Itami stood in her war room, surrounded by her highest ranking generals who were not already deployed to some theatre of war. Sitting on the table was a large map, which represented all of Asia. In the region once known as the Philippines in her past life, sat a mostly conquered chain of islands. With one major exception.
In the north of the Philippines lies a territory which was currently occupied by several petty kingdoms who owed their allegiance to the Ming Dynasty. For the sake of strategic value, the Japanese Empire needed these islands. After all, if war broke out between Japan and the Reich, the German Army could use these islands as a staging ground to invade the rest of the region.
Such a potential reality could not be allowed to exist, and thus, Itami had spent a considerable amount of time negotiating with the Ming Dynasty in regards to the ownership of the Philippines. Ultimately, these discussions resulted in nothing but animosity between the two realms.