Osaka Fourth Division, code-named "Dian", belongs to one of the oldest divisions of the Japanese army. It has four wings equipped with standard first-class equipment, and its core is the eighth wing. Because of repeated defeats in the Russo-Japanese War, it won the name of "Eight Wings Not Afraid of Failure".
The Sino-Japanese War broke out in an all-round way in 1937. Although there was constant fighting in the middle, the fourth division never went to the front once. However, this does not mean that the Fourth Division has no chance to show its bravery. In the eighth year of Showa (1933), private Yoji Matsui of the Fourth Division ran a red light in downtown Osaka and clashed with the police on duty. Things are getting worse and worse. Finally, in order to "safeguard the dignity of the Japanese imperial army", the division's commander, Koichi Nakamura, resolutely led troops to smash the police station, which is known as the "Osaka Stop Incident" in history, and the "military courage" of the fourth division can be seen.
The battle of Nomenkan broke out on 1939. Although the order of Osaka Fourth Division was issued, it was delayed. The reason is that after the mobilization order was issued, the number of emergency patients in the division surged. Looking around, the whole battalion is officers and men who ask to stay behind for various reasons. The excited team leader was angry and sat in the infirmary himself, barely organizing the troops to act. From Hailar to Nomenkan, the second division walked for four days, and the fourth division walked for eight days, and a large number of people fell behind. Coincidentally, on the day when the advance team of the Fourth Division arrived at the front line, the Soviet Union and Japan declared a truce ... Immediately, the officers and men of the Fourth Division who stayed behind followed up as quickly as they ate strong medicine, and even many officers and men who stayed behind rushed to the front line "sick" and complained that they had no chance to fight.
1938 During the battle of Xuzhou at the beginning of the year, China's army met a "strange Japanese army". At that time, China army broke through Xuzhou and "turned" to the west. When crossing a road at the junction of Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, the tired China army suddenly found a well-equipped Japanese army with at least one brigade on the same road!
As the troops were very tired and demoralized, the China army panicked as soon as it found the enemy, and left the road in confusion and fled to the nearby mountains. With the morale and fighting habits of the Japanese army at that time, China's army would almost certainly be pursued, but with the state of China's army at that time, I'm afraid a big defeat is impossible to run. Strangely, I haven't found Japanese pursuers for a long time. The commander of China's army was surprised to send someone to spy, but he saw that the Japanese army had set up sentries, but there was no intention of pursuing them at all. On the contrary, it cooks in the open air on both sides of the road!
Time is pressing, and the detour may eventually be surrounded by the Japanese army. China's army crossed the road wholeheartedly, and as a result, it was safe all the way.
The Japanese army on this road is the southward detachment of the Fourth Division, which consists of the 37th United Front and the 70th United Front. As for why there was no war with the China army, the commander of the unit claimed: "There was no order to intercept the China army."
The saying that "Japanese soldiers in Osaka can't fight" became popular, so this time the Fourth Division went south, and every time China's army went to war, it was heard that it was the "Osaka Division", and its morale often doubled, and it rushed to attack and counterattack, and various ministries rushed to fight against the Fourth Division. Under this inexplicable blow, the fourth division, which had just arrived at the front line, was caught off guard and really suffered several cowardly defeats. This situation even involved friendly troops, so that neighboring troops complained to the eleventh army headquarters that "there was a battle that the fourth division could have won because the enemy's morale was greatly boosted." . . "The eleventh army is indeed the case. Since then, it has also been a first-class division. The figures appearing in the front line are always the third and thirteenth divisions, while the fourth division has been concentrated in the rear "standby". There was a commander in the middle, Anan, who did not believe in evil and sent the fourth division to fight the main battle in Changsha. As a result, the fourth division was thrown out as soon as it entered Changsha, and the whole line was defeated. The commander returned to Japan with shame.
After Japan's defeat, the Fourth Division was successfully demobilized. When all the ruddy and healthy officers and men of the Fourth Division appeared on the dock, the malnourished and emaciated Japanese were very surprised. According to statistics, the Fourth Division has the least number of deaths and the most complete equipment and assets. The evaluation of this division by the US military in charge of management is "earnest and peace-loving". After the Fourth Division returned to China, it immediately showed the characteristics of "earnest and peace-loving". The next day, a large number of officers and men ran to the US military camp without wasting a day, and neatly set up stalls to sell war souvenirs.
The fourth division includes other Osaka troops. Why is it so unique in the Japanese army? It doesn't make sense to say that Kansai people can't fight, because Master Utsunomiya of Kyoto, who was also born in Kansai, knows how to fight. Ryotaro Shiba, the former captain of Futian Chariot and a writer, has a good analysis of this. He believes that this reason is caused by Osaka's unique culture. In ancient Japan, the basic social structure was ordinary people, that is, farmers. The land and people are attached to the princes, that is, the big shots, and the princes are subordinate to the emperor. This long-term social structure has led to a strict relationship between superiors and subordinates, respect for loyalty to superiors, and a spirit of obedience in Japan. This is also the psychological basis of the Japanese army's general fanaticism of "loyalty to the emperor."
However, Osaka is a little different. This place has developed with the development of business, and most of the residents are related to business. Therefore, the land held by Daming is not as important as that of farmers, and his respect for Daming is limited. On the contrary, around taxes, tax donations, etc. Osaka civilians have been fighting wits and bargaining with celebrities for hundreds of years. The so-called loyalty is completely out of the question.
Therefore, as the Lord of the Lord, the status of the emperor is different from other places. Osaka people in World War II do not deny that they will die for the emperor and the "Great Japanese Empire". However, Osaka people are not in a hurry to "die for the emperor and for the great Japanese empire", so they can't die, and they can't die. Osaka people are also accustomed to "bargaining" and "haggling over every ounce" when reading orders, and will not execute them with their eyes closed like other troops. Therefore, there are so-called "don't pay for useless sacrifices", "don't take part in unreasonable battles" and "don't chase desperate enemies" in the Fourth Division. Perhaps the nature of businessmen determines that Osaka people are not suitable for joining the army at all.