Japanese cabinets needed officers as army and navy ministers, allowing either service to bring down a government by withholding its nominee. As an admiral, Yonai could take the navy portfolio himself if naval leaders tried that tactic. Shunroku Hata and Kuniaki Koiso were senior army figures with experience in Yonai's earlier government. Hata had helped bring that government down by resigning as war minister, then regretted the decision; after his parole in 1955, he attended to Yonai's grave and memorial grounds. Koiso had served as colonial affairs minister and later became prime minister. The counterfactual draws on these relationships as possible sources of army ministers, while leaving the service's cooperation uncertain.
Notable Point · 2:06:54-2:12:25
How Yonai could keep both services inside his cabinet
Yonai could neutralize the navy's resignation weapon by serving as his own navy minister, then recruit senior army officers who had worked under him.