Takagi Masao

> "How can a country like Korea, which was not fully prepared for the upcoming era, be as rich as Germany now?"
>
> Minister of Defense of the Empire of Great Manchuria, **Takagi Masao**

## Takagi Masao

My dear, my dear. If you go now, when will you come?

## Leadership

### Commander-in-Chief of the Manchurian Army

2nd District Army "Kirin"
24 April 1959-Present

## Personal Details

### Names

Takagi Masao
Park Chung-hee

### Born

14 November 1917
Gumi, North Gyeongsang, Chōsen

### Spouse(s)

Kim ho-nam
(m. 1936; div. 1950)
Yuk Young-soo
(m. 1950; died 1974)

### Children

Park Jae-ok
Park Geun-hye
Park Geun-ryoung
Park Ji-man

### Education

Taegu Normal School
Manchukuo Army Military Academy
Imperial Japanese Army Academy

## Military Service

### Allegiance

 **Empire of Japan**
  **Empire of Great Manchuria**

### Commands

Imperial Manchurian Army, 2nd District Army "Kirin", 4th Mixed Brigade

### Battles / Wars

Second Pacific War, Second Russo-Japanese War, Third Sino-Japanese War (Battle of Chengde)

### Awards

 Rikugun Bukōkishō ("Badge for Military Merit")
  雙龍寶星 ("Imperial Order of the Double Dragon")

**Takagi Masao** (Korean: 박정희, *Park Chung-hee*; born 14 November 1917) is a Korean and Manchurian Army General who is currently serving as the Minister of Defense of Great Manchuria, the Army Minister of the Imperial Manchurian Army, and as the Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd District Army Kirin, currently one of the most powerful standing armies of the Manchurian Empire.

Park is best known for his service during the Third Sino-Japanese War where he commanded the 4th Mixed Brigade of the 2nd District Army "Kirin". During the Battle of Chengde, Masao was able to repel the much-larger, elite 87th Division of the National Revolutionary Army. Although the 4th Mixed Brigade was eventually overrun by the 87th Division, the drawn-out battle of attrition allowed Japanese reinforcements to arrive and consolidate the defense of Manchukuo. Many historians believe that Masao's last stand at Chengde effectively saved Manchukuo from falling to the Republic of China. For this reason, he was awarded the Rikugun Bukōkishō by the Emperor of Japan, Shōwa, and the Imperial Order of the Double Dragon by the Emperor of Great Manchuria, Kangde.

After the Third Sino-Japanese War, Masao rose to prominence within the Imperial Manchurian Army over the late 1950s to the 1960s. In 1959, Masao was made the Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd District Army, and was later appointed as both the Minister of Defense of Imperial Manchuria, and the Army Minister of Imperial Manchuria, since traditionally speaking, the Minister of Defense is also usually the Army Minister himself.

Under Masao's administration, the Imperial Manchurian Army has grown to rival the strength of the Imperial Japanese Army within Manchuria itself. Masao's efforts are praised by the Manchurian Government, who sees itself as an equal to Japan, whilst others, such as the Japanese Government, are concerned of the threats that a strong, independent, Manchurian military would pose to Japanese influence within China, and subsequently, all of the Asia-Pacific. Currently, Masao is in the process of implementing his Ten Year Reform of the Imperial Manchurian Armed Forces, known as the Ten Year Imperial Military Restructuring Plan.

## Early Life and Education

See also: *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park\_Chung-hee*

Takagi Masao was born as Park Chung-hee on November 14, 1917, in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, North Gyeongsang Province, Chōsen, to Park Seong-bin and Baek Nam-ui. He was the youngest of seven siblings, five brothers and two sisters, from an impoverished Yangban Korean family. Early reports suggest that Park was egotistical, ambitious, and intelligent, traits which he would carry for the rest of his life. Park's hero from his boyhood was Napoleon Bonaparte, and he frequently expressed disdain for the fact that he grew up in the impoverished countryside of Korea, a place which he deemed unsuitable for someone of his caliber. Friends of Park from his youth recalled that he wished to escape the Korean countryside.

Park later moved to the Naichi of the Empire of Japan, and grew up under Japanese rule. Park admired Japan's rapid modernization and industrialization, and had tremendous respect for the Japanese warrior code, Bushido. In 1939, Park Chung-hee submitted an oath of allegiance to Japan with his own blood in his application form to serve in the Manchukuo Imperial Army.

Park later entered the Manchukuo Army Military Academy in Changchun with assistance from Colonel Arikawa. During this time, Park adopted the Japanese name Takagi Masao (高木正雄), as a sign of his respect for the Japanese Empire. He graduated top of his class, and was recognized as an extremely talented officer by Japanese military instructors. This recognition allowed him further studies at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy.

## Military Career

### The Pacific Wars

Park's military career during the Second Pacific War was considered unremarkable. However, this is easily attributed to the overall lackluster military prowess of the Manchukuo Army, which was the military of a mere puppet state of the Empire of Japan. After graduating third in the class of 1944 in the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, Park was commissioned as a lieutenant into the army of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet-state. In 1945, he served as an aide-de-camp to a regimental commander.

### Second Russo-Japanese War

In 1948, with the launch of Operation Amur Partisan by the Workers' and Peasants' Russian Army, the Russian Union unexpectedly defeated the military forces of the Japanese-led and trained Far Eastern Republic. Serving under the 1st Guards Brigade, Takagi Masao and his fellow officers participated in border clashes far north of the City of Qiqihar to repel Russian forces. Two years after this event, Masao shifted commands, but was eventually settled to lead the 4th Mixed Brigade of the 2nd District Army "Kirin".

### Third Sino-Japanese War

In 1953, the Republic of China, with military support from Germany, launched an invasion of Northeastern China, seeking to liberate Mongolia, Manchuria, and Beijing from Imperial Japanese rule. The Imperial Japanese Army was currently in the process of restructuring its military, following its series of defeats to the United States of America during the Second Pacific War, the Russian Union during the Second Russo-Japanese War, and to China itself during the Third Sino-Japanese War following the collapse of the unpopular Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China. During the war, the Imperial Manchurian Army was left defenseless against the onslaught of the far larger and vastly-superior National Revolutionary Army forces. Beijing eventually fell to the Nationalist forces, most notably the New First Army under the command of General Sun Li-jen.

With the liberation of China's old and symbolic capital, the Nationalist forces prepared plans for achieving "Greater China", with the intent of reincorporating Manchuria and Mongolia into China. During this time, the Manchurian government was panicking due to the lack of news from Tokyo regarding the reinforcements which were planned to aid in the defense of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Manchurian military mobilized all its forces across the country to the Nationalist-Imperial border.

President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China ordered the German-trained and equipped 87th Division of the National Revolutionary Army to march across Chengde in preparations for the liberation of Hsinking (also known as Changchun). When the 87th Division arrived, they were met by the Manchurian 4th Mixed Brigade of the 2nd District Army Kirin. The 87th Division was numerically superior, and were expecting an easy fight. However, Masao, Commander of the 4th Mixed Brigade, engaged in relentless mountainous warfare and unconventional tactics which proved perilous for the 87th Division. Jinshanling, a section of the Great Wall of China, became infamous due to the appearance of Masao's soldiers within them, implying the wall's significance of use during the Battle. The city was also the forward post, which protected supply lines connecting Mongolia, Manchuria, and Korea. Reinforcements from the remainders of the 2nd District Army, the Imperial Japanese Army, and the Mongolian Army, allowed the pro-Japanese forces to succeed in repelling the Nationalist forces long enough for the remainder of the Japanese forces to arrive. The masterful leadership of Masao is still studied by military analysts, and by students in Japanese and Manchurian military academies to this day.