The Japanese army in World War II seems to have achieved brilliant results, but in fact it is more like a headless fly. They are only greedy for petty profits and have no long-term strategic planning. So how did the Japanese army lose their rationality and embark on the path of brainless and stupid war? Let's listen to Xiao Bian's detailed explanation.
Japan's gradual path to madness can be traced back to Japan's traditional and unique staff system and the emperor system. Japan has a tradition of subjugating subordinates and disobeying orders. For example, the Meiji government was the product of a coup that defeated the superior. Such incidents of subjugation are often carried out in the name of the emperor, making it difficult for the government to intervene. Japan's special staff system gives the staff excessive power. The staff can directly command the army, and no one can interfere except the emperor. The newly-appointed Emperor Hirohito has a strong desire for power and often uses to defeat to enhance his own power. Some middle- and lower-level officers who have committed crimes below are not punished, but rewarded. This approach paved the way for a subsequent vicious cycle. In the end, Japan was dragged into the quagmire of war and embarked on the road of self-destruction.
In 1888, Japan followed the example of Germany in establishing the Army Staff Headquarters. The General Staff Headquarters takes orders directly from the Emperor and can directly mobilize and command the military without government consent. The government is only responsible for training soldiers and providing logistics. This special staff system gives the staff too much power. The talents of these staff officers are simply not worthy of such power. The Japanese staff officers all came from the Japanese Army University, and their German instructors only focused on practical teaching, but ignored the teaching of strategic thinking. These mass-produced Japanese military staff officers are at best qualified division chiefs of staff, and rarely have the strategic vision of Ishihara Wanji .
In 1931, Kanji Ishihara secretly launched the " September 18th Incident". Not only was he not punished, but he was promoted to the chief of the operations section of the staff headquarters. Not to be outdone, his fellow apprentices followed suit and took the opportunity to rise to the top. For example, Anichiro Tashiro and Mutaguchi Kenya Masanobu Tsuji ( Shinzo Abe 's grandfather), Hideki Tojo and others launched the July 7th Incident, the Battle of Nomonhan, and Marco Bridge Incident. They used their special status as staff officers to launch armies privately in an attempt to replicate the success of the September 18th Incident and then annex the entire China. Create an established fact and pave the way for yourself to be promoted to a higher position. As for the fate of the country, it is only theirs.
These newly appointed advisers gradually squeezed out Ishihara Wanji, who had always been a naysayer. Their aggression was completely a gambler's behavior. The so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" is just their imagination and not a strategy at all. It did not consider whether Japan would be able to absorb the occupied territory, nor whether it would turn into a protracted war. They just wishfully thought that they could die in China in three months. This slogan is simply unrealistic.
For example, Tsuji Masanobu (Shinzo Abe’s grandfather), one of Japan’s three major staff officers, is very obsessed with spiritualism and ignores intelligence. Fighting is always taken for granted. He even claimed that one Japanese division was worth three Soviet divisions, which was extremely arrogant and stupid. As a result, he was taught how to behave by Zhukov general in Nomenhan.
In 1938, Kanji Ishihara's conclusion began to come true. The fatigue of Japan's military front was showing, strategic supplies and military strength were getting tighter and tighter. Japan was no longer able to launch an offensive, and China and Japan entered a stalemate stage. However, Japan lacks resources and cannot delay. Despite this, the Japanese staff were still unwilling to admit the facts and still attacked from all sides. It attempts to take this opportunity to seize more war resources, support war with war, and fight a protracted war.
In 1941, Hideki Tojo, who had already become the Prime Minister of Japan, launched the Pacific War, and Japan went to war with Britain and the United States at the same time. Although good news continued in the early days of the war. But this cannot change the fact that Japan's national power is weak. It also takes time to support war with war. Although Japan has occupied a lot of land, its utilization rate is not high. The cost of governance is high. As time went by, Japan's war resources faced depletion, and it was eventually defeated by the anti-fascist alliance .
