Rebirth of the Japanese Empire: A Japan MDS 1.6 AAR

[Kaiser_Mobius]

Hello, and Happy New Year everybody! After taking some time off from AAR writing after the successful conclusion of my last AAR project: In Defense of Freedom, I have decided to start up my next project that I had promised to do, an AAR as Japan in the latest installment of the Modern Day Scenario mod for Hearts of Iron 2 Armageddon.

My objective: under the cover of aiding in the fight of the "Global War on Terrorism", to carve out a new Empire of Japan through military conquest, and secure that new empire by creating powerful sea, air, and land forces and defeating any potential rivals to Japanese power in the Pacific ocean and beyond. Doing so will require combating essentially every contemporary military power of the 21st century, including Russia, China, North Korea, India, and most importantly, the United States of America. It will not be easy, and will require facing great challenges, but hopefully, Japan will be able to resurrect its old Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and help create a new Japanese hegemony in the 21st century.

So, time for the setup.

Game: HOI2 Armageddon, Modern Day Scenario Mod v 1.6
Difficulty/Aggressiveness: Normal/Furious. Note that I will most likely up the difficulty to hard at some point later in the game.
Country: Japan (obviously)
Full IC takeover: On.
modifications: I have modified events that re militarize Japan to fire much earlier than they originally would, so everybody does not have to wait forever to see some action. I have heavily modified Japan's starting cabinet in line with the story that I will set out at the beginning of the game.

Also, because I will be playing as an aggressive, expansionist militaristic Japan instead of the isolationist and pacifistic Japan of OTL, I have modified some of Japans tech teams to give them so new research fields (for example, in areas like carrier design or amphibious assault tactics, traits that Japans, original tech teams did not have orginally). I hope you do not view this as cheating, since I believe it can be justified in that the setup for this game takes place a few years before the start of the scenario in 2003, allowing for plenty of time for Japan to retool itself more towards military expansion.

As a gameplay balance, I have given Russia about double its original starting IC, to make the Russians a far stronger military threat not only to Japan but to Europe as well. In my past experience, Russia just never seems to be able to stand a chance against the combined forces of NATO and the US, so hopefully in this game the Russians can give the Europeans and myself a much better challenge.

Finally, I have put in a number of modern unit sprites.

I think that is about it for now. I guess its time for the curtain to rise and get this thing started with the prologue.

[TemplarComander]

I shall follow this. I love MDS.

[Zokan]

Subscribed, let's see how this unfolds

[trekaddict]

Sounds of PRC throwing a fit in 3...2...1...

[quaazi]

Korea should be the first to be reintegrated.

[Asalto]

Excellent, a new AAR of Kaiser Mobius. Can't wait to see your setup and further development. Good luck.

[Kaiser_Mobius]

Japan: land of the Rising Sun. A string of heavily populated islands, her people lived for many years in quiet isolation under the Tokugawa Shogunate starting in the early 1600's, until the country was forced open by US Navy Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853. The arrival of Perry led to many social and political reforms under the so called Meiji Restoration, culminating in the country's modernization and the creation of an imperial world power on par with those of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


The establishment of a Japanese Empire led to a series of ambitious imperial acquisitions and conflicts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. War with China, the annexation of Korea, a victorious war against Russia in 1904-1905, the construction of a world class Navy, the acquisition of island naval bases from Germany in the First World War. Eventually, Japan would take control of Manchuria in 1931, and then embark on a bloody conquest of China in 1937.


Japan's leaders, under the rule of Emperor Hirohito, would soon embark on their greatest gamble. Starting on December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbour, in Hawaii, part of a massive offensive to secure the rich natural resources of Southeastern Asia. Japanese forces made swift progress, taking over Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong, Indonesia (at that time the Dutch East Indies), and decimating whatever naval and air forces the allies could throw at them. Japan seemed to be unstoppable.



However, Japan's luck did not last long.


After the disastrous battle of Midway in June 1942, the Allied powers rallied. From that point onward, the Allied powers, led primarily by the United States, pushed Japanese forces back. At Guadalcanal, the Marianas islands, Leyte Gulf, Burma, numerous pacific islands, and in China, Japanese forces suffered immense defeats.


Against all odds, Japan fought ferociously. Her pilots flew planes into Allied warships. Her soldiers fought to the last man on numerous battlefields. Her navy sacrificed its best ships in futile battles.


Eventually, by August 1945, Allied forces had taken Okinawa and were poised to invade the home islands themselves. However, the United States instead used its final trump card, dropping Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing thousands of people and causing immense damage. Combined with the crushing defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria by the Soviet Union's Red Army, Japan could no longer continue fighting. Japan had fought ferociously, but was utterly defeated.


On September 2nd, 1945, the Japanese Imperial government signed Japan's unconditional surrender on the US navy battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese empire was defeated, Japan was occupied by the allied powers, and the process of reconstruction began.


The reconstruction of Japan became known as the "Japanese Economic Miracle". Japan rose up from the devastation of World War 2 to become an economic powerhouse. Japan became a dynamic leader in areas like manufacturing, robotics, computers, and information. From Toyota cars to PlayStation video games, Japanese goods are sold all around the world. Japan's people became highly prosperous, with a strong welfare state and very high life expectancy. Japanese cities exploded in size to become true metropolises, their lights stretching as far as the eye can see.


However, Japanese prosperity did not last forever. By the 1990's, Japan's economy had slowed down dramatically. Japan's security meanwhile was facing new threats from states like the China and North Korea. These factors would soon converge to create a great change within Japanese politics, something that would change the country and set it on a path towards a new, imperial restoration.....

[hoi2geek]

Good luck on your AAR.

Just create an independent Philippines while you're at it.

[Asalto]

Great prologue. Can't wait for moar.

[starchristian]

well i liked your other aar so i am going to follow this on too

[Zhuge Liang]

Interesting premise even if it's not quite my preferred one, you've certainly set yourself an ambitious target so I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll achieve it.

[Razgriz 2K9]

I agree, I will look through this AAR with undivided interest.

well not undivided, but I'm very interested.

[Kaiser_Mobius]

@everybody: I am very happy to already see such strong support for this project. I hope that I will not let everybody down. Thanks for the comments!

August, 1998. Without warning, the dictatorial government of North Korea stages a series of ballistic missile tests, firing a series of long range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan (also known as the East Sea). Unintentional or not, several of the North Korean missiles soar right over the main Japanese home island of Honshu. Reports on the ground by citizens in cities all over central Honshu, including Tokyo, are full of accounts of missiles, their contrails and rocket jets in full view, flying worryingly low as they fly on their paths into the pacific ocean.


The missile tests immediately set of a crisis as people all over Japan realize just how vulnerable they are to potential bombardment by North Korean missiles. Their panic is further reinforced by a lack of advanced warning by government civil defense forces of missiles flying overhead until the missiles were in full view of Japanese cities. Demonstrations break out all over the country, as people demand increased spending on missile defense and the resignation of top government and SDF officials for their lack of readiness against the North Korean missile threat. Instead, the government responds by asking for more assistance from the United States, requesting that the US position Patriot missiles and Aegis cruisers along Japan's western coastlines.


The response by the government causes great dissatisfaction throughout many in the country. The response by the government is perceived by many people as politicians trying to avoid the issue, and selling out the defense of Japan to the United States. Combined with memories of government incompetence in the face of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake and a continuing economic downturn, confidence in Japan's political leadership hits historic lows. The feeling of dissatisfaction is not confined to the civilian population. High and low ranking officers within Japans Self Defense Forces also lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect the nation. A very large number of these officers come to the conclusion that for Japan to be secure and prosperous, the government must go.


Starting in early September, this group of military officers expand their support, winning over not only the bulk of the armed forces, but also members of Japans intelligence services, business leaders, and many other branches of society. After extensive planning and preparations, the plotters make their move. On February 26th, 1999, Japanese troops surround the National Diet building and capture the governments top ministers, including the Prime minister and his cabinet. Military forces all over the country take up positions in the streets, some to cheers, but others to loud protests and rioting. The situation is at first unstable, but the plotters gain a great boost in legitimacy as the Emperor himself urges the people to keep calm and return to their homes. The blessings of the Emperor for the coup d'etat and its leaders force the government to resign, giving the plotters a great victory and securing a largely peaceful transition.



The new "Government of Japanese National Salvation" immediately takes power. Top military officials assume the reigns over the bulk of the government's industries, and "The Generals" regime is firmly set in place. Promising security, prosperity, and decisive action over domestic and international issues, the government gets to work consolidating its power and winning over those within the country that still oppose their rule. Dissension with the government quickly crumbles away as the economic situation improves, thanks in part to the support of Japanese corporations and business for the new regime. Internationally, the new Japanese military government is strongly condemned by countries such as China, both Korea's, Taiwan, and others within Asia. Criticism with the west however is somewhat less, with many politicians in the United States concluding that a strong Japan is in their interests for not only trade but also as a counterweight to China.


Japan's new regime, despite being condemned by many states, is not in the news for long, as Terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11th, 2001, and subsequent US and NATO military actions in Afghanistan turn the eyes of the world towards the middle east and central Asia. With the world's attention now mostly away from Eastern Asia, Japan's new rulers find the opportunity they needed to embark on a new, radical foreign policy. The regime concludes that for Japan to be secure, the country must once again become a global military power. Japan must find new sources of natural resources, must defeat its potential rivals, and create a new Japanese era in Asia and the Pacific by creating a New Japanese Empire. With the coming US invasion of Iraq in March, Japan will finally have its opportunity to begin its rise to become a new global, imperial power.....

[Asalto]

Wow. That's amazing. I love expansion of your active story into 1990s. Military junta ftw!

[quaazi]

Admiral Yamamoto, eh? A new incarnation?

Next you'll be telling me Yamashita is leading the charge to Korea.

[spackalicious]

My god this is awesome! It would be hard to surpass your last AAR, but this one just might do it. Defeating China, Russia, the US, and the EU won't be easy, but with the Emperor's blessing, I'm sure you can right the mistakes made in 1937-45. Onwards to Korea!

[Timmie0307]

The Imperial Japanese Navy will avenge Pearl Harbor....!

[Razgriz 2K9]

Coups make everything better. Good post, good post. To the new Empire of Japan.

(I assume the Territorial Claims on US are those Pacific Islands [Guam, American Samoa, Midway et.al] and Russia being Sakhlin.)

[atty]

Weren't two nukes enough to understand the lesson? I will follow this AAR, I'm sure you will be able to spread the Rising Sun from the Urals to the Rocky Mountains.

[Zhuge Liang]

How strong is the Japanese military at the beginnning of the game?

Regrettably you're probbly going to have to stick with the US for a while, Japan is surrounded by enemies that would love to destroy it completely and I doubt it's strong enough to stand up on its' own right now.