"Sonoda Kensaku...you...you are a traitor to the empire!"
Ribayashi Qiaolong felt such hatred in his heart. He expected that the journey to escort the prisoners of war would not be peaceful, and he also considered that there would definitely be Chinese people who might attack them halfway.
He even made several sets of plans. If things go against his will, he will not hesitate to shoot all the more than 10,000 prisoners of war.
But he never dreamed that the other party would actually sneak into the escort team in such a way, and would also use such a despicable method to attack them.
Yes, in Ribayashi Hashiryu's opinion, the opponent used the most despicable method, which was why he and the soldiers in the garrison were all caught.
It stands to reason that as an experienced officer, Ribayashi Hashiryu naturally maintains sufficient vigilance, especially when performing missions, but the problem is that no matter how high the vigilance is, it is difficult to block the backstab from his companions.
Especially those who were stabbed in the back were a group of young and lively women.
Just yesterday, Sonoda Kensaku suddenly made a suggestion. The troops will continue to set off tomorrow. It is better to hold a bonfire party that night. On the day of the party, he will ask the female nurses who came with the baggage train to perform songs and dances for everyone.
Kuribayashi Hashiryu admitted that he was indeed a little moved when he heard this proposal, but due to the vigilance of a soldier, he felt that it was inappropriate to conduct such an activity while performing a mission. If the matter reached the ears of his superiors,
If he, the person in charge, fails, he will be reprimanded.
Just when he was about to refuse, he noticed the extremely longing eyes of the squadron leaders and squad leaders below, and he couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart.
At this time, the all-out war between China and Japan was in its sixth year, and the war had expanded to the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
On the surface, the Japanese army is constantly attacking cities and territories throughout Asia, but people with insight understand that the seemingly powerful Japan is actually at the end of its war effort.
The Japanese people began to taste the bitter fruits of the war, because the war required a large number of soldiers and high war expenses, which caused the Japanese people's living standards to drop sharply, and the domestic people's hearts were particularly unstable.
These domestic situations were spread to foreign battlefields through various channels, which had an immeasurable impact on the psychology of the Japanese officers and soldiers participating in the war.
Years of traveling to foreign countries and witnessing the horrors of war firsthand made soldiers and grassroots officers extremely pessimistic about the war.
Under the control of this emotion, the discipline of the Japanese army began to relax, disobedience incidents occurred from time to time, and even vicious accidents occurred.
According to statistics from the Japanese Chinese Front Army, in 1941 and 1942 alone, there were 74 incidents of soldiers beating and scolding officers, 61 instances of dereliction of duty, 85 instances of desertion, and 18 personnel joining the Eighth Route Army.
In November this year, the Fifth Squadron stationed in Guantao County, Shandong Province will transfer six soldiers.
In the afternoon of that day, squadron leader Fukuda notified the six soldiers to be transferred.
This also caused six soldiers to be very dissatisfied with the transfer. During dinner, they overturned the table because there was too little liquor, and went to the kitchen to drink six or seven bottles of liquor to vent their dissatisfaction with the transfer.
After dinner, the six soldiers forced Warrant Officer Asano, who had beaten, scolded and insulted them on weekdays, to drink in a hotel outside the camp, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.
The duty officer, Kusaka Cao, knew about their conflict and stepped forward to dissuade him, but was beaten by six soldiers. Captain Fukuda's dissuasion was ineffective and he could only watch as six soldiers took Warrant Officer Asano out of the camp.
It was night, Asano was beaten all over and bruised, but he did not dare to return to the camp, so he had to stay overnight on the street.
The next day, six soldiers went to drink on the street again. Captain Fukuda sent squad leader Suzuki to ask the six soldiers to go back to camp to inventory their weapons and equipment. Unexpectedly, Suzuki was also beaten severely.
At noon, six drunken soldiers returned to the squadron headquarters drunkenly and beat Warrant Officer Asano again in front of Fukuda.
Even if they tried to cover it up, the troublemaking soldiers still refused to give up. Finally, Fukuda ordered the guards to stop them. The six soldiers actually shot at the guards and threw grenades.
Now, things finally got serious.
Six soldiers sobered up and fled Guantao, and all were detained in Linqing that night.
Afterwards, the six soldiers were tried by a military court, and two were sentenced to death, one to life, and three to fixed-term imprisonment.
Captain Fukuda committed suicide by caesarean section in shame. Second Lieutenant Suzuki and Captain Kusaka So were sentenced to imprisonment for dereliction of duty.
Do you think things end here?
It would be too naive to think so.
A month later, Lieutenant General Shihashi Ichihashi, commander of the 12th Army stationed in Shandong, Lieutenant General Yanagawa Tei, commander of the 59th Division, Major General Xiong Zhenxiong, commander of the 53rd Brigade, and Colonel Naohiko Igaki, commander of the 42nd Brigade, were dismissed from their posts.
(The above events are not fabricated by the author, but actually happened in history. This shows that reality is more outrageous than fiction.)
Because the impact of the incident was so bad, it quickly spread throughout the Japanese Army's various units. For a time, the very common incidents of beating, scolding, and corporal punishment and humiliation of lower-level soldiers by officers in various Japanese Army units dropped sharply.
Although Li Linqiao Long was far away in Myanmar, he had heard about this incident.
Seeing the longing mood of the squadron captains under his command, he was afraid of becoming the second squadron captain Futian and could only agree to this matter.
Sure enough, when the officers conveyed the news to the soldiers below, the entire brigade burst into cheers.
That night, the dozens of nurses put on their costumes, and Sonoda Kensaku and others also asked soldiers from the baggage team to bring dozens of jars of sake.
Then...most of the soldiers in the garrison, including Kuribayashi Hashiryu, were knocked down by the spiked sake.
When they woke up, they found that everyone had been disarmed and locked in several fences, surrounded by soldiers from the 18th Division with loaded weapons.
"Why... why do you do this? We are all Japanese, why do you do such a cruel thing to your compatriots?"
Until now, Ribayashi Qiaolong still can't figure it out.
He is not a fool who can become the captain. Sonoda Kensaku and the more than 800 soldiers under him all speak fluent Japanese, and they also have a thick local accent. They have no behavior or living habits.
Any question, no matter who looks at it, will think that this is a pure Japanese army. To say that they are all Chinese is simply an insult to his IQ.
But it happened that such a friendly force actually attacked them, which he couldn't understand no matter what.
Under the puzzled gaze of Ribayashi Kashiryu, Major Sonoda Kensaku opposite him smiled softly, and then said seriously: "Now please allow me to introduce myself again... Ihara Heihachimi, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese National Defense Army