Nineteen years after leaving his home country (4)

　
(4) Indignation over the unconditional surrender --- left behind when working

On August 15th, 1945, our corps was newly formed of survivors from every corps, and was in preparation to assemble by coming down from southern part of Moulmein to French Indochina.

We heard form a staff that the war seemed to have been suspended, but we laughed it away and did not believe. In that night, our corps started by train, heading straight on Thai-Burma Railway for Bangkok, and got off at Thai-Burma border. We learned the change of situation for the first time when we entered in barracks.

We found that the corps guarding the border have thrown down all the weapons and were rubbing out the Imperial chrysanthemum crest. We suspiciously asked "What are you doing?" and they replied casually "Weapons are to be handed to the enemy." Nothing more was clear and we reached Bangkok with a complicated sensation of half in doubt. We heard there for the first time the fact of unconditional surrender of Japanese Army and I felt as if I was crying with resentment surging up from my heart. Having complicated feelings in mind on the fact yet unbelievable, we came to stay at Lomes of Cambodia.

I remember it was August 29th, 1945. A comrade and I went to Phnom Penh City together, following the corps' order to receive medicines. The comrade returned to the corps with partially received medicines and I remained in Phnom Penh to receive the rest.

On the next day, September 1st, I was surprised to see a notice in front of a logistic billet. It read "By order of the headquarters, all Japanese transportation will stop on August 30th, and later within two hundred and forty hours, disarmament will be accepted." I went at once to a station to return but the station was surrounded and guarded by Japanese military policemen and it was not allowed for Japanese soldiers to enter. I decided to walk unfamiliar roads relying only railroad tracks. After walking more than a hundred kilometers, I barely reached the place of corps early in the morning on September 4th. However, there were no figures of soldiers. I was at a loss what to do and saw in open-mouthed surprise the vacant barracks. There was nothing left but littered paper scraps and the empty barracks.

Taking a rest for some time and regaining control of myself, I wandered asking the corps' whereabouts from one village to another. I crossed towns and planes in the foreign country where I could not understand the language. Having lain in a field sometime and slept at a temple in a mountain at another time, I had lonesome feelings and wept over my misfortunes.

Meanwhile I was strayed into a mountain before I was aware. I continued to walk infinite roads for west and east, and north and south, drinking water, eating nuts and berries, being frightened at night by roars of beasts in the near and far distances when I alone made a fire in a valley.

I could not bear to die when I thought of annihilation of the corps, loss of the battle and my fate of loneliness to follow, where I could not stop crying, could not call anyone, could not find God or Buddha to rely on. I had to live alone.

Walking about a month, I reached a temple in a mountain pronounced as "sonkesheet". I was at the limits of my strength and begged food from the temple. Thanks to kindness of the caretaker of the temple fortunately, I could stay at the temple for a while.

Time went by and in a day after six months, there came a Vietnamese peddler who understood Japanese. According to him, Japanese Army was then stationed in Ba Ria of Vietnam. I decided to go to South Vietnam with the Vietnamese, received warm assistance of residents in a country town named Bac Lieu, started to sustain myself by farming, and waited for a chance to meet Japanese Army again.

However, at that time in Vietnam the war between the local people and French Army was broken and I could not move anywhere. As the war became violent, I felt danger even in my personal life. I crossed Mekong River together with refugees of residents and started to sustain myself again at a village in a mountain near the border of Chang Jiang.

The war in Vietnam seemed to expand day after day. Contact with the town was lost and militiamen stood in all the important places on roads with bamboo spears. As the days went on, French planes came to fly over the village. I felt danger again, moved again together with the residents to a place in mountains several hundred kilometer remote in the north, and began to sustain myself by reclaiming a mountain.

(To be continued)