Memoirs of No Battle at Leyte Island (5)

　
A defeated soldier talks about a general.

On 6th of January, 20th year of Showa (1945), here on the shore of Tobogon near the north edge of Cebu Island in Philippines, about 150 soldiers of 2nd company and 1st company of machine gun of 1st battalion and about 100 soldiers of Kamioka battalion, which belonged to 13th independent infantry regiment (Izumi 5316) of 26th division, which were totally 250 soldiers having no information about Leyte, were waiting for boats to return from Cebu City for 5 days, to carry out the order given at the departure from Manila on 3rd of November of 19th year of Showa, to land Leyte.


Our unit was almost divided into squads to stay at vacant cottages of inhabitants. Early in the morning, I heard of the voice spoken hesitatingly Is there a sanitary soldier? Ask him to come.

Supposing the meaning of the voice, I could understand he was not a soldier going with us. I listened again with sleepy eyes to know that he seemed certainly ask for a sanitary soldier.

I said so to Morita senior sanitary superior private sleeping beside me. He said Morita. Go to see him.
Anyway I went out of the cottage with a bag of medical tools. An unfamiliar soldier was standing outside and said to me Come here.

I was not sure of 100 or 200m walking and was shown to the cottage which was not so far. There were three old soldiers in a small room who seemed high class officers. I noticed that one of them had a rank badge of Lieutenant General on his chest. I did not know how to salute to so high class officers. To His Excellency in a leaning pose, Mr. Colonel lying on his back and Mr. Army Surgeon beside him (His rank might be Colonel, but I could not remember exactly) I bowed to salute with sitting on the floor.

Anyway I asked to Mr. Army Surgeon. He said His Excellency was bullet wounded at his left upper arm. The Chief Staff was bullet wounded at his right upper arm. I have nothing for care. Treat their wounds as Im watching.

After watching, His Excellency was two piercing bullet wounded. Anyway I gave the same care and treatment as soldiers and gave a tight bandage.

Next Mr. Colonel, called the Chief Staff, got a scrape on the most upper part of his right arm. The wound was 7~8 cm and muscle was exposed without skin. Piling some pieces of rivanol-gauze thickly and fixing by bandage, I finished a treatment. I asked Mr. Army Surgeon about a preventive injection for tetanus. He praised me Sure thing. You had such a thing fortunately.


During my treatment, the Colonel grimaced, but received my treatment with saying nothing about his pains. So I could treat him easily. But I could not stand that His Excellency complained of pains Ouch, Ouch all the time.

After treatment I had nothing to do. I made a bow and got out of the room. A soldier was standing out of the room. I watched his step to know that ten and some pieces of 100 yen bills of home country were spread to be dried because of being wet with sea water.

I was strangely impressed that His Excellency Lieutenant General carried so big money even at field battle and went back to the cottage of leading group.


Well and now, when I came back to the cottage, all got up already and I reported Kubota superior private on a series of situations of treatment. But he did not believe them and Do you have a dream still after the suns rising up?, he laughed.

The fact that an apprentice sanitary soldier treated wounds for His Excellency Lieutenant General and a high class officer, could not be easily believed by Mr. sanitary superior private, a veteran of 2nd year soldier.


But at lunch time in some hours, it had been well known to the neighboring units that the Commander of 102nd Division advanced to Cebu Island from Leyte and he was injured. Soon after that, the guard unit for His Excellency was so small that our company escorted him on the way to Cebu City.


Some days later, 1st Division had advanced to Cebu Island from Leyte Island holding the Three
Military Flags. First at the time, we knew about the real fact that they fought hard and were decisively defeated.

Thinking again, on 27th of December of 19th year of Showa, we decided to make a march from Cebu City to reach the main battle field of Leyte. What did our five days of hard march for 100km on the east coast of Cebu Island mean?

In a record of war I read after the war, it was written that 14th Directional Forces sent a telegram meaning the direction of self-support and self-fight to 35th troops at Leyte Island on 22nd of December.


I will come back again to the main story. I supposed that leading the army corps for guard to go to the fiercest battle field, and resisting the big enemies with the newest and most powerful weapons by small troops with light weapons, and accepting full responsibility of the worst situation of battle, must be anguish for the Old General beyond description. The movement of the Division Commander to reach Cebu Island was described later in many literatures and reports of the war. Some of them were negative and dishonorable for him. Of course, I was a defeated soldier. How could I talk about the general?


The His Excellency was questioned about his early advance from Leyte at the end of the war and took the rap for war criminal unexpectedly after the war, and he was died before coming back to the home country, I heard.

Anyway it must be a daydream for me that a sanitary soldier of private 1st class treated bandage for the His Excellency who commanded many troops at the battle field with flying the yellow General Flag.


Our troops were called the imperial troops that were admired with many flowery words of honorable, brave, invincible, undefeated, and so on. In the military history that had been dressed with glories and honors for 70 years since the military construction at Meiji Era, the truth beyond our fragmentary imagination was secretly sowed in places where ordinary citizens and private soldiers could not know, I really thought. I observed the hidden part of the history by chance.

End

(The end)