Okamura Ningji was so criminal that he escaped trial and became an adviser to the Kuomintang
Okamura Ninji's military career was basically related to China, and he participated in every step of Japan's invasion of China, and it is not an exaggeration to call him "the first person of the Japanese army invading China." During his time in China, he led the Japanese army to organize several sweeps, and the great rivers and mountains of China, full of desolate graves, were such a trench-no-manned war criminal, but finally escaped trial, and also became an adviser to the Kuomintang.
In 1945, under the command of the commander Wang Yaowu, the Kuomintang Fourth Front Army achieved a great victory at Xuefeng Mountain at the Battle of Xiangxi, annihilating more than 30,000 enemy troops. The situation on the battlefield behind enemy lines of the Communist Party of China has also undergone tremendous changes. Since 1944, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the South China Anti-Japanese Column have successively turned into a local counteroffensive against the Japanese puppet army, fighting more than 20,000 times in this year alone, killing and wounding 260,000 Japanese puppet troops, and recovering 80,000 square kilometers of land. By the spring of 1945, the Chinese Communist army had grown to 910,000, with 2 million militias, and established 19 liberated areas with an area of 950,000 square kilometers, thus forming a strategic encirclement of most of the cities and major lines of communication occupied by Japan throughout the country.
Internationally, on May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered in defeat and the war in Europe ended. The heads of state of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom, in order to dispose of Germany and resolve their arrangements for Europe and other problems, met in Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, and adopted the Potsdam Proclamation. In this proclamation, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom demanded that Japan immediately declare the unconditional surrender of all armed forces. The Japanese militarists were obstinate, and they only thought of a "decisive battle on the mainland," clamored for "one hundred million jade fragments," and ignored the Potsdam Proclamation.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, U.S. troops dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese mainland was hit hard, and there was a panic in Japan. Although the tide is gone, Okamura still wants to struggle to the death. On the 9th, Okamura Ninji issued a message to the troops: "The Soviet Union's entry into the war was already expected. My millions of elite imperial troops are strictly guarding the imperial land and the mainland. The tradition of the greatest courage must be brought into play, and in order to maintain the national system and defend the imperial land, there is only a decisive male and female. This officer is determined to lead the most elite units of the Imperial Army in a hundred battles and victories, and with the determination of the whole army to crush the jade, he vows to annihilate the arrogant enemy in order to turn the tide of the tide. ”
Just when Okamura Ning was about to lead the invading Japanese army to a decisive battle with the Chinese army, he received a secret telegram from the Base Camp in Tokyo, and the core content of this article revealed the fact that he was ready to accept surrender. After reading the telegram, Okamura immediately sent a telegram to the Minister of War and the Chief of Staff, asking to reject the Potsdam Proclamation and continue the fighting.
On August 8, the Soviet Union officially declared war on Japan. On August 9, more than 1.5 million People of the Red Army, under the command of Marshal Vasilevsky, broke into the Sino-Soviet border in northeast China in four ways with a rapid and unconcealed offensive, and launched a general attack on the Kwantung Army. After more than 10 days of fierce attacks, it crushed the Kwantung Army, which had occupied northeast China for many years and was known as the "Flower of the Imperial Army". Throughout the Far East Campaign, Soviet troops killed more than 83,000 Japanese troops and captured 594,000.
At 10:10 a.m. on August 15, Okamura received a secret telegram from Tokyo from Riku no. 68 saying that "His Majesty the Emperor has decided to accept the Potsdam Proclamation." He suddenly understood in his heart that defeat and surrender were a foregone conclusion, and he was afraid that there was no other way but to obey the commandments. After 11:00 a.m., more than 2,000 Japanese officers and men from the General Headquarters of the Chinese Dispatch Army gathered in the east of The Drum Tower Square in Nanjing city in the form of paying homage to the emperor in peacetime to listen to the surrender edict personally broadcast by the emperor.
Although Okamura had long known about the surrender, he could not help but grieve and despair when he heard Emperor Hirohito announce this "tragic" ending. Just as Okamura ningji was feeling desperate, he received a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek ordering his troops to "temporarily retain their weapons and equipment, maintain the current situation, and maintain order and communications in their local areas, at the behest of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, He Yingqin."
At this time, most of Chiang Kai-shek's army was in the southwest, and Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed Okamura Ningji in order to prevent the Communist Party of China from "gaining profits" nearby, relying on the Japanese puppet army to take care of the territory for himself first. After the defeat of the Japanese army, Chiang Kai-shek's goal could be concentrated on "anti-communism." Okamura received Chiang Kai-shek's telegram and immediately ordered his troops: "Without receiving the systematic orders of Commander Chiang Kai-shek, resolutely reject any request of the enemy, and if necessary, take force action." Okamura's murderous "order" openly continued to regard the armed forces of the Chinese as enemies. According to Okamura's orders, the Japanese army besieged by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army fought a trapped beast fight, not only did not surrender, but also used force.
On August 21, Okamura Ningji, on the orders of the Kuomintang commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief of the army, He Yingqin, first sent his deputy chief of staff, Takeo Imai, by plane to Zhijiang City, Hunan Province, to negotiate surrender.
On August 23, Takeo Imai returned to Nanjing to report to Okamura. In accordance with the requirements of the Kuomintang memorandum, Okamura Quickly drafted the "Outline for Handling China After Peace," resolutely supported the reunification of the central government in Chongqing, and handed over weapons, ammunition, and military supplies to the Chongqing government army completely and thoroughly.
From September 1 to 5, China's newly formed Sixth Army was airlifted to Nanjing.
On the 8th, General He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the army, was stationed in Nanjing. The Chinese side deliberately chose September 9 to hold a surrender signing ceremony in the auditorium of the former Kuomintang Army Headquarters.
At exactly 9:00 a.m., He Yingqin announced the beginning of the surrender ceremony. First, Okamura presented a certificate issued by the Japanese government authorizing Okamura to surrender. Then, Kobayashi Asaburo accepted two copies of the Surrender Book from He Yingqin, turned around and walked back to the Japanese seat to hand them to Okamura Ninji. Okamura Ninji read the surrender book one by one, and signed it with a slight trembling hand, although the other party was an old acquaintance and had always been pro-Japanese, but he still twisted the stamp due to his panic.
He Yingqin took the surrender letter, signed and sealed on behalf of the Chinese theater, and then announced the end of the surrender ceremony and ordered the Japanese surrender representatives to withdraw from the court, and the entire surrender ceremony took only 18 minutes. That night, Okamura Ninji immediately issued an order to his subordinate troops to handle the surrender to the surrender of the surrender of the central army's main officers and hand over their weapons and equipment.
On the second day of the surrender ceremony, He Yingqin led some senior generals to hold a "cordial meeting" with Okamura Ningji. He Yingqin said to Okamura Ningji: "When the war against Japan is over, the war between the Kuomintang and the Communists is about to begin, and we have a lot of difficulties in fighting against the Communists. Okamura immediately responded, saying, "Since I surrendered to China on the orders of the Emperor, I should faithfully serve the Chinese government." ”
On October 21, He Yingqin invited Okamura Ningji to hold the second meeting. On the morning of the 23rd, Chiang Kai-shek also personally went out to meet with Okamura Ningji. At this time, Okamura Ningji was like a prisoner of the order, as if he were a guest of honor.
On November 6, the Nationalist government established the "War Criminals Handling Committee" in the rehabilitated Nanjing. That month, the Chinese Communist Party released a list of war criminals in Yan'an, and Okamura Ningji was listed as the number one war criminal. In January 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East included Ninji Okamura on the list of war criminals along with Hideki Tojo, Matsui Ishigen, and others. When Okamura Ninji found out, he secretly thought that his "death penalty was inevitable." But Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government was now trying to protect him.
On February 12, He Yingqin sent someone to tell Okamura Ningji: "The General Headquarters Senate Government does not treat war criminals as prisoners. This calmed Okamura's hanging heart a little. Not only that, after the Kuomintang army provoked the civil war in June 1946, at the suggestion of He Yingqin, Tang Enbo and others, Okamura Ningji was secretly hired as a senior military adviser to the Ministry of National Defense to exert his so-called "military genius". Previously, Okamura's famous "Guide to Suppressing the Communists" had been translated into Chinese and was issued in large quantities to commanders at all levels of the Kuomintang army. At the end of the year, the Kuomintang authorities moved him from the compound of the former Japanese army headquarters in Sajiawan, Nanjing, to No. 4 Jinyin Street, west of the Drum Tower, in order to conceal his whereabouts.
The general leader of this japanese army invading China has been at large for a long time and has not been heard from for a long time, and public opinion from all walks of life has questioned the government one after another, and the National Government has been perfunctory on the grounds that "this person is still serving as a liaison minister and the repatriation of overseas Chinese and prisoners has not yet ended." The Tokyo International Military Tribunal has also sent several notes to the Nationalist government asking Okamura to appear in court, but the Kuomintang authorities still make excuses and prevaricate.
In June 1948, under international and domestic pressure, the Kuomintang government had no choice but to hand over Okamura Ninji for a symbolic trial in China. On July 12, Okamura was investigated by the court. On August 9, President Shi Meiyu proposed to the Ministry of National Defense that Okamura Ninji should be detained in the War Criminals Prison, and finally approved, Okamura Ningji was sent to the Shanghai Gaojingmiao War Criminals Prison.
At 9:30 a.m. on August 23, Okamura's public trial began. The auditorium was packed, and the square outside was crowded with people. After the hearing, the prosecutor first read out the indictment. After the indictment is read, the defendant and the witnesses are tried. While the trial was in progress, President Shi Meiyu suddenly received a call from Nanjing, saying that Okamura's case was suspended. At 18:30, Shi Meiyu announced in court: "Today only the trial will not be judged, and the trial will be adjourned here." The audience was stunned. The trial of Okamura's case was thus delayed again, and Okamura left the war criminals prison shortly after being arranged by the personnel concerned. After that, one by one, the key members of the pro-Japanese faction of the Kuomintang campaigned to mediate in order to enable Okamura Ningji to escape justice.
In November, when discussing the sentencing of Okamura Ninji, He Yingqin and others strongly advocated innocence. On November 30, Tombaugh sent someone to reveal the good news to Okamura Ningji, saying that President Chiang had agreed to acquit Okamura Ningji.
At 10:00 on January 26, 1949, five months later, the court held a second public trial of Okamura Ninji. The trial was very small, with only more than 20 journalists participating. After a set of trial procedures, President Shi Meiyu took out two documents from the briefcase with a bitter face and showed them to the judges, one of which was an order signed by Acting President Li Zongren and Tang Enbo, commander-in-chief of the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Garrison: "Okamura Ningji has made meritorious contributions to the prisoners, and the court should declare him innocent." Another document is a neatly copied verdict: "Okamura Ninji is not guilty." The judges were stunned and looked at each other. At this time, Shi Meiyu explained the truth: "This case has been decided by Shangfeng, and I can't help myself. Shi Meiyu told the judges who did not want to sign: "If you don't sign, I can't do it." In the next room, five military judges sent by the Ministry of Defence were already waiting here. They could immediately take up the case and announce a new trial. The 5 of us went to the detention center. The judges were forced to sign the verdict. Thus, at 16:00 on the same day, Okamura Ningji was acquitted on the spot.
The National Government's open protection of the crimes of Japanese war criminals has aroused unanimous condemnation by the people of the whole country. Since Chiang Kai-shek had announced his resignation at this time, Acting President Li Zongren ordered the re-arrest of Okamura Ningji in order to win peace talks, but Tang Enbo, a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, who was then the commander of the Songhu garrison, withheld the order. At 10 a.m. on the 30th, Tang Enbo also arranged for Okamura Ninji to sail away from Shanghai Huangpu Port on the "Vickers" ship and flee back to Japan. This is the verdict of the Nationalist government on the third commander-in-chief of the Chinese dispatch army whose hands are stained with blood! Not only that, after the Kuomintang defeated and retreated to Taiwan, it tried to "reinvigorate the momentum" and established the "Military Practice Research Institute" in Taiwan, and in 1950, the academy also hired Okamura Ningji as its senior instructor.
After Okamura's return to Japan, in June 1955, he became the vice president of the "Comrades-in-Arms Alliance", an old Japanese military organization, and later became the president and honorary president of the "Rural Friends Alliance", engaged in the activities of reviving militarism. This war criminal, who had committed an unforgivable crime against the Chinese, was allowed by the Kuomintang government to return to the mountains, escape punishment, and continue to engage in anti-human activities, which is probably the only case in the entire Allied countries in the Second World War. It was not until September 1966 that Okamura died suddenly of a heart attack.