Chapter 91. Manchuria
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Chapter 91. Manchuria
While we have advanced to 1946 in some parts of the World, others are still lagging behind and that's not fair. Let's get even then, shan't we?
The fact that Japan, despite being defeated, managed to snatch something more than unconditional surrender, had major implications in East Asia and significant ones elsewhere in the World.
Japan Proper (the Japanese Home Islands)
American Occupation in the Japanese Home Islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and adjacent minor islands) was restricted to 43 small but strategic areas of military significance. The Japanese Police had to put down a series of spontaneous or poorly organized anti-American protests and riots.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was downsized from more than six million to just about 370,000 men in active duty (under the control of the Japanese Government). Over 12,000 officers were dishonourably discharged because of their conduct during the war. More than one hundred committed seppuku.
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was similarly downsized to less than one tenth of its war-time strength. Most of its assets were initially seized by the Americans, only to be gradually restored to Japanese service as the Soviet menace in the Sea of Okhotsk became impossible to ignore.
The Kempeitai was dissolved.
Thirty-one high profile Japanese military and political leaders (but no members of the Imperial Family) were tried for war crimes by a joint Japanese-American Tribunal set up in Tokyo. One defendant was found unfit to stand trial, one died of natural causes during the proceedings, three committed suicide, four were sentenced to death (but the Emperor commuted their sentences to life imprisonment), thirteen were sentenced to life imprisonment, six were sentenced to serve between five and twenty years behind bars and three were acquitted.
The Japanese Territories
The Pacific Mandate was transferred to the United States and Guam (already American) and the Gilbert Islands (ceded by the U.K.) were later merged into it. For the first time in history, all the Micronesian Peoples lived in the same country, the U.S. Micronesia Territory.
Korea was separated from Japan and turned into an internally autonomous, self-governing American Protectorate, to achieve full independence after a period of three to five years.
The American Occupation of Korea proceeded smoothly, with the Koreans by and large welcoming their liberators. The Communists remained underground while most of the Japanese troops retreated swiftly over the Yalu, to Kwantung controlled Manchuria.
Scattered Japanese Islands in the North-West Pacific (Okino-Tori-Shima, Minami-Tori-Shima, Daito-Shoto, Volcano Islands, Bonin Islands), Okinawa, Taiwan, Karafuto and the Kuriles were placed under temporary American Occupation and Military Administration. Taiwan and Karafuto had referenda scheduled for 1946 to decide their future (integration with Japan, independence or merger with China / Russia). The rest were recognized as Japanese land.
While Karafuto (Japanese South Sakhalin) was considered certain to vote for Japan, in Taiwan the situation was more balanced, with Japanese and Chinese Parties furiously campaigning for the votes of the Taiwanese under the watchful eyes of the American soldiers.
South-East Asia (European Colonies under Japanese Occupation during the War)
Instead of surrendering their equipment to the Western Powers, the IJA and the IJN gifted tanks, trucks, mortars, rifles, ammunition, explosives, warships, submarines, airplanes, etc, to the newly emerged States (Indonesia, Malaya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma) as well as to their former Ally, Thailand.
Moreover, a large number of Japanese soldiers and sailors (estimated to almost 100,000 men) were allowed by their commanders to desert and volunteer for the National Armies of the new States to continue the fight against European colonial oppression.
While the French would have probably lost the Indochina War anyway, the Japanese volunteers and donated materiel played a role in the astounding Vietnamese and Thai victories. For the Indochina War, see the relevant chapter.
Moreover, the quite decent Indonesian Navy (created and mostly staffed by the Japanese) was probably one of the main reasons for the British and Portuguese reluctance to invade Indonesian held British Borneo and Portuguese Timor, with important consequences for the future.
The British quickly took control of Hong Kong, Singapore and Penang but bogged down in the Malayan jungles in vicious assymetric warfare against both the Communists (mainly Chinese) and the Malayan Nationalists. For the resolution of the Malayan Question, please wait for the relevant chapter.
The situation in Burma was complex. In the East, the Burmese Nationalists were fighting against the Shan People and the Royal Thai Army in the partially Thai controlled Shan State. In the West, the frontlines had stabilized after the Surrender of Japan with the British Army ceasing all major military offensives against the Bumese Army. That apparently stable situation would be completely shattered by the unexpected (and unauthorized) intervention of the Indian Army. For the Invasion of Burma and other developments in and around Greater India, please wait for the relevant chapters.
The Manchurian Quagmire
Long before the 30th of June Surrender of Japan, the Japanese High Command was already aware that a final victory was completely unfeasable. While the politicians and the Emperor were negotiating an acceptable way out of the catastrophic war, the military were already preparing their Manchurian stronghold.
The large Kwantung Army, which was fighting a vicious total war against the Chinese, was becoming increasingly isolated because the massive American naval and aerial superiority made further contacts between the Home Islands and the Asian Mainland increasingly difficult.
In those difficult conditions and with a negotiated Surrender looming closer and closer, the Kwantung Army decided to slowly disengage from China Proper and retreat towards Manchuria. That presented a number of advantages:
By the time of the Surrender, the Kwantung Army had already retreated almost three quarters of its effectives from China Proper and Korea to Manchuria, including much of the still usable military equipment. At the same time, elaborate fortifications were hastily erected on the borders with Korea and China Proper.
One day after the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the Kwantung Army declared that it was no longer at war with the Western Powers and that it would only surrender to the Americans, never to the Chinese.
The pace of their retreat from China Proper and Korea increased, even turning into a rout in some places. The Americans didn't manage to advance in Korea fast enough to capture or engage the retreating Japanese and were ordered to stop at the heavily fortified Yalu River border for the time being. The Japanese forces on the other side of the river did their best not to provoke the Americans in any way.
When the Japanese Emperor and Government asked them to lay down their weapons, the Kwantung Army officially rebelled. In a previously prepared and well rehearsed scenario, Puyi, the puppet Emperor of Manchuria, anounced that all links between Manchuria and the Empire of Japan were severed, including the military alliance and diplomatic relations. Moreover, Manchuria formally annexed the Kwantung Leased Territory.
The Kwantung Army swore allegiance to the State of Manchuria which declared its neutrality and asked for Soviet support against the Chinese aggression. Everything seemed almost surreal. Stalin didn't bother to answer.
By the end of July, no Japanese soldier fought in China Proper anymore and it became quickly apparent that the Chinese Army was unable to overrun the heavily defended fortified border. It took another three months for the Americans to amass sufficient forces in Korea for a successful invasion of Manchuria.
When the Americans were ready to cross the Yalu, it was already November and, as winters were usually rather harsh in that area, it was considered whether to postpone the invasion for the beginning of the spring. It took a great deal of begging from Chiang Kai-Shek to convince the Americans to stop procrastinating.
Faced with the collapse of the Yalu front in face of a determined American offence, the Kwantung Army leaders panicked. Determined to bring the Soviets into the war, they used two captured American fighter planes and two of their own bombers, overpainted with the American colours, for a night attack in Vladivostok. The Soviet defences were taken by surprise and the Japanese managed to drop their bombs in a residential area, destroying five buildings and killing 52 Soviet civilians in their beds.
The decoy failed to fool the Soviets and, despite being underprepared, the Far-Eastern Soviet Army crossed the Amur, invading Manchuria from the north. Faced with a three front war against superior enemies, the position of the Kwantung Army became completely untennable. While not Allies, the Soviets were thus cobelligerants with the United States and China.
Less than one week later, the Kwantung Army and the Manchurian State were collapsing rapidly. Hsinking (Changchun) was overrun by the Americans and Puyi was taken into custody. In a radio announcement, Puyi abdicated and declared the State of Manchuria dissolved with all its territory being returned to China. The scattered remnants of the once mighty Kwantung Army surrendered piecemeal to the Americans and the Soviets during the following weeks.
By Christmas, all fighting had ended. Manchuria remained divided between a larger southern zone, under American control and Chinese sovereignty, and a sparcely populated northern zone, under Soviet occupation. Similar to the already existing People's Republics of East Turkestan and Outer Mongolia, the Soviets proclaimed a People's Republic of Manchuria in the territory under their control. None of the three Soviet Puppet States created on Chinese territory had any international recognition outside the Soviet Bloc.
Oddly, the captured leaders of the rogue Kwantung Army declared their satisfaction over the Soviet intervention against them which shortened the war: "Our demise is not important. What is important for the future of the Japanese Race is that China be as weak as possible. With half of Manchuria forever out of Chinese reach, we had at least achieved something useful."
While we have advanced to 1946 in some parts of the World, others are still lagging behind and that's not fair. Let's get even then, shan't we?
The fact that Japan, despite being defeated, managed to snatch something more than unconditional surrender, had major implications in East Asia and significant ones elsewhere in the World.
Japan Proper (the Japanese Home Islands)
American Occupation in the Japanese Home Islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and adjacent minor islands) was restricted to 43 small but strategic areas of military significance. The Japanese Police had to put down a series of spontaneous or poorly organized anti-American protests and riots.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was downsized from more than six million to just about 370,000 men in active duty (under the control of the Japanese Government). Over 12,000 officers were dishonourably discharged because of their conduct during the war. More than one hundred committed seppuku.
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was similarly downsized to less than one tenth of its war-time strength. Most of its assets were initially seized by the Americans, only to be gradually restored to Japanese service as the Soviet menace in the Sea of Okhotsk became impossible to ignore.
The Kempeitai was dissolved.
Thirty-one high profile Japanese military and political leaders (but no members of the Imperial Family) were tried for war crimes by a joint Japanese-American Tribunal set up in Tokyo. One defendant was found unfit to stand trial, one died of natural causes during the proceedings, three committed suicide, four were sentenced to death (but the Emperor commuted their sentences to life imprisonment), thirteen were sentenced to life imprisonment, six were sentenced to serve between five and twenty years behind bars and three were acquitted.
The Japanese Territories
The Pacific Mandate was transferred to the United States and Guam (already American) and the Gilbert Islands (ceded by the U.K.) were later merged into it. For the first time in history, all the Micronesian Peoples lived in the same country, the U.S. Micronesia Territory.
Korea was separated from Japan and turned into an internally autonomous, self-governing American Protectorate, to achieve full independence after a period of three to five years.
The American Occupation of Korea proceeded smoothly, with the Koreans by and large welcoming their liberators. The Communists remained underground while most of the Japanese troops retreated swiftly over the Yalu, to Kwantung controlled Manchuria.
Scattered Japanese Islands in the North-West Pacific (Okino-Tori-Shima, Minami-Tori-Shima, Daito-Shoto, Volcano Islands, Bonin Islands), Okinawa, Taiwan, Karafuto and the Kuriles were placed under temporary American Occupation and Military Administration. Taiwan and Karafuto had referenda scheduled for 1946 to decide their future (integration with Japan, independence or merger with China / Russia). The rest were recognized as Japanese land.
While Karafuto (Japanese South Sakhalin) was considered certain to vote for Japan, in Taiwan the situation was more balanced, with Japanese and Chinese Parties furiously campaigning for the votes of the Taiwanese under the watchful eyes of the American soldiers.
South-East Asia (European Colonies under Japanese Occupation during the War)
Instead of surrendering their equipment to the Western Powers, the IJA and the IJN gifted tanks, trucks, mortars, rifles, ammunition, explosives, warships, submarines, airplanes, etc, to the newly emerged States (Indonesia, Malaya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma) as well as to their former Ally, Thailand.
Moreover, a large number of Japanese soldiers and sailors (estimated to almost 100,000 men) were allowed by their commanders to desert and volunteer for the National Armies of the new States to continue the fight against European colonial oppression.
While the French would have probably lost the Indochina War anyway, the Japanese volunteers and donated materiel played a role in the astounding Vietnamese and Thai victories. For the Indochina War, see the relevant chapter.
Moreover, the quite decent Indonesian Navy (created and mostly staffed by the Japanese) was probably one of the main reasons for the British and Portuguese reluctance to invade Indonesian held British Borneo and Portuguese Timor, with important consequences for the future.
The British quickly took control of Hong Kong, Singapore and Penang but bogged down in the Malayan jungles in vicious assymetric warfare against both the Communists (mainly Chinese) and the Malayan Nationalists. For the resolution of the Malayan Question, please wait for the relevant chapter.
The situation in Burma was complex. In the East, the Burmese Nationalists were fighting against the Shan People and the Royal Thai Army in the partially Thai controlled Shan State. In the West, the frontlines had stabilized after the Surrender of Japan with the British Army ceasing all major military offensives against the Bumese Army. That apparently stable situation would be completely shattered by the unexpected (and unauthorized) intervention of the Indian Army. For the Invasion of Burma and other developments in and around Greater India, please wait for the relevant chapters.
The Manchurian Quagmire
Long before the 30th of June Surrender of Japan, the Japanese High Command was already aware that a final victory was completely unfeasable. While the politicians and the Emperor were negotiating an acceptable way out of the catastrophic war, the military were already preparing their Manchurian stronghold.
The large Kwantung Army, which was fighting a vicious total war against the Chinese, was becoming increasingly isolated because the massive American naval and aerial superiority made further contacts between the Home Islands and the Asian Mainland increasingly difficult.
In those difficult conditions and with a negotiated Surrender looming closer and closer, the Kwantung Army decided to slowly disengage from China Proper and retreat towards Manchuria. That presented a number of advantages:
- A whooping twenty times shorter frontlines to defend, just the "neck" of Manchuria, as the rest of it bordered neutral Soviet Union and Soviet controlled Outer Mongolia.
- Less need for fuel (which had become almost impossible to replenish) due to the much shorter distances involved.
- A chance to claim that the war of aggression against China had come to an end and, instead, paint the Chinese as aggressors against the Manchurian Nation (nobody would buy that, of course).
By the time of the Surrender, the Kwantung Army had already retreated almost three quarters of its effectives from China Proper and Korea to Manchuria, including much of the still usable military equipment. At the same time, elaborate fortifications were hastily erected on the borders with Korea and China Proper.
One day after the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the Kwantung Army declared that it was no longer at war with the Western Powers and that it would only surrender to the Americans, never to the Chinese.
The pace of their retreat from China Proper and Korea increased, even turning into a rout in some places. The Americans didn't manage to advance in Korea fast enough to capture or engage the retreating Japanese and were ordered to stop at the heavily fortified Yalu River border for the time being. The Japanese forces on the other side of the river did their best not to provoke the Americans in any way.
When the Japanese Emperor and Government asked them to lay down their weapons, the Kwantung Army officially rebelled. In a previously prepared and well rehearsed scenario, Puyi, the puppet Emperor of Manchuria, anounced that all links between Manchuria and the Empire of Japan were severed, including the military alliance and diplomatic relations. Moreover, Manchuria formally annexed the Kwantung Leased Territory.
The Kwantung Army swore allegiance to the State of Manchuria which declared its neutrality and asked for Soviet support against the Chinese aggression. Everything seemed almost surreal. Stalin didn't bother to answer.
By the end of July, no Japanese soldier fought in China Proper anymore and it became quickly apparent that the Chinese Army was unable to overrun the heavily defended fortified border. It took another three months for the Americans to amass sufficient forces in Korea for a successful invasion of Manchuria.
When the Americans were ready to cross the Yalu, it was already November and, as winters were usually rather harsh in that area, it was considered whether to postpone the invasion for the beginning of the spring. It took a great deal of begging from Chiang Kai-Shek to convince the Americans to stop procrastinating.
Faced with the collapse of the Yalu front in face of a determined American offence, the Kwantung Army leaders panicked. Determined to bring the Soviets into the war, they used two captured American fighter planes and two of their own bombers, overpainted with the American colours, for a night attack in Vladivostok. The Soviet defences were taken by surprise and the Japanese managed to drop their bombs in a residential area, destroying five buildings and killing 52 Soviet civilians in their beds.
The decoy failed to fool the Soviets and, despite being underprepared, the Far-Eastern Soviet Army crossed the Amur, invading Manchuria from the north. Faced with a three front war against superior enemies, the position of the Kwantung Army became completely untennable. While not Allies, the Soviets were thus cobelligerants with the United States and China.
Less than one week later, the Kwantung Army and the Manchurian State were collapsing rapidly. Hsinking (Changchun) was overrun by the Americans and Puyi was taken into custody. In a radio announcement, Puyi abdicated and declared the State of Manchuria dissolved with all its territory being returned to China. The scattered remnants of the once mighty Kwantung Army surrendered piecemeal to the Americans and the Soviets during the following weeks.
By Christmas, all fighting had ended. Manchuria remained divided between a larger southern zone, under American control and Chinese sovereignty, and a sparcely populated northern zone, under Soviet occupation. Similar to the already existing People's Republics of East Turkestan and Outer Mongolia, the Soviets proclaimed a People's Republic of Manchuria in the territory under their control. None of the three Soviet Puppet States created on Chinese territory had any international recognition outside the Soviet Bloc.
Oddly, the captured leaders of the rogue Kwantung Army declared their satisfaction over the Soviet intervention against them which shortened the war: "Our demise is not important. What is important for the future of the Japanese Race is that China be as weak as possible. With half of Manchuria forever out of Chinese reach, we had at least achieved something useful."
