The forgotten "Shanghai Incident" war story tells about December 2:18:35

I don't think there are many people who know the “First Shanghai Incident” in detail. This is a clash between Japan and China in 1932 in Shanghai, China. It may be a “forgotten battle” compared to the “Manchurian Incident” that occurred at the same time.

The interview revealed that a valuable record of the “First Shanghai Incident” was left in Kanazawa. The material found reveals the soldiers of the time who were desperately trying to keep an accurate record in the midst of the battlefield where they died.

(Reporter Ikuo Moriyama, Kanazawa Bureau)

"Senki" which was not noticed

The materials were found at the Shokokan, a historical material museum in the Ground Self-Defense Force Kanazawa, where many materials related to the former Japanese Army were kept.

When I got permission and checked the contents of each of the exhibits, I found a dictionary-sized booklet.

From the title of “Shanghai Samurai War”, I was able to guess that it was a record of the “First Shanghai Incident”. However, according to the personnel in charge of the Self-Defense Forces, the contents of the items kept from the old days have not been confirmed, and the details are not known.

With permission, we photographed all pages and visited Yoshikazu Kageyama, a former National Defense University professor who has been studying the First Shanghai Incident for many years.

Mr. Kageyama, who took a closer look at the photos, said, “It may be a record of the 9th division of the army that once set up a headquarters in Kanazawa and participated in the first Shanghai incident.”

What is the first Shanghai incident?

In January 1932, when the tensions were increasing, the first Shanghai incident in which the Japanese and Chinese troops collided was said to have caused nearly 40,000 casualties both in Japan and China.

It is said that the Japanese army planned to distract the international community from the previous year's Manchurian Incident.

The following year, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and gradually became more isolated in the international community. The First Shanghai Incident is one of the symbolic events that took place at the “entrance” where Japan entered the war.

“Excitement” and “Irritation” are naked

In the “Shanghai Samurai War”, the domestic excitement at that time against overseas troops was described in detail.

In 1932, the Ninth Division leaves Kanazawa Station for Shanghai.

From the Shanghai War Record:
"The place where you can't get an army in the crowd of the see-through.

Kageyama:
“You are writing very honestly. The emotions are straightforward and vivid. You can feel the joy that the Ninth Division has a white arrow of troops.”

However, as full-fledged battles begin, the description of frustration and confusion becomes more prominent.

It is written as follows that the advance was blocked by a waterway and base called “creek” that the Chinese army had built in advance.

"The creek runs like a spider's web vertically and horizontally, and the boat is not able to pass at the time of low water, but there are still some obstacles. The tanks of the corners are often stuck, and the cavalry rides off the horse and is scouted on foot. I had to fulfill my mission.
`` How to pass through this zone and how to carry artillery was an extremely difficult headache attack.

There was also a frank evaluation of the Chinese position.

“It ’s really solid. It ’s scary to see later. The solid guns, barbed wire, and well-screened side guards are never crafted.”

Contrary to the initial optimistic expectation, the Japanese army was forced to struggle unexpectedly, and during the third total attack, the supply of cannonballs was insufficient and, for example, the words “Small things are abundant” and the state of mind at the forefront became naked It was spelled.

Kageyama:
“The reason behind this was the lack of information gathering in advance regarding the Chinese army's strength and ammunition. From the experience of the unilateral victory of the Japanese Kanto army in the Manchurian Incident, we had a preconception that the Chinese army was weak. Isn't it written as a reflection of what I thought of as “one touch of armor sleeves?”

"Hero" born from a hard fight

The Japanese engineer team tried to break the barbed wire with explosives to break through the Chinese army, and three engineers were killed in the explosion.

The "Samurai War Record" contained a report that the commander would have prepared for the three deaths.

`` After pushing the destruction cylinder (explosive) into the barbed wire, I thought that I had no time to ignite, and after ordering the destruction cylinder to ignite with a tragic preparedness to hold the explosive as the last means and crush it with the barbed wire, I dared to brave Plunge into the barbed wire "
"The three finally came to be crushed together with the wire."

Kageyama:
“From the army's center, it's a proof that you are struggling. Because you ’re struggling, you can create a military god as early as possible to raise the morale of the soldiers and raise the morale of the people they support.” "I thought you were"

In fact, the army, newspapers, and radios at that time featured and praised the three people who were killed as “the Three Heroes of the Bomb”.

POW interrogation records

There was also a description in the Samurai War Record that confused the domestic situation in China.
This is an interrogation record of a 24-year-old Chinese POW who fought in the Nineteenth Army of the Chinese Army and surrendered to the Japanese Army.

The records of POW interrogation created by the Japanese army were unusual, and included descriptions of compulsory military mobilization, lack of equipment, reasons for surrender, and dissatisfaction with domestic affairs.

Q: When did you become a soldier? Answer: I don't remember well for a few days in March, but one day, I suddenly found a place where I was hanging out near Shimonoseki stop with my friends. I was caught by and pulled

Q: What did you take to the army? Answer: I'm only listening to the 26th Recruit.

Q: After that, where was it taken to? Answer: It was taken to Suzhou by train.

Q: What were you doing there? Answer: We were overworked like cows and dug around day and night.

Q: Did you get guns or military uniforms? A: I didn't have guns or military uniforms.

Q: Why do you want the Japanese army to conquer (yield)? Answer: If you look at the Chinese army as “old man”, you will be “abducted” and abused, and you will be deprived of money and no food. Abuse the peasants (people's meaning).

A: No matter how sweet the Chiang Kai-shek is in your mouth, we are not really worried about our peasants.

Kageyama:
“POWs may have been conscious of surrendering to the Japanese side for survival, and we cannot trust all the contents as they are. However, it seems that the Chinese side was in a difficult situation. It is important information that I wanted to get out of my throat. ''

Asking now the importance of public records

What did the soldiers at the time try to pass on to future generations through the "Shanghai Samurai War Record" of about 300 pages?

Kageyama:
“We have to leave the painful inside out. By doing so, we don't fall into such a difficult situation again, or the Japanese as a country do not go wrong. I wonder if I wanted you to refer to that.
The importance of public records has never changed. I think that people who are engaged in public work in modern times should not be spared the effort to accurately record and accumulate. ''

At the end of "Samurai Senki", there is a "Conclusion" that looks back on the entire Senki.

A frank criticism of the Japanese army was written following the preface that there was something to say.

"Why didn't you do enough reconnaissance in advance?"
“Why did you rush to attack?”
“Isn't the focus of the attack directed more appropriately?”

In the midst of struggling due to the unexpected resistance of the Chinese army, there was the “Samurai War Record” that was recorded in detail by the soldiers at that time, so we knew about what happened nearly 90 years ago and learned lessons from it. You can learn.

The dictionary-sized booklet that I noticed accidentally felt that I was asking the original attitude of the official record of recording the facts, including their own mistakes, and leaving the evaluation to a later generation.