Chō Isamu

Lieutenant General Chō Isamu

Chō Isamu ( Japanese 長 勇 ; born January 19, 1885 in Fukuoka Prefecture ; † June 22, 1945 in Okinawa ) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army who was known for his ultra-nationalist attitude. He was involved in several failed coup attempts in the run-up to the Second World War and is considered by some historians to be the catalyst for the Nanking massacre .

Life

Chō graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1916 and the Imperial Japanese Army University in 1928.

After graduating, Chō was soon relocated abroad and served for the first time in the Kwantung Army in northeast China's Manchuria . He soon began to be very politically active and was known within the army as an agitator. He was involved, partly directly, partly indirectly, in the March Incident as well as in the October Incident . In September 1930 he founded the secret society Sakurakai with some other officers , the aim of which was to eliminate the democratic system in Japan at that time and to replace it with a state-socialist regime, which in the eyes of the members would be the only one capable of the far eliminate widespread corruption and other ills in Japanese society.

At the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War , Chō became the commander of the 74th Infantry Regiment of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army , which was part of the Central China Regional Army . During the Battle of Nanking , Chō was the personal adjutant of the Commander-in-Chief Prince Asaka Yasuhiko . After conquering the city, Chō gave the order to the troops to kill all prisoners. This order is considered to be the trigger for the following Nanking massacre. It is controversial among historians whether Chō only forwarded an order to Prince Asaka, issued the order himself with his knowledge and approval, or acted completely through his superiors. However, Prince Asaka did nothing to stop the massacre, even though he knew about it.

The reason for giving such an order can be found in a note from Tennō Hirohito dated August 5, 1937, in which he called on the army to remove the shackles of international law when treating Chinese prisoners.

During his time as commander of the 23rd Division in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, Chō provoked several border incidents with troops of the Soviet Union . After a short interim phase, in which he served in the headquarters of the Japanese Taiwan Army , he became Chief of Staff of the Indochina Expedition Army from 1940 to 1941 , which occupied French Indochina after the defeat of France in the western campaign .

In 1941 he served as Vice Chief of Unit 82 in the Army Ministry , which was part of military espionage. He took part in the planning of the invasion of Southeast Asia. From 1941 to 1942 he served as an observer in the Southern Army , which advanced from occupied Indochina to Southeast Asia. He was also the liaison officer between the Army Group and the 14th Regional Army stationed in the occupied Philippines .

From 1942 to 1944 Chō was again stationed in Manchukuo, where he commanded the 10th Division . After his promotion to Lieutenant General in 1944, he served in the headquarters of the Kwantung Army and later as the commander of the 1st Mobile Brigade.

In 1945 he became the commander of the 32nd Army stationed on Okinawa and led them into the Battle of Okinawa . Although he preferred an aggressive offensive tactic to ward off the American invasion of the island over a passive delaying tactic, he is responsible for the massive fortifications and cave systems around Shuri-jō Castle. On May 5, 1945, he persuaded General Ushijima Mitsuru to launch a counter-offensive, the failure of which severely weakened Okinawa's defenders. On June 22, 1945, Chō Seppuku committed in order not to have to surrender to the American troops.

literature

• Richard Fuller: Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai . Arms and Armor, London 1992, ISBN 1-85409-151-4 .

Web links

• Steen Ammenthorp: Cho, Isamu . In: The Generals of World War II . Retrieved December 17, 2010.
• Kent Budge: Cho, Isamu . In: Pacific War Online Encyclopedia . Retrieved December 17, 2010.
• The way out . In: Time Magazine , July 9, 1945. Retrieved August 10, 2008. 

Remarks

1. ^ Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
2. ↑ Akira Fujiwara, Nitchû Sensô ni Okeru Horyo Gyakusatsu , Kikan Sensô Sekinin Kenkyû 9, 1995, p. 22
3. ↑ Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II
4. ↑ Fuller, Hirohito's Samurai

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Chō is the family name, Isamu the first name.