Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

by Bruce Lee

“In my opinion the Soviet is Japan’s primary enemy,” Oshima quotes Hitler as saying. “However, whether or not Japan is to attack her is up to Japan.… Far be it from us Germans to give military advice to a nation that ran such a risk and came out so victorious as Japan did at Pearl Harbor. In the fight against Russia antitank guns and tanks are extremely important. I don’t know how well the Japanese forces are equipped with these weapons, but if they begin a fight in Russia and subsequently meet with disaster, all the Axis allies would be seriously hampered. No, I think we had better leave such matters up to Japan and trust her to do what she thinks is right.” This statement is significant to Washington because it reveals that Hitler is warning his military to stop pressuring him to get the Japanese to fight Russia. (In his report to Tokyo of August 4, 1943, Okamoto stated that Germany’s highest leaders “clearly understand our attitude toward Russia,” but that the German Army does not “see quite that far.” Okamoto warned: “We will have to watch out for these German militarists.”