Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

Chapter 342 The Excellent Tradition of the Osaka Division

"What are you thinking? Why don't you come and pour the wine soon?" Terauchi Shouyi looked at Terauchi Yu's absent-minded look, and taught Terauchi Yuu a lesson in a stern tone.

"Hi!" Si Neiyong was so frightened that he trembled again, he didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly poured wine for the two of them.

"Brother, Terauchi-kun is now a senior general of the empire, don't be too harsh on Terauchi-kun!" Neiji Okamura persuaded.

To say why Terauchi Isao is so afraid of his uncle, we have to start with the Osaka Division.

Because the Japanese Army implements the conscription system for regional reserve soldiers, the area that each army division usually guards is also the hometown of the officers and soldiers of the division and the area where the troops are replenished. The Osaka Division is usually stationed in Wakayama, Osaka, Japan, and other places. All are from the area.

Because the name of a certain division in the Japanese Army is often preceded by the name of the place or the name of the commander of the division, the Osaka Division is also called "Osaka Division".

Terauchi Yong was born in a small businessman's family, and was appreciated by Terauchi Shouichi before he was able to enter the mainland to study.

As a small businessman himself, his thinking returned to the right track during his stay in mainland China. After graduation, he entered the Osaka division. As a result, he met thousands of peers. Terauchi's thinking was influenced by his colleagues around him, and he went astray again.

Osaka is a very famous city in Japanese history, and was even the capital of Japan at one time; during the Warring States period, Osaka was a battleground for military strategists, and the Ishiyama Honganji Temple where the ten-year war broke out with Oda Nobunaga was in Osaka; Toyotomi Hideyoshi After taking charge of Japan, Osaka was also the central city of its rule, so Osaka has always been very prosperous.

During the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, Osaka has developed into the largest economic city in Japan. After the official opening of the port in Osaka, a special residence was planned for foreigners to live in. Therefore, Osaka has a strong commercial atmosphere and avant-garde ideas. .

Later, Japan formed a division, and the Osaka division ranked Osaka in the Class A division, second only to the Tokyo division, Sendai division, and Nagoya division.

But what's interesting is that when the Osaka division was formed, it named itself "Yodo".

You know, using the word "Dian" is very unique!After all, the code names of other Japanese army divisions at that time mostly used words that had the meaning of "martial spirit": for example, "brave" for the second division, "wu" for the ninth division, etc.

However, this does not mean that the soldiers who were born as merchants were not "martial and brave"!
In 1933, Matsui, a second-class soldier of the Osaka Division, ran a red light in the center of Osaka, which triggered an "infighting" incident between the officers and soldiers of the Osaka Division and the local police.

The head of the division at the time, Toshiichi Terauchi, was furious when he learned that his soldiers were "bullied"!In order to "maintain the dignity of the Imperial Japanese Army", he resolutely led his subordinates to smash the local police station.It can be seen that these vendors in the Osaka Division are "very brave"!
Since this division is so "valiant" from the commander to the soldiers, why were they always criticized and disdainful in World War II?In fact, there are three main reasons here:

First of all, because the Osaka Division was exposed for reselling military supplies during the war, this broke the image of the "heroic" Japanese army and the hearts of the Japanese high-level leaders!In addition, the Osaka Division is not as brainless and fanatical as other divisions, and they will engage in "Long Live Charge" at every turn. To put it bluntly, no matter the officers and soldiers of the division, they cherish their lives!
But in the eyes of the officers and soldiers of the Osaka Division, they are not doing it for fun, let alone being useless.You must know that Osaka is the frontier of Japan's "Meiji Restoration" after all, and the people there were rich and enlightened early.

In the Kanto area of ​​Japan, especially in the Hokkaido area, the **** fanatics who have never seen anything in the world, as long as they are fooled by the high-level Japanese army, it is like being beaten with "chicken blood".

The people in the Osaka Division are very calm: they know that they must do their best to make a fortune, but if it is a war, especially a battle that is not sure, they will never die!
Therefore, they were not fooled by "Long Live the Emperor"!As for fighting, it is the business of those Japanese politicians and the emperor himself, who would really go all out!After all, they still have to go back alive and continue to do business and make a lot of money.

Therefore, as the standing Class A division of the Japanese army, the Osaka Division has not low combat effectiveness, but the soldiers are not willing to work hard for it.

When Japan announced its unconditional surrender in August 1945, the Osaka Division was resting near Bangkok, Thailand.Completely different from those Japanese who were unwilling to believe in the outcome of the defeat, the Osaka Division accepted the reality of surrender and returned to the mainland very quickly.

When the almost full-staffed Osaka division returned to the port of Japan, all of them were ruddy and lively!This scene surprised even the malnourished native Japanese people.According to Japanese statistics at the time, the Osaka Division had the lowest death rate and the most adequate equipment and supplies in the Southern Army.

In the early 30s, the Japanese army base camp really took a lot of thought to make this unit glow with fighting spirit. The conclusion was that the commander played a decisive role in the combat effectiveness of an army. Therefore, the Japanese army base camp successively transferred several famous generals Reorganize the division.

In 1932, Terauchi Shouichi was appointed as the head of the Osaka Division, which was stationed in the country at this time.

At this time, Isamu Terauchi was in full swing, and together with his colleagues around him, he resold military supplies to local traders in Osaka.

As a result, as soon as Terauchi Shouyi took office, Terauchi Yong was arrested as a typical case.

Don't look at Terauchi Toshiichi being tolerant of outsiders, and even took soldiers to openly smash the police station, but in order to rectify the atmosphere of the Osaka Division, Terauchi Yuichi was extremely ruthless.

In front of many soldiers, Terauchi Yong was beaten to pieces by his uncle with a riding whip.

Therefore, during the two years of Shouichi's tenure in Terauchi, the atmosphere of the Osaka Division has improved on the bright side, remember, it's just on the surface.

This also caused Terauchi Yong to tremble with fright when he saw Terauchi Shouyi.

In 1937, due to the shortage of Japanese troops stationed in China, the Japanese headquarters transferred the Osaka Division to Northeast China and assigned it to the Kwantung Army.

At this time, Shigeru Sawada served as the commander of the Osaka Division. Although the soldiers of the Osaka Division first arrived outside the pass and were unfamiliar with the place, the soldiers were good at camping, and it didn't take long for them to mingle with the locals.

Shigeru Sawada is an outsider in the Osaka Division, and he has nothing to do with the Osaka Division, who is used to being free and loose, so he can only hope to be transferred from the Osaka Division as soon as possible.

Two years later, the Osaka Division finally had the opportunity to "show their face".

In 1939, when a war broke out in the Nuomenkan area, the Kwantung Army ordered the Osaka and Sendai divisions stationed in the northern part of the puppet Manchukuo to mobilize urgently to reinforce the front line.

After receiving the order, the Sendai Division (that is, the Second Division) marched from Hailar to Nuomenkan in four days. They went into battle on the day they arrived at the battlefield, but they were quickly beaten to death.

On the contrary, although the dispatch order of the Osaka Division was issued, it has been slow to "stand still."

The reason is that after the mobilization order was issued, the number of patients with diseases in the division increased sharply. Looking around, the camp was full of officers and soldiers who were required to stay behind for various reasons.

At this time, Yu Terauchi was already in the rank of Zhongzuo and served as the captain.

Under his secret instigation, most of the soldiers in his brigade were admitted to the hospital.

At that time, the captain of the regiment was furious and personally sat in the infirmary to participate in the diagnosis. Only then did he barely organize the troops to march to the front line. The joke of "the regiment captain changed his career to become a doctor" also spread among the Japanese army.

However, the matter did not end, and the soldiers of the Osaka Division played a new trick-"passive sabotage".

From Hailar to Nuomenkan, the Sendai Division walked for 4 days, but the Osaka Division walked for 8 days, and a large number of people were left behind.

Coincidentally, on the day the advance team of the Osaka Division arrived at the front line, the two sides announced a truce.

When the news came, the officers and soldiers of the Osaka Division, who had fallen behind, quickly followed up and returned to the team as if they had taken a "powerful pill". Isamu Terauchi even led the team to the front line.

The two sides had originally agreed to a truce, but they almost opened fire again because of the actions of Isamu Terauchi's subordinates.

Even many officers and soldiers who stayed behind rushed to the front line "sickly" generously, while complaining in great frustration: I didn't even have a chance to fight this battle!
Shigeru Sawada, the head of the division at the time, said that the Osaka division was too scattered.

The irony is that on the return journey, the Osaka Division, full of staff and full of energy, became the most powerful unit in the Japanese army, while the second division, which rushed to the battlefield first, lost its armor and armor and was full of wounded soldiers. camp.

The officer in charge of news propaganda of the Kwantung Army really couldn’t see it, so he took up a pen and changed the headline of “My Invincible Imperial Army’s Osaka Division Returns” which was submitted for censorship by the Japanese army newspaper, and changed it to “My Invincible Imperial Army’s Osaka Division” The Return of the Regiment", obliquely mocking this "soft" army.

Later, the high-level Japanese army thought that since several division heads could not change the atmosphere of the Osaka division, they simply started from the middle and low-level officers and soldiers. A group of soldiers with corrupt military discipline were abolished, and the remaining veterans were replenished in batches to other divisions. , and then recruit a group of new recruits from Osaka.

This is why Terauchi Yong has acquaintances in various divisions.

Isamu Terauchi still remembers the scene when he parted with his squadron leader Kuroto.

At that time, the farewell speeches of various divisions of the Japanese army had their own characteristics. For example, the Sendai Division said "long-term military fortune" when the battle was good;

However, when Isamu Terauchi waited for the officers and soldiers of the Osaka Division to say goodbye, they said "Goshen Daiki", which translates to "take care of your body", "the body is the most important", or simply "safety comes first".

Later, when the Japanese army attacked Hengyang and Zhijiang, they encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese army.

At the beginning of the battle, veterans from the Osaka Division repeated their old tricks. From officers, non-commissioned officers to veterans, they were admitted to the hospital one after another, passively but reasonably refusing to fight.

When the wounded Japanese soldiers arrived at the hospital, the "predecessors" of the Osaka Division who were "recovering from illness" still asked, "Why are you risking your life like this?"

When asked why they were unwilling to participate in the war, these "sick people" said proudly: "I heard that we are acting as a feint for this attack, which is very boring. If it is the main attack, naturally we have to fight hard." battle."

The Pacific War broke out, and all the Japanese troops were engaged in the battle against the Allied Forces. The Osaka Division finally had a chance to make contributions.The base camp intended to assign the division to the Southern Army, but the Southern Army only reluctantly included it in the reserve team and was still stationed in Hudu.

Until April 1942, the Osaka Division was transferred to the Philippines, and together with the 4th, [-]th, and [-]st Divisions, participated in the final attack on the Corregidor Fortress.

In this battle, the Osaka Division went uncharacteristically smoothly, successfully completed the task, and finally all the U.S. and Philippine troops in the Bataan Peninsula surrendered.Afterwards, I found out that this was not because the Osaka Division had changed its nature, but that the U.S. and Filipino troops in the Philippines had been cut off from supplies for many days, and they had barely survived on "salt and green vegetables" for several months.

However, this victory brought great glory to the Osaka Division. In its hometown Osaka, it even flew out frequently, with the pride of "fortunately, the Osaka Division was sent to defeat the enemies of Bataan".

The only regret is that it was discovered afterwards that the merchants in Osaka took advantage of this opportunity to celebrate the victory to resell the wartime ration supplies and take the opportunity to do business.The base camp still knows the details of the Osaka Division, so it is really hard to figure out how to adjust it.

Due to the reputation of the Osaka Division, it was not very popular in various theaters, so until the end of the war, this unit was constantly transferred around behind the Japanese front, and never participated in major battles.

Why is the Osaka Division so unique and "weak" in the Japanese army?This is caused by the unique culture of Osaka.

Throughout ancient Japan, the basic social structure was that peasants were attached to land-owning lords (i.e. daimyo), who in turn were subordinate to the emperor.This long-term unchanging social structure has led to the formation of Japan's cultural characteristics of strict superior-subordinate relations and a spirit of obedience. It is also the psychological basis for the general fanaticism of the Japanese army in World War II.

However, Osaka is a bit different. This place is a famous commercial city, and most of the residents are related to business, so the respect for the princes is very limited.

On the contrary, around issues such as exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the people of Osaka have been fighting wits and bargaining with the princes for hundreds of years, let alone the so-called loyalty.Therefore, the position of the emperor in the hearts of Osaka people is not the same as in other places.

Although during World War II, soldiers born in Osaka were also bewitched by the Communist Party, but the people of Osaka were not in a hurry to "die for the emperor and the Empire of Japan", and try not to die if they can.Officers and soldiers from Osaka are also accustomed to "bargaining" and "haggling over every detail" when dealing with orders from their superiors, and they will not follow through with their eyes closed like other troops.

Even within the Osaka Division, the so-called "three don'ts" principles of "don't pay unnecessary sacrifices", "don't participate in unreasonable battles", and "don't pursue desperate enemy troops" were formulated.

The Japanese historian Sekisuke Seki made a short summary of the Osaka Division in the last part of "The First Useless Abandoned Division of the Japanese Army". Wouldn't there be wars between Japan? If so, Japan wouldn't be defeated..."

(End of this chapter)