Commander of the Japanese Division: The tragedy of Takeshi Mori
During World War II, division commanders were high-ranking in the Japanese army, equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general on the mainland, and held a high position. During the entire Sino-Japanese War, only two Japanese division commanders died in China, which shows that it is not easy to kill officers of this rank.
However, one Japanese division commander died quite dramatically. Shortly before Emperor Hirohito decided to surrender, he was killed by his own men on the Japanese mainland!
The commander of this division, named Takeshi Mori, was the commander of the 1st Guards Division at that time, and his main responsibility was to be responsible for the safety of the Japanese emperor and the security of Miyagi, which can be said to be equivalent to the ancient Imperial Forest Army.
It stands to reason that such a high-ranking officer must be deeply trusted, and others are stubborn. But why such an unfortunate situation? It started with Japan's surrender.
In Japan, attitudes toward war have always been divided into two factions: the main war faction and the calm faction. The main war faction wants to continue fighting, while the calm faction wants to see the good as soon as the situation becomes unfavorable.
In the beginning, as Japan's war of aggression went smoothly, the main war faction gained the upper hand. However, as the fighting became increasingly tense, the Steadys began to gain support. When the U.S. army entered the war, the situation became clear, and Japan's supreme ruler, Emperor Hirohito, decided to surrender. However, the process of surrender did not go smoothly, and the main war faction was unwilling to give up, shouting the slogan "100 million deaths".
Overseas, the main battle army is reluctant to lay down its arms. In Japan, some soldiers of the main war faction even staged a coup d'état after learning that the emperor was about to announce his surrender, which is the so-called "Miyagi incident".
On the morning of August 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his unconditional surrender to the world on the radio the next day, and sent Minister of War Yuki Anan and Umezu Mijiro to handle the matter.
When the representatives of the stubborn main war faction, Kenji Hatanaka, Jiro Shiizaki and others, learned the news, they immediately began to implement the coup plan. Their goal was to control the emperor and Miyagi, destroy the tapes showing the surrender declaration, resolutely refuse to accept unconditional surrender, and continue to fight the Allies to the death as if nothing had happened.
In order to achieve this goal, Hatanaka first went to meet with Minister of War Anan Yuki and Chief of the General Staff Umezu Mijiro, but they were snubbed and refused.
Later, they went to visit the commander of the Eastern Army, Shizuichi Tanaka, but again did not receive support, but was blamed. These people can't understand why these ministers are unwilling to cooperate because they are obviously for the sake of the emperor?
In the end, they stopped thinking about the problem and decided to act on their own.
In the early morning of August 15, with only half a day left before the emperor announced his surrender, Hatana arrived at the last officer: Mori Takeshi , commander of the 1st Guards Division. Since the 1st Guards Division was responsible for protecting Miyagi, if it could control this division, it would be equivalent to controlling the emperor.
However, Mori was a traditional soldier who would only obey the emperor's orders. In the face of the imposing Hata, he never gave a clear answer, and finally said: "I will visit Meiji Jingu Shrine first, and then make the final decision."
In the eyes of the people of Hata, this sentence is completely to snitch, and with the urgency of time, they can no longer wait.
Hatanaka suddenly pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Mori. After Mori fell to the ground, Shigetaro Uehara took his saber and rushed forward, killing him. At the same time, Mori Takeo's wife and brother Nakasashi Tsuki, who was also in the room, was also hacked to death with a knife.
The moment Hatanaka shot, the coup plan was carried out by their forged order from the division commander, who sent the 2nd Infantry Wing of the Guards Division, which was in charge of guarding the Imperial Palace, to quickly take control of Miyagi.
At the same time, the coup soldiers stormed the radio hall in an attempt to destroy the tapes showing the surrender declaration and prevent the emperor's final edict from broadcasting. However, due to the secrecy of the hidden place, the tape was never found until the end.
At the same time, the Eastern Army Command learned of the coup d'état and immediately moved to mobilize troops. Commander Shizuichi Tanaka personally arrived at the site of the coup and loudly announced to the soldiers that the division commander had been killed and that the division commander's order was forged.
The arrival of top superiors made the Guards Division participating in the coup lose their fighting spirit and lay down their arms one after another.
This coup is not big, after all, the number of participants is not large. But if it succeeds, it will almost change the course of history. In the end, the coup d'état personnel in Hatanaka paid with their lives.
The first criminals, Kenji Hatanaka and Jiro Shiizaki, committed suicide by drinking bullets on the lawn in front of the Imperial Palace's Fuju Bridge before their arrest. Shigetaro Uehara, who killed Mori, committed seppuku suicide. Hideki Tojo's son-in-law, Hide, Koga, was in front of Mori's coffin and also committed suicide.
Anand, the minister of war whom they visited, committed suicide by seppuku a few times. Even Shizuichi Tanaka, commander of the Eastern Army, who quelled the coup, chose seppuku to commit suicide.
And the most pitiful is probably Mori Takeshi. He was obviously only loyal to the emperor's orders, but he brutally killed under his own men, which was a tragic ending.
Overall, Mori's tragedy highlights a side of Japan's internal divisions and strife during World War II. Although the final surrender was inevitable, tragedy occurred because of the resistance of the diehard main war faction. The incident also highlights that sometimes the most dangerous enemies in war can come from those closest to you.
