After World War II, Japan was called "peace-loving" by the United States.

What Japanese soldiers did in World War II reminds us nothing more than cruelty, ferocity and killing people without blinking an eye. Then they often shouted "loyalty to the emperor" and "bushido", and so on. They all seem to be fugitives. However, few people know that among the "imperial army" whose equipment and military quality were at the world-class leading level at that time, there was an alternative army that was "famous" because of its poor combat effectiveness. It is the fourth division of Osaka, which is known as "the first defeated division of the Imperial Army". Japanese historian Guan Xingfu described the anecdote of the Fourth Division in detail in the article "The First Remnants of the Japanese Army", focusing on a "Buffalo Battle" conducted by the 104 Division 108 Wing in Guangdong. . Interestingly, this famous "weak brigade" actually kept its own number after the war. To this day, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force still retains the "Fourth Division".

Compilation background

The fourth division, also known as Osaka Division and Manufacturer Division, was established in 1888. It is one of the 17 standing divisions established by the Japanese army before the outbreak of World War II. It belongs to the first division of the army and is one of the oldest divisions of the Japanese army. The formation place is Osaka, Japan, and the soldiers are mainly composed of vegetable sellers and tourists in Osaka. Osaka Fourth Division, code name "Dian"-this code name is unique. Other Japanese divisions have symbols of martial spirit, such as the "courage" of the second division and the "martial arts" of the ninth division. The origin of the word "Dian" in the Fourth Division is because there is a Dianchuan River running through Osaka's most prosperous Mei Tian business district. Using this code name is really rustic and charming.

Combat posture

On the eve of the war, most officers and men pretended to be sick, and the furious commander sat in the infirmary. According to the account of Japanese military historian Guan Xingfu, the actual combat capability of the Fourth Division is not high. In fact, this is also relative. The Fourth Division, with about 22,000 people and four wings, has first-class equipment standards and can be called the "elite" of the Japanese army. However, not long after its establishment, the reputation of "loser" spread throughout the Japanese army. In particular, the eighth United Front, the core force of the Fourth Division, won the nickname of "the eighth United Front that is not afraid of failure" because of repeated battles and defeats in the Russo-Japanese War. Since then, the Fourth Division has never been to the front again until the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. However, this does not mean that it has no chance to show its "brave" spirit. 1933, Private Matsui of the Fourth Division ran a red light in downtown Osaka and clashed with the police. In order to "safeguard the dignity of the Japanese imperial army", the head of the division, Koichi Miyauchi, resolutely led troops to destroy the police station, which is known as the "Osaka incident" in history, and the "military courage" of the Fourth Division of Japan can be seen. 1937, due to the shortage of Japanese troops stationed in China, the Japanese base camp transferred the Fourth Division to the northeast of China and placed it under the current Fourth Division in Osaka.

The establishment of the East Army. At that time, the Japanese base camp really took a lot of thought to make this unit glow. The conclusion is that the commander has a decisive role in the strength of a unit's combat effectiveness. As a result, the Japanese base camp dispatched several famous soldiers to rectify the divisions. For example, Tomomi Yamashita, nicknamed "Tiger of Malay", once served as the head of the Fourth Division, but it was only in desperation that he brought the Fourth Division, which he was used to. After two years of training, the fourth division finally had the opportunity to "show its face".

1939, the Soviet Union and Japan fought in the Nomenkan area on the Sino-Mongolian border, and the Kwantung Army ordered two divisions stationed in Osaka and Sendai in the northern part of the Puppet Manchukuo to urgently mobilize and reinforce the front line. After receiving the order, Sendai Division (Second Division) rushed from Hailar to Nomenkan for four days, and went into battle on the day of arrival, but was quickly beaten out of the water by the Soviet Union.

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 patients in the division increased sharply. Looking around, the whole battalion is officers and men who ask to stay behind for various reasons. In a rage, the excited Japanese joint captain personally sat in the infirmary to participate in the diagnosis, which barely organized the troops to go to the front line, and the joke of "the joint captain turned to be a doctor" spread among the Japanese army. However, things did not end there, and the soldiers of the Fourth Division played a new trick-"passive slack". From Hailar to Nomenkan, the second division walked for four days, and the fourth division walked for eight days, and a large number of people fell behind. Coincidentally, on the day when the advance team of the Fourth Division arrived at the front line, the Soviet Union and Japan declared a truce. The news came that the officers and men of the fourth division who stayed behind quickly followed up and returned to the team like eating "Hercules Pills". Even many officers and men who stayed behind generously "fell ill" and went to the front line, regretfully complaining that they didn't have the chance to fight this battle! At that time, the head of the team, Shigeru Sawada, said that the headquarters of the Fourth Division was too scattered.

Ironically, when returning home, the Fourth Division, full of staff and full of energy, became the most formidable force in the Japanese army, while the Second Division, which took the lead in rushing to the battlefield, was disheveled and scarred. The kwantung army officer in charge of news propaganda can't stand it any longer. He held up a pen, presented the news headline "I am invincible in the Fourth Imperial Army Division's Return" to Japanese newspapers for review, and changed it to "I am invincible in the Fourth Imperial Army Division's Return", which indirectly mocked this "soft egg" force. Although it made a fool of itself, the Fourth Division was quite lucky, because the Japanese invasion of Central China was relatively tight and needed reinforcements, so the Japanese military department had to give up the responsibility of investigating the Fourth Division and urgently dispatched the Fourth Division to reinforce south. The Fourth Division was reorganized as a member of the elite Japanese Army 1 1.

Battle of Buffalo

Due to the expansion of the war scale and the shortage of Japanese troops, reservists were put into active service. 104 Division 108 Wing soldiers are mostly over 30 years old, mainly Osaka soldiers, and most of them are veterans. 1938 10 in the Guangzhou campaign launched by the Japanese army, 108 United was transferred for support because of insufficient troops, which led to the "Buffalo Campaign" incident that made the Japanese high-level officials laugh and cry.

When the Japanese army attacked Guangdong, Guangdong's troops basically went north to resist Japan, leaving few troops behind. The Japanese army suddenly attacked Guangzhou, and the Guangdong army was caught off guard. Guangdong army * * * Yu Hanmou hastily deployed, and the two armies fought in Zengcheng. At that time, 108 United just landed in Daya bay. After landing, the Japanese high-level officials constantly ordered 108 United to go to Zengcheng for support. Japanese high-level officials are well aware of the habit of Osaka soldiers-to shrink back when fighting and to rush forward after fighting. In short, picking peaches is the best. High-level threats 108 United Military Chief: As long as you don't rush to reinforce, let your battalion chief be loyal to the emperor.

But one day passed, two days passed, and 108 United has not yet arrived in Zengcheng, and there is no reason for Japanese high-level officials to punish them, because 108 United has justified reasons not to arrive in Zengcheng.

According to the war history of 108 United, oversight told us to arrive in one day, and we should speed up our March and reach the front line in half a day. However, we just landed and are very tired, and we have to carry so much equipment. What shall we do? The answer is: snatch livestock from the people of China and let them carry equipment. That's a good idea. 108 United just started, robbed many people's cows, carried guns and bullets on their backs, and went into battle lightly on the road, so as to run faster.

It's good to start on the road. But I ran far away and had a big problem. It is still very hot in Guangdong in June. 108. 108 All the cattle caught by United are buffaloes. After a long walk, all the buffaloes felt tired and went to rest in the water. Japanese soldiers can't stop them. This time, 108 United's guns and bullets were soaked in the water. The United officers and men were very happy and immediately sent them a telegram: our guns and bullets were flooded, so we took the time to fish them out, but it would take a day to dry them. So I hung it all day. When the gun is dry, the battle of Zengcheng will be over. 108 United rushed to Zengcheng after seeing the situation. Officers can't laugh and cry, and they can't kill the captain-just use your head if you do bad things with good intentions!

Why can't Osaka soldiers fight? Sassu has lived in Osaka for more than ten years and interviewed many Osaka veterans. He asked the veterans, how did you fight in the war? Osaka veterans told him that Osaka is a commercial city. We are loyal to the emperor during the war, but we have to bargain with the emperor-the emperor represents the central government, and the central government always collects taxes, while we businessmen have to bargain with the emperor to try to fool * * *. Business is like this, so is fighting. Keep a sense of proportion when fighting. Bushido means that if we don't do it, life comes first. It is necessary to play tricks secretly.

gain far-flung fame

"Fighting with the Fourth Division, the battles that could have been won will also be lost ..." In fact, the reputation of the Fourth Division has long been heard by the China army. As early as the "Xuzhou Battle", China's army encountered a "strange Japanese army". At that time, facing the encirclement of the Japanese army, Li Zongren commanded 400,000 troops to skillfully jump out of the encirclement of the Japanese army. After the breakthrough, China's army was overstaffed, lost a lot of heavy equipment, and its combat effectiveness dropped sharply. Just when crossing a road at the junction of Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, I found a well-equipped and advancing Japanese army on the road ahead. At this time, the exhausted China army panicked and left the road in confusion, retreating to the nearby mountains.

Strangely, after a long time, I didn't see the Japanese chasing me either. The commander of the Chinese army was surprised to send someone to spy on me, but he saw that the Japanese army had no intention of chasing me. On the contrary, it still cooks openly on both sides of the road. This "strange Japanese army" is the southward detachment of the Fourth Division. As China just jumped out of the encirclement of the Japanese army, the situation was still very dangerous, so the Japanese army had to cross the road wholeheartedly and crustily skin of head. As a result, have a safe trip. Afterwards, the captain of the Japanese detachment in the south plausibly explained to his superiors on the grounds of "strictly observing operational discipline": "No order was received to intercept the China army."

News spread to China's army, saying that "Japanese soldiers in Osaka can't fight" spread like wildfire. Every battle, China's army heard that the opponent was Osaka Division, and its morale increased greatly, scrambling to fight with the Fourth Division. (Comment: Softness has always been a universal truth. ) The Fourth Division, which had just arrived at the front line, was caught off guard, and suffered several cowardly failures one after another, even involving friendly troops, so that the neighboring troops complained to the No.1 1 1 military headquarters: "If the Fourth Division entered the war, the battle that could have been won would have been defeated, because the enemy's morale was greatly boosted ..." Since then, Japan's No.11kloc On one occasion, 1 1 Anan Wiki, the commander of the army, believed in evil and sent the fourth division as the main force in the second "Changsha Battle". As a result, the fourth division was thrown out as soon as it entered Changsha, and the whole line was defeated. The * * * army guarding Changsha is Xue Yue's elite, and only Anaviki, the "elm head", will focus on the fourth division. In view of the performance in the "Changsha Battle", the Fourth Division became the "Sangmenxing" of the Japanese army, and the base camp had to change it into a direct army because there was no army.

Some soldiers of the Fourth Division exploded: "I am a soldier of the First Division. At the beginning of the war, I belonged to the Kwantung Army-elite. At the beginning of the 11th Army, I was still elite. Finally, the eleventh military uniform couldn't fit us, so we had to change the base camp to the direct jurisdiction ... "

Help first

"Help first" is a fashionable farewell. Although the Fourth Division is timid, it is a first-class division with many veterans. Because the Japanese army suffered great combat losses and urgently needed to supplement veterans, officers and men of the Fourth Division were irregularly transferred to supplement other divisions. At that time, the temporary special words of various Japanese ministries all had their own characteristics. For example, the Second Division said that "the military campaign has been going on for a long time" when the war was good; When the situation is bad, say "nine sections and a half swords" (the Yasukuni Shrine is in Tokyo for nine and a half sections). However, when the officers and men of the Fourth Division say goodbye, they often say "it is very important to keep fit", that is, "take care of your health", "health is the most important" or simply "save your life first".

When the Japanese attacked Hengyang and Zhijiang, they met with stubborn resistance from the China army. At the beginning of the battle, the veterans of the Fourth Division were repeating their old tricks, from officers and noncommissioned officers to veterans, refusing passive and reasonable fighting. When the injured Japanese soldiers went to the hospital, the "senior" of the Fourth Division who was "recovering from illness" also asked: "Why did you fight so hard?" When asked why they didn't want to take part in the war, these "patients" proudly said, "It's boring to hear that we were faking this attack. If it is the main attack, it is natural to have a good fight. " Napoleon once said, "There is no waste in the world, but it is misplaced."

"The Fourth Army is a good annotation. The independent No.1 15 Corps of Engineers, composed of reserve officers and soldiers of the 4th Division led by Colonel Hengshan, has made great contributions in the Malay Peninsula. Ito Masayoshi mentioned in "The Last of the Imperial Army" that this wing played a huge role in repairing the bridges and culverts bombed by the Allied Forces. " The incompetence of Osaka soldiers is just a misinformation. At least for this wing, its dedication makes the senior officers of the military division command express their gratitude and admiration day and night, and its selfless dedication is extremely admirable ... "Some comments: It seems that this wing is not bad. In the final analysis, it is still repairing bridges. When the Pacific War broke out, all Japanese ministries were engaged in the fight against the Allies, and the Fourth Division finally had the opportunity to make contributions. The base camp intends to put the division under the Confederate army, but the Confederate army only reluctantly put it into the reserve team and still stationed in Shanghai.

Until April 1942, the 4th division was transferred to the Philippines to join the 5th, 18, and 2 1 divisions to make a final attack on the koregidor fortress. In this battle, the Fourth Division made uncharacteristically smooth progress and successfully completed its task. Finally, all the American and Philippine troops in Bataan Peninsula surrendered. Afterwards, I learned that it was not the degeneration of the Fourth Division, but that the US and Philippine troops in the Philippines had been out of supply for many days and struggled for months on "salt and vegetables", which was nothing new at all.

However, this victory has brought great glory to the Fourth Division, especially in Osaka, my hometown. It is a kind of pride that "thanks to the dispatch of the Fourth Division, the enemy in Bataan was defeated". The only regret is that it was discovered afterwards that the vendors in Osaka used this opportunity to celebrate the victory to resell wartime rations and take the opportunity to do big business. For all the ins and outs of the fourth division, or base camp know clearly, so for the fact that how to * * * is racking their brains. Due to the reputation of the Fourth Division, it was not very popular in various war zones, so until the end of the war, this unit had been hovering behind the Japanese front and never participated in major battles again.

love peace

"Peace-loving" surrendered and set up a stall in front of the US military camp. 1945 When Japan surrendered in August, the 4th Division was resting near Bangkok, Thailand. Unlike other Japanese troops who refused to accept the fate of defeat, the surrender and return of the Fourth Division proceeded very quickly and smoothly. When all the ruddy and healthy officers and men of the Fourth Division appeared in Japanese ports, the malnourished and emaciated Japanese were very surprised in Japan. According to statistics, the Fourth Division has the least number of deaths and the most complete equipment and materials. The US military's evaluation of this division is "peace-loving". After the Fourth Division returned to China, it immediately showed this "characteristic". On the second day after returning home, the officers and men ran to the front of the US military barracks, neatly set up booths and sold war souvenirs.