During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many "detachments" were active in the Japanese army invading China, especially the "Shigeto Detachment", "Kunisaki Detachment", "Setani Detachment", "Hakata Detachment", etc. This article focuses on the commander of the "Shigeto Detachment", Shigeto Chiaki, who is a Japanese militarist and extremely politically ambitious, and is one of the core members of the Japanese fascist youth organization "Sakurakai".
Chiaki Shigeto
Shigeto Chiaki (1885-1942) was a native of Fukuoka, Japan, graduated from the 18th Infantry Section of the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School in 1905, was admitted to the 30th class of the Army University in November 1915, and was a classmate of Anan Yuki, Ishihara Guaner, Shimizu, Tanaka Kuichi, Iwamatsu Yoshio, Ichiro Sakanishi, Yukio Kasahara, Moritake Tanabe, Kei Setani, and others. He successively engaged in intelligence gathering in Guangzhou and Shanghai.
On August 1, 1930, Shigeto Chiaki was transferred back to the General Staff Headquarters and served as the head of the China Section in the second department (intelligence department), and in early March 1931, he instigated some young officers with the Chinese squad leader Nemoto Hiroshi, the Russian squad leader Shingoro Hashimoto, and others to attempt to launch a military coup, forcing the resignation of the Hamaguchi Cabinet, and the Minister of War, Ugaki Kazunari, organized a military cabinet and established a dictatorial government ruled by the military, but in the end, due to Ugaki Kazunari's own wavering attitude, the coup was aborted, and Ugaki was forced to resign as Minister of War.
Shigeto Chiaki, as a core member of the "Sakurakai", whose political ambitions were not dead, and together with Hashimoto Shingoro, Shumei Okawa, Andie Nishida, planned a military coup again in mid-October of that year, planning to dispatch 12 infantry squadrons of the Guards Division to attack the prime minister's official residence and the Metropolitan Police Department, assassinate Prime Minister Wakibori Reijiro, Foreign Minister Kishigero Motohara, Andi Minister Nobuaki Makino, and others, and issued martial law, supporting education director Sadao Araki as prime minister and concurrently serving as minister of war, establishing a fascist military dictatorship, but the plan was leaked.
On January 9, 1932, Shigeto Chiaki was expelled from the General Staff Headquarters and demoted to Ronan, Korea, where he became the commander of the 76th Infantry Regiment of the 38th Brigade of the 19th Division of the Japanese Army in Korea, and on March 5, 1934, he was transferred to the chief of staff of the 11th Division, serving as the commander of Keiichi Harada and Kanro Furujo, who were stationed at Seon-dosji Temple and ShikokujiMa in Japan.
On March 15, 1935, Shigeto Chiaki was transferred to the 11th Infantry Brigade of the Sixth Division of the Japanese Army, during which he served as the commander of the two divisions, Hirohira Kashiki and Tani Shoufu, and on December 1, 1936, he was transferred to the headquarters of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army, and during his tenure, he was transferred to the commander of the Taiwan Garrison.
Chiaki Shigeto took office only about 10 days, "Eight. The "War of Resistance Against Songhu" broke out, and the Shanghai dispatch army led by retired general Matsui Ishigen went out to Shanghai, China, landed from Shanghai Wusong and Chuansha respectively, encountered the stubborn resistance of the Chinese defenders, and the two sides launched a fierce battle on the outskirts of Shanghai, and with the continuous expansion of the scale of the Battle of Songhu, the Shanghai dispatch army, which only commanded the third division of Fujita Jin and the eleventh division of Yamamuro Munetake, felt that the strength was stretched, and Matsui Ishigen then made a request for reinforcements to the Japanese general staff headquarters.
Therefore, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters also sent to Shanghai the 9th Division of Yoshisumi Ryosuke, the 13th Division of Hagishu Ritsubu, and the 101st Division of Ito Masaki, and at the same time transferred troops from Taiwan to form a detachment with auxiliary arms such as the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Taiwan Garrison, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Squadron of the Mountain Artillery, and the Ryoshi Brigade, with Shigeto Chiaki as the commander, so this detachment was also called the "Shigeto Detachment", and the above three divisions and the "Shigeto Detachment" were included in the operational sequence of the Shanghai Dispatch Army.
The Japanese army increased its troops to Shanghai with warships
The soldiers of the "Shigeto Detachment" originated in Kyushu and belonged to the same source as the Japanese Sixth Division and the Japanese 106th Division, but because it was a garrison unit, its military quality was not high and the discipline was poor, and it lacked practical experience on the battlefield, and could only be used by the Shanghai Dispatch Army as a subordinate unit for siege and land.
On September 14, 1937, after landing in Chuansha, Shanghai, the "Shigeto Detachment" maneuvered in the direction of Changshu, and then rested and stood by until November 13, under the cover of the aircraft and shipborne artillery fire of the Third Fleet, landed at Baimaokou in the Changshu section of the Yangtze River, at the same time, the Japanese 16th Division was transferred from North China to East China, landed along the Changshu River, attacked Changshu by different roads, and fell to Changshu on November 19, and burned and looted in Changshu County, and even collectively shot innocent people. The methods are extremely cruel.
The Japanese army occupies Changshu
The "Shigeto Detachment" then cooperated with Yoshisumi Ryosuke's Ninth Division and Nakajima Imago's Sixteenth Division to conquer Wuxi on November 25, and after the fall of Wuxi became a purgatory on earth, the whole city was filled with the smell of rotting corpses and burning scorching fire, and some rivers in the city were full of corpses, people only knew the "Nanjing Massacre", in fact, the Japanese army had begun to burn and loot on the way to conquer Nanjing, kunshan, Changshu, Suzhou, Wuxi and other places have been frantically looted by the Japanese army.
The Japanese army occupies Wuxi
After the fall of Wuxi, the "Shigeto Detachment" marched west along the Shanghai-Nanjing Line, and occupied Danyang and Jurong on December 5, and was about to attack in the direction of Nanjing, the "Shigeto Detachment" was incorporated into the combat sequence of the Japanese Fifth Army by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters on December 8, 1937, so the "Shigeto Detachment" did not participate in the attack on Nanjing, and there was no "Shigeto Detachment" in the sequence of Japanese combat troops attacking Nanjing.
The Japanese attacked in the direction of Nanjing
The Fifth Army of the Japanese Army was temporarily formed by the General Staff Headquarters in order to carry out landing operations along the south Coast of China, and the commander of the Taiwan Army, Guzhuang Ganlang, concurrently served as the commander of the Fifth Army, and in addition to the "Shigeto Detachment", the Army also had the 4th Flying Regiment, the 43rd Regiment of the 22nd Infantry Brigade of the 11th Division, the 44th Regiment and the 11th Cavalry Regiment, the 11th Regiment of Mountain Artillery, the 11th Engineering Regiment, the 11th Regiment of the Heavy Infantry, the Signal Corps, the Health Brigade, and the 1st to 4th Field Hospital.
In February 1938, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters postponed the landing plan in South China, the Japanese Fifth Army was abolished, the "Shigeto Detachment" was transferred back to Taiwan for reorganization, and on March 1, 1938, Shigeto Chiaki was transferred back to the General Staff Headquarters and promoted to Lieutenant General, and Washida Shigeichi took over his post. Hakata Detachment".
"Shigeto Detachment"
On March 25, 1938, Shigeto Chiaki was transferred to the reserve, thus ending his military career, for what reason is unknown, but it is not because of his age, because he was only 53 years old, and lieutenant general Shigeichi Hakata, who succeeded him, was with him, after which Shigeto Chiaki went to northeast China as president of the Daito Company and president of the Manchurian Labor Association, and died on July 26, 1942, the specific cause of death is unknown.
As early as the early 1920s, Shigeto Chiaki came to China to engage in intelligence work. After the outbreak of the "First three incidents," he led the "Shigeto Detachment" to Come to China again, and attacked the city and plundered the land on the front line from Shanghai to Nanjing, burning and robbing all the way, committing heinous war crimes against the Chinese people, and his heinous war crimes will certainly be nailed to the column of shame of history.
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