Russia's nuclear deployment has sparked tensions in Japan, and the situation is approaching a critical point
Recently, the Russian Pacific Fleet launched an unprecedentedly important operation, carrying a nuclear submarine loaded with nuclear torpedoes to the Sea of Japan, which attracted widespread attention. The move, widely seen as a move against Japan, marks the first time since the end of the Cold War that Russia's Pacific Fleet has deployed a nuclear program on this scale.
This move is undoubtedly an important operation of the Russian army. The reason for the choice of action at this time seems to be that the situation in Ukraine is still unsettled, and the Japanese prime minister has not only ignored Russia's strong opposition, but also openly visited Ukraine and provided a large amount of material support. At the same time, Japan has accelerated the pace of arms expansion, a move that is obvious. Japan seems intent on taking advantage of Russia's deep involvement in Ukraine to create trouble in eastern Russia, and its targets may be the so-called four northern islands, which in Russia's eyes are known as the South Kuril Islands.
The dispute over the islands has been going on for quite some time and is being carried out at the stage of diplomatic representations. However, if Japan tries to seize the islands by force, it will be an undesirable situation for Russia. There is no doubt that Russia's current forces and equipment are difficult to cope with the opening of a second front. In order to stop Japan's military adventure, Russia has chosen a series of extreme measures to demonstrate its strategic intentions and send a clear message to Japan: in the event of a conflict, it will not be a conventional situation, but may involve serious consequences of nuclear **. Whether Russia's move is too much is a question of concern for Japan, a small country.
Why is Russia so wary of Japan?
Tensions between Japan and Russia date back to the war period between the two world wars. There are deep historical disputes and blood debts between them, forming a kind of hatred that is not shared with each other. The four northern islands have always been occupied by Russia, but in Japan's view, they are its own and are always looking forward to recovering them. What is certain is that if Japan comes into conflict with Russia again, the four northern islands will inevitably become the fuse of the conflict between the two sides.
For the time being, Japan's military strength is mainly manifested in the self-defense forces, which are ostensibly used for homeland defense and are not considered regular armies in the traditional sense. But in reality, Japan has F35 fighters, small aircraft carriers, and advanced land combat equipment. From a technical point of view, Japan's ** level of equipment has largely surpassed that of Russia, but its scale is small and it cannot form a clear military advantage.
Because of this, once Russia faces the threat of Japan, it will respond with nuclear torpedoes and other nuclear **. In addition to maintaining a high degree of vigilance in terms of nuclear **, Russia has also made major adjustments on the battlefield on the Western Front, withdrawing most of the main elite troops to the rear of the Eastern Front, while on the Russian-Ukrainian front, mainly mercenary armies, of which Wagner is the mainstay. The strategic task of the regular Russian army is to guard against possible Japanese military adventures.
Recently, a series of actions by Japan have strengthened Russia's vigilance against Japan. In the absence of fruitless diplomatic negotiations between the two countries and the failure to claim back the four northern islands, Japan proposed a non-diplomatic means to seize the islands, which directly increased Russia's tensions.
Is Japan's so-called non-diplomatic plan to seize the island reliable?
This plan bluntly implies the seizure of the islands by force. Although Japan has the support of the United States behind it, China and Russia, as its potential strategic rivals, are by no means weak. As early as 70 years ago, in order to curb the resurgence of Japanese militarism, the five permanent members of the UN agreed before the establishment of the United Nations that as long as Japan was deemed to pose a threat to the security of a certain country, it could adopt military sanctions, and even use nuclear ** in war.
Russia has apparently deduced that Japan's so-called non-diplomatic plan to seize the island is likely to take the form of a surprise attack. Whether in the Russo-Japanese War or the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan demonstrated a mastery of raid tactics. This requires vigilance not only for Russia, but also for China. In order to realize the so-called non-diplomatic plan to seize the islands, Japan announced the creation of a missile force, which will be aimed not only at the four northern islands, but also against the Diaoyu Islands and the developed areas along China's eastern coast.
In view of this, China has sent a team of students and Xi headed by the Minister of Defense to Russia to learn from the actual combat experience of the Russian army Xi. Although many believe that the Russian army is not performing well, this view is biased. Russia relies on old equipment and is able to confront more than 40 alliances such as NATO head-on, which is by no means an easy task. Therefore, it was more difficult to mobilize troops to guard against Japanese military adventures.
Fortunately, Japan is not quite a normal country at the moment. To suddenly attack Russia, as it did during World War II, Japan lacks both the necessary reserves of military resources and nuclear ** as a strategic support in the short term. The nuclear arsenals of China and Russia could strike a fatal blow at any time.