August 15, 1945, was one of the most memorable days in China's modern history, on which the Emperor of Japan announced his unconditional surrender, and the suffering Chinese finally ushered in the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
But in the minds of many Japanese generals, they were not willing to accept such a fact, nor did they think that Chinese had defeated the Japanese army, and it was only because the emperor gave the order that they had to surrender to China.
Among them, there was a general named Saburo Endo who was extremely arrogant and refused to admit defeat.
Born in 1893, mao zedong, he served as chief of staff of the Japanese Kwantung Army and commander of the Japanese Naval Aviation Corps, with the rank of lieutenant general.
It can be said that he played a very important role during the Japanese invasion of China and was a genuine war criminal.
From 1938 to 1943, Saburo Endo served as the commander of the Third Flying Regiment of the Japanese Air Force, and repeatedly assigned Japanese aircraft to bomb Chongqing, the wartime capital of the Republic of China, committing numerous crimes.
During the Battle of Yichang in the autumn of 1942, the Japanese forces in Yichang were heavily surrounded by 15 divisions under the famous Kuomintang general Chen Cheng. Saburo Endo personally flew into the city to rescue, and then moved to rescue the soldiers, and even saved the defeat.
I have to admit that Saburo Endo's combat style is extremely fierce, and his seniority is also very strong, and he is the number one general among the Japanese generals.
Even after the Japanese Emperor announced his surrender, Saburo Endo, who was imprisoned in the War Criminals Management Center, wrote this sentence in a very arrogant tone: "Even if the weapons are laid down, the Japanese army does not have to fear any country in the world!" ”
During his detention, this extremely stubborn fellow refused to bow his head no matter what, and was resolutely unwilling to admit defeat at the hands of the Chinese.
But his heart is extremely contradictory, and he has been thinking bitterly about a strategic question over and over again: Why did the Japanese army fall into the quagmire of the Chinese battlefield when it originally had absolute superiority?
He unswervingly held that the grand strategy of "breaking through in the middle and flying with both wings" adopted by the Japanese army after invading China was in essence completely feasible, and the problem lay in the inaction of the two wings of the battlefield and the failure to truly implement the grand strategy.
One day, Saburo Endo came across a pamphlet with Mao Zedong's famous essay "On Protracted War."
When I first started reading this article, Saburo Endo was still full of disdain and said contemptuously: "When did Chinese start studying war?" ”
But as he read, his expression became more and more serious and focused, and he gradually sat down precariously, and finally issued a long sigh: "Unfortunately, I didn't read this article earlier!" ”
It can be said that it was Chairman Mao's "On Protracted War" that made Saburo Endo, who had never found the reason for the defeat of the Japanese army, suddenly wake up: "The reason why the Japanese army was deeply mired in the quagmire of the Chinese battlefield was because of Mao Zedong's combat concept of 'accumulating small victories for big victories, exchanging space for time'! This has nothing to do with the inaction of the two wings of the Japanese army! ”
In addition, Mao Zedong's exposition of "peace" in the book also deeply impressed Saburo Endo: "
War will make all mankind realize that peace is the most universal value of all mankind! Peace transcends Eastern and Western values. And the purpose of war is only one, that is, to eliminate war
！
”
For this paragraph,
Saburo Endo read it over and over again, pondering the meaning of it over and over again, and finally Mao Sai suddenly opened: "After reading this book, I really understand what 'Oriental values' are!" ”
It was through the in-depth study of "On Protracted War" that Endo Saburo gradually abandoned the originally deep-rooted militarist ideas in his mind, and transformed from an extreme diehard who did not want to admit defeat to a "fan" of Mao Zedong and a "messenger of peace" dedicated to Sino-Japanese friendship.
After being released and returned to China, Saburo Endo wrote down his personal experience in the war of aggression against China and the various crimes committed by the Japanese army, and published several books.
It is particularly worth mentioning that it is precisely because of Saburo Endo's disclosure in the book that various heinous crimes such as Shiro Ishii and others of the Japanese "731" unit have been further confirmed and have aroused great concern and common criticism throughout the world.
Because of Saburo Endo's actions, the Japanese right-wingers were very hostile to him, and even angrily denounced him as a "red general." Most of Endo's former colleagues in the army also broke off friendship with him.
However, Saburo Endo was not moved, and also initiated the establishment of the Japan-China Friendship Soldiers Association, which aims to promote the exchange and communication between veterans of the Sino-Japanese War and erase the wounds of the war.
In 1956, Saburo Endo accompanied the Japanese delegation to Visit China, and Chairman Mao Zedong took the time to personally receive him.
During this reception, Saburo Endo also did something he had been waiting for a long time by dedicating a samurai sword from the Endo family to Chairman Mao Zedong, his "most revered opponent and friend of his life."
It is said that this is a national treasure sword. What's more, for Japanese people who once wore Japanese uniforms, the katana was almost more important than life. Saburo Endo presented such a gift to Chairman Mao, which showed his sincerity for peace.
Mao Zedong, of course, greatly valued the gift and gave a bamboo drawing by Qi Baishi as a gift to Saburo Endo.