Chapter 80 7. The mysterious "Chinese" - Kwantung Army Commander Ben Zhuangfan and his accomplices?

Surprisingly, the leaders of the Japanese army who planned to invade Northeast China almost all had the experience of wearing Chinese costumes for photos, and they seemed to be almost seamless.Without knowing our opponents, it is impossible to understand the cunning foe we face in this war. With a melon skin hat on his head and a silk mandarin jacket, in this photo taken in 1926, the owner of the photo looks like a typical Chinese gentry in the Republic of China.However, this person has never been in touch with the Chinese since his eighth generation of ancestors. His real identity is Shigeru Honjo, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Kwantung Army when the "September 18th" Incident was launched.

Shigeru Honjo, General of the Japanese Army.A native of Hyogo Prefecture.Graduated from Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy and Army University.Participated in the Russo-Japanese War.Served as deputy military attache stationed in China, chief of the China Section of the General Staff Headquarters, and head of the 11th Infantry Regiment. Like Kenji Doihara, he served as a military adviser for Zhang Zuolin. In 1926, he mobilized Japanese warships to bombard Dagukou. Indirectly led to the "March 18" tragedy. In August 1931, he served as the commander of the Kwantung Army, presided over and planned the "September 18th" Incident, and participated in the operation of concocting the puppet Manchukuo, and was regarded as a "Manchurian Hero" by the Japanese people. In 1933, he served as the chief military officer of the emperor's entourage and General Jin. He was made a baron in 1935, but was forced to retire the following year because his son-in-law was involved in the February 26 Mutiny.After Japan's defeat, Honjo was accused of being a Class A war criminal and committed suicide in fear of crime.

Because of his deep understanding of Chinese culture, Zhang Xueliang once regarded Honzhuang Fan as a close friend. During the "September 18th" incident, he adopted a policy of non-resistance.However, Zhang Xueliang did not realize that the purpose of Ben Zhuang Fan's deep knowledge of Chinese culture is not to get along with China, but to plunder and conquer China.Therefore, during the incident, Honjo Shige did not deny his personal friendship with Zhang Xueliang at all, but he did not make any concessions on the issue of occupying the Northeast, because, in his view, this was the interest of the Japanese Empire.

In the old photos preserved in Japan, it is surprising to find that there are many Japanese people who look like "China hands".For example, Ishihara Wanji, the Japanese Kwantung Army’s think tank, and Kenji Doihara, who was called a “bandit source” by Chiang Kai-shek, have the same characteristics as Shigeru Honjo. features. Let's take a look at Doihara, he is the only Japanese "China hand" I haven't found in casual clothes. After the "September 18th" incident, the first mayor of Shenyang after the Japanese army took control of it was actually airborne. This person is the Class A war criminal sentenced to death in the Tokyo trial-Kenji Doihara.When the Japanese bombarded the Beida Camp, Doihara was in Tokyo and was reporting the situation in Northeast China to the military.Three days after the incident, Doihara hurried back by plane, and immediately took up the post of Fengtian, the mayor of Shenyang.

So, there is this photo on the next page. It can be said that Doihara's job is thankless. If you look at it coldly, you will think that this Class A war criminal is surprisingly good-natured. When the "September 18th" Incident occurred, Zang Shiyi and other Chinese officials either withdrew with the army, or resisted the Japanese occupation in various passive or active ways.At that time, Fengtian City was in a state of anarchy. At the same time, the Kwantung Army did not prepare funds and personnel to maintain law and order and manage the market.At this time, this Doihara actually became the mayor out of his own pocket.

It is unbelievable to say that Doihara himself had no savings. After he became the mayor, he borrowed a sum of money in his own name. The loan was used to maintain the operation of the Shenyang City Government under the Japanese occupation until the Japanese army’s attack on Shenyang. Once the occupation stabilized, it was handed over to the puppet government.Since he did not get authorization from his superiors to do this, he naturally had nowhere to reimburse the money.How did Doihara do at this time?He didn't go around looking for someone to verify and report the money, but repaid the money from his salary month by month in obscurity.As a result, Kenji Doihara and his family could only live in a small rented house with only two rooms for a long time.

In fact, this is not the first time that Doihara has "suffered" for the country. After graduating from the Army University, Doihara entered the General Staff Headquarters in the second year. He came to China as an army captain. He entered the Banxi Mansion, the Japanese secret service in Beiping, and worked in the Banxi Agency for five years. Since then, he has become the most famous in the Japanese army. One of China Hands.Doihara devoted himself to the study of Chinese culture in Beijing. He is familiar with it and can speak a variety of dialects.At that time, the Japanese had a figurative saying for the elites who graduated from the Army University, which was called "Ten Years of Personnel Affairs", that is, as long as they did not make mistakes, they could be promoted to Colonel within ten years.However, because Doihara switched back and forth between the Japanese General Staff Headquarters and mainland China several times, he stayed in China for too long, which affected his promotion. It took him 15 years to reach this position, but he never complained about it.

In addition, when dealing with people, Doihara's image is usually amiable, with the special rustic atmosphere of Okayama people. There is even a saying "Doihara does not lie" among some Chinese politicians who have come into contact with him. So saying that he has a "good character" is considered a basis.From the perspective of sacrificing his own interests for the country without complaint, Kenji Doihara can be regarded as a "model citizen" with noble character. However, the first list of war criminals submitted by the Chinese government to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East after the war was Doihara.How did such a "self-denial and dedication to public service" become the war criminal that Wan Fu refers to?

Sir Craigie, the former British ambassador to Japan, once described Kenji Doihara in this way. He said that among all the intrigues and schemes of the Japanese Army in China, and the combination of grace and power, there is a little man in Japan who is always active and jumping up and down. No matter where he is, as long as he is involved , even if it is to write a few words, it is doomed to trouble if it is agitated. In March 1928, Doihara applied to serve as an advisor to Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Feng faction warlords. With the help of the Kwantung Army, he consolidated Zhang Zuolin's position in the Northeast.He hoped that Zhang Zhien would report and satisfy the Japanese territorial requirements for the Northeast.Zhang Zuolin took advantage of the Zhifeng war to occupy Beijing and control the Beiyang government.However, although Zhang Zuolin was born in a green forest, he understood the righteousness of the nation and has been trying to get rid of the control of the Japanese.Doihara was very dissatisfied with him. In 1928, when the Northern Expedition pointed at Beijing, Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to retreat to the northeast.At this time, Doihara and Hemoto Daisaku planned the Huanggutun incident, killing Zhang Zuolin.It was only because the Northeast Army responded properly that Zhang Xueliang left the customs and inherited the position of leader of the Feng faction, so the Japanese army could not immediately occupy the Northeast.

In March 1929, because the Huanggutun incident failed to achieve the expected results, Doihara, who was thrown into the cold palace, was transferred to the captain of the 30th Takata Infantry Regiment, and returned to Japan frustrated. Soon, he waited for another opportunity In 1930, warlord melee broke out in China. Doihara was a classmate of Yan Xishan in mainland China. He shuttled among the warlords and pieced together the so-called "Beiyang faction alliance" to fight against Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang. In 1930, he was transferred to the head of the Tianjin Secret Service, and the next year he was transferred to the head of the Shenyang Secret Service.At this time, Zhang Xueliang's 110,000 Northeast Army was transferred into the pass.Doihara Sui and the Kwantung Army's young staff officers, Ishihara Wanji and Itagaki Seishiro, took advantage of the emptiness of troops in the Northeast and planned the "September 18th" Incident. The Doihara Secret Service presided over by him was the center of the incident.

After occupying the Northeast, Japan had no idea how to rule at first.Ishihara Wanji proposed to rule the Northeast by using a general or lieutenant general of the Japanese army to organize a governor's office.Create a colony like you did with Taiwan and North Korea.Seishiro Itagaki proposed to directly turn Manchuria and Mongolia into the territory of Japan. At the time of the dispute, Doihara proposed a compromise plan, that is, the establishment of a Manchurian and Mongolian five-ethnic republic controlled by Japan and separated from China. Regarding the head of the country, he proposed to use the former Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty who lived in Tianjin Puyi.Because when Feng Yuxiang launched the "Beijing Coup" and drove Puyi away from the Forbidden City, it was Doihara who took the desperate Puyi to Tianjin and protected him.At this time, Puyi was living in a mansion called Jingyuan in the Japanese Concession in Tianjin. On November 4, 1931, Doihara stepped into the Jingyuan Mansion in the middle of the night. Soon after, Puyi arrived in Dalian under his instigation, and the puppet Manchukuo was officially released. In June 1935, Doihara worked hard and instigated a conspiracy to force the Nationalist Government to sign the "Qin-Territory Agreement" and obtained most of the sovereignty over Chahar.Cause China to lose 80% of the territory of Chahar Province. In October 1935, Doihara planned the North China Autonomy Movement. After the July 7th Incident in 1937, he led the 14th Division of the Japanese Army to invade China and fought fierce battles with Chinese troops in Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, Handan and other places.However, due to the penetration of the lone army, in Lanfeng in 1938, it was almost surrounded and wiped out by the First Corps of the famous Chinese general Xue Yue. After June 1938, Doihara devoted himself to spy work, and the "Doihara Organization" was renamed "Shokodo", and an office was set up in Shanghai.After the establishment of the secret service, under the auspices of Doihara, it successively worked on Tang Shaoyi, Wu Peifu, and Jin Yunpeng. However, because most of these old Chinese warlords still had national integrity, Doihara failed to achieve the expected results.During the period, Doihara was accused of assassinating Wu Peifu who refused to cooperate with Japan. The so-called "chaos" in Doihara, for the Chinese, is always accompanied by massacres, looting, loss of homeland and endless disasters.He can sacrifice five years waiting for promotion, just because he believes that his efforts are of great significance to the empire's conquest of "China".His "keeping promise" is only because it can better recruit traitors to serve Japan's aggressive policy.For this reason, the "good man" Doihara would not care about the suffering caused to innocent people. The phenomenon of Doihara is actually worth pondering.The reason why the Anti-Japanese War in Northeast China was extremely difficult was not only because of the brutality of the enemy, but also because there were a large number of so-called "spiritual men" like Doihara who regarded aggression as an ideal and fought for this ideal wholeheartedly. Look at Ishihara Waner again, the planner of the "September 18th" is called "the brain of the Kwantung Army". There is a famous conductor in Japan, Seiji Ozawa. It is said that his name is taken from two people his father admired - "Zheng" in "Sakagaki Seishiro" and "I" in "Ishihara Kanji". Seishiro Sakagaki, a general of the Japanese army, was sentenced to death as a class-A war criminal in the Tokyo trial. Although he is notorious, he is well-known. Who is this Ishihara Kanji who is as famous as him? Many Chinese may think about him Deeply at a loss. Wanji Ishihara, known as "the most outstanding brain in the history of mainland Japan", is an outstanding strategic theorist in Japan. He once predicted that Hideki Tojo's coming to power would mean the fall of Japan, and the war would end with the explosion of an atomic bomb, and even Just after the end of World War II, he insisted that Japan would rejuvenate with economic development, and that the Soviet bloc would collapse and perish on its own in the Cold War. On September 27, 1937, Kanji Ishihara, who was regarded as a genius by both the military and political circles of Japan, served as the first minister of the General Staff Headquarters. Because he advocated not to expand the war with China, he clashed with the mainstream of the military circle at that time, and was moved from the left to "Kanto". Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army".A year later, because of conflicts with Hideki Tojo, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, over the way Manchukuo was ruled, he advocated the establishment of "Manchukuo" as an ally of Japan rather than a complete occupied territory, and was canceled by Tojo. "The right to speak on the issue.Three years later, he was simply dismissed and put into the reserve service. In 1944, the lieutenant general was even involved in the attempted assassination of Hideki Tojo. Therefore, to a certain extent, Ishihara is regarded as a model of rationality in the Japanese military circle. Even at the end of the war, when Miao Bin went to Japan to discuss the possibility of a separate peace negotiation between China and Japan, he would visit Ishihara first. What is the image of such a figure who is sober alone in the crazy Japanese military world?Looking at the photos at that time, we will be surprised to find that in his own album, this person has various transformations, sometimes wearing a suit, sometimes wearing a kimono, sometimes wearing a military uniform, and even—— Wearing a Chinese-style coat and taking pictures together. In the era when soldiers ruled everything, most of the photos left by soldiers were in military uniforms, as if they didn’t know what to wear after taking off their military uniforms. Ishihara’s habit of constantly changing his image can be regarded as quite strange—it seems that only China The famous general Zhang Zizhong has similar hobbies. Zhang Zizhong, who likes to change his image constantly, seems to be a metaphor for the tortuous journey of his life from being a fierce general in the Northwest Army to being wronged as a traitor, to killing himself and becoming a benevolent, and repaying his innocence with blood. Ishihara Waner, who has the same hobby, has this changeable image , and what does it imply? Perhaps, there is the same meaning behind it. Ishihara Wanji, regarded as a rational strategist, was the instigator and direct responsible person for the "September 18th" Incident. In July 1929, Ishihara Wanji published three papers: "Grand View of the History of War", "The Fundamental National Policy of Reversing the National Movement--Solutions to the Manchurian Problem" and "The Kwantung Army's Manchurian Possession Plan", proposing that "Manchuria has no land The main theory", that only by occupying Manchuria and Mongolia can meet the needs of Japan's development.These three papers became the strategic guidance for Japan's invasion of Northeast China, and are highly valued in Japan.The Tanaka Memorial, which has been mentioned repeatedly in China, is considered by the Japanese academic circles to be untrue, but many believe that it is not entirely a forgery, but the work of Ishihara Kanji and others, and it is also a blueprint for the expansion of the Japanese young soldiers. In 1931, Ishihara Kanji, who was serving as the staff officer of the Kwantung Army, and Honjo Shigeru, the commander of the Kwantung Army, cooperated with Seishiro Sakagaki and directly instigated the "September 18th" Incident. The combat plan for the entire incident was completely drafted by Ishihara.Afterwards, Ishihara went to the front line of Jinzhou again, ignoring the attitude of the Japanese government and launched an attack on Jinzhou. The "September 18th" incident opened the Pandora's box of Japan's expansion and aggression, brought great pain to Asian countries, and finally brought Japan into the abyss. Ishihara can be regarded as the most direct responsible person.In this regard, Ishihara has always admitted it and called himself "the father of Manchukuo".In its aggression against China, it played the role of a vanguard and a behind-the-scenes military division. Such a radical Ishihara became like a completely opposite person during the "July 7th" Incident. He urged the Japanese army to withdraw from the north of the Great Wall, at least not to aggravate the conflict. This kind of chameleon-like proposition inevitably makes people puzzled. It is speculated that this is because Ishihara actually experienced the process of the Japanese occupation of Northeast China. After facing the tenacious resistance of the Chinese army and civilians under the most difficult conditions, Ishihara realized that it was a hopeless adventure to conquer such a nation by force alone, so although Its idea of ​​conquering China remains the same, but it recommends a more conservative approach of slow-cooking fish and avoiding as much as possible to provoke China's all-out war of resistance.Ishihara believes that once China and Japan start a full-scale war, the initiative of the war will be in the hands of China, and China will inevitably wear down Japan with a protracted war.This point coincides with Jiang Baili's views on the Sino-Japanese War, which is the view of China's strategic master Jiang Baili: "China is not afraid of swallowing Japan, but only afraid of encroaching on it."Ishihara Wanji's change of thought is logical. However, if you don’t suffer, you will not gain wisdom. Although the initiators of the "September 18th" have realized that the war with China is an unwise war, the new generation of Japanese generals are still keen to take risks in China.Akira Muto, a class-A war criminal, once mocked Ishihara when discussing the war against China-"I was just imitating what His Excellency Ishihara did in the Manchurian Incident at that time."You know, after the "September 18th" Incident, Ishihara Wanji was immediately promoted to the rank of chief officer, and then he was promoted to the head of the War Guidance Section of the General Staff Headquarters. In 1937, he was promoted to the first head of the General Staff Headquarters, Major General Jin.He violated the orders of his superiors and launched aggression without authorization. Not only was he not punished, but how could he prevent the ambitious Japanese mid- and lower-level military officers from following suit? In fact, almost all the Japanese generals who fought against China went through the process of advocating the destruction of China in a few months to becoming a moderate, not just Ishihara Wanji.The Chinese resisters taught every Japanese general a lesson called "Invincible". Let's see which other Japanese "China Hands" have photos like this. These people are all inseparably linked to the invasion of China, especially the invasion of Northeast China. Banxi Rihachiro, the name is somewhat unfamiliar to Chinese people today.However, in the era of the Beiyang warlords, he was famous for a while.When Banxi was transferred back to China in 1927, Jin Yunpeng, the former prime minister of the Beiyang government, wrote a farewell poem saying: "Twenty-five years of overseas diplomacy, a glass of separation is sprinkled in the Changchun Pavilion. The ecstasy is farewell to the swallows today, and the arms of the sea alliance in the future." This shows Banxi's status in the minds of Beiyang military and political dignitaries.During Duan Qirui's administration, Banxi brokered the "Nishihara Loan".Starting from Yuan Shikai, through Li Yuanhong, Feng Guozhang, and Xu Shichang, Li Yuanhong served as president for the second time, and then Cao Kun and Duan Qirui, seven successive presidents successively. Appreciated and reused, Japanese public opinion called Banxi "the tumbler of the rise and fall of seven generations".In fact, Banxi can be regarded as the originator of Japan's espionage activities against China during the Republic of China. It not only obtained a large amount of information from China, but also greatly promoted the penetration of Japanese forces into China.He established a secret service agency code-named "Sakanishi Mansion" in Beijing, which became an important institution for training senior Japanese secret agents. Several key figures in the "September 18th" Incident, Kenji Doihara, Seishiro Itagaki, Shigeru Honjo, etc. under its door.His adopted son, Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, served as the chief of the combat section of the Kwantung Army Headquarters in 1935, and was an important general of the Japanese army who suppressed the Volunteer Army and the Anti-Japanese War. Wearing a melon cap and looking like a landowner, Takashi Tanaka was born in 1893, graduated from the 26th term of the Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy in 1913, and graduated from the 34th term of the Lu University (1921). He began to work in the General Staff Headquarters in 1922. He is the most famous in Japan. One of the great spies, Zeng and Yoshiko Kawashima co-directed the opening of the "January 28th" Songhu Incident, and planned the independence of the Mongolian King De, who was defeated by General Fu Zuoyi in Bailing Temple.Tanaka did not directly participate in the "September 18th" Incident. On the surface, he only served in the Kwantung Army in 1935. During his stay in the Northeast, his main activities were also focused on the Zhanggufeng Incident, which seems to be not so closely related to the Japanese invasion of Northeast China.But he was indeed an important figure in finding out the truth of the "September 18th" incident.After the war, relying on his excellent memory as a secret agent all the year round, Tanaka became famous in the Far East Military Court against his superiors and colleagues for "making up for his mistakes", and was even called "Judas of Japan".Regarding the "September 18th" Incident, Tanaka Takayoshi's testimony is: "The masterminds of the Manchuria Incident were Major General Mitsumi Tsunekawa, Director of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters, Lieutenant General Kingoro Hashimoto, Russian Squad Leader of the Intelligence Department, Captain Changyong of the China Squad, and Senior Staff Officer of the Kwantung Army. Colonel Seishiro Itagaki, Lieutenant Assistant Kanji Ishihara and Dr. Shumei Okawa.” He also described in detail the movements of the upper echelons of the Japanese army before and after the incident.Although there are exaggerations and quibbles in his testimony, the most important part is generally credible, and it has become one of the most important evidences for studying the history before and after the September 18th Incident. Daisaku Kawamoto, a native of Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, was born in 1883 and graduated from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy in 1903. He is also a well-known Chinese hand in the Japanese army.As early as the Revolution of 1911, Daisaku Kawamoto, an army lieutenant, was sent by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters to Hubei, Sichuan and other places in China to engage in espionage activities, and to sow discord among Chinese warlords in order to instigate them to conflict with each other and start a civil war.What made him famous is that Heben planned the Huanggutun incident in 1928, killing Zhang Zuolin, which can be said to have opened the prelude to the "September 18th" incident.In the Huanggutun incident, due to the proper response from the Northeast authorities, the Japanese army failed to successfully capture the Northeast, so Hemoto was dismissed from his post, but he still actively participated in the "September 18th" Incident. At the beginning of September before the "September 18th" Incident, Kawamoto was entrusted by Shigeto Chiaki, the head of the China Section of the General Staff Headquarters, to secretly send 50,000 yen to Fengtian by plane, and handed it over to Hua Guzheng, the staff officer of the Kwantung Army and the assistant officer of the Fengtian Secret Service. Shao Zuo, at this time, Hua Guzheng, Shao Zuo, was suffering from a shortage of funds for the launch of the incident, and felt like "giving charcoal in the snow".After the incident, he not only took up the post entrusted by the Kwantung Army, but also completed the persuasion of Yu Zhishan, the guard envoy of Dongbian Road.After the war, Dasaku Hemoto was captured by the People's Liberation Army while assisting Yan Xishan in Shanxi, and died of illness in prison. Neiji Okamura, who is not wearing Chinese clothes, but a suit, but because of his importance in the history of Japan's invasion of China, he is still included in this article.When mentioning Neiji Okamura, the Kuomintang people often think of him as the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in China who carried out the surrender order when Japan was defeated, and the Communists often think of him as the executioner who organized the May 1st sweep in North China and brutally suppressed the anti-Japanese activities of the people in North China.But few people remember that Okamura was also an important general in Japan's occupation of Northeast China. On August 19, 1932, Neji Okamura became the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army.At that time, the Volunteer Army in Northeast China was developing to its climax. It organized a counterattack to Changchun and Shenyang, which posed a major threat to the Japanese army. However, Okamura seized the shortcomings of the Volunteer Army’s complex composition, poor equipment, insufficient training and lack of rear support, and concentrated 50,000 Kwantung Army to carry out the campaign. The large-scale crusade, based on the combat policy of "step by step, breakthroughs at key points", was carried out one by one in different regions, and the volunteers who lacked a unified command were defeated one by one, and an unprecedented large-scale "mopping up" was launched.As a result, until the spring of 1933, 200,000 volunteer troops were defeated or disintegrated, and the Japanese army only paid the loss of 7,000 people.It was Okamura's debut in the war of aggression against China.