Japanese Surrender at Chihkiang
Maj. Gen. Takeo Imai, Vice-Chief of the General Staff of China Expeditionary Army (in the front passenger seat, his face not visible here), a member of his staff who is likely Lt. Col. Yoshio Hashijima, Japanese infantry advisor (standing to the left), and his interpreter (in the back seat) take part in the initial surrender of Japanese military forces in China, ending hostilities between China and Japan. Note the hundreds of American and Chinese onlookers in the background. (From the collection of Robert L. Logan)
Almost everyone with an interest in the Pacific Theater during World War II knows about Japan’s unconditional surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. On that date, the instrument of complete capitulation was formally signed by representatives of the Allied and Japanese governments, officially ending hostilities. However, few are aware that regional surrenders took place before the final, official surrender. In China, the first of those occurred at Chihkiang (now Zhijiang).
During the last few weeks of the war, a detachment from the 3rd Bomb Squadron conducted raids from Chihkiang against the Japanese withdrawal. These missions were generally conducted in cooperation with the Chinese-American Composite Wing’s 5th Fighter Group and the 1st Bomb Group’s 4th Bomb Squadron. My father, T/Sgt. James H. “Hank” Mills, was one of those flying bombing and strafing raids out of the airbase as the war drew to a close. His final completed mission from Chihkiang was on August 10; its objective was to destroy storage areas at Nanchang. He and other squadron personnel learned that a cease-fire had been called early the following morning, when the huge, joint raid against the Yellow River Bridge was canceled before it could take off. He was with a group that moved from Chihkiang on the sixteenth to a new base at Hsupu farther to the northeast, in preparation for a proposed assault on Japanese installations along the China coast. However, several other squadron members remained temporarily at Chihkiang and likely witnessed the events described here.
The choice of location for this initial surrender was of great significance. After the Japanese had captured the base at Laohokow in March, they began their advance on Chihkiang, which now became the most easterly of the bases operated by the 14th Air Force. About twenty miles from Huaihua City in southwestern Hunan Province, it was the largest base south of the Yangtze and held strategic value because it controlled the vital Hsiang River Valley, through which the Japanese routinely transported supplies and troops. The success of raids launched from Chihkiang, including those earlier conducted by cooperative 3rd and 4th Bomb Squadron missions, made it the next target for seizure by the enemy. In addition to being a practical base for the bombing and strafing of the Hengyang-Changsha corridor, it lay in the heart of one of China's richest rice-producing areas and served as a point of supply for the 4th Area Army and other Chinese forces stationed in the area. Perhaps of even greater importance, its capture would lay open Kweiyang and thus the approaches to Kunming and Chungking in Free China.
On April 10, the Japanese army initiated a 60,000-troop, three-pronged offensive on Chihkiang airfield that claimed the full attention of the 3rd and 4th squadrons. The Chinese, with more than 100,000 ground troops and even more in reserve, possessed a numerical advantage that had never previously been sufficient to offset the superior equipment and training of the enemy, but the defense of Chihkiang demonstrated their renewed resolution. As Chinese and American air strikes continued to neutralize the threat to the Chihkiang base, revitalized and reinforced Chinese infantry moved into positions farther to the north and south in a maneuver to outflank the enemy. Cooperative efforts between ground troops and aircrews to pinpoint enemy positions were successful. The enemy advance was stopped sixty-five miles away. It was the first time since the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 that any of Japan's seriously-sought objectives had been denied. It became obvious by mid-May that the defense of Chihkiang had held, and the Battle of Chihkiang proved to be the turning point of the war in China. Following their defeat, the Japanese made the decision to relinquish their Greater East Asia Corridor and withdraw from South China to positions north of the Yellow River. Imperial headquarters ordered the evacuation of the southern rail line extending to Kweilin and Liuchow, a branch of the main Hankow-Canton railway. Within a few days of the end of the Chihkiang campaign, units began to move from south China to be redeployed into northern and central China.
Chinese and American personnel still stationed at Chihkiang witnessed the arrival on August 21 of Japanese dignitaries when a Japanese Ki-57 Topsy transport, escorted by three P-51s of the 5th Fighter Group, landed for a preliminary surrender conference. Maj. Gen. Takeo Imai, Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the China Expeditionary Army (acting for Lt. Gen. Yasuji Okamura, Commander of all Japanese forces in China), landed at Chihkiang Air Base accompanied by two staff officers, an interpreter, and the pilot. The Japanese emissary was received by Gen. Hsiao Yi-shu, Chief of Staff of the Republic of China Army Headquarters (acting for Gen. Ho Ying-chin, Supreme Commander of the ROC Army). In an audience attended by more than one hundred Chinese and American officers, the Japanese general received instructions for the formal surrender of military forces in China set to take place in Nanking on September 9, accepted the terms of surrender, and signed the documents, officially ending hostilities between Japan and China. Lt. Col. Yoshio Hashijima, infantry advisor, submitted a map showing distribution of Japanese troops in China as part of the proceedings. This surrender ceremony became an important symbol of victory in China, although Imai stated in a press conference that the Japanese army of 3,000,000 was well able to continue the war if it had not been affected by destruction of the Japanese air force and navy, and that the airdromes at Shanghai and Nanking were intact but had little remaining gasoline with which to operate.
American military advisors and technicians who had worked to build a more effective Chinese military force had completed their task. The China Theater suspended all training under US supervision on August 22. This marked the beginning of the end for the elaborate system of American liaison, air and logistical support, and advice. It was soon afterward that the armies of Chiang Kai-shek were on their own to face the Communists.
To learn more about this intriguing story, find it in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II!