During World War II, the Japanese army has always been known for its cruelty and madness, their methods of dealing with the enemy are extremely cruel, they believe in Bushido, their attitude towards life is very casual, and they are also very strict in dealing with the wounded soldiers of the Allied forces, and those who cannot move are basically disposed of by the Japanese army with bayonets.
So what about the Japanese army, which is cruel to outsiders, to its own people?
In World War II, the Japanese army indulged in the Banzai charge, basically went out to fight and did not intend to come back alive, but the soldiers were not only killed on the battlefield, although many soldiers wanted to go to the "shrine", but after all, the bullets had no eyes, but became wounded soldiers.
So how did the Japanese army deal with wounded soldiers who failed to act?
Stills of japanese wounded soldiers, from "Purple Sun"
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" Pre->: Dedicated healing</h1>
In the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the attitude of the Japanese army toward wounded soldiers was quite good, and our current words "comrades", "cadres" and "comrades-in-arms" were all passed down from Japan, which can also be seen from the side that the Japanese army at least paid great attention to comradeship in the exercises. Moreover, in the early days of the war, the Japanese army would desperately grab back the comrades who were shot, whether they were wounded or killed, that is, the soldiers killed on their shrines had names and surnames. There is a detail in the Sihang Warehouse Battle of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, that is, the Japanese army risked death to check in the military dogs in order to recapture the teammates killed by the defenders:
But the Japanese imperialists were anxious to bring them back to China to "reunite" with their families and at the same time "ask the emperor for credit." The stretcher team did not dare to come to the death, but expelled a group of military dogs to check the body.
Japanese comrades in arms at the beginning of the war helped each other (manga)
It can be said that when the war first began, the Japanese army still had a very humanistic concern for its soldiers, and the soldiers who died were so, and the wounded soldiers were also well treated. The Japanese army will be equipped with 4 medical soldiers in each grass-roots combat squadron, and there will be field hospitals above the wing level. Regular infantry marching backpacks also have bandages and simple medical medicines and field first aid kits
Japanese medic, notice the Red Cross on his arm
In the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese army would give high-standard medical treatment to the wounded soldiers, and even in addition to the army hospital, Japan also transferred many medical experts from the country to treat the seriously wounded, and the Japanese military high-level often went to the field hospital to visit the wounded soldiers during the battle interval, such as Matsui and Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace often went in and out of the Japanese army's field hospital to brainwash the Japanese army.
Even some wounded soldiers returning to Japan will be given the title of hero, enjoy the subsidy of special disabled soldiers, and become the object of admiration of everyone in the village, in the Japanese restricted movie "Taro Worm", the male protagonist is to lose his limbs in the Battle of Okinawa, and enjoy various good treatment after returning to the village after recovering from injury.
The male protagonist of "Taro Worm" enjoys preferential treatment after returning from disability
So why did the Japanese army treat the wounded soldiers so well at that time?
In fact, it is not that they have a humanistic spirit, but that these militarists have ulterior motives:
First, the treatment and treatment of wounded soldiers can be used as a political show. Just imagine, if the military department can do this to you, it will give the soldiers the courage to move forward, without any burden of back-up, so that they can kill the enemy on the front line with peace of mind, and the wounded and disabled can be treated anyway, and there is also a state to raise. Taking it a step further, preferential treatment of the wounded can be a good recruitment advertisement, not only to make the japanese people more fanatical, but also to attract a large number of young people to join the army.
The wounded soldier in the manga is the political show of the Japanese army
The second point is that treating the wounded can reduce the loss. The Japanese Army has been taking the elite route before the start of World War II, before the 77 Incident, there were only 17 divisions and regiments, 300,000 soldiers, these people are very top-notch in both technical tactics and training, to put it bluntly, these soldiers are taking money and feeding bullets, proper treatment can help the army stop loss in time, and veterans who have been injured on the battlefield can no longer go to the battlefield in time can also guide new people in the rear.
A well-trained Japanese army in World War II
Therefore, in the early stage of the Japanese army, whether it was for political propaganda considerations or the economic cost-effectiveness ratio of the military department, their attitude towards wounded and sick was good and medical, and they were not bad.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" Late >: Brutality</h1>
Of course, the Japanese army's treatment of wounded soldiers, this kind of good is based on the level of local war, and after the full start of World War II, the Japanese army's attitude and medical investment for wounded soldiers have changed by 180 degrees compared with before.
In order to make a show, Matsui Ishigen also went to the hospital to visit the soldiers
The first is in the investment in wounded soldiers.
In the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Japan could also import a large number of medical supplies from the United States, and its own production of materials could also meet the consumption of wounded soldiers, but with the outbreak of World War II, Japan's medical material reserves plummeted, and many front-line field hospitals could not be replenished, only the lack of drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, surgical equipment and rehabilitation drugs, so that many Japanese troops lacked proper medical treatment after being injured, according to the records of the Japanese 11th Army military doctors in the defense of Hengyang
"The wounded soldiers of the field hospital of the 68th Division went to S in batches, the soldiers shouted mother in their mouths, the hospital lacked medicine from the beginning of the war, and the soldiers who came down from behind could only use normal saline to clean the wounds, and the roar made the hospital look like a shura field."
The lack of medical supplies made these wounded soldiers unable to receive adequate treatment, which was also one of the reasons for the losses of the Japanese army at the Battle of Hengyang.
A humble Japanese field hospital
Second, the wounded are not protected.
Some of the lightly wounded personnel in the Japanese army, in the past, if they had a disease, they could also go to the hospital to enjoy the so-called sick meal, and there were also special people to take care of them. But in the later stages of the war, as long as you are still able to march and fight, all the lightly wounded will return to the front line, whether you are missing arms or legs, as long as you have to go, in the movie "Wildfire", the protagonist Tamura has a serious lung disease, so he applied for hospitalization, and was also rejected by the field hospital. Many of the wounded were actually ordered to return to the battlefield, even in the rear.
This phenomenon was more common in the Post-1943 Pacific War, often because field hospitals no longer had extra beds and medicines to treat the wounded. Instead of this, let them launch a charge against the American troops, consume bullets, and kill and injure the American troops.
Wounded Japanese soldiers who were also on the battlefield in the wildfires
Finally, the treatment of the seriously injured.
The Japanese army's cruelty to the wounded soldiers in the later stages of the war was more reflected in the serious wounded soldiers, and their treatment of the serious wounded soldiers was simple and rough.
Method one: air injection, for the seriously injured who cannot move and are unconscious, they will inject air injections into them to make their gas embolism, so that these wounded soldiers are completely quiet, and generally this work is done by military doctors.
The Japanese soldiers who were seriously injured on the stretcher were estimated to be more fierce and less fortunate
Method two: suicide with grenades, in the Battlefield of Saipan and Attu Island in the Pacific Theater, the US military found many places where the Japanese army concentrated on martyrdom in the field hospital of the Japanese army, which they called "jade fragments", but in fact it was a disregard for the attitude of human life. Of course, not only the field hospital, many of the seriously wounded Japanese soldiers also pretended to be captured by the US army, and then pulled the grenade and died together, and whether it was passive martyrdom or active jade shattering, the fate of these wounded soldiers was very tragic.
Japanese field hospital on Saipan
Way three: to be solved by teammates, here are two ways to solve, the first is in the process of retreat, in order to avoid these wounded soldiers being captured, the seriously wounded who can't move will be solved by the comrades with bayonets, it is worth noting that the wounded soldiers in the TV series are shouting "Long live the emperor", but in fact, these dying wounded soldiers will call more family members or mothers. After dealing with a bayonet, they cut off one part of the wounded soldier (mostly by hand) and bring it back to be cremated and let it enter the shrine.
The Japanese army, forgotten by its comrades-in-arms, could only sit still
The second form is more contrary to the bottom line of human beings, and is recorded in the Japanese anti-war movies "Wildfire" and "Dancing Army Flag", that is, the comrades who cannot walk are treated as food (and) objects (harmonic). So many times, these wounded people not only need to be wary of the attack of the American army, but also need to pay attention to their hungry robes...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="64" > Yutianjun said</h1>
The changes in the treatment of the wounded by the Japanese army actually reflect the origin of Japan's defeat - resources, when the resources are abundant, they can also do show treatment, generally on the verge of defeat, their nature is revealed, the inferior root of the samurai spirit's disregard for life, let them find ways to squeeze the final value of these wounded. For the Japanese military high-level, these wounded soldiers are also part of their "holy war", rather than being captured, it is better to "die with the enemy"
Therefore, in World War II, the Japanese army was not only cruel to the people in the occupied areas, but also more than let go of its own attitude and methods, and Japan also paid for its own madness through the defeat in World War II.
—The end—