Li Guanghui returns to Taiwan
Beautiful Island
After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government and Japan signed the " Shimonoseki Treaty" on April 17, 1895, Taiwan and Penghu Islands was ceded and entered the period of Japanese colonial rule.
In 1923, Hirohito , who was still the crown prince at the time, visited Taiwan and was attracted by the scenery of the local aborigines, so he called the aborigines "Takasago". The word "Takasago" means "beautiful scenery" in Japanese.
However, the attitude of the Japanese towards these aboriginal people is not peaceful. During their rule of Taiwan, the Japanese army launched more than 160 so-called "suppression wars", which brought serious disasters to the aborigines.
Long-standing anger erupted in 1930, the year the Aboriginal people launched the Wushe Uprising against their Japanese rulers. In the face of the well-armed and numerous military police, they retreated into the deep mountains and jungles to deal with the enemy. The Japanese army took a lot of effort to suppress the uprising. a piece of history.
Stills of Seediq Bale
After the incident subsided, the Japanese were deeply impressed by the aboriginals' ability to fight in the mountains and forests, and the idea of calling them to fight was born for the first time.
Chief Hattori Jiro, who participated in the battle, wrote in his report: "If the aborigines are domesticated and guided well, they may be able to become part of the army under the leadership of our army in an emergency.
Japanese spy chief and Zhiying Er also suggested: In the Wushe incident, the aboriginal people were brave and familiar with the jungle climate. If they can be recruited to participate in the Greater East Asia War, they should be able to contribute. The room of the aborigines who were slaughtered after the incident
Since then, the Japanese have regarded the aborigines as an important reserve force. In fact, there were soldiers from Taiwan in the early Japanese army. Waiting for the people", they have no chance to participate in the war, they are only worthy of some coolies.
In 1936, Hirohito, who was visiting Taiwan at that time, had been the emperor for 10 years. Rename the aborigines " Takasago".
Brainwashed Heroes
Sadly, the young aborigines have been educated by Japan's continuous "emperorization" Without the spirit of resistance of our ancestors, he began to be grateful for the achievements of Japan's construction.
Pacific War After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the idea of organizing aborigines to join the army turned into reality. On January 16, 1942, Taiwan Governor's Office released the "Outline for the Recruitment of Students from the Army Volunteer Training Center", which was officially accepted. Taiwanese volunteered to join the army, and there were a lot of applicants for a while.
Taiwanese soldiers received medical examinations
According to the memory of Taiwanese Japanese soldier Xu Zhaorong,There are many people competing in each recruitment, and some people even write a blood letter. Later, this person continued to run for the rights and interests of the Japanese soldiers of Taiwan nationality. On May 20, 2008, he set himself on fire to protest the indifference of the Taiwan authorities.
Of course, some Taiwanese were deceived or forced into battle. Before they set off, they were promised to go to the local area to do logistics and other work, and promised high remuneration, in fact, they all became cannon fodder in the war.
In March 1942, the first batch of 500 Taiwanese soldiers set off for Philippines to support the Japanese army that was fighting the US military there.
Aboriginal Soldiers Expedition Ceremony
Battle of Bataan Peninsula , Aboriginal troops fought hard and performed well. The commander of the campaign, Masaharu Honma, the commander of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army, was very happy and personally named them "Takasago Volunteer Team". The Honma Masaharu was the commander of the Japanese Taiwan Army, and he was the main supporter of the plan to recruit the Takasago team to the South China Sea.
The success of the first battle gave the Japanese a taste of the sweetness, and several batches of Taiwanese soldiers were continuously sent to the Nanyang battlefield. As few as 200 people, as many as thousands, with a total of nearly 20,000 people.
Takasago Volunteer Team with a Fan Sword
After these aboriginal people arrived at the battlefield, they often mixed with the Japanese army. They can traverse the roadless jungle with ease and use their skilled hunting skills to obtain supplies. In the face of malaria epidemics, they can quickly find a solution. Japanese soldiers have high evaluation of these Takasago soldiers.
In the later period of the war, the situation of the Japanese army became more and more unfavorable, and the Takasago Volunteer Team was reorganized.perform some special tasks. These missions are often suicidal operations, the most famous of which is the Kaoru Air Force.
"Airborne" means airborne. On November 26, 1944, 48 members of Takasago formed the Kaoru Airborne Force to carry out "Operation Yihao". The specific plan is to carry explosives and carry out a "special attack" on the airport of the U.S. military on Leyte Island, destroying the U.S. fighter jets and airport facilities.
As a result, the four transport planes that the team members were riding in were just approached by the US antiaircraft artillery. 1 was shot down, and all the team members were killed; 1 lost in panic and joined other Japanese troops after making an emergency landing.
Only 2 planes landed near the airport, but they were attacked by the U.S. ground forces soon after. Many people were killed and the rest fled to the jungle, and the mission was declared a complete failure.
Volunteers who received "special attack" training
Return to my ancestors
The entire During World War II, Takasago Volunteers killed two-thirds and survived Most of them are disabled, and it is hard to imagine how cruel they have gone through.
After the war, Japan enshrined the dead members of the Takasago Volunteer Team in the infamous Yasukuni Shrine, thus continuing to create the "Taiwanese are willing to be Japanese" scam.
There is also a monument to the Takasago Volunteer Team funded by the Japanese in Wulai District, New Taipei City. It not only has the inscription of Lee Teng-hui on it, but also has the Japanese national anthem "The Generation of the King" engraved on the side.
Takasago Volunteers Monument
Controversy has been ongoing. On August 11, 2009, the representative of Taiwan's ethnic minorities, Gao Jinsumei led the Taiwan ethnic "Returning My Ancestral Spirit Team" to protest in front of the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan, demanding apology and compensation from Japan.
While pro-Japanese people claim that the aborigines and the Japanese get along well, they often feel the emperor's "favor", in fact, this is just their wishful thinking.
The Takasago Volunteer Team is not only a product of Japanese colonial rule, but also a tragic history of Taiwan's aborigines.
Stills from Seediq Bale
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