Career officers and loyal area-defence commands

The first attempt begins with a deliberate reorganisation of the Japanese Army before any constitutional move. Each command goes to an officer with the game's career-officer trait because loyalty is expected to matter during democratisation. Responsibility for the northern islands and other regions is divided among area-defence formations, selected troops become motorised infantry, and a reinforcement force is set aside. The plan treats political reform as a command-and-control problem: survival depends on troop placement and who can direct the forces when the state fractures. These are scenario assumptions in Hearts of Iron IV, not evidence about the loyalties of Japan's historical officer corps.