Willibald Joachim von Merkatz
From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki
.jpg) Admiral Merkatz (796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE)) | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Affiliation: | Free Planets Alliance (formerly Galactic Empire) |
| Rank: | High Admiral |
| Flagship(s): | Hyperion Nördlingen (former) |
| Status: | Deceased (killed in action) |
| Died: | 801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE) |
| Played by: | Gorō Naya |
Willibald Joachim von Merkatz (Japanese: ウィリバルト・ヨアヒム・フォン・メルカッツ) was a former admiral of the Galactic Empire who, after fleeing the Galactic Empire at the close of the Imperial Civil War, joined the Free Planets Alliance and served at Iserlohn Fortress, under Yang Wen-li.
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Battle of Astate
Merkatz was one of five officers assigned to Reinhard von Lohengramm to replace Reinhard's loyal subordinates. While the others were Vice Admirals (except Fahrenheit who was a Rear Admiral) Merkatz was an Admiral. However he allowed Staden to take the lead in criticising Reinhard's decision to seek battle. Typically he did not express an opinion on the plan even when directly queried by his aide. However, during the battle Merkatz fought well against both the 4th and 6th Fleets.
The Lippstadt Rebellion
When the Lippstadt Alliance was formed, Duke Otto von Braunschweig threatened harm to Merkatz's family if Merkatz did not volunteer himself as the commander of the Lippstadt forces. Merkatz accepted only on the condition he have absolute control over military affairs, which the duke agreed. The stipulation was a farce, as Merkatz knew Braunschwieg could not resist meddling.
Braunschweig had initially planned to station forces at 9 bases between Odin and Geiersberg Fortress, thinking the Lohengramm forces would exhaust themselves assaulting each base in series and stretch their supply lines. Merkatz opposed this dispersion of forces arguing the bases could be isolated and cut off. He instead proposed that the Lippstadt forces wholly retreat to Geiersberg to consolidate power in an impenetrable fortress. Admiral Staden tried to one-up Merkatz with adding an additional plan of sending a sortie against Odin to capture and then "protect" the infant Kaiser. However when chosen to implement this plan, Staden was defeated.
The Lippstadt Alliance's sole military success came during the brief period Merkatz was allowed free rein to fight as he chose, resulting in Merkatz forcing Admiral Reuenthal into withdrawing from the Schann-tau system. However Merkatz's authority was undermined by the division of Lippstadt forces without his notification. Braunschweig had allowed Marquis Wilhelm von Littenheim to take a third of the Lippstadt forces ostensibly to regain control over rebellious frontier fiefs. The political rivalry between Braunschweig and Littenheim was longstanding and the ulterior motive of this was to get Littenheim away from Geiersberg Fortress. Littenheim would ultimately be defeated and Geiersberg Fortress itself would come under siege by Lohengramm forces. The final straw for Merkatz was when Braunschweig declined to punish insubordinate nobles that had sortied from the fortress without permission. Despite his loss of control as the Lippstadt military commander, Merkatz still rescued Braunschweig when the duke personally led an ill advised offensive against the besieging Lohengramm forces.
Exile
At first Merkatz served with the exiled court of Erwin Josef II, even after many of the court deserted the child Kaiser. However, during Reinhard von Lohengramm's first invasion of the Free Planets Alliance Merkatz and his aide Bernhard von Schneider offered their support to Yang Wen-li.
After the surrender of the FPA at the Battle of Vermilion, Yang asked Merkatz to take a small fleet into hiding. This force became the core of the Yang Fleet a year later and Merkatz was a prominent commander at the Battle of the Corridor. After the death of Yang, he transferred his support to Julian Mintz, basing his decision on personal loyalty to the other officers of the Yang Fleet.
Merkatz was killed at the Battle of Shiva when his flagship came under fire from the fleet under Ernst von Eisenach.
Appendices
Appearances
- LOGH:
(17)
- 'In the Eternal Night' (first appearance)
- 'The Battle of Astarte'
- 'Empire's Afterglow'
- 'The Lippstadt Conspiracy'
- 'Bloodshed in Space'
- 'Courage and Loyalty'
- 'The Fall of Goldenbaum'
- 'Victory for Whose Sake?'
- 'First Battle'
- 'War Without Weapons'
- 'Fortress vs Fortress'
- 'The Return'
- 'Determination and Ambition'
- 'The Arrow Is Released'
- 'A Departure'
- 'The Cold Spell Arrives'
- 'The Beautiful Maiden Wants Blood' (death)
- Overture to a New War
Background information
Willibald is a rare and old German given name of Saxon origin which roughly means equipped with snide and precise will to decide. Merkatz is a surname of Austrian origin. It is also a shorter form for the Meerkatze, the Long-Tailed Monkey, or Guenon.[clean-up needed]
Apocrypha
Stage
Merkatz is played by James Onoda in the 2011 stage adaptation of LOGH.
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