Chapter Sixteen — The Greater East Ardia War, Part Two: The War At Home (1939 - 1945 CE)
I. — Wartime Propaganda
Collection of Wartime Propaganda Posters and Fliers Propaganda in the Empire of Daitō, in the period just before and during the latter half of the Great War, was designed to assist the regime in governing during that time. Many of its elements were continuous with pre-war themes of Kunan statism, including the principles of
kokutai,
hakkō ichiu, and
bushido. New forms of propaganda were developed to persuade occupied lands of the benefits of cooperation, to undermine Ardian troops’ morale, to counteract claims of Daitōjin atrocities, both real and fictitious, and to present the war to the Daitōjin people as victorious. It used a large variety of media to send its messages. Propaganda was non-objective information intended to promote a particular political cause or view. In that sense, Daitōjin propaganda was no different from other nations’ propaganda, but it had some defining elements, such as nationalism. Daitōjin wartime propaganda was, in many ways, a reaction against perceived foreign cultural domination, attacking non-allied Occidental, and particularly Ardian, culture. The believers in this propaganda saw themselves as offering a different, distinctly Daitōjin, way of life away from foreign imperialism. Propaganda portrayed the Ardian world as decadent and weak. However, Daitōjin nationalistic propaganda made it difficult for the diverse nations of the allied powers to feel like they belonged in the new order that Daitō proposed. It is worth noting that, at the time, Daitō promoted general Pan-Ardianism, although it wasn't implemented as thoroughly as the nationalistic elements within its propaganda. Because of this, Daitōjin propaganda was less appealing to non-Ōnishi than other countries. Daitōjin wartime propaganda was distributed through films, magazines and newspapers, radio, books, cartoons, and the education system.
Ia. Propaganda Films The most extensive and far reaching form of propaganda used by the Daitōjin government was, perhaps, film. Daitōjin films were produced for a wider range of audiences than Ardian films of the same period. From the 1920s onwards, Daitōjin film studios had produced films legitimizing the colonial project that were set in its colonies in Tsukishima, the Miyako Islands, and Paechon. Such films were extensively shown and promoted by the YFD, while those eschewing the ideals of the Imperial government were, by law, shown in occupied territories to the locals. Most of the materials shown between 1939 and 1945 were war newsreels, Daitōjin motion pictures, or propaganda shorts paired with traditional Ardian films. Movies were also shown in other Ardian countries, albeit to a far lesser degree owing to local laws, portraying Daitō as Ardia’s savior against the tyrannical rule of the Ardian Empire or spoke of the history of friendly relations between countries with films such as
"The Fusan You Don't Know." “National Policy Films” or propaganda pictures used in the Great War included combat films such as
Mud and Soldiers (1940) and
The Five Scouts (1939), spy films such as
The Spy isn’t Dead (1942) and
They’re After You (1942), and lavish period pictures such as
The Monkey King (1940). In the early stages of the war with Ardia, so-called “Humanistic war films” such as
The Five Scouts tried to depict the war without nationalism. But as the war dragged on, the Home Ministry demanded more patriotism and “national polity films”— war films. As a result, from 1942 onwards, these films took on a more and more nationalistic edge, demonizing the Ardians, portraying the Feng as a servile people betrayed by their leaders, and the Nueva Ardians as tribalistic brutes. In many ways, they mirrored Ardians films of the time, which portrayed the Ōnishi as savages and mindless servants, Much like Ardian propagandists, Daitōjin film makers extensively used prejudice and xenophobia in films produced after war was formally declared on Ardia. In many films, the cowardice of the fleeing Ardian military is juxtaposed with the moral supremacy of the Imperial Daitōjin Army during the Peninsular and Ryōhaku campaigns. Daitō’s first full-length animated feature film,
Momotarō (1945), similarly portrays Ardia's allies as morally decadent and physically weak “devils”. Daitōjin films often didn’t shy away from the use of suffering, often portraying its troops as the underdog. This had the effect of making Daitō appear as the victim, inciting greater sympathy from its audience. The propaganda pieces also illustrated the Ōnishi people as pure and virtuous, depicting them as morally and culturally superior. The war was portrayed as continuous and generally wasn’t adequately explained.
Ib. Themes of Daitōjin Propaganda, Part One — The Kokutai Daitōjin propaganda made use of a number of themes, though for the sake of time, only a few will be mentioned. Firstly was the idea of
Kokutai, of the uniqueness of the Yamato Ōnishi as a people in having a leader with spiritual origins. The idea was first promulgated by the government, including a textbook sent out by the Ministry of Education. The purpose of this instruction was to ensure that every child regarded himself first and foremost as a Daitōjin and was grateful for the “family polity” structure of government, with its apex in the Emperor. Indeed, little effort was made during the course of the war, at least at first, to explain to the Daitōjin people what it fought for; instead, it was presented as a chance to rally around the Emperor. In 1937, the pamphlet
Kokutai no Hongi was written to explain the principle. It clearly stated its purpose: to overcome social unrest and develop a new Yamato state. From this pamphlet, pupils were taught to put the nation before the self, and that they were part of the state and not separate from it. The ministry of Education promulgated it throughout the school system. The Yamato Fukkatsu Domei was founded by Prime Minister Sonyu to “restore the spirit and values of old Yamato”. When the number of patriotic associations during the war worried the government, they were folded into the YFD, which used them to mobilize the nation and promote unity.
1941 saw the writing of the
Shinmin no Michi, which was intended to instruct the Daitōjin on what to aspire to. Ancient texts set forth the central precepts of loyalty and filial piety, which would throw aside selfishness and allow them to complete their “holy task”. It called for them to become “one million hearts beating as one”, something which the book explicitly stated many failed to do. The obedience called for was to be blind and absolute. The war would be a purifying experience to draw them back to the “pure and cloudless heart” of their inherent character that they had strayed from. Their cultural purity, it said, should be reflected in their unity. Patriotic war songs seldom ever mentioned the enemy, and when they did, then only generically; the tone was elegiac, and the topic was purity and transcendence, often compared to the cherry blossom. The final letters of
kamikaze pilots often expressed, above all, that their motivations were gratitude to Daitō and to its Emperor as the embodiment of kokutai. One letter, after praising Daitōjin history and the way of life their ancestors had passed down to them, and the Imperial family as the crystallization of Daitō’s splendor, concluded, “it is an honor to be able to give my life in defense of these beautiful and lofty things.”
Intellectuals at an “overcoming modernity” conference proclaimed that prior to the Keiō Restoration, Daitō had been a classless society under a benevolent Emperor, but the restoration had plunged the nation into Occidental materialism (an argument which ignored the commercialism and ribald culture in the Shimura era), which had caused the people to forget their nature and which the war would enable them to reclaim. Baseball, jazz, and other Occidental profligate ways were singled out in government propaganda to be abandoned for a pure spirit of sacrifice. This Yamato Damashii, Yamato Spirit, would allow them to overcome any odds. This belief was so well indoctrinated that even as Ardian bombings in the later part of the war overwhelmed the ability of the Daitōjin government to cover them up with lies, many Daitōjin refused to believe that “the Country of the Gods” could be defeated, a suspicion which, though ultimately the country was on the winning side, would be proven false. General Munakata, addressing his troops on Yakushima in 1944, told them that their greatest strength lay in their moral superiority. The attack on the island was announced by the “Home and Empire” broadcast with uncommon praise of the Ardian commanders but also the confident declaration that they must not leave the island alive. On the occasions that they were taken prisoner, interrogators noted that Daitōjin soldiers were unshakable in their conviction of the Empire’s sacred mission.
Ic. Themes of Daitōjin Propaganda, Part Two — Rural life, Spiritual mobilization, Production, and Privation Despite its military strength being dependent on industrialization, the regime glorified rural life. The traditional rural and agricultural life was opposed to the modern city; proposals were made to fight the atomizing effects of cities by locating schools and factories in the countryside so as to maintain the rural population. Agrarianist rhetoric exulted village harmony, even while tenants and landlords were pitted against each other by the needs of the war. The Spiritual Mobilization Movement was formed from 74 organizations to rally the nation for a total war effort. It carried out such tasks as instructing schoolchildren on the “Holy War in Ardia” and having women roll bandages for the war effort.
Even before the war, organizations such as
Sanpo existed to explain the need to meet production quotas, even if sacrifices were needed; it did so with rallies, lectures, and panel discussion, while setting up programs to assist workers’ lives to attract membership. Among the greatest "victories", at least as far as these
Sanpo framed it, was the discovery of oil in Tsukishima, giving Daitō, for the first time, its own source of oil. Propaganda exulted that Daitō was no longer a “have-not” nation. By 1943, with the war raging on without an end in sight, calls were made for a more war-like footing on the part of the population, in particular in calls for increases in war materials. As Daitō recruited more and more troops, it meant that more and more weapons were needed. Morning assemblies at factories had officers address the workers and enjoin them to meet their quotas. The productions were kept up, albeit at the price of extraordinary sacrifice.
Finally, the government urged the Daitōjin people to do without basic necessities, to engage in privation. For example, magazines gave advice on economizing on food and clothing as soon as two years prior to the war breaking out. After the outbreak of war with Ardia, early suggestions that the people enjoyed the victories too much and were not prepared for the long war were not taken, and so, early propaganda did not contain warnings. In 1944, however, propaganda endeavored to warn the Daitōjin people of disasters to come, and to install them in a spirit as in Yakushima, to accept more privation for the war. Articles were written claiming that the Ardians could not engage in air raids from the island, which at the time, were generally true, although it was known by the government that this wasn’t going to be the case for long; the purpose was rather to subtly warn of the dangers to come. Early songs proclaiming that the cities had iron defenses and it was an honor to defend the homeland quickly lost their luster as said air raids began. Still, continued calls to sacrifice were honored; neighborhood associations helped, as nobody wanted to be seen quitting first if at all. Accounts of self-sacrificing privation were common in the press: A teacher dressed in tatters who refused to wear a new shirt because all of his friends were all likewise tattered, and officers and governmental officials who made do without any form of heating. This reflected the privation actually in society, where clothing was at a premium and the work-week was seven days long, with schooling cut to a minimum so that children could work.
II. — War on the Home Front
Daitōjin Schoolchildren Evacuating to the Countryside in 1944 The Daitōjin home front was elaborately organized, block by block, with full-scale food rationing and many controls over labor. The government used propaganda heavily and planned in minute detail regarding the mobilization of manpower, identification of critical choke points, food supplies, logistics, air raid shelters, and the evacuation of children and civilians from targeted cities. Food supplies were very tight before the heavy bombing began in fall 1944, then grew to a crisis. There was only a small increase of 1.4 million women entering the labor force between 1940 and 1944. Intense propaganda efforts by the government to promote savings and postpone consumer purchases were largely successful, especially on the part of housewives who generally controlled their family budget. The minister of welfare announced,
"In order to secure its labor force, the enemy is drafting women, but in Fusan, out of consideration for the family system, we will not draft them." The government began making evacuation plans in late 1943, and started removing entire schools from industrial cities to the countryside, where they were safe from bombing and had better access to food supplies. In all, nearly two million children were moved with their teachers, however, their parents were excluded from these relocation efforts, owing to their vital work for the war effort. When the Ardian bombing began in earnest in late 1944, a further ten million people fled the cities to the safety of the countryside, including two-thirds of the residents of the largest cities and 87% of the children. Left behind were the munitions workers and government officials. By April 1945, 87% of the younger children had been moved to the countryside. Civil defense units were transformed into combat units, especially the Peoples Volunteer Combat Corps, enlisting civilian men up to the age of 60 and women to age 40. Starting in January 1945 the government operated an intensive training program to enable the entire civilian population to fight the "decisive battle" with the Ardian invaders using grenades, explosive gliders and bamboo spears. Many understood that they would probably die in what the government called the "Grand Battle for the Future of the Ōnishi Race". Health conditions became worse following the ceasefire in September and the end of the war in November, owing to an influx of refugees from the Peninsula and the return of many Ōnishi, both Daitōjin and Toshikawan, to the country from Ardia following the subsequent population transfer.
IIa. Civilian Sentiment and Government War Efforts There was great civilian support for war with Ardia even before it broke out, as can be seen by letters written in the aftermath of the 18th of January Incident. The successful invasion of the Miyako islands in the late '20s fueled the rise of aggressive foreign policy and radical nationalism. Daitōjin
shimbun (newspapers) radio station's reporting of the events helped spread this sentiment quickly. Understanding the benefits of educating the populace about the war efforts, the Daitōjin government soon followed suit. Starting in September 1939, ten minutes of war news was broadcast at 7:30 PM every day, with it growing to twenty minutes every six hours by 1944. At the start of the war, the Home Ministry of Daitō established more campaigns to generate support for the war. For instance, citizens were encouraged to avoid luxuries and save wealth for the state. The government even reformed its education system by rewriting ethics textbooks to be more nationalistic and militaristic. Schoolchildren were also taught nationalistic songs such as the
Umi Yukaba:
"If I go away to the sea, I shall be a corpse washed up. If I go away to the mountain, I shall be a corpse in the grass But if I die for the Emperor, It will not be a regret." In 1937, the
Shinmin no Michi ("The Way of the Subjects") was given to all Daitōjin citizens in order to teach them how they should behave. Similarly, the Daitōjin war ministry issued the
Senjinkun ("Field Service Code") in 1941, which tried to educate the soldiers on how to behave during wartime. Specifically, the Senjinkun contained the famous ideal of no-surrender which inspired many Daitōjin servicemen to commit suicide than risk capture or surrender. It did
not, however, prohibit retreat as popular narratives of the war suggest, as the utility of this directive was to prevent Ardian forces from gaining useful intelligence that could harm the war effort. Observation of civilian wartime diaries and letters suggest that the government was successful in garnering massive support for the war. Despite the rationing that causes food shortages, many Daitōjin were happy to oblige. Hasegawa Etsuko, a housewife from Shimanto, wrote:
For fish, the community council gave us a distribution of only shrimp and swordfish; we can't get either pork or beef. I have the feeling that little by little there will be shortages but that in war, we must aim for frugality even in small ways and we must be careful about waste–for the sake of the country." Such sentiments commonplace in Daitō during the war.
Further speaking to the success of the Daitōjin government, there were only around one thousand deserters every year for the six years of the Greater East Ardian War. While there was some resistance from the Daitōjin, most were supportive of the war effort. In fact, many were prepared to fight against the invaders if the opportunity came. In some areas of Daitō, mostly along the coast, women practiced fighting with bamboo spears, girls vowed that they would kill at least one invader before they died, and children practiced throwing balls in anticipation that they would be throwing grenades at the enemy. There were even reports of mass civilian suicides during the First Battle of Yakushima, likely an effort to avoid capture. This was partially due to loyalty for the emperor and fear tactics from the Daitōjin government, whose propaganda had spread the idea that Ardian soldiers would commit atrocities against innocent civilians. For the other Daitōjin civilians, there was a general sense of sorrow at the time of the war's end. Kobayashi Heiji, a teenager who was tasked with war work, wrote a statement in his diary at the announcement of an armistice:
"Cry! Let's cry until we can't any longer. Later we'll probably see the outpouring of a new power."IIb. Food in Wartime Daitō Agricultural production on the mainland held up well during the war up until the bombing started. It fell from an index of 110 in 1942 to 84 in 1944 and only 65 in 1945. Worse, imports dried up. The Daitōjin food rationing system was effective throughout the war, and there were no serious incidences of malnutrition. A government survey in Shinkyō showed that in 1944, families depended on the black market for 9% of their rice, 38% of their fish, and 69% of their vegetables. At the time, the Daitōjin food supply depended upon imports, which were largely cut off by the renewed Ardian submarine campaign starting in 1943 and the bombing campaign. Likewise, there was little deep sea fishing, so that the fish ration by 1941 was mostly squid harvested from coastal waters. The result was a growing food shortage, especially in the cities. There was some malnutrition but no reported starvation. Despite government rationing of food, some families were forced to spend more than their monthly income could offer on black market food purchases. They would rely on savings or exchange food for clothes or other possessions.
IIc. Daitōjin Women During the War According to oral history, traditional paternalistic norms proved a barrier when the government wanted to exploit woman power more fully for the war effort. Compulsory employment in munitions factories was possible for unmarried women, but social norms prevented married women from doing that sort of work, in sharp contrast to Achkaerin, Ardia, and other belligerents in the conflict. The absence of so many young men dramatically disrupted long-standing patterns of marriage, fertility, and family life. Severe shortages of ordinary items, including food and housing, were far more oppressive than governmental propaganda efforts. Daitōjin women obediently followed orders, and there were no serious disruptions such as rioting over food shortages during the war.
Beginning in the late 20th century cultural historians turned their attention to the role of women in wartime, especially the Greater East Ardian War. Sources often used include magazines published—by men—for female readers. Typically fictional and nonfictional stories focused on social roles as mothers and wives, especially in dealing with hardships of housing and food supplies, and financial concerns in the absence of men at war. Problems of fashion wartime were a high priority in such magazines in all major countries. Historians report that the Daitōjin textile and fashion industries were highly successful in adapting to wartime shortages and propaganda needs. Magazines for teenage girls emphasized they must follow patriotic demands that compelled them to give up their adolescent freedoms and transform themselves from
shōjo, which connotes adolescent playfulness, into
gunkoku shōjo (girls of a military nation), with significant home front responsibilities. Evacuation of women and children from the major cities, out of fear of Ardian bombing, was covered in detail to emphasize willingness to sacrifice for patriotism portrayed through fiction, news articles and photographs. The government controlled all media, and supervised popular magazines so their content would strategically spread the government's goals and propaganda.
IId. The Colonies Despite the name used in Daitō, the Greater East Ardian War, more often referred to as simply the Great War abroad, was truly a globe-spanning conflict, and Daitō's colonies were not left unaffected. Paechon, for example, was located just across the Matilda channel from the Ardian territory of Kalasin, as well as being the mid-way point between Ardia and Djabidjan. As a result, it was used throughout the early war as a staging ground for future military operations, including the Kalasinese Campaign in 1941. Paechon, Tsukishima, and later Kalasin's greatest contribution to the war effort was three-fold: firstly, until 1944, the regions provided resources to mainland Daitō, including food and various ores, as well as, to a lesser extent, weapons. Secondly, throughout the war, these territories would, whether willingly in the cases of Paechon and Tsukishima or unwillingly in the case of Kalasin, send workers to Daitō to bolster manufacturing in the country and to help with repairs. Finally, Paechon and Tsukishima would provide troops to Daitō, many of whom would serve in the Southern Expeditionary Force. Kalasin would also contribute troops starting in 1944 with the establishment of the "Empire of Kalasin", a short-lived state which would only survive into the mid-50s.
IIe. Conditions at War's End Health and living conditions worsened after the armistice in September of 1945. Most of the housing stock in large cities was destroyed, just as refugees tried to return from the rural areas. Adding to the crisis there was an influx of nearly three-and-a-half million soldiers as well as close to six million Ardian citizens of Ōnishi descent who were resettled after the end of the war in November. Meanwhile, close to 1.6 million Ardians, POWs, and other non-Ōnishi left Daitō. The government implemented pro-natalist policies, which led to an increase in the marriage rate, however, fertility rates remained steady until they declined for a time after the war, owing in no small part to the stress of the last year of the war and the hardships faced in the early post-war period. The Ardian bombing campaign of all major cities severely impacted the economy, as did the shortages of oil and raw materials that intensified when Daitōjin merchant shipping was mostly sunk by hostile submarines.
III. — A War Against Humanity One cannot discuss the late stages of the Great War without, at some point, discussing the many atrocities committed throughout the conflict. To varying degrees, every country involved did so, but for brevity’s sake, only the crimes committed by Daitō and Ardia will be discussed. The war brought out the worst excesses of humanity, with it being one of the darkest chapters in mankind’s long history. Everyone suffered in some way or another, but their suffering should not be forgotten, not for a second.
IIIa. Daitōjin War Crimes For its part, Daitō was by no means innocent of committing atrocities during the war. From the use of chemical weapons in the Ryōhaku mountains and massacres of civilians in occupied territories and to the arrest of political dissidents at home and the maltreatment of prisoners of war, it was a systemic issue which the Sonyu administration did nothing to counteract and on occasion even encouraged. Daitōjin soldiers, owing to years of ideological indoctrination, were infamous for their treatment of those who surrendered to the point that after the war, even the YFD, which had in many ways offered its tacit support for them, punished many of the most extreme cases. Particularly egregious actions by the government itself included the 1941 “Enemy Airmen’s Act”, which stated that enemy airmen participating in bombing raids against Daitōjin-held territory would be treated as “violators of the laws of war” and consequently, they would be subject to trial and punishment if captured. The law, which in practice amounted to the performance of show trials for enemy pilots, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Ardian airmen. The law provided as follows:
Article I: This law shall apply to all enemy airmen who raid the Daitōjin homeland, Tsukishima, Kalasin, and the Daitōjin zones of military operations, and who come within the areas under the jurisdiction of the Southern Expeditionary Forces.
Article II: Any individual who commits any or all of the following infractions shall be subject to military punishment:
Section 1. The bombing, strafing, and otherwise attacking of civilians with the objective of cowing, intimidating, killing or maiming them.
Section 2. The bombing, strafing or otherwise attacking of private properties, whatsoever, with the objectives of destroying or damaging them.
Section 3. The bombing, strafing or otherwise attacking of objectives, other than those of military nature, except in those cases where such an act is unavoidable.
Section 4. In addition to those acts covered in the preceding three sections, all other acts violating the provisions of International Law governing warfare.
Article III: Military punishment shall be the death penalty [or] life imprisonment, or a term of imprisonment for not less than ten years.
This military law shall be applicable to all acts committed prior to the date of its approval.
While not in itself a war crime as the program was cancelled, the Daitōjin government, starting in 1942, began planning to disseminate linseed cakes infected with anthrax spores into the fields of Ardia. These cakes would've then been eaten by livestock, which would then be consumed by the civilian population, causing the deaths of millions of Ardian civilians. It would've also wiped out the majority of Ardia's livestock, causing a massive food shortage for the rest of the population, causing further deaths and hopefully forcing the Ardian Empire to surrender. The program was nearly completed by early 1944, being tested on the island of Tobishima, which was declared a sacrifice zone after the war and remained quarantined until 1996. Other incidents included the firebombing of Ardian cities in 1942.
IIIb. Massacres during the Satsunan Campaign
Aftermath of the First Battle of Yakushima, c.July 1944 The Satsunan Campaign, also known as Operations Transitus and Tempestas in Ardia and Operations Ichi-gō and Ni-gō in Daitō, was a pair of military operations in the Rokkenjiman sea between the 11th of June and the 21st of July, 1944 and from the 15th of August to the 17th of September, 1945, although a few islands would see raids throughout the war. The latter of the battles directly contributed to the signing of an armistice which practically ended the Great War for Daitō, although the country briefly reentered the war in early November. The first phase of the Satsunan Campaign was perhaps one of the hardest-fought battles of the war, as the islands played a key role in logistics between Daitō and Toshikawa, not to mention its position in relation to the mainland, granting enemy aircraft the ability to strike deep into mainland Daitō and return safely. As such, it seemed logical that the islands would be attacked, and as a result, from the very beginning of the war, they would be turned into a veritable fortress and their citizens trained for the worst.
From the 11th of June to the 21st of July, 1944, the First Battle of Yakushima raged across the largest island in the southern Satsunan Islands. Although the actual fighting with the Imperial Daitōjin Army was comparatively brief, it saw nearly 33,000 Ardian and 36,000 Daitōjin casualties sustained, with a further 18,000 civilians left dead. The occupation of the islands by the Ardians, however, was a a far more grim affair. As part of the fortification of the islands, the Imperial Daitōjin Army had trained the local population in guerilla tactics, knowing that, if a major assault were to occur, they wouldn’t be able to hold the islands forever. As a result, although the Army was forced to withdraw on the 21st of July, the fighting continued to a degree, with it being difficult for Ardian forces occupying the islands to determine who was and wasn’t a combatant . As a result, reports of the killings of innocents on the island were commonplace, with further casualties being sustained between the 15th of July, 1944, and the 17th of September, 1945, with the majority being sustained during the liberation of the islands.
However, the casualties sustained on Yakushima were, compared to during the Battle of Toshima in 1945, fairly mild. While Yakushima was, in theory, an important link in supply-lines to Toshikawa, it was Toshima which was seen by many as the gateway to the mainland, and as a result, it had been heavily fortified and its civilians armed ahead of the invasion in May 1945. It is on the island of Toshima that the term
Chi no Shio (lit.
"Tide of Blood") originated, referring both to the water, which ran red with the blood of the Ardians on the first days of the invasion, but also a grim reminder of the many massacres committed by Ardian forces during the battle and throughout the island chain as a whole. It is estimated that, between these massacres, mass starvation, and disease, anywhere between 40,000 and 133,000 civilians—10% and 1/3rd of the island’s population—died during and after the Battle of Toshima. Over the course of the sixteen months that Ardia held the Satsunan Islands, it is estimated that nearly 28% of the indigenous Lewchewan population, nearly 765,000 people, were killed by occupying forces in what is now internationally recognized as an act of genocide.
IIIc. Terror Bombing and Operation Favilla
Ardian B-19 bombers dropping incendiary bombs on Okayama, March 28, 1945 Throughout the war, parts of Daitō had been subjected to the occasional air raid; usually, these were limited to military targets in and around the city of Saito in the Yamanori valley, though there was a recorded instance of an air raid on Shinkyō on the 16th of February, 1941. However, as throughout most of the war, Daitō maintained aerial superiority over the country and these strikes remained, until 1944, limited in scope and damage. The fall of Yakushima in July 1944 changed that. With its capture, Ardian aircraft had a base from which they could strike the heartland of the Empire and return safely, while Daitōjin aircraft in Toshikawa—a significant portion of the Air Forces—was left effectively stranded on the peninsula. At the same time, the specter of an Ardian offensive in the West meant that much of Daitō’s remaining air force was tied down in the Ryōhaku mountains, which allowed for what would become a permanent scar on the Empire. Operation Favilla had begun.
Operation Favilla, whose name translates as “Ember”, was the term used by Ardian forces for the bombings of strategic targets throughout the Empire of Daitō in mid-1944 and through to August 1945. Though on paper, it was meant to cripple Daitōjin wartime production in an attempt to stave off defeat, it morphed into a reprisal for earlier attacks by the Imperial Daitōjin Air Force and a desperate effort to break the morale of the people. Initially, these strikes
were limited to military targets, but in time, they would be expanded to major and minor cities alike. The poor results of the precision bombing campaign that lasted from 1944 to early March, 1945, as well as the success of a raid on the 21st of February in Shinkyō and considering the many tons of incendiaries now made available to him, prompted General Philippe Martel of the Ardian Air Force to begin firebombing attacks on Daitō’s main cities in early March, 1945. This was in line with previous targeting directives, which specified that urban areas were to be accorded the second-highest priority for attacks after aircraft factories. The directives also stated that firebombing raids should be conducted once Mk-56 incendiary bombs had been tested in combat and the number of B-19s available was sufficient to launch an intensive campaign.
It cannot be overstated just how much the Ardians knew about what they were planning ahead of the raids. As early as 1943, IAAF planners had been assessing the feasibility of a firebombing campaign against Daitōjin cities. This was due to Daitō’s main industrial facilities being vulnerable to such attacks, given that they were concentrated in several large cities and a high proportion of production took place in homes and small factories in urban areas. The planners had estimated that incendiary bomb attacks on Daitō’s six largest cities of that time—Shinkyō, Azumino, Awara, Urasoe, Yuzawa, and Hatsukaichi—could cause physical damage to almost 40% of industrial facilities and result in the loss of nearly 7.6 million man-months of labor. It was also estimated that these attacks would kill over 500,000 people, render 7.75 million homeless, and force over 3.5 million to be evacuated. With further testing, these estimates only grew. Thus, again, one cannot truly claim that they did not know what they were to unleash, and indeed, it is quite probable that this was exactly what they
wanted to achieve. On the 3rd of March, 1945, the Empire of Ardia chose to begin terror bombings over Daitō.
IIId. The March Firebombing Campaign
A road passing through a part of Shinkyō which was destroyed in the March 7th air raid The first firebombing attack in this campaign—codenamed Operation Taberna—was carried out against Shinkyō on the night of the 6th and 7th of March and proved to be the single most destructive air raid of the war. The Ardian bomber command mounted a maximum effort, and in the evening of 6 March, 1945, 344 B-19s left Yakushima, bound for Shinkyō. They began to arrive over the city at around midnight on the 10th of March, and 279 bombers dropped 1,665 tons of bombs. The raid caused a massive conflagration that overwhelmed Shinkyō’s civil defenses and destroyed 41 square kilometers of buildings, representing roughly seven percent of the city’s urban area. The Shinkyō metropolitan police force and fire department estimated that around 86,438 people were killed in the air raid, another 46,771 were injured, and just over a million were left homeless; post-war estimates of deaths in this attack range from 87,000 to nearly 130,000. Damage to Shinkyō’s war production was also substantial, while Daitōjin opposition to the attack was relatively weak. Just 12 B-19s were destroyed as a result of combat or mechanical faults, while 46 were damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Following the attack on Shinkyō, the Daitōjin government ordered the evacuation of all schoolchildren in the third to sixth grades from major cities, and by early April, nearly 87% of them had departed to the countryside. The attack on Shinkyō was followed up with similar raids on major cities, notably seeing parts of Awara and Saito burned.
The IAAF determined that the firebombing campaign had been highly successful, and noted that Ardian losses during these attacks were much lower than those incurred during daylight precision raids. Accordingly, plans were developed for a two-stage campaign against 22 Daitōjin cities. It was recommended that precision bombing attacks on particularly important industrial facilities continue in parallel to the air raids, however. While this campaign was intended to form part of preparations for an invasion of the mainland, many expected that it would be enough to force Daitō to surrender. The Daitōjin government was concerned about the results of the March firebombing attacks as the raids had demonstrated that the Daitōjin military was, at that point, incapable of protecting the nation’s airspace. As well as the extensive physical damage in the targeted cities, the attacks caused increased absenteeism as civilians were afraid to leave their homes to work in factories which could be bombed. Daitōjin air defenses were reinforced in response to the firebombing raids over time, but by the time it became adequate, the damage had already been done.
IIIe. Destruction of Major Cities
Ardian B-19 bomber over Okayama, June 6, 1945. The start of the major firebombing campaign was delayed as the forces stationed on Yakushima were used to attack airfields in southern Daitō from late March to mid-May in support of the attempted invasion of Toshima, an island only a few hundred kilometers from Shinkyō. Prior to the landings in April, the forces bombed airfields in Tōkaidō at Takahama and Nagi as well as an aircraft plant at Konan on the 28th of March, and struck Toyo and Nahari again on the 31st of the month. No B-19s were lost in these raids. From the 6th of April, Daitōjin forces conducted large-scale air raids on the Ardian invasion fleet, during which aircraft damaged or sank many warships and transports. As part of the response, Ardian forces on Yakushima conducted major raids on airfields in Tōsandō on the 9th and 15th of April, though the first of these attacks was diverted to strike residential areas in Susami after the airfields were found to be covered by clouds. From 15 April until 11 May, when the B-19s were released for other duties, about three-quarters of their effort was devoted to attacking airfields and other targets in direct support for the Battle of Toshima: this included 2,111 sorties flown against 17 airfields. These raids cost them 21 B-19s destroyed and 235 damaged and failed to completely suppress attacks from the targeted airfields.
A few attacks on Daitōjin cities were conducted during the Battle of Toshima. On the 1st of April, a night precision bombing raid was flown against the Zayasu engine factory in Shinkyō by 119 B-19s and three similar attacks were conducted against engine factories in Mine, Matsue, and Toyohashi on the night of the 3rd. These raids were unsuccessful as the Ardians lacked the specialized equipment necessary to strike targets accurately at night, and Martel decided not to conduct similar operations. Small forces of B-19s also struck Shinkyō and nearby Matsusaka on the 4th of April. Two successful large-scale precision bombing raids were flown against aircraft factories in Shinkyō and Hamamatsu on the 7th of April; the raid on Shinkyō was the first to be escorted by Ardian F-4s, recently delivered to Yakushima earlier that month. The Ardians claimed to have shot down 47 Daitōjin aircraft for a loss of six F-4s and eight B-19s. Over 250 B-19s struck three different aircraft factories on the 11th; during this operation, the 16th Bombardment Wing inflicted heavy damage on the Hiratsuka aircraft plant and fought off 116 Daitōjin fighters without loss.
Night firebombing raids resumed on the 13th when 330 B-19s attacked the arsenal district of Shinkyō and destroyed 30 square km of the city, including several armaments factories. On the 15th of April, 303 aircraft attacked the Shinkyō region and destroyed 16 square kilometers of Shinkyō, 9.3 square kilometers of Hamamatsu, and 3.9 square kilometers of Itoigawa for the loss of sixteen bombers. On the 24th, the Shinoda aircraft engine factory at Nishikatsura near Shinkyō was destroyed by 130 B-19s. Another precision raid was made against the Hikami Naval Aircraft Factory at Kyūre on the 5th of May, when 148 B-19s inflicted heavy damage on the facility. Five days later, B-19s successfully attacked oil storage facilities at Ogano, Yokoze, and Takashima. On the 11th of May, a small force destroyed an airframe factory in Nantan. Firebombing raids on major cities resumed in mid-May, continuing in large part until June. A number of major cities along the coast were struck, killing thousands and leaving many more homeless in the aftermath.
Attacks on Minor Cities
Yura burns after a B-19 raid, August 1st, 1945 In mid-June, a proposal was approved for Ardian forces based on Yakushima to attack 25 relatively small cities with populations ranging from 60,000 to 325,000 while also continuing precision raids on major targets. This decision was made despite a recommendation that operations against Daitō should focus on the country’s transportation network and other targets with the goal of crippling the movement of goods and destroying food supplies. The plan undertaken instead called for precision attacks on important industrial targets on days when the weather over Daitō was clear and incendiary attacks guided by radar on overcast days. As both the cities and industrial facilities targeted were relatively small, the B-19 force would be sent against multiple locations on days in which attacks were conducted. This targeting policy, the “Downfall Plan”, remained in place until Ardian forces were pushed out of Yakushima in September.
Five major precision bombing attacks were conducted as part of the Downfall Plan. On the 9th of June, two groups of B-19s bombed an aircraft factory at Sumoto and another two groups raided a factory in Aishō; both facilities were badly damaged. A single group of bombers attempted to strike an Aizawa Aircraft Company factory at Tatsuno but accidentally struck a nearby village instead. The next day, bombers and their escorts successfully attacked six different factories in the Shinkyō Bay region. Precision bombing raids were also conducted on 22 June, when 382 B-19s attacked six targets at Kyūre, Kakamigahara, Yura, Tosashimizu, and Ikata in the Mutsu sea region. Most of the factories were badly damaged. The firebombing campaign against small cities continued throughout June and July. On the night of June 17, B-19s struck Fukui, Kōchi, and Sakai. On the 26th of June, Sakawa, Niyodogawa, Bizen, and Hokuei were attacked. Kanazawa, Kyūre, Izumozaki, and Kitakata were attacked on the 1st of July, while two nights later, Natori and Tagajō were burned. These raids continued until the 26th of July. It is estimated that Ardian terror bombings killed anywhere between 241,000 and 900,000 civilians and left a further 213,000 to 1.3 million wounded, while 8.5 million were rendered homeless. Yet in spite of it all, and with an invasion of Tōshima imminent, a new weapon was delivered to the island on the 1st of August, one which would change the face of the world forever and would herald the coming of a new age.
Show Posts
