Since 1840, China has experienced two Opium Wars, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the invasion of the Eight-Power Alliance, the September 18 Incident, and the all-out invasion of Japan, and was forced to sign a series of humiliating treaties. The great powers burned and plundered the land of China, harmed our compatriots, occupied our land, and seized our country's treasures. The ancient Chinese nation suffered from war, was bullied, and was once regarded as a "sick man."
At the most dangerous moment for the Chinese nation, countless patriotic sons and daughters of china stepped forward, threw their heads and spilled their blood, and waged the greatest patriotic war in the history of the Chinese nation -- the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression -- in an extremely arduous environment.
The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression against Japanese Aggression, which Chinese, was the first war since modern China to achieve complete victory against foreign invasion, which not only defended national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also promoted the awakening and unity of the Chinese nation, and was an important part of the world anti-fascist war, making outstanding contributions to world peace and enhancing China's national status and influence.
After the defeat of the Japanese invaders, the matter was not completely over, and the next big thing was to try the war criminals. It is the consensus of all countries that the aggressors have committed heinous crimes on Chinese soil, and that those who have waged wars of aggression, committed war crimes and violated humanity must be severely punished.
Seven Class A war criminals, Hideki Tojo, Kenji Toihara, Ishigen Matsui, Akira Muto, Seishiro Sakagaki, Hiroshi Hirota, and Shotaro Kimura, were sentenced to hanging by hanging by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and received the punishment they deserved. However, a very important leader of the invasion of China was missing- Okamura Ninji.
Pictures of the tokyo trial scene
Before the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Okamura Ningji was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China, and it is not an exaggeration to call himself the number one war criminal invading China. In 1941, Okamura Ninji concentrated the strength of more than 70,000 troops of the 26th and 110th Divisions and 7 brigades of the Japanese Army, and carried out a large-scale sweep of the anti-Japanese base areas behind our enemy lines at the same time, resulting in countless military and civilian casualties.
Why did Okamura Ningji, who committed heinous crimes in China, escape trial, be acquitted, and enjoy his old age in peace? For more information, see breakdown below.
Okamura was born on May 15, 1884, and attended the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School and the Japanese Army University. Since his youth, Okamura has developed a strong interest in China and has long been engaged in China-related work. In 1917, Okamura began to go directly into the hinterland of China, engaging in covert aggression mainly in foreign affairs. After Okamura returned to China, he vigorously promoted the expansionism of invading China and dominating Asia.
In 1927, Okamura led troops to Qingdao and began to personally command the army to invade China. In 1928, he returned to Japan as the chief of the War History Section of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, and continued to plan the conspiracy to invade and occupy northeast China. After the Kwantung Army killed Zhang Zuolin, Okamura advocated that "only a war with China or the conclusion of an economic alliance with Manchuria and Mongolia should be considered." After that, Okamura Ningji's military positions rose higher and higher until he was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China.
Okamura Ninji
During his stay in China, Okamura Ningji not only commanded the siege of Xuzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guilin, and Liuzhou, but also planned to prepare for the establishment of the puppet Manchuria, sign the Tanggu Agreement, and plan the "North China Autonomy Movement." In 1941 and 1942 alone, Okamura launched several inhumane "sweeps," resulting in countless Chinese military and civilian casualties. Zuo Quan, a famous patriotic general, died heroically in an anti-sweeping battle to cover the retreat of the Northern Bureau and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.
After the victory of the War of Resistance, Okamura surrendered to China on behalf of Japan as the supreme commander of the army in China. At 9:00 a.m. on September 9, 1945, a signing ceremony for the surrender of the Japanese army invading China to China was held in the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanjing. The Representative of the Japanese side is Ninji Okamura, and the Representative of the Chinese Side is He Yingqin, a well-known general of the "pro-Japanese faction." At the surrender ceremony, Okamura did not show too much trepidation, because he knew that although he was a defeated general, he was still a useful person.
On the day that Japan announced its unconditional surrender, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Okamura Ningji: Japan has officially announced its unconditional surrender, and after the military operation is stopped, the Japanese army can temporarily maintain its existing weapons and equipment, maintain the current situation, and maintain order and transportation in its location, at the behest of the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army, He Qin.
The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army fought bloodily against the Japanese army in North China and Central China for many years, and they had a great advantage in accepting the surrender of the Japanese army in these major areas. Chiang Kai-shek's intentions were obvious, and as soon as his troops did not reach that side, they used the Japanese army under Okamura Ningji, and finally enabled him to accept all the weapons and equipment of the Japanese army and everything in the occupied areas. Okamura immediately understood Chiang Kai-shek's intentions and immediately replied: "Obey the order and form a close alliance with the Nationalist government."
After that, Chiang Kai-shek sent Shao Yulin to meet with Okamura Ningji and promised to "allow him to atone for his crimes with his labor performance and to avoid punishment as war criminals." What is "atonement for hard work"? Simply put, it is to atone for sins. As we said earlier, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to accept all the weapons of the surrendered Japanese army. Okamura Ninji knew very well that as long as he ordered all the weapons and chassis of the surrendered Japanese army to be handed over to Chiang Kai-shek and resisted the acceptance of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, it would be a great "labor achievement." Therefore, Okamura Ningji promised in succession: To live up to chairman Chiang's expectations.
At the time of the surrender ceremony, Okamura Ningji had secretly reached an agreement with Chiang Kai-shek, knowing that he would not be punished, and naturally there would be no trepidation or panic. After that, Okamura Ningji received exceptionally preferential treatment, not only was he not imprisoned, but he was not even disarmed from the headquarters of the invading Dispatch Army in Nanjing, and there were anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, and other heavy weapons on the room.
At that time, domestic and international calls for Okamura's trial were extremely strong. However, Chiang Kai-shek was hesitant to send Okamura Ningji to trial, and instead appointed Okamura Ningji as "the minister of liaison between Japanese officers and soldiers in the Chinese theater." This will not only allow Okamura Toshiji to escape the trial, so that he can "make a contribution" in the work of deporting Japanese troops and Japanese overseas Chinese, but also maintain relations with Japan through him.
Okamura submitted a surrender letter to He Yingqin
On January 19, 1946, MacArthur, commander of allied forces in Japan, established the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals. The headquarters of the Allied Forces in Japan demanded that Okamura be sent to Japan for trial, and Chiang Kai-shek summoned He Yingqin, Chen Cheng, and others to discuss countermeasures. He Yingqin, Chen Cheng, and others found many reasons to excuse Okamura Ningji and keep him in China from trial.
Later, the Executive Yuan made public the following decision: Admiral Okamura Ninhji was not allowed to return to Japan, but he could not be detained, and he would still live in the local area in the name of the liaison squad leader and assigned a number of staff officers. The reason is that since the surrender of Japan, Okamura Ningji has made remarkable achievements in maintaining law and order in Nanjing, assisting in receiving and receiving surrender, and he is still needed to assist in the work.
As soon as this news came out, countless Chinese sons and daughters felt extremely indignant. In fact, shortly after Japan's surrender, there were numerous calls for Okamura's execution as soon as possible. Under the headline "Accusation against Okamura Ninji, who was the executioner who slaughtered my compatriots and should be severely punished," the Xinhua Ribao published a letter from a reader whose family was destroyed because of The Japanese invasion, which aroused great indignation among the people and pointed the finger at Okamura Ningji.
It has been nearly a year since Japan surrendered, but how can it not be infuriating that Okamura, the culprit, not only did not receive the punishment he deserved, but was instead protected by Chiang Kai-shek and lived a life of leisure in China? How can such a disregard for the will of the people not lose the hearts and minds of the people?
Embarrassingly, at the same time, Chiang Kai-shek did not forget to vigorously publicize his anti-Japanese exploits. It is a fact that no one can deny that the Nationalist army shouldered the heavy responsibility of resisting the invading Japanese army on the frontal battlefield and made indelible contributions to the final victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. However, Chiang Kai-shek's act of sheltering Okamura Ningji made the people's hearts and minds lost. Until this time, Chiang Kai-shek was still thinking of using Okamura Ningji to deal with the People's Liberation Army and improve relations with Japan, but he never realized that the people's will was actually the most important.
It was not until the second half of 1948, when the Tokyo trials entered its final stages, that domestic calls for Okamura Ninji to be sent to trial were so strong that Chiang Kai-shek allowed Okamura to stand trial in China. The Military Tribunal of the Ministry of National Defense indicted Okamura Ningji on the grounds that "during his term of office, he was suspected of condoning the massacre of civilians by his subordinates" and set up a temporary court that could accommodate more people to observe, in order to show fairness and transparency.
When the people learned the news, they were extremely excited and strongly demanded that Okamura Ninji be severely punished. At that time, a newspaper published the following comment: Okamura Ninji led a million troops to ravage most of China, which was an incalculable blood debt. If such a culprit war criminal also escapes the death penalty, it will be too lawless. The eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was also fought too unjustly!
However, the process of the trial was extremely disappointing and angry. Okamura Ninji committed numerous crimes in northern China and even in China as a whole, but the indictment did not mention anything, only a few crimes committed by several of his subordinates in the south. And Okamura Ninji was even more unrepentant, and even openly said in court:
Japan's foreign policy in the past, the stain of its aggression, really must be reflected. But the great goal of liberating East Asia, from the perspective of humanity and human progress, I think is still bright and just. I think that even if the crimes committed by subordinates are facts, they are also sporadic wrongdoings that occur at the lower levels, which have nothing to do with the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief of the front, and are not a matter of joint responsibility for crimes. Nevertheless, I should bear the moral responsibility.
The audience saw that Okamura had pushed all the blame clean and angrily demanded that Okamura's war crimes be pursued. However, the presiding judge only frequently struck the hammer to ask the audience to remain silent. The defense lawyer hired by Chiang Kai-shek for Okamura Ningji even more openly sang praises and praises for him, listing Okamura Ningji's "good deeds" of supplying peasant cotton cloth to peasants and cracking down on traitorous businessmen during the period of his invasion of China. The audience was furious, and many rushed up to tear Okamura to shreds.
After the end of the trial, the verdict was not pronounced in court as was customary, and the sentencing time was repeatedly delayed. On January 26, 1949, the Shanghai Military Tribunal conducted a final public trial of Okamura Ningji. Before the trial began, the judges had been told that they must give the result of "Okamura Ninji's innocence". Okamura was silent in court, and was briefed by his lawyer before finally saying " Thank you for the difficulties caused by the postponement of the trial due to illness " . At four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the court gave the verdict:
Prosecutor: Prosecutor of the Tribunal
Defendants: Okamura Ninji, male, 66 years old, from Tokyo, Japan, former commander-in-chief of the Japanese Dispatch Force in China, army general
Designated defenders: Lawyer Jiang Yiping, Lawyer Yang Peng, Lawyer Qian Longsheng
The above-mentioned defendants were prosecuted by the prosecutor of this court for war crimes, and the court ruled as follows: Okamura Ninji was not guilty
Rationale: The condition constituting a war crime is the wanton massacre, robbery during the course of hostilities ... During the term of office of the defendants in this case, the Japanese troops stationed in Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and other places committed sporadic crimes, and the direct superiors of the garrison have assumed the responsibility for the crimes, and this court has separately convicted them and is now serving sentences. The above sporadic crimes cannot be proved to be linked to the defendant, so they should not be held liable for complicity. Combining the above items, it shall be found not guilty in accordance with law.
Trial scene
When Mao Zedong learned of the news, he immediately issued a solemn statement condemning the authorities for acquitting Okamura Ningji and demanding that Okamura Ningji be re-arrested and imprisoned. Public opinion throughout the country unanimously condemned it, and people in Shanghai spontaneously put up signs in many places that read, "No Japanese war criminals are allowed to be transported away."
However, Chiang Kai-shek still chose to go against the will of the people, and ordered someone to send a car to escort Okamura Ningji to the docks and return to Japan by American steamship. In this case, Acting President Lee Jong-in ordered the re-arrest of Okamura Ninji. However, Tang Enbo, who was then the commander of the Shanghai garrison, withheld Li Zongren's orders and did not issue them, covering Okamura Ningji's smooth return to Japan.
After Okamura's return to Japan, Lee negotiated with the Headquarters of allied forces in Japan to re-arrest Okamura, but MacArthur refused. In this regard, Okamura Ningji proudly said: I have survived the disaster again, more than once survived the disaster, it is really lucky! The anger and disappointment of the Chinese people has reached an intolerable level, as some people say:
This news made us sad and speechless, and we could not speak for a long time. Is it true that a person who participated in the abhorrent massacre of Chinese was acquitted... It should be recalled that during the war our people were killed, houses were burned, property was seized, sisters were raped, the loss of life and the destruction of property were incalculable. Even if Okamura is executed according to law, it will not calm the anger of the people. But Okamura's acquittal turned our anger into helplessness.
Li Zongren
Since then, Chiang Kai-shek has also listened to Okamura's suggestions on many occasions, such as secretly recruiting a group of Japanese young men with rich combat experience from Japan to form a military advisory group to assist in training officers and men of the army, navy and air force. After Okamura was freed, Chiang Kai-shek also hired him as a special instructor at the "Revolutionary Practice Research Institute" and treated him with great courtesy.
In September 1966, Okamura died of illness in Tokyo at the age of 82. Writing this, the author can't help but feel angry at those heroic martyrs who spilled blood on the battlefield, and their fingers trembled with anger! In order to let more people know the truth of this matter, welcome to like, forward and comment. I wish the motherland more prosperity and strength, and no one dares to deceive anymore!