What evil deeds did the Japanese Osaka Fourth Division, the Kansai Army, do in China?

The Osaka 4th Division was a relatively weak division. It was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War and was dubbed the weak. The Fourth Osaka Division was established in 1888. Its soldiers are mainly composed of vegetable vendors in Osaka. It is one of the oldest divisions in the Japanese army. This force has four regiments, equipped with first-class weapons and equipment, and can be called the "elite" of the Japanese army. However, not long after its establishment, the reputation of "coward" spread throughout the Japanese army. In particular, the Eighth Regiment, the core unit of the Fourth Division, was nicknamed the "Eighth Regiment Not Afraid of Defeat" because of its repeated defeats in the Russo-Japanese War. After that, until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Fourth Division never went to the front line again.

Osaka Fourth Division (representative of Japan's Kansai Army):

In many people's minds, all Japanese troops in World War II were desperadoes. However, few people know that there was an alternative force in the Japanese army at that time known for its poor combat effectiveness. It was the Osaka Fourth Division known as "the first useless division in the Imperial Army". Japanese historian Seki Yukisuke once described various anecdotes about the Fourth Division in detail in his article "The First Wasted Division of the Japanese Army". Interestingly, this famous "weak brigade" actually retained its own designation after the war. To this day, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force still has the Fourth Division.

In 1937, due to the shortage of Japanese troops stationed in China, the Japanese base camp transferred the Fourth Division to Northeast China and placed it under the Kwantung Army. How can we invigorate this army with fighting spirit? The Japanese base camp really put a lot of thought into it, and concluded that the commander plays a decisive role in the combat effectiveness of a unit, so the Japanese base camp successively transferred several famous generals to train the division, such as Yamashita Fengfumi, nicknamed the "Malay Tiger" He once served as the division commander, but he could not do anything about the free and unorganized Fourth Division.

After two years of intensive training, the Fourth Division finally had a chance to show its face. In 1939, a war broke out between the Soviet Union and Japan in the Nomenkan area on the Sino-Mongolian border. The Kwantung Army ordered the Osaka and Sendai divisions stationed in the northern part of the puppet Manchukuo to mobilize urgently to reinforce the front line. After receiving the order, the Sendai Division (the Second Division) marched for four days from Hailar to Nomenkan. They entered the battle the same day they arrived on the battlefield, but were quickly defeated by the Soviet army.

On the contrary, although the dispatch order of the Fourth Division was issued, it was delayed. The reason is that after the mobilization order was issued, the number of disease patients in the division increased sharply. Looking around, the entire battalion was full of officers and soldiers who asked to stay behind for various reasons. The excited Japanese commander was so furious that he personally sat in the infirmary to participate in the diagnosis. Then he reluctantly organized the troops and marched to the front. The joke about "the commander changed his profession to become a doctor" spread among the Japanese army. However, the matter was not over. The soldiers of the Fourth Division played a new trick - passive and sabotage. From Hailar to Nomenkan, the Second Division walked for four days, but the Fourth Division walked for eight full days, and a large number of people fell behind. Coincidentally, on the day the advance team of the Fourth Division arrived at the front line, Su and Japan declared a ceasefire. When the news came, the laggard officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division quickly followed up as if they had taken a powerful pill. Even many of the officers and soldiers left behind rushed to the front line "sickly" while still complaining with great frustration that they had no chance to fight.

The irony is that on the way back, the fully equipped and energetic Fourth Division became the most powerful force in the Japanese army, but the Second Division, which was the first to arrive on the battlefield, was The armor was thrown away, and the camp was full of wounded soldiers. The officer in charge of news and propaganda of the Kwantung Army really couldn't stand it. He took up his pen and changed the headline of the news article "My Invincible Imperial Army's Fourth Division Returns with Power" that the Japanese newspaper submitted for review to "My Invincible Imperial Army's Fourth Division Has No Injury". "The Fourth Division Returns with Power", mocking this "weak" unit in a roundabout way.

Although they made a fool of themselves, the Fourth Division was quite lucky. Because at that time, the Japanese army invading central China was in a tight war and urgently needed reinforcements. The Japanese military had to give up pursuing the Fourth Division and urgently mobilized it south. reinforce. The Fourth Division suddenly transformed and became a member of the Japanese elite Eleventh Army.