What kind of army is the "Puppet Manchukuo Army"?

The discussion on the nature of the Puppet Manchukuo Army is a very complicated issue. Fu Dazhong pointed out in the book "A Brief History of the Puppet Manchukuo Army": Due to the large number of Japanese officers in the Puppet Manchukuo Army, the Pacific War The Puppet Manchukuo Army after the outbreak is by no means the puppet army in our impression, nor is it a puppet army in the original sense. It has actually become a corps of Japanese officers directly commanding Chinese soldiers, with Chinese and Japanese personnel Quasi-Kwantung Army troops in mixed formation. ?

If you want to clarify the nature of the puppet Manchu army, you must first clarify the political content of the puppet Manchu army serving the Japanese invaders, and analyze it by thinking about the question: What kind of puppet army does Japan need? 1. The birth of the "Puppet Manchukuo Army"

Since modern times, my country's Northeast has been regarded by Japan as the "lifeline" and first line of defense of its colonial empire. In order to ensure colonial rights and interests, Japan must control the Northeast. Military control over the Puppet Manchukuo's national defense was firmly in its hands, and the Kwantung Army, which had just succeeded in the September 8th Incident, was quite confident in its combat effectiveness. Therefore, Japan was originally prepared to assume the sole responsibility for the Puppet Manchukuo's defense. This only allows the puppet Manchukuo to maintain armed forces with a police nature. Japan stipulates in the "Outline of Guidelines for Handling the China Issue" that it does not allow the new country's regular army to exist. ?

However, the anti-Japanese forces in Northeast China were surging, forcing the Japanese invaders to change their policies. ?The Puppet Manchukuo Army is a national army directly under the emperor. In peacetime, it is responsible for maintaining domestic security and guarding borders and rivers. During wartime, it serves as a wing of the Kwantung Army and assumes the important responsibility of defending the front line of national defense and guarding rear military stations. . ?

It can be seen that the policy of the Japanese invaders towards the puppet Manchukuo army has changed to allowing the puppet Manchukuo to establish a regular army strictly controlled by the Japanese army to serve as an auxiliary force for the Japanese invading army. 2. The Three-Phase Transformation Plan of the Puppet Manchukuo Army

Under this circumstance, Shun Tada, who was responsible for guiding the Puppet Manchukuo Army, proposed a three-phase plan to transform the Puppet Manchukuo Army: First The first phase is devoted to stability and preventing soldiers from wavering; the second phase is to form an army capable of independent crusade against bandits; the third phase is to cultivate a national army capable of undertaking foreign expeditions. ?This also represents the Japanese army’s progressive requirements for the puppet troops in the early and middle stages of the puppet Manchukuo period.

Based on this, the Japanese and puppet authorities formulated the first puppet "Manchukuo Army Guidance Outline" in 1933. The "Outline" includes the puppet army's organizational equipment, security operations, education and training, etc., and is the guideline for the construction of the puppet Manchukuo army. The main points are: The strength of the Puppet Manchukuo Army should be reduced to the minimum, the total strength should be reduced to 60,000 as soon as possible, and the arms should be limited to infantry and cavalry. The Puppet Manchukuo Army should assume the task of maintaining public security under the guidance of the Japanese Kwantung Army and become An army dedicated to security. ?

However, this is only a secret of the Advisory Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs. Under normal circumstances, it is declared to the outside world that the national army is responsible for national defense and security tasks at home and abroad. It can be seen that the purpose of the Kwantung Army is obviously to regard the puppet army as an auxiliary force subordinate to the Kwantung Army, and its main task is only to suppress internal affairs. 3. The main policy of the Japanese army towards the "Puppet Manchukuo Army" has changed

After the reorganization, the combat effectiveness of the Puppet Manchukuo Army has been improved, and the views of the Japanese military leaders towards the puppet army have also changed, and it was revised at the end of 1935. "Outline". The main policy of the revised "Outline" has changed: the main force of the Puppet Manchukuo Army independently undertakes domestic defense and security tasks. On this basis, part of the force will be used for external expeditions to strengthen the Puppet Manchukuo Army's strength. ?The essentials have also changed to: ?The Puppet Manchukuo Army should quickly become independent to assume the tasks of defending Puppet Manchukuo and maintaining public security; in wartime, the Puppet Manchukuo Army should assume such tasks as defending strategic locations, protecting railway lines, and protecting Carry out a large number of rear security tasks such as transporting strategic supplies; strengthen the strength of the Mongolian cavalry so that they can gradually take on external expedition missions. ?

The changes in the policies and essentials of the two pseudo-Manchukuo Guidance Guidelines also mark the expansion of the mission scope of the puppet Manchukuo army from "maintaining public security" to cooperating with the Japanese army in combat, and its most important task is It is the main force to succeed the Japanese army and become the "Punitive".

The Kwantung Army wanted the puppet army to take on the task of crusading against the anti-Japanese armed forces and maintaining public order, so as to free the Japanese army from it and prepare for further aggression.

The so-called "independence crusade" did not allow the puppet army to take charge alone. The puppet army officers and soldiers went to the battlefield like puppets under the guidance of Japanese officers at all levels. This shows that the Kwantung Army made the puppet army a police force. The transformation of the army into a "national army" that undertakes its own tasks does not mean that the independence of the puppet Manchukuo army has increased. Its essence is just that the Kwantung Army used the trick of the puppet Manchukuo army as cannon fodder in order to reduce its own bloodshed and sacrifice.

For example, in 1936 Sasaki Toichi, the top adviser to the puppet Manchukuo Military and Administrative Ministry, gave a speech at a meeting of the Puppet Tonghua Military and Administrative Ministry's Crusade Guidance Department: "The imperial army is still shedding blood everywhere, and A great deal of effort was expended for public security work, and the sacrifices were obvious to all. If this laborious task could be entrusted to various Manchukuo agencies and borne by them, the imperial army could reduce its burden and carry out its original mission. Anyone who understands the mission of the Imperial Army and is responsible for the cause of Manchuria's founding is eagerly looking forward to the arrival of such an opportunity. ?

With the expansion of the war of aggression, the Kwantung Army increasingly felt that it was short of troops as it continued to strengthen its preparations for war against the Soviet Union, and had to turn to puppet troops to serve as cannon fodder for the war. 4. The Puppet Manchukuo Army also completely broke through the restrictions in the types of arms and use.

In 1937, the Puppet Manchukuo Army had about 70,000 people. By the beginning of 1945, it had expanded to nearly 130,000 people. 60,000 people exceeding the limit of the Outline. This is because the Kwantung Army's troops were deployed in large numbers to various battlefields in the Pacific, and had to use puppet troops to fill the gaps in the defense of the Northeast. Therefore, they completely broke through the framework of the "Outline" in terms of arms types and use.

Not only did the Puppet Manchukuo begin to establish engineering corps, flying teams, automobile regiments, anti-aircraft artillery teams and other technical units, the puppet army not only participated in many military expeditions and suppressions, but also sent out the "Rehe Detachment" and "Gan Detachment". "Superior forces" such as "Shi Lan Troops" and "Shilan Troops" directly participated in the aggressive operations against China's customs territory, which means that the puppet Manchukuo army has become an integral part of the Japanese invading army. 5. In the later period of the war, the "Puppet Manchukuo Army" transformed into the service force of the Kwantung Army

On the eve of the fall of the Puppet Manchukuo Army, Japan's power declined, and the conflicts between the Japanese and puppet armies became increasingly superficial. In addition, since the 1940s, the main force of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance has turned to The transfer of the Soviet Union brought the anti-Japanese movement in Northeast China to a low ebb, and the value of the puppet Manchukuo army as the main force in domestic crusade was increasingly reduced.

To prevent the puppet army from rebelling when the Japanese army lost, and to adapt to the military situation of shifting from offensive to defensive, the Kwantung Army disarmed the puppet army as much as possible. In addition, the Japanese army suffered a complete defeat in the Pacific battlefield and suffered serious losses in weapons and equipment. In order to make up for the shortfall, the Japanese army actually confiscated most of the field artillery, mountain artillery, mortars, machine guns and other heavy weapons equipped by the puppet Manchukuo army to equip the newly established Kwantung Army. of troops.

The puppet Manchukuo soldiers who lost their weapons were reorganized into engineering teams, mainly building fortifications for the Japanese army and repairing military facilities that were attacked by air raids. Most of the cavalry in the puppet Manchukuo army were converted into infantry, and the eliminated military horses were organized into 17 baggage brigades, specially used for military transportation for the Kwantung Army.

The Puppet Manchukuo Army transformed into an "engineer unit" with a "migrant worker character" to build fortifications for the Kwantung Army to defend against the Soviet attack. This marked that the role of the Puppet Manchukuo Army was completely changed from accompanying the Kwantung Army. The main combat force of "Punitive Crusade" and "External Expedition" was transformed into the service force of the Kwantung Army.

In this regard, even the book "The Manchukuo Army", which aims to rename the puppet Manchukuo Army, has to admit: At the end of the war, (the Manchukuo Army) served as the Kwantung Army It exists as an arsenal. ?

However, the Japanese invasion at this time had reached its end. The puppet Manchukuo army had just completed its last role change. Together with its service object, the Japanese Kwantung Army, under the counterattack of the powerful anti-Japanese forces Overturned.

It can be seen that the nature of the Puppet Manchuria Army, which is part of the Puppet Manchukuo's national defense system, changes with the changing needs of the Japanese invaders. As the situation faced by the Kwantung Army changed, the nature of the Puppet Manchukuo Army also changed from a police-like armed force in the early stage to a rear support force of the Kwantung Army, and then completely became a service force of the Kwantung Army in the final stage.

The Puppet Manchukuo Army is a support force that is constantly newly built or reorganized in response to the requirements of the Kwantung Army in the war of aggression. The Puppet Manchukuo Army and even the entire Puppet Manchukuo are carefully crafted invasion props by the Japanese invaders. The puppet Manchukuo army did not fight to protect the lives and property of the people in the Northeast, but to satisfy the aggressive interests of the Japanese and puppet authorities and did not hesitate to become enemies of the people. Such illegal nature cannot be erased no matter how much adjustments and adaptations are made.