Yamamoto Moichirō
Date of Birth | 8th October 1898 |
---|---|
Place of Birth | Wakayama, Empire of Japan |
Age at start | 63 |
Nationality | Japanese |
Role | Colonial Governor |
Political Party | 25th Army |
Ideology | Colonial Government |
Yamamoto Moichirō (Japanese:山本 茂一郎) (born 8th October 1898) is the colonial governor of Japanese Malaysia and head of the 25th Japanese Army. Formerly posted to Indonesia as the Chief of Staff of the 16th Army on Java, Moichiro would be promoted up, becoming the head of the 16th Army, and became an important contributor to the Indonesian nation, assisting the nation in it's efforts of independence, whilst ensuring pacification efforts on Java were carried out.
As a result of his efforts and past record, he would be reassigned to Malaya, to lead the Japanese intervention in the Malayan Emergency. He has seen some success, however, he has not given the victory that Tokyo desperately needs in one of the Empire's most profitable regions. Time is running out for General Moichiro.
In Game Description[edit | edit source]
For Major General Yamamoto Moichiro, Malaya was supposed to be one last hurrah in a storied, politically fruitful yet bloodied career throughout Japan's conquests of China and the former Dutch East Indies. When the Malayan revolt broke out following the collapse of the talks between the Marai Hokokai and the ever-increasingly centralising Republic of Indonesia, Yamamoto was reassigned from Java, being an important contributor to the negotiation of Indonesian "independence", to step in and lead the Japanese intervention.
The initial phases of the intervention were successful, as the United Malayan Anti-Japanese Front was driven out of major population centres in most of Malaya, barring the resource-rich and strategically vital regions of northern Perak and Pahang. Ever since then however, Yamamoto's last hurrah has turned into a rapidly deteriorating quagmire, with a disappearing enemy incredibly proficient in jungle warfare. However, the situation does not end there - in fact, it's even worse than expected.
With the Republic of India, and some say the OFN aiding the broad front of anti-Japanese insurgents, Yamamoto has resorted to escalation: a rational measure in his eyes, as the Malayan population has been incredibly resistant to Japanese efforts at collaboration. To this end, he has brought some of the original architects of Malayan victory, such as the infamous counter-insurgency strategist Nishiura Susumu. Time is against Yamamoto however, as his own retirement looms large - and so does the momentum of UMAJF.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Yamamoto Moichiro was born in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan as the fourth son of a farmer and silk reeler. He would attend and graduate from middle school, before attending the Army Academy. He would graduate from the Academy in May 1919. In December of the same year, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment. In December 1926, he graduated with honors from the Army War College.
In March 1928, he was assigned to the Ministry of War's Maintenance Bureau, and served as a member of the Bureau. In March 1933, he was assigned to the Army Arsenal and became a member of the Japanese Mission to the Geneva Disarmament Conference.
In March 1934 he became a section member of the Maintenance Bureau, and served in the Resources Bureau amongst other postings within the Army. In August 1935, he became secretary to the Minister of War. In July 1938 , he became a member of the Military Affairs Bureau (Military Affairs Section).
By August 1939, he was promoted to the rank colonel and appointed commander of the 228th Infantry Regiment, as part of the 38th Division. The division was initially assigned in October 1939 to the 21st Army to provide security services in Guangdong province in the wake of Imperial Army's Canton Operation. This division participated in conquest of Hong Kong in 1941. On 4 January 1942, the 38th Division was assigned to the 16th Army and its 230th Infantry Regiment (converted for this occasion into the 3rd Mixed Regiment) took part in the Battle of Java (1942).
In October 1940, he became a staff officer of the North China Area Army. In March 1942, he would rise to became Chief of the First Section of the General Training Department. In March 1943, he was appointed staff officer of the 16th Army and Chief of the General Affairs Department of the Military Administration Department, and in August of the same year, he was promoted to major general. In November 1944, he was reassigned to become Chief of Staff of the 16th Army and Military Administrator of Java until the end of the war in the Pacific.
Reassignment to Malaya.[edit | edit source]
As the war ended, the 16th Army still remained on Java as a garrison force, whilst the newly created Republic of Indonesia proclaimed it's independence. As part of the Japanese garrison, Moichiro would be involved in the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, with his 16th Army actively supporting efforts for the Indonesian independence movement, forming the elements of the newly created Army of Indonesia, with the folding of most, if not all Japanese-aligned armies within the region.
For Moichiro, this was where he sat, in charge of demobilising his men in the 16th Army, training the Indonesian Army and handing over Japanese administered territory on Java to the Indonesian government, until 1957.
In 1957, talks between Malaya and Indonesia was underway, spearheaded by adherents of both sides of a "Greater Malay" nation. As talks failed, a Malayan revolt began, spreading like wildfire across the Malayan nation, led by the Communist Party of Malaya. In response, the Japanese formed a task force, with Moichiro as it's commanding officer.
Moichiro took action swiftly, bringing along talented officers that could properly deal with the revolt, and within the next few months successfully pushed out the revolt from the important tin mines and cities within Pahang and northern Perak. By 1959, the revolt was almost over, with the Communists pushed towards the Thai-Malayan border, and pacification efforts carried out in the captured territories. However, victory was still not achieved. The resistance would constantly eat away at his men with ambushes within the jungle, with many villages and towns still loyal to the resistance movements.
With the multiple resistance movements merging into one collective organisation against the Japanese, Moichiro knows they are desperate and running out of steam. However, his position is no better, with the 25th Army almost running out of manpower and relying on collaborationist forces to bolster their ranks.
Now as time is running out for his career, Moichiro is desperate for a victory for Tokyo to see.