Today is the eighth Nanjing Massacre victims National Memorial Day . Today, 84 years ago, Nanjing fell and was immediately massacred. 300,000 compatriots died under the swords and guns of Japanese soldiers invading China. Every Chinese should remember this history!
So, what Japanese troops invaded China participated in the attack on Nanjing and Nanjing Massacres? There have always been many statements, basically the same. This article uses the People's Liberation Army Press's "105 Divisions in the History of Japanese Invasion of China" and "Japanese Invasion of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", "Japanese Invasion of China's War", "Standards of Japanese Invasion of China", and "Military Deployment of Japanese Invasion of China's Attack on Nanjing".
After the Battle of Shanghai in mid-November 1, , the commander of the Central Chinese Front Army and commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army of the Japanese army, Matsui Ishione , commanded eight divisions and another two brigades, about 200,000 people, attacking Nanjing in two routes. The Japanese army on the North Road were Shanghai's dispatched troops, organized by the of the 3rd, 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th Division and Shigeto Detachment (the 101st Division belonging to the Shanghai Expeditionary Army was stationed in Shanghai), and was personally commanded by Matsui Ishien himself; the Japanese army on the South Road was led by Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke, commander of the 10th Army, and under the jurisdiction of the 6th, 18th, 114th Divisions and the Kōzaki Detachment. On December 1, the Japanese base camp issued an order to attack Nanjing; at 13:00 on December 10, the Japanese Central Frontier issued an order to attack Nanjing. On December 13, the Japanese army captured Nanjing and began a tragic massacre!
On December 12, 1937, the Japanese light armored convoy rushed into the Nanjing Zhonghuamen
On December 7, before the Japanese army launched a general attack on Nanjing, the 11th Division (the 10th Infantry Brigade) and the Chongtou Detachment belonging to the newly established Fifth Army , preparing to participate in the South China coastal landing operation. On December 11, after the main force of the Japanese army launched an attack on Nanjing City Wall, the 18th Division of the 10th Army was ordered to turn troops eastward and attack Hangzhou. In addition, the Third Division only sent one unit to attack Nanjing, and the main force stayed in the area of Suzhou . Therefore, the Japanese invaders who committed the heinous crimes of the Nanjing Massacre were mainly the Sixth, Ninth, Sixteenth and 114th Divisions, as well as the Guoqi Detachment and the Third and Thirteenth Divisions.
The Sixth Division was established in 1888 and is one of the first field divisions in Japan. Its soldiers mainly come from Kumamoto, Japan, also known as the "Kumomoto Division".
Division is the basic tactical corps of the Japanese Army and is the highest-level fixed organization unit. It was originally adapted from the town and was compiled by German Army . The first to 20th divisions of the Japanese army, and the Guard Division, , are permanent divisions, also known as the pike/pack horse division, which has two brigades (2 infantry regiments per brigade), one registrar each of cavalry, artillery, engineers, and baggage regiments, with a total of 8 registrars. Since its basic combat units are 4 infantry regiments, they are also called the "four-unit system" division. Generally, the Japanese permanent divisions with full capacity can reach 24,000-28,000 people. After the Battle of Wuhan in in 1938, in order to meet the needs of different combat scales, the Japanese army divided the divisions into four types: A, B, C and D.
On December 13, 1937, the 6th Division of the Japanese invading army built a wooden bridge on Qinhuai River and broke into Nanjing West Gate
The 6th Division was one of the 17 permanent divisions of the Japanese army before the outbreak of World War II. It belongs to the A Division. Its general title (code name) "Ming". When attacking Nanjing, it was affiliated with the 10th Army. The division commander Lieutenant General Tan Shoufu , under the jurisdiction of the 11th Infantry Brigade and the 36th Infantry Brigade, a total of 4 infantry regiments, one registrar each of cavalry, field artillery, engineers, and baggage corpses. On December 10, 1937, the Central Chinese Front Army of the Japanese invaders launched a general attack on Nanjing. The 6th Division attacked from the directions of Niushoushan , Banqiao, Yuhuatai, Zhonghuamen , Jiangdongmen , and Sanhanhe. On the 13th, the Sixth Division took the lead in attacking Nanjing from Zhonghua Gate, and part 1 of the Sixth Division broke through Zhongshan Gate . The division is one of the main culprits of the "Nanjing Massacre". Subsequently, the 6th Division participated in the Xuzhou Battle , the Wuhan Battle, the Hunan-Jiangxi Battle , and the Changsha Battle , etc. In November 1940, the division was changed to a "three-unit system" Type B division (the first-level brigade system was abolished, and the division directly underwent three infantry corpses).After the outbreak of Pacific War , the Sixth Division was transferred to the Pacific battlefield in 1942. On September 6, 1945, the Sixth Division surrendered to the Australian First Army at Bougainville north of the Solomon Islands. After Japan's unconditional surrender, the retired Tanisuo was extradited to China as a Class B war criminal and was tried by the Nanjing Military Court and was shot in Yuhuatai, Nanjing on April 26, 1947.
One of the main culprits of the Nanjing Massacre, Tanishou, was sentenced to death
Another notorious murderous demon of the Sixth Division, the squadron leader of the 45th Regiment of the 6th Division, Tanaka Jun Yoshik , swung his sword in Nanjing to kill unarmed Chinese military and civilians. From Zhonghua Gate to Shuixi Gate, it is said that it kills all over Nanjing city and beheads more than 300. He was captured by the international gendarmerie after the war and was later extradited back to China for trial by Tokyo International Military Tribunal. He was executed on January 28, 1948.
The Ninth Division was established in 1898. The 9th Division mainly comes from Kanazawa, Japan, so it is called " Kanazawa Division ". The Ninth Division was one of the 17 standing divisions of the Japanese army before the outbreak of World War II. It was also a Class A division, and the army was commonly known as "Wu". As early as the "January 28 Incident" in 1932, the Ninth Division was sent to Shanghai as the main force in the attack on Songhu . When the 9th Division attacked Nanjing in December 1937, it was affiliated with the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. The division commander Lieutenant General Yoshizuru, who was under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Infantry Brigade and the 18th Infantry Brigade, a total of 4 infantry regiments, and one registrar each, cavalry, mountain artillery, engineers, and baggage corps. At 13:00 on December 10, the Japanese Central Front Army issued an order to attack Nanjing, and the 9th Division attacked from south of Xiaolingwei to Guanghuamen. On the 13th, the 9th Division broke through Guanghua Sect and began a crazy massacre.
Chinese defenders resisted stubbornly
After capturing Nanjing, the 9th Division of the Japanese Army was transferred to the Central China Expeditionary Army to participate in the Battle of Xuzhou and Wuhan. In 1940, the division was ordered to be transferred to Northeast China and was affiliated with the Kwantung Army. In December 1940, the division was changed to the "three-unit system" Division B. In December 1944, the Ninth Division was ordered to be transferred to Taiwan and was under the jurisdiction of the Tenth Front Army. After Japan was defeated and surrendered, the Ninth Division surrendered to the Chinese army in Taiwan. Yoshisuke was listed as a war criminal in 1946, but escaped from trial.
The 16th Division was established in 1905. The troops mainly come from Kyoto, Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture , so it is called the "Kyoto Division". The 16th Division is one of the permanent divisions of the Japanese army, belonging to the A-type division, and the general title of the army is "Yuan". When attacking Nanjing in December 1937, the 16th Division was affiliated with the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. The division commander Lieutenant General Nakajima Atsuo, who was in charge of the 19th Infantry Brigade and the 30th Infantry Brigade, a total of 4 infantry regiments, and one registrar each, cavalry, field artillery, engineers, and baggage corps. After the Japanese army launched a general attack on Nanjing, the 16th Division attacked from Tangshan, Qilinmen and to Zhongshanmen and Xiaguan. After the Japanese army captured Nanjing, the 16th Division created the inhumane Nanjing Massacre, killing more than 160,000 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war. It is considered to be the Japanese army with the most killings. The two notorious "100-man killing" murder competition protagonists - Noda Shin- and Musui Toshiaki came from this unit.
The commander of the 16th Division, Imao Nakajima, had personally killed two Chinese prisoners of war,
Japanese newspaper "Hundreds of people" reported
After the Battle of Nanjing, the 16th Division participated in the Xuzhou and Wuhan operations. In April 1941, the division was changed to a "three-unit system" Division. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the 16th Division was organized into the 14th Army of the Japanese Southern Army and participated in the attack on the Philippines. In 1944, the 16th Division moved to the Leight Island . In October of the same year, the 16th Division was severely damaged by the US military. The division commander Shiro Makino committed suicide. The three subordinates of the corps were all killed in battle. The remaining 600 soldiers were dispersed, and the 16th Division was completely destroyed.
In December 1945, after the war, the Chinese government asked the Allied forces to extradite Nakajima Atsugo to China for trial, but he had died of uremia and cirrhosis on October 28, escaping the justice trial.The Sasaki Brigade of the division is one of the most sinister and most brutal troops in the Nanjing Massacre. The brigade commander Major General Sasaki is also one of the main culprits of the Nanjing Massacre. He died of illness at the Japanese War Criminals Management Institute in Fushun, China on May 30, 1955. The "100-man kill" Noda and Toshiaki Mukai were captured after the war and were sentenced to death in Nanjing on January 28, 1948.
114th Division
On October 12, 1937, the Japanese base camp expanded the 114th Division in Yuto, Japan based on the 4th Division reserve personnel, and then went to China to join the 10th Army combat sequence. The troops were commonly known as "General". The division commander was Lieutenant General Shimatsu, who was a Division A, which was under the jurisdiction of the 127th Infantry Brigade and the 128th Infantry Brigade, a total of 4 infantry regiments, one registrar each of cavalry, field artillery, engineers, and baggage corps.
On December 10, 1937, the Central Chinese Front Army of the Japanese invaders launched a general attack on Nanjing, and the 114th Division attacked from the directions of Moling Pass, Fangshan, Yuhuatai and Zhonghuamen. On the 13th, the 114th Division broke through the China Sect. After the Japanese army captured Nanjing, they began to eliminate the Chinese army officers and soldiers who put down their weapons by massacre. The division assassinated 1,354 prisoners of war on the same day alone. At the same time, it began to exterminate large-scale massacre of unarmed civilians, committing unforgivable and heinous crimes! On February 10, 1938, the division was transferred to the Northern Front Army and participated in the Xuzhou Battle. On July 22, 1939, the 114th Division was ordered to return to China for rest and rest. In August, its organization was abolished.
The commander of the 114th Division, Shimoji Momatsu (right), and the commander of the 6th Division, Seokoo, discussed the attack on the Zhonghuamen
On July 10, 1944, the Japanese invaders expanded the Third Infantry Brigade of Fenyang, Shanxi into a C Division (the first-level unit system was abolished), with the number 114th Division. But this 114th Division is no longer the same unit as the 114th Division that participated in the Nanjing Massacre.
After the war, Shigeji Momatsu, one of the main culprits of the Nanjing Massacre, was not included in the list of war criminals and escaped the trial of him by the Military Court.
Kuozaki Detachment (Ninth Infantry Brigade)
"Detachment" is a temporary special organization of the Japanese Army during World War II. It was formed to perform specific combat tasks. It is mainly a brigade or wing-level unit within its organization is drawn from the main field division, and it is a basic force and is assigned to other special forces to form an independent battle group. Usually, they are only temporarily organized during combat, and the troops of the detachment are built after the mission is over. The detachment is usually named after the commander and changes as the commander changes. For example, the initial captain of the "Shito Teng Detachment" was Shito Teng Chiaki, and later the captain of the detachment was succeeded by Hatan Shichi and Iida Shojiro, and the detachment was also renamed "Hata Detachment" and "Iida Detachment". The size of the detachment is that the most are more than one brigade, and the fewer are only one or two infantry brigades; the rank of the detachment leader is the highest, the lieutenant general, the lower one is even the and the .
Guoqi Detachment was temporarily drawn by the 9th Brigade of the Fifth Division. At the end of September 1937, the of the 1st Fifth Division received an order from the base camp. In order to support the Japanese attack in Shanghai, the 9th Brigade (the 11th Battalion of the Infantry) was drawn to form the Guoqi Detachment to Shanghai for support. The detachment commander Major General Kurosato (the brigade commander of the 9th Brigade), and the 11th and 41st infantry regiments were in charge. After assisting the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Force to capture Shanghai, the Guoqi Detachment did not transfer back to the Fifth Division of the North China Expeditionary Force, but continued to attack Nanjing with the seven divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Force. The Guoqi Detachment, along with several other division units, created the Nanjing Massacre.
On the afternoon of December 5, 1937, the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment under the jurisdiction of the Japanese invaders of China captured the position outside the Jinshan Acropolis in Nanjing, and six weeks after the Nanjing Massacre, the 5th Division returned to the establishment of the 5th Division and participated in the Taierzhuang Battle. Since then, the Fifth Division has successively transferred to the Kwantung Army, the South China Front Army, and the 25th Army of the Southern Army. After Japan's defeat, the division surrendered on the island of Seland, Indonesia.
Yamada Detachment (103th Infantry Brigade)
Yamada Detachment of the Japanese invading China is the 103th Infantry Brigade. The brigade is the Japanese tactical corps, with its organizational level below the division and above the corps. The number of brigades varies, about 3,000-8,000 people.The rank of brigade commander is usually major general, and a few are lieutenant generals. There are two most common brigades of the Japanese invaders, namely the infantry brigade and the mixed brigade. The Infantry Brigade is a combat unit affiliated to the division and is the highest-level organization unit of the infantry. The Infantry Brigade (5000-7700 people) has two infantry regiments under its jurisdiction, with each infantry regiment of 2500-3800 people. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army formed a new division and abolished the first-level wing organization. The infantry brigade had four infantry brigades under its jurisdiction, and the brigade quota was 5,096 people. The hybrid brigade is Independent Mixed brigade , which is composed of multiple troops and has 6,000-8,000 people. It is actually a small division. The independent mixed brigade is not affiliated with a certain division, but performs independent combat missions. It is mostly garrison troops, equipped with lightweight infantry weapon , and is a tactical unit. In addition, there are chariot brigades, cavalry brigades, field artillery brigades, etc.
Yamada Detachment (103th Infantry Brigade) is affiliated to the 13th Division and was incorporated into the Shanghai Expeditionary Army on September 11, 1937. The brigade commander Yamada Dae Second Major General Yamada, who is under the jurisdiction of the 65th Infantry Regiment and the 104th Infantry Regiment. During the attack on Nanjing, the Yamada Detachment of the 13th Division attacked Wulong Mountain, Mufu Mountain and other places north of Nanjing. After Nanjing fell, the Japanese army began a crazy massacre, and the Yamada Detachment was also "unwilling to fall behind". The 65th Regiment of the Yamada Detachment alone included more than 57,400 Chinese officers and soldiers (including injured officers and soldiers) and refugees, cut off their diet for several days, and then massacre them collectively.
The Yamada Detachment of the 13th Division of the Japanese invading China captured nearly 15,000 Chinese soldiers on the south bank of the Yangtze River (Sharkshar Gorge) north of the Mufu Mountain in Nanjing. Most of them were massacred by the Japanese army. After January 1938, the 13th Division followed the Japanese army's main force to participate in the Battle of Xuzhou, Wuhan, Suzao Battle , the First Changsha Battle, Second Changsha Battle , Western Hubei Battle , Changde Battle , Changheng Battle, and Guiliu Battle, committing numerous crimes. In mid-August 1945, the division surrendered to the Chinese army at Hukou, Jiangxi.
Advance team of the Third Division (Infantry Regiment 68th Regiment)
The Sixty-Eighth Infantry Regiment belongs to the Fifth Infantry Brigade of the Third Division, and the commander of the corps of the corps, Colonel Ying Sen. The wing is the largest combat unit of the Japanese army's single military, usually with a unit of 3,000-3,500 people. The Japanese army's corps are generally regarded as regiment-level units. The number of troops depends on the types of troops. The main corpses include infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and baggage troops. In addition, there are independent mixed corps (composed of a certain proportion of infantry and artillery) and special corps (see later in the Pacific War). The wing captain is usually held by Colonel and , and sometimes Zhongsou also serves as the chief. The infantry gangs in various military corpses have relatively fixed structures, with 3 infantry brigades of 1,000-1,200 people, as well as artillery squadrons, communications squadrons, transportation squadrons, ammunition gangs, etc., with nearly 4,000 people, which is significantly larger than the infantry regiments of the same period in China; however, the personnel arrangements of artillery, engineering and other corps are relatively large, with the cavalry regiments having the least personnel, which is similar to the cavalry regiments of the same period in China.
After the Battle of Songhu, the main force of the 3rd Division remained in Suzhou, Zhenjiang , Changzhou , Wuxi . Only Ying Senxiao led the 68th Regiment to Nanjing, participated in the battle to attack Nanjing in the east of Yuhuatai and Guanghuamen, captured Tongjimen and Wudingmen, and led his troops to participate in the Nanjing Massacre.
Yingmori Takashi later served as the commander of the 11th Division and the commander of the 12th Army. On September 20, 1945, Ying Mori Takashi, commander of the 12th Army of the Japanese invading China, led 31,560 officers and soldiers to surrender to China in Luohe. According to historical records, "Ying Senxiao was 58 years old, with gray hair, wearing glasses, and a low forehead. He was completely gone from the arrogance of the past, his face was depressed, and he was as stupid as a wooden chicken."
Commemorative statue of Luohe, Henan, Luohe, recreates the scene of Ying Senxiao surrendering that year
(Author: Military History Expert Xu Ping)
Source: China Military Network
