September 18 is a day that Chinese people cannot forget.
On September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army suddenly attacked Shenyang and occupied Northeast China by force. Since then, Japan has begun a fourteen-year-long war of criminal aggression against China.
"918, 918, from that tragic time, I left my hometown, abandoned the endless treasure, wandering, wandering..." A song "On the Songhua River" cannot exhaust the history of the country's loss of dignity and the nation's humiliation. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the 918 Incident, and loud alarms have sounded all over the country, reminding all Chinese: Don't forget history, my generation is self-reliant!
However, we all know that on August 15, 1945, the Japanese government announced its unconditional surrender; on September 2, 1945, Japan signed the instrument of surrender. However, few people know that on August 21, 1945, there was a surrender ceremony in Zhijiang, Hunan Province, and the Japanese beggar tooko Imai handed over a map of the distribution of Japanese troops in the Chinese theater of operations and signed a memorandum recording the detailed provisions of the surrender...
"When the memory of history is lost, the mind walks in the darkness." The "Celebrity Biography" will review the ceremony held in Zhijiang, Hunan Province, to commemorate the great victory of our nation.
Listening to the advice of Wei Demai, chief of staff of the Allied Chinese Theater,
The location of the landing was changed from Yushan, Zhejiang to Zhijiang, Hunan
On August 15, 1945, after Japan announced its surrender, Chiang Kai-shek telephoned ningji Okamura, commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China, to send a representative to Yushan Airport in Zhejiang Province to negotiate the surrender. On the 18th, Chiang Kai-shek changed the location of the surrender to Zhijiang, Hunan.
Originally, Wei Demai, chief of staff of the Allied Chinese Theater, opposed the location of the surrender in Yushan, Zhejiang. Because although the Japanese army has surrendered, it is still very arrogant and refuses to admit defeat, and it must come to the place where the Japanese army was defeated and kill the prestige of the Japanese army.
Hunan Zhijiang Airport was expanded twice during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the expanded airport could accommodate more than 300 aircraft, so large that it was then known as the second largest allied airport in the Far East.
In April 1945, the Japanese army mobilized about 80,000 people from seven divisions of the army to attack The Zhijiang River in western Hunan from the Guangdong-Han and Xianggui roads in an attempt to seize the Zhijiang Air Base, threaten the capital Chongqing, and disrupt the Chinese army's counter-offensive deployment in the southwest region. The Japanese attack was dealt a heavy blow by the units of Wang Yaowu of the Fourth Front. After two months of fierce fighting, by the beginning of June, the Chinese army had won a complete victory by killing and wounding more than 24,000 Japanese troops.
Zhijiang is in any case a place where the Chinese and American allies can raise their eyebrows. Chiang Kai-shek thought that Wei Demai's opinion was very correct, so he decided to change the place of surrender to Zhijiang.
At 6:00 p.m. on 18 August, Chiang Kai-shek, on the grounds that the Yushan Airfield had been damaged by heavy rain and could not be used, re-electrified Okamura Ningji to change the place of surrender to Zhijiang, Hunan Province, and made strict regulations on the specific actions of the envoys, including: The Japanese aircraft must paint a shiny Japanese flag on the upper and lower wings; the ends of the two wings are tied with four-meter-long red cloth strips for identification; and the deputy chief of general staff of Imai must carry the Japanese army's combat sequence, position of troops, and command and distinction system.
Okamura Ninji replied at 6 p.m. on the 19th:
His Excellency Chiang Kai-shek, Supreme Commander of the Chinese Theater of Operations: The deputy chief of general staff of Imai and his party, together with two staff officers and one interpreter, flew to the designated place in a medium-sized twin-engine aircraft, and all actions were handled in accordance with the honorable electricity, but the red cloth belt of the fuselage logo was changed to be tied to the tail.
At 9 p.m. that night, Okamura called Chiang Kai-shek again, further clarifying relevant matters such as negotiating and demoting deputies.
Knowing that the surrender ceremony would be held in Zhijiang, the zhijiang soldiers and civilians, who were already immersed in the joy of the victory of the War of Resistance, boiled even more.
A day of humiliation for the Japanese
On August 21, 1945, after a night of heavy rain, the sky was clear in Zhijiang. As soon as the east revealed the white of the fish's belly, Zhijiang City was lively, and the lights were lit up, and the flags were hanging and whipping. The flower team, the umbrella team, the lion team, the Lusheng team, one team after another; the sound of gongs, drums, songs, and screams, one after another, was higher than a burst. Joy fills the city.
At the airport more than a mile east of the city, a warning circle has been drawn with lime, and the circle is full of sentries, and at 8 o'clock, the airport covering an area of more than 2,000 acres has been surrounded by crowds, and the people who have been stopped by the military and police outside the cordon are waiting for it.
On the plane, Imai Takeo Muran's face seemed to still have tear marks from weeping for the emperor's promulgation of the "Edict of the Final War" on the 15th. His attaché was also silent. Just when Ibuo was thinking a lot, suddenly someone in the cabin exclaimed: A machine gun was found in the cabin of the plane!
How could there be a machine gun in the cabin? Was it not checked, or was someone deliberately put in the cabin? The party that came to surrender was still carrying weapons, and once the plane landed and was checked out by the Chinese, what would be the consequences?
Takeo Imai roared at the staff officer hashijima in front of him, "I'm stunned what to do, don't hurry up and throw it down!" ”
Hashijima hurriedly opened the hatch, and the machine gun was thrown out of the cabin and fell into the turquoise Dongting Lake.
At this time, although Takeo Imai was on a special plane by Okamura Ninji, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Invasion of China, he no longer had the glory and prestige of the past, and he could not help but gently recite a poem in a depressed mood:
After years of suffering, the line decays and slopes.
And take care of the mutilated armor, ragged and difficult to hide.
After arriving over the Zhijiang River, the plane circled the airport for three weeks, expressing compensation, apologies, and begging for surrender to the Chinese military and civilians. At this time, there are still six Chinese and American fighter jets on the air alert.
Japanese representative Takeo Imai (front row left) and others arrived at Zhijiang Airport
The venue of the meeting was located near zhijiang airport, the club of the fifth and sixth brigades of the former Kuomintang Air Force.
In order to commemorate this "sacred" day, an archway was erected at the main entrance of the venue, and a "V" was tied in the middle of the archway to symbolize victory, and the four characters of "God of Peace" were also tattooed. In front of the venue, the flags of China, the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom were erected in the open space.
Entering the venue, a long table is arranged in the center, surrounded by red, white and blue tricolor cloth, and the table top is paved with white cloth, on which are engraved the words "Preparatory Office for the Signing Ceremony of the Japanese Surrender" and the four treasures of the study room, and the long table is equipped with seats in front of and behind. The big "V" above the wall is lined with the logos of China, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. At one end of the hall is a ceremonial site, with a statue of Sun Yat-sen on the wall in front of the venue, and a horizontal batch of "the world is just" on the top; on both sides are the upper and lower links: the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still have to work hard. Further outward is the Chinese flag and the Kuomintang party flag; below are Sun Yat-sen's will, the Kuomintang Party membership code, and the military training. This was the standard auditorium arrangement at the time.
At the long table in the middle of the venue, the Chinese representative sat above, facing the Japanese representative and the viewing seat; the Japanese representative sat below, facing the Chinese representative and the statue of Sun Yat-sen. In addition to the seats of the representatives of china and Japan, at the end near the door is the seat of the interpreters of both sides. There are also recorders, auditors and press seats.
At 3:20 p.m. on August 21, Lieutenant General Xiao Yisu, chief of staff of the Chinese Army General Command, and others were already seated.
Imai Takeo and his party entered the hall, stood in a row, and bowed deeply to Xiao Yisu and the others. Xiao Yisu did not return the salute, but only said, "Please sit!" ”
Xiao Yisu first introduced the Chinese representatives and the REPRESENTATIVEs of the United States on the left and right sides, and then said in an orderly tone: "I am entrusted by Commander-in-Chief He Yingqin to receive you, and I ask you to explain your identity and hand over your identity certificate!" ”
Lieutenant General Xiao Yisu (below the statue of Sun Yat-sen) sat on the throne to accept the surrender of the Japanese envoy Takeo Imai (front row, second from left) and his party
Takeo Imai was very dissatisfied with Xiao Yisu's attitude, and after introducing himself and his attaché, he said: "I was sent by the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Dispatch Force in China, Okamura Ninji, to meet with the head of the Chinese theater. My task is to liaise with your officials before the armistice is signed, and I have no authority to decide and not to sign any document. ”
Xiao Yisu asked, "Do you have a certificate with you?" If you bring it, please show it to me! ”
Not to be outdone, Takeo Imai said, "I didn't bring my id certificate!" Only brought Okamura Ninji's contact order book! ”
Xiao Yisu said, "The command book can also be shown to me!" ”
Takeo Imai had to hand over the order to Hashijima and present it to Xiao Yisu.
Xiao Yisu read out the first memorandum from General He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, to Okamura Ningji, and when the translation read the specific steps for the various theaters to accept surrender, Takeo Imai took out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat on his face from time to time.
After reading the Japanese translation, Xiao Yisu took out two receipts prepared in advance and placed them in front of Takeo Imai: "Please sign here." At the same time handed him the memo.
When Takeo Imai asked to "ask a few points" when signing, Xiao Yisu said in a humorous and relaxed tone: "I don't think it is necessary, because surrender is unconditional." ”
This phrase, which was all too familiar to Takeo Imai, stung his heart so deeply that he had to pick up a brush and sign it. At such a meeting, he could not have the slightest right to inquire, and it was better to say that he bowed down and listened to the will than to "negotiate". He put forward a request to "discuss again," but Xiao Yisu ignored it. At this time, he understood the true meaning of "unconditional surrender".
Takeo Imai (author) signed the surrender document
The term "unconditional surrender"
It was created by Takeo Imai
On December 8, 1941, the Combined Japanese Fleet attacked the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, and the Pacific War broke out. Takeo Imai commanded the Japanese army to invade Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and other countries with lightning speed, and the Singapore naval base that the British had spent a decade to build was also destroyed under the attack he commanded. When the Japanese surrounded the British naval base, Imai tooko demanded the "unconditional surrender" of the besieged British troops through radio, forcing the Singaporean defenders to bend their knees.
In September 1944, Takeo Imai was promoted to major general in the Army, and in early October he was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Chinese Dispatch Army. Less than a year later, in August 1945, Japan was defeated and the Japanese Emperor announced his surrender and accepted the Potsdam Proclamation.
To Imai's surprise, MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the Allied Pacific Theater, demanded the "unconditional surrender" of Japanese Emperor Hirohito in the same term, based on the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation. At the subsequent surrender ceremony of Zhijiang, he himself became the representative of the "unconditional surrender".
"Treat others in the way they treat others", history is such a coincidence.
After the Japanese side signed the surrender document, Xiao Yisu explained that the Chinese Army Headquarters would set up a forward command post in Nanjing, send troops to Nanjing, Shanghai, and Beiping in a short period of time, and He Yingqin and Okamura Ningji directly electrified.
After the ceremony, the Japanese representative stood up, bowed, and fished out as he had come in.
At 1:30 p.m. on August 23, 1945, He Yingqin received Takeo Imai in the commander-in-chief's reception room. He Yingqin said to him: "I have decided that you will still take the original opportunity to return to Nanjing, and I hope that you will convey to General Okamura Ningji that the four Chinese memorandums you have brought with you will be effectively followed!" ”
Takeo Imai said, "Definitely convey it."
He Yingqin also explained: "After I decide to wait for proof that Nanjing Airport is indeed possible, I will airlift troops to Nanjing during the period from the 26th to the 30th, hoping to convey to General Okamura Ningji to prepare for reception!" You can go! ”
Takeo Imai replied solemnly, "Obey Jun's orders!" Then he went out to board the bus and returned to the airport.
The "surrender of Zhijiang" announced the complete defeat of the Japanese army invading China. On September 2, 1945, Japanese Foreign Minister Aoi Shigemitsu formally signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri. At 9 o'clock on September 9, 1945, the ceremony of the surrender of the Chinese theater was held in the auditorium of the Central Army Officer School in Nanjing, and Okamura Ninji signed the surrender document on behalf of Japan and handed over his personal saber to indicate that the Japanese army invading China had formally surrendered its weapons to China, marking the final victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Who is Takeo Imai? What kind of role does it play?
So, who was Takeo Imai, who negotiated surrender to the Chinese army on behalf of the Japanese army?
Born on February 23, 1898 in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Takeo Imai joined the Army in 1918 and became a staff officer in the Chinese Section of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters in 1930. He served as an assistant to The Chief of the Fengtian Secret Service, Toihara, and plotted the September 18 Incident with Toihara. Later, he served as an assistant military attaché of the Japanese Embassy in China and the director of the military attaché office of the army stationed in Beiping, and participated in the whole process of the July 7 Incident.
On the night of July 7, 1937, when the news of the clash between the Chinese and Japanese armies came, Takeo Imai, who was in the military attaché's office in Peiping, immediately rushed to the scene of the accident by car. Through the investigation, Imai Takeo came to the conclusion that it was neither the Japanese army that shot at the Chinese army nor the Chinese army shot at the Japanese army, but by a third party. At this time, there was no specific instruction from his superiors, and Takeo Imai did not advocate the expansion of the war.
At 3:00 a.m. on July 9, China and Japan reached a provisional agreement, and the troops of both sides temporarily withdrew to their original positions.
But the Japanese army was arrogant. On the 10th, after consultations between Takeo Imai and Matsui Tataro, the chief of the Peiping secret service, at midnight, he proposed to Zhang Zizhong: First, the representatives of the Twenty-ninth Army apologized to the Japanese army and declared that they were responsible for preventing no more similar incidents in the future; second, they should be punished for the perpetrators; third, Chinese troops should not be stationed on the left bank of the Yongding River near the Lugou Bridge... The above request must be acknowledged in writing to the Japanese army... After acknowledging the above items, the Japanese and Chinese armies will return to their original garrisons, but they must be carried out in accordance with our requirements near the Lugou Bridge.
On the afternoon of 11 July, Takeo Imai received a phone call from the Headquarters of the Japanese Tianjin Garrison, saying that the Japanese Government's decision to increase troops in North China was no longer necessary, and that even if an agreement was reached, it would be regretted. On July 29, Peiping fell.
In order to maintain law and order in Peiping, to appease people's hearts, and to ensure the Japanese occupation, Takeo Imai decided to organize a local government in Peiping that was controlled by the Japanese. He and Matsui Takuro named the organization of this local political power the "Peiping Local Security Maintenance Association," and appointed the veteran traitor Jiang Zhaozong as the chairman, with Akato, the head of the Japanese gendarmerie corps, and Kasai, a military adviser to the Jicha Political Affairs Committee, as advisers.
While actively planning to form a puppet regime, Imai Tooko also moved around to trick the Chinese army into surrendering to the Japanese army. Ruan Xuanwu, commander of the Kuomintang Independent 39th Brigade, who was stationed in the Beiyuan Barracks at the time, sent someone to contact Takeo Imai on the 30th, indicating that he had no intention of resisting. Takeo Imai took the opportunity to persuade the Japanese Tianjin garrison to stop attacking the unit as bait and asked it to disarm. Under the lure of Imai Takeo, Nguyen Xuan Wu led a team of more than 6,000 people to surrender to the Japanese army.
In addition, Imai Takeo also saved the traitor Yin Rugeng.
On July 28, two units of the puppet Tongzhou Security Corps attacked the puppet Jidong Defense Communist Autonomous Government Office and the Japanese secret service agency of the traitor Yin Rugeng, and arrested Yin Rugeng and escorted him to Beiping to prepare for a military trial by Song Zheyuan. Who knows, when they escorted Yin Rugeng to the outside of Beiping City, at this time, Beiping had been occupied by the Japanese army, and it was chaotic and impossible to enter the city. Yin Rugeng then fled in chaos. In the afternoon, Imai Tooko received a call from Yin Rugeng asking for protection. Takeo Imai immediately contacted the director of the public security bureau of the "Peiping Local Public Security Maintenance Association" and asked him to open the city gate, and sent Yuki Watanabe of the military attaché's office to quietly bring Yin Rugeng into the city and arrange for him to stay at the Six Kingdoms Hotel.
The establishment of the "Peiping Local Security Maintenance Association", the disarmament of Nguyen Xuan Wu's department, and the rescue of Yin Rugeng, Imai Takeo Company did three major things, and made "great contributions" to the Japanese army.
Later, Akira Akira, head of the China Section of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, transferred Takeo Imai to the head of the Chinese squad of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters. Akira inozo once said, "On the question of China, this Mr. Imai is my master. Imai also became more active, and his initial involvement was in the Shigekodo talks.
Wang Jingwei (front row center) with Takeo Imai (front row left), Shadow Sasaki (front row right) and others. The second from the right in the back row is Chen Gongbo
In September 1938, the Japanese launched a large-scale attack on Wuhan. Wang Jingwei, the kuomintang number two figure who was pessimistic and disappointed about the future of the war, sent Mei Siping to contact the Japanese secret service, and the representative of the Japanese side was Takeo Imai, who met at the Chongguang Hall in Hongkou, Shanghai.
On December 2, Takeo Imai received information that Wang Jingwei had promised all the contents of the Shigekodo Agreement. So he immediately telegraphed Tokyo. On the 28th, Wang Jingwei, who was in Hanoi, sent a letter to the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee and the Supreme Council of National Defense, proposing to accept the "Three Principles of Guards." On the 31st, Wang Jingwei's statement was published in the South China Daily. The publication of this telegram marked the open surrender of the Wang Jingwei clique to Japan.
Takeo Imai's role in inducing Wang Jingwei to surrender to Japan should not be underestimated, and he was soon promoted to the head of the reporting department, and in July 1941, he was transferred to the commander of the newly formed Infantry Regiment 141.
…………
Once upon a time, Takeo Imai was an arrogant soldier of the Japanese army who had a history of "making a big fuss" on the road to invading China, but in his memoirs, he described the mood of the beggar in this way: "The descending party was painfully trapped in sadness", "my heart was full of despair and loneliness and uneasiness", "as envoys of a defeated country, we were equivalent to handcuffing our hands to China to surrender."
After the surrender ceremony, the General Headquarters of the Japanese Chinese Dispatch Army was renamed the Aftermath Liaison Headquarters for Japanese Officers and Soldiers in the Chinese Theater, with Ninji Okamura as the chief and Takeo Imai as the chairman of the external committee. In July 1946, after more than two million Japanese troops and most of the Japanese overseas Chinese in China were repatriated to Japan, the aftermath liaison headquarters was moved to Shanghai on the orders of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. However, Okamura Ningji, Imai Takeo and fourteen others continued to stay in Nanjing, forming the Nanjing General Liaison Group to deal with various remaining problems.
At the end of 1946, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense ordered the abolition of the Nanjing General Liaison Group and the local liaison groups. On January 4, 1947, Takeo Imai returned to Japan and was notified to retire from the Army on the same day. In the 1960s, Takeo Imai wrote a memoir of the war. On June 12, 1982, takeo Imai died of illness at the age of eighty-four.
(The original article was "Takeo Imai: From Arrogant Soldier to "Unconditional Surrender" Representative" published in Celebrity Biography, No. 3, 2019/ Wang Xiaohua)
Responsible editor 丨 Wang Yuan Responsible school 丨 Zhang Jingyi
Typesetting 丨Wang Yuan Audit 丨Yang Yanling