4 Days since the start of training, my men are still being brutally rolled. The look of respect that most of them at first showed towards me have become obvious hostility. I simply smile since they still keep doing what I asked of them without complaints.
In times like this, Japan's deeply entrenched hierarchical attitude is very much useful. Still, when my old platoon arrived yesterday, my new men saw for themselves the results of what my training can do.
Most of the soldiers of this time maintain skinny figures compared to the looks of modern soldiers, but my platoon having been rolled for 5 months were reborn as truly strong men.
Of course I'm not a professional trainer, so my training menu definitely has deficiencies. But my amateur modern methods are a 100 times better than the current training methods of the IJA. Especially since there's a lot of emphasis on unquantifiable metrics like mental strength and spirit.
This inadvertently became one of the basis for Japanese brutality in WW2, soldiers were brutalized as recruits, so many of them saw such actions as normal. Thus they committed atrocities towards POW's and civilians without mercy, not knowing that its morally bad.
Hopefully my methods can leak to other units in the Expeditionary Force and eventually towards the entire IJA.
"Major, I have doubts about the current training, wouldn't it be better to train them our tactics and methods instead of just physical training? We only have a little over a week after all."
"Its because we only have 2 weeks, we can teach that stuff when the men are resting, or they can learn on the field. The training will be the foundation for them to survive our methods in the first place."
"Alright sir."
"2nd Lt. Satō, see those officers including Lt. Sawamura. They're falling behind so kick them in the butt."
"Ugghhh... yes sir."
My old adjutant Satō runs towards the stragglers and starts screaming Renya-style expletives. His normal attitude would've been seen as insubordination by standard IJA CO's, but during our time together I made it clear that my style was different.
His opinions helped me make better decisions throughout the campaign, since I was a simple civilian in the past. And Renya's memories don't really help much, his hardware didn't seem that good. Sigh...
The tactics I'm infusing are simple counter-insurgency methods that history has already shown us, like Laurence of Arabia and Che Guevara. Thank you to Chairman Mao as well!
As a history otaku, I know these methods well. I dare say that my old platoon, having been habitually guided by me, are even better guerillas if put into action. But since the Russian partisans aren't the Viet Minh, I don't need to make my troops into the absolute best counter-insurgents.
***
While inspecting my troops training in a leisurely way, I catch sight of a well-built man coming my way. Looking at his rank, its a Captain, maybe its the deputy the General told me about.
"Loyalty! This is Captain Tomoyuki Yamashita, as ordered by General Kikuzō I shall serve as Major Mutaguchi's deputy. Sir."
"Sorry, can you repeat the name?"
"My name is Tomoyuki Yamashita sir."
"Alright, let's work well together."
I smile broadly and shake hands with my deputy. I was surprised when I heard the name of what history knows as the 'Tiger of Malaya.' Tomoyuki Yamashita this guy is considered as one of Japan's best WW2 commanders, together with Toshizō Nishio.
He led the Malaya campaign with 70,000 Japanese troops against the 138,000 Allies. Using bicycle infantry, he recreated a poor-man's version of Blitzkrieg, overrunning British defenses with rapid maneuvers. His land invasion of Malaya was even considered impossible by the British military, owing to the unfavorable infrastructure and jungle terrain.
Not only that, he was responsible for what Churchill would call the worst disaster in British Military History by capturing Singapore, dubbed the Gibraltar of the East. This achievement is incredible especially since common sense dictates that a besieging force must outnumber the besieged by 3 times, so he used this common sense to bluff the defenders and induce their surrender.
By the end of the campaign, Yamashita posted a record of 10,000 casualties against 23,000 enemy killed and wounded plus approx. 130,000 captured allied troops. For this he was nicknamed the Tiger of Malaya.
What's more was his defense of the Philippines. In 1945, he evaded McArthur for months despite being overwhelmed by American troops, weapons, and supplies. Using delaying tactics, he was able to maintain an army of 50,000 until his final surrender in September 2, 1945, several weeks since the surrender of Japan.
McArthur hated this guy so much that he held a kangaroo court so that he can hang him. His trial was controversial, since there were many in the US military that didn't find Yamashita responsible for war crimes, eventually he was executed, despite an almost unanimous vote by third-party reporters and observers for his acquittal.
Besides his military capabilities, I consider him one of the prime people I need to turn into my allies in order to change Japan. He was a proponent of the mechanization of the Army and streamlining of the Air Force, more importantly someone who sees conquered people's as citizens of the empire (contrary to other generals who see them as mere colonies).
I don't know if history will still follow since he should have been sent to Europe as a military attaché around this time. But I'll make sure to push as many of my ideas into him while we're together.