Chapter 5 Wartime Japan (3)

Those Japanese captives who resisted to the end attributed their extreme militarism to the emperor, thinking that they were "following the holy will" and "dedicating their lives for the emperor" to reassure "His Majesty".However, those who opposed the war also attributed their pacifism to the Emperor; "During the Manchurian Incident, His Majesty expressed his opposition to the military." "The war was launched without the emperor's knowledge or approval. The emperor does not like war and does not allow the people to be involved in the war. The emperor did not Don't know how his soldiers were mistreated." These testimonies are completely different from those of German prisoners of war.German prisoners of war, including those

The prisoners of war who expressed dissatisfaction with the general who betrayed Hitler believed that the responsibility for the war must be borne by the highest instigator of the war——Hitler.The Japanese believe that the royal family and militarism and aggressive wars are two different things. The emperor and national policy can be separated, but the emperor and Japan are inseparable. "Japan is not Japan without the Emperor", even if Japan is defeated, the Emperor cannot be condemned.Apparently, there is a consensus in Japan that the Emperor is above all criticism.The United States is used to thinking that no one is immune to suspicion and criticism.If you don't know the facts, you will think that those prisoners are talking nonsense; in fact, some veterans who interrogated prisoners of war failed to write the words "refused to oppose the emperor" in each interrogation note, and all the prisoners refused to oppose ; even those captives who cooperated with the United States also refused; the most violent words against the emperor were nothing more than "This emperor's accession may be a mistake", and "He is a weak character", or "Perhaps the abdication of the imperial family can make Japanese women To be free, as the American woman enjoys."

Therefore, the Japanese military department took full advantage of the reverence that all Japanese have for the emperor.They distributed cigarettes "gifted by the emperor" to their subordinates; on Tianchang Festival, they led their subordinates to pay homage to the east three times and shouted "long live"; Edict", "The sound of recitation echoes in the forest".They called on their officers and soldiers to "eliminate sacred worries", "repay His Majesty's kindness with reverence", and "dedicate their lives to the emperor!" However, this kind of obedience to the emperor's will is a double-edged sword, just as Many Japanese prisoners of war said that the Japanese "will not hesitate to go into battle as long as the emperor gives the order, even if there is only one bamboo spear. Similarly, as long as the emperor gives the order, they will stop fighting immediately."As a result, what caught the military by surprise was that the Emperor of Japan really ordered it.

Unfailing loyalty to the emperor and criticism of everyone else and institutions - the contrast was stark.There are many accusations against the government and army commanders in Japanese newspapers and magazines or in the confessions of prisoners of war.Prisoners cursed at their immediate commanders, especially those who could not share their destiny with their subordinates; they resented the act of fleeing by plane, leaving soldiers to fight to the end.It is not that the public lacks the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Japanese wartime newspapers and magazines accused the government of not doing enough, and even criticized the government for restricting freedom of speech. In July 1944, a Tokyo newspaper published a record of a discussion with journalists, former congressmen, and Japanese ultra-right political parties, which is the best example.One of the speakers said: "I think there are many ways to inspire the hearts of the Japanese people, but the most important one is freedom of speech. In recent years, Japanese people have been afraid to say what they want to say. They are afraid to say it They will be blamed. They are full of suspicion, but they still deal with it and become cowardly. In this way, it is absolutely impossible to talk about the power of the whole nation.” Another speaker further developed this: “I almost Every night I talk to the constituency in my constituency late into the night, asking for their opinions on various things. But they refuse to speak. Freedom of speech is completely denied. This is not at all good for mobilizing people. In so-called wartime Under the Special Criminal Law and the Security Law, the people are cowardly and incompetent, just like ordinary people in the feudal era. Therefore, the combat power that can be exerted has not yet been exerted.”

See, in wartime the Japanese were judgmental of the government, of the base camp, and of their immediate superiors, and didn't unconditionally act hierarchically.However, only the Emperor was immune to criticism.The supremacy of the emperor was only established in modern times. Why is he so respected?We will answer this question in a later chapter. In addition, there is another problem exposed in the war, which is Japan's unique attitude towards the loss of personnel in the war.When the United States awarded the Navy Medal to General George Ace McCann, the commander of the mobile force in the Taiwan Strait, Japan's wireless telegrams showed great surprise at this, and their attitude was very intriguing.The content is as follows:

The official reason for honoring Commander John Ace Mackenzie was not that he repelled the Japanese.Nimitz's communiqué had declared that he had repelled the Japanese, but McCann was honored for his success in rescuing two damaged American warships and escorting them safely to base.The importance of this little report is that it is not a fiction but a fact that actually happened. I hope you understand this strange fact: In the United States, two warships are saved and honored. Every act of rescue, every act of help to the less fortunate moves Americans deeply.What is more heroic than saving people is successfully saving people.The bravery of the Japanese precludes such rescues.Even our B29 bombers and fighter jets are equipped with life-saving appliances, and the Japanese also denounced them as "cowards".Their newspapers and radios repeatedly talked about this topic. Only the risk of death is noble, and caution is useless.This attitude is most clearly expressed in the treatment of the sick and malaria patients.These soldiers are trash in their eyes.Medical services are very inadequate, not even sufficient to maintain normal combat effectiveness.The Japanese contempt for materialism plays a major role here.Officers taught soldiers that death itself was a spiritual victory.And our care for the sick is like the safety equipment on a bomber.Instead, it became an interference with heroism.In daily life, the Japanese are not as accustomed to patronizing physicians and physicians as Americans are.In the United States, compassion for the wounded and sick far outweighs concern for other welfare facilities, a point that is often talked about even by Europeans who visit the United States.And Japan is indeed indifferent.During the war, the Japanese army did not have a trained ambulance squad capable of transporting the wounded in the flames of war. Our medical system consisting of frontline ambulance stations, rear field hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals far from the frontline was not popular in the Japanese army.The supply of medical supplies is even more lamentable.In an emergency, the sick and wounded are simply killed.Especially in New Guinea and the Philippines, where the Japanese often had to retreat from places where there were hospitals, they had no habit of evacuating the sick and wounded before being surrounded.As a result, the military doctor in charge often shot all the wounded and sick before leaving, or the wounded and sick committed suicide with hand grenades.