During World War II, the United States, as the world's number one power, was far ahead in both economic and military strength
But it's hard to imagine that even the United States suffered terrible captivity in World War II
During the entire period, of the nearly 80,000 U.S. troops who surrendered, more than 30,000 were eventually persecuted to death
And the initiator of all this horror is Japan, a small country in Toei that has committed atrocities against many Asian countries in a vain attempt to build a so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" and has not repented of its atrocities against many Asian countries
This incident is one of the three atrocities of Japan in history, the "Bataan Death March"
It happened in December 1941, after the outbreak of Pearl Harbor, and the war between the United States and Japan broke out in full swing.
Japan immediately launched a sneak attack on the US air base in the Philippines, and the Japanese Army also launched military operations against the Philippines.
"Without Japan, Germany is still strong, and without Germany, Japan alone cannot support it for long", Roosevelt's "first Europe and then Asia" strategy is only to use limited resources in Asia to contain the Japanese army
This has left the US troops in the Philippines in a situation of isolation and helplessness, in the four months of the war against Japan, food and ammunition are seriously lacking, while the tropical jungle operation has caused a large number of soldiers to be infected with malaria, scurvy, etc., and the lack of medicine has killed many soldiers.
This pair of pampered American young masters can be described as worse
Shortly after the war began, on December 11, the Philippine capital ended in defeat.
After two months of struggle, MacArthur, the supreme commander of the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces, was transferred out of the Philippine theater, and we will call this wave of relocation a "strategic retreat."
In April of the following year, the island's successor Supreme Commander led the remaining 78,000 soldiers to surrender
Throughout the Battle of Bataan, the U.S. army resisted for only four months, but it was quickly defeated and surrendered due to lack of food and aid
The Americans are naïve in their thinking that instead of starving to death, they should surrender and find a way to live
However, they were very wrong, there was no concept of prisoner-of-war treatment in Japanese culture, they thought that surrender was shameful, undignified, and they would not treat prisoners of war as human beings at all, and all that awaited them would be all kinds of brutal atrocities
The U.S.-PhilippineS PRISONERS were asked to brave the sweltering heat to walk 65 miles (120 kilometers or so) through the jungles of the Philippines to the Oudner concentration camp, a bloody and terrifying road known as the Bataan Death March
If it's just a hike, it's not a problem for a well-trained soldier
However, only a little food and water the size of eggs were distributed every day, and the captives were already hungry, so these foods were of no use to the captives
When food and water were insufficient, many people began to fall behind and fall because of lack of water and hunger, and they were also beaten and persecuted by the Japanese
As soon as someone is found secretly drinking water during the march, they are immediately shot or beheaded
Throughout the march, the Japanese were looking for reasons to kill prisoners
The Japanese forced the captives to run and stop, then drew his samurai sword from its sheath and drew a large arc in the air. He asked the captives to move their knees in the direction in which he swung his sword, and the Japanese soldiers were excited, shouting "Hooray." At the end of the "warm-up", the officer quickly swung down the combat knife, the blade passed everywhere, and with a "bang", the prisoner was in a different place. The Japanese officer kicked his body into the field, and all the Japanese soldiers walked away laughing happily ------."
In his memoir "Nightmares of Hell", American World War II veteran Lester Tanney recorded how the Japanese army brutally treated prisoners in bataan death marches and concentration camps, and interested friends should search and read
In this way, more than 15,000 American and Filipino captives died on foot for 120 kilometers, which can be said to be the road of death paved with bones
Within two months of arriving in the camp, more than 26,000 people died of starvation, torture, exhaustion, and other reasons.
Those stubborn captives who have not yet died, waiting for them is still a long torment and suffering.
Thanks for reading
Share historical stories for you every day!
If you are interested in the history of World War II, welcome to read the following articles:
Of the four elite units of the Waffen-SS, who is stronger?
What kind of existence is the mysterious and terrifying German Gestapo?
Counting the combat performance of fighter jets in World War II, who is better?