have neither the time nor the ability to make an enemy of the Empire."
"Britain's focus lies in Europe. Though the British Royal Navy is powerful, it must keep watch over countries like Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union."
"So Britain's naval strength is now concentrated in the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In other regions, Britain can barely spare the attention. The Indian Ocean is practically East Africa's back garden, while in the Pacific region, the Empire is the undisputed overlord."
That was really gilding the little Japanese's face. On the surface, the Imperial Japanese Navy indeed ranked first in the Pacific Ocean, but even without considering East Africa, Japan could