On September 9, 1945, the surrender ceremony of the Chinese theater was held in the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanjing, and the people of the whole country rejoiced and celebrated the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
However, what the people of the whole country did not expect was that after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Okamura Ninji, a war criminal who was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China, was not punished in any way, but turned into Chiang Kai-shek's secret military adviser.
After the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, Okamura Ninji began to serve as the supreme commander of the Japanese army in North China. Under his command, the Japanese army carried out a brutal sweep of the anti-Japanese base areas established by the Eighth Route Army, and carried out a horrific massacre of civilians in northern China, implementing the three-light policy of burning, killing, and looting.
After the outbreak of the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek believed that Okamura Ningji had commanded the Japanese army to fight the Eighth Route Army in North China for a long time and was very familiar with the situation in North China, so he wanted to use him against the PLA and hired him as a senior military adviser to the Nationalist government.
At that time, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was trying Japanese war criminals, and in August and October 1946, it urged the Nationalist government to escort the Japanese war criminals led by Okamura Ninji to Tokyo for trial as soon as possible, but Chiang Kai-shek delayed in every possible and kept Okamura Ninji by his side.
Although people have always called for Okamura Ninji to be severely punished, Chiang Kai-shek has always turned a deaf ear and has repeatedly summoned Okamura Ninji to ask him for advice on how to deal with the PLA. He even reprinted many copies of the "Guide to Suppressing the Communist Party" compiled under the auspices of Okamura Ninji and distributed them to officers of the Kuomintang troops.
By the end of 1948, due to the repeated defeats of the Kuomintang troops on the battlefield and the growing calls for severe punishment of Okamura Ninji, Chiang Kai-shek had to agree to try Okamura Ninji in Shanghai.
However, this trial of Okamura Ninji is just a show, and Chiang Kai-shek still has a place where Okamura Ninji can be used, so naturally Okamura Ninji will not be punished as he should.
Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek instructed He Yingqin, Tang Boen, and others to find a strong defense lawyer for Okamura Ningji to ensure that Okamura Ningji could be acquitted.
He Yingqin and others were instructed by Chiang Kai-shek to begin to find a defense lawyer for Okamura Ningji, and they also asked for a powerful lawyer who could defend not guilty. But Okamura Ninji has done all his bad things, and who is willing to defend him? Not to mention the plea of innocence.
In fact, the Kuomintang has long decided to acquit Okamura Ninji, and finding a lawyer is just a show. However, in terms of candidates, it is still necessary to find a well-known Chinese lawyer, so that it can appear more "justified".
Looking around, I really found such a person, that is, Jiang Yiping, who served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association.
Jiang Yiping is a well-known barrister in Shanghai, who has great influence in the Shanghai legal community and served as the vice president of Fudan University. Even Wang Jingwei tried his best to woo him and wanted to invite him to serve as the pseudo-justice minister. However, Jiang Yiping thought that Wang Jingwei's character was too bad, so he did not agree to this matter.
Jiang Yiping's father is also a lawyer, and after he learned that his son had become a defense lawyer for Okamura Ninji, he was angry and wanted to break off the father-son relationship with his son. But Jiang Yiping didn't care, and was bent on defending Okamura Ninji, completely ignoring the opposition of his family and friends.
At the beginning of 1949, at the trial of Okamura Ninji, Jiang Yiping wantonly praised Okamura Ninji's merits, shamelessly beautified Okamura Ninji's image, and even fabricated that Okamura Ninji "loved the people" and "protected the people." Jiang Yiping's shameless words caused great dissatisfaction among people, but what is even more incredible is that the trial court actually adopted Jiang Yiping's lies.
In fact, during his tenure as commander of the Japanese army invading China, Okamura Ningji wantonly massacred ordinary Chinese people and implemented the cruel policy of "three lights". However, it is unbelievable that the trial court, which was single-handedly run by the Kuomintang, ignored the bloody facts and finally acquitted Okamura Ninji.
What is even more infuriating is that Chiang Kai-shek, in order to help Okamura Ningji escape punishment, while the Kuomintang was completely defeated, he was worried that Okamura Ningji would fall into the hands of the PLA, and actually arranged for someone to escort Okamura Ningji back to Japan.
In April 1949, Okamura Ninji, who had committed a serious crime and had his hands stained with blood, returned to Japan as "not guilty" under the active operation of the Kuomintang. Later, Okamura Ninji claimed in "Memoirs":
Over the past two or three years, I am even more grateful to the leadership of the Chinese government and military for their care and kindness.
Okamura was referring to Chiang Kai-shek and his senior Kuomintang officers, and it was their patronage that allowed Okamura to escape sanctions.
Therefore, Okamura Ninji later went to Taiwan many times to serve as a senior instructor at Taiwan's "Institute of Revolutionary Practice," helping Chiang Kai-shek train officers and actively creating conditions for Chiang Kai-shek's counterattack on the mainland.
Because Jiang Yiping beautified the despicable behavior of the Japanese army invading China, he was spurned by the people. Although he repeatedly claimed that he was coerced by Chiang Kai-shek, he maintained close contact with Okamura Ninji, and the two even became good friends.
Therefore, no one believed Jiang Yiping's words, even his father thought he was lying, so he broke off relations with him, and his wife and relatives and friends also left him. Jiang Yiping defended the Japanese war criminals, and in his later years, his family was broken and left unattended, and he ended his life in poverty.
As for Okamura Ninji, although he escaped punishment with the help of Chiang Kai-shek and others, there is a good saying, it is not that the time has not come! Soon after Okamura returned to China, his wife, son, and grandson all died, and he eventually became a loner, and finally died in loneliness in 1966.