Yoshinori Shirakawa, Baron, Commander-in-Chief of the Shanghai Dispatch Army of Japan, a general in the Army, participated in the Sino-Japanese War, and later served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army, the Minister of War, and was known as one of the three masters of the first batch of students of the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School.
01. Below: Japanese General Yoshinori Shirakawa
On January 28, 1932, the Japanese attacked Zhabei and threatened the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Shanghai. Unlike the japanese army's forecast, jiang Guangnai, commander-in-chief of the Nineteenth Route Army, and Cai Tingkai, commander of the nineteenth route army, did not pursue "non-resistance doctrine", but rose up to resist with the support of the Fifth Army of General Zhang Zhizhong of the Central Army and the Song Ziwen Taxation Police Regiment.
This local war lasted for more than thirty days, and due to isolation and helplessness, the Nineteenth Route Army was finally forced to retreat.
Because the battle situation on the front line was always unclear, in order to strengthen the command, in late February 1932, the Japanese army officially established the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and Yoshishi Shirakawa, who was then the Japanese Military Counselor, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and on the 27th, he departed from Tokyo for Shanghai. He arrived in Shanghai on the 29th and took up his post as commander on March 1.
02. Pictured below: Yoshinori Shirakawa and his staff from Tokyo.
At this time, after more than a month of fighting, the Nineteenth Route Army ran out of ammunition and food, and had begun to be forced to retreat. On 3 March, the 19th Route Army announced its retreat to the Zhenru-Jiading Line, the fighting in Shanghai had actually ended, and Shirakawa's arrival in Shanghai had not really played any role. The Japanese were also unable to launch a deeper attack, and the two sides began negotiations under the "mediation" of the great powers. Shirakawa's daily routine is to handle the aftermath of the Japanese army that was killed in the battle.
Shirakawa has a penchant for military parades and is a patient who holds a military parade at the first opportunity.
03. Below: After Shirakawa arrived in Shanghai, he immediately organized a military parade at the Gongda Spinning Factory.
April 29 is the birthday of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, the so-called Tencho Festival. Shirakawa decided to hold a celebration in Hongkou Park, the Japanese concession in Shanghai, to show off force and express pressure on Chinese negotiators. According to his plan, the ceremony was divided into two parts, celebrating the emperor's birthday and a congratulatory ceremony with a military parade.
04. Below: Japanese troops preparing for a military parade in Shanghai's Hongkou Park
What Shirakawa did not expect was that there was a Guangdong Chinese man named Chen Mingshu who was ready to take his life in this military parade.
05. Below: Chen Mingshu and the Cantonese generals Huang Qixiang, Zhang Fakui, Ye Ting and Guo Moruo, Chen Mingshu is the second person from left, he is the spiritual leader of the Nineteenth Route Army.
Chen Mingshu, a Native of Guangdong, is only responsible for providing the funds and materials needed for the event, and the real person responsible for formulating the specific plan is Wang Yaqiao, the leader of the Axe Gang in Shanghai.
06. Below: Wang Yaqiao, the leader of the Shanghai Axe Gang
Wang Yaqiao, China's most famous assassin in the 1920s, planned the assassination of several dignitaries, including Chang Shenkai. Wang Yaqiao fully investigated Shirakawa's mode of action and planned the assassination according to his guard style, planning to attack and kill senior Japanese military and political personnel in Shanghai at the Tianchang Festival celebration ceremony after the Military Parade in Hongkou Park.
Hongkou Park, where the Japanese army paraded, belonged to the Japanese Concession at that time, and only Japanese and citizens of Korea, which had become a Japanese colony, could enter, and Wang's subordinates did not meet such conditions. As a result, Wang Yaqiao found An Changhao, a high-ranking member of the Korean government-in-exile in Shanghai, and through him contacted the warrior Yin Bongji, who angrily agreed to carry out this task.
07. Picture below: Yin Fengji took a photo before setting off on the mission.
08. Below: From left to right, the review platform was held by Japan at the end of the River in Shanghai, the minister in Shanghai, Aoi Shigemitsu, the commander of the Japanese Third Fleet, General Yoshizaburo Nomura, the commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, General Yoshinori Shirakawa, and the commander of the Ninth Division.
Halfway through the ceremony in Hongkou Park, General Shirakawa and other Japanese officers stepped onto the parade platform. At this time, Yin Fengji, who hid the bomb in the kettle and lunch box, also quietly approached them. Just as these senior members of the Japanese military and political circles were solemnly singing "Jun's Generation", Yin Fengji dropped the bomb on the review platform and landed at the foot of the river. Because of an assassination experience a month ago, Admiral Nomura Yoshizaburo reacted first, but no sooner had the alarm been raised than the bomb exploded, and none of the five people in the picture were spared. The secretary of the Shanghai Overseas Chinese League, Chang YounoMori, who took this photo, was also seriously injured by the explosion.
After the bomb exploded, four of the five people on the stage were blown away, and only Shirakawa Yoshinori was still standing on the stage, but was seriously injured.
09. Below: Guards are rescuing Yoshinori Shirakawa, the only one left on the stage
Subsequently, Yin Fengji was arrested.
10. Below: Yin Fengji was arrested
Yin Fengji was strong and unyielding after being captured by the Japanese army, and tried to commit suicide, but failed. Yoon Bong-gi was taken to Japan and shot and killed in Kobe.
The bombed Shirakawa Yoshinori was rushed to the hospital, and although Japan used the best medical power, Shirakawa Yoshi, in addition to the severe injury to his chest and abdomen, had a number of small shrapnel throughout his body, some embedded in internal organs, and his condition improved after the operation. A month later, on May 23, Yoshinori Shirakawa died.
11. Below: The Japanese army shows the bloody clothes of Shirakawa Yoshinori after being bombed
12. Below: Shirakawa is in a hospital bed, which is the last photo of his life.
After Yoshinori Shirakawa's death, the body was transported back to Japan.
13. Pictured below: The body of Yoshinori Shirakawa was transported back to Japan by the cruiser Ryuda
14. Below: After the body reached Japan, the convoy transported it to his residence
15. Below: The Emperor and Empress of Japan sent wreaths to pay homage to Yoshinori Shirakawa.
The dog died, and the owner symbolically expressed regret.
16. Below: Japanese media reported the news that Yoshinori Shirakawa was dead
This assassination operation, funded by Chen Mingshu, a Guangdong native of the Nineteenth Route Army, and drawn up a plan by Wang Yaqiao, the leader of the Shanghai Axe Gang, was very successful. After Yin Bongji's arrest, the Japanese army hated him to the bone, killed him, and buried him under the pavement of the Kanazawa Army Cemetery. After Japan's defeat in 1945, the South Korean government built a monument to his burial site and called him a national hero of Korea.
Zhuang Zhao, Chen Mingshu! Zhuang Zhao, Wang Yaqiao! Zhuang Zhao, Yin Fengji!
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