00:00There were countless independence activists who fought for liberation, but they weren't all Korean.
00:04Many foreigners also fought to the end for Korea's independence.
00:08For example, Chiang Kai-shek funded the provisional government of the Republic of Korea,
00:12and Fusei Tatsuji defended independence activists as a lawyer.
00:15Yet, we've overlooked an important person.
00:17That person is Renya Mutaguchi, a truly brilliant strategist.
00:20Let's take a look together at how he contributed to Korea's independence.
00:23First, let's start by looking at his foe.
00:25This is our brilliant strategist, Mr. Renya Mutaguchi.
00:27Renya Mutaguchi proposed and carried out numerous innovative strategies for Korea's independence.
00:33From the Japanese perspective, this innovation was like a bomb on the scale of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
00:38As a Korean, I note that Renya Mutaguchi single-handedly rendered a million-strong Japanese army unable to fight.
00:44Isn't that amazing?
00:45Renya Mutaguchi held the rank of colonel in 1937,
00:48and at that time, he was stationed at Lugu Bridge in Beijing, China.
00:52At that time, Renya Mutaguchi was serving as the commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment.
00:56Lugo Bridge is a name that sounds familiar, right?
01:00That's right.
01:00Koreans know it as the site of the Marco Polo Bridge incident.
01:04He was also the person who led this incident.
01:07On July 6, 1937, the 1st Infantry Regiment, led by Renya Mutaguchi,
01:11was conducting live-fire training in the Chinese-controlled area northeast of Lugo Bridge
01:15without prior consultation with China.
01:17Of course, since the Japanese army was intruding into the Chinese-controlled area,
01:21the Chinese army was on high alert.
01:22Fortunately, as of the night of July 7th, the Chinese army hadn't attacked the Japanese,
01:26and after the Japanese completed their training and withdrew, the situation temporarily stabilized.
01:31But suddenly, at 10.40pm on the night of the 7th, about 10 gunshots rang out,
01:36and then the gunfire increased to dozens of shots.
01:39The 8th Company's commander of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment,
01:43gathered his soldiers to check their numbers, but found one missing.
01:47This report reached Regimental Commander Renya Mutaguchi,
01:51who concluded a soldier was missing after a preemptive Chinese attack.
01:55He decided to send troops to negotiate with the Chinese forces.
01:58But the funny thing is, this soldier returned to the base 20 minutes after the roll call.
02:02It's not certain, but the leading theory is that he went to the bathroom
02:04and couldn't participate in the roll call.
02:06At that time, the 8th Company was searching for the missing soldier.
02:09The funny thing is, the soldier who came back after 20 minutes was searching for himself,
02:14but of course, he couldn't find himself.
02:16They realized later the soldier had returned, but no one reported it.
02:20Meanwhile, Chinese and Japanese forces were discussing how to find him.
02:25Here, Renya Mutaguchi's ingenious strategy comes into play.
02:28During negotiations, Renya Mutaguchi suddenly attacked the Chinese from behind.
02:33At 4.20am, while talks continued, Mutaguchi ordered the 3rd Battalion to strike the Chinese,
02:39resulting in Japanese bombardment and casualties.
02:41The Japanese launched a surprise assault on Chinese outposts, leaving about 80 Chinese soldiers
02:47killed or wounded.
02:48This became known as the Marco Polo Bridge incident, which led to the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
02:54Previously, I mentioned Japan's million-strong army became combat ineffective.
02:58The war marked the start of Japan's downfall, forcing it to commit millions of troops on the
03:03continent.
03:04Due to the impact of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, the Pacific War, which was the decisive cause
03:08of Japan's defeat, also broke out.
03:10Renya Mutaguchi, by himself, played a crucial role in tying down millions of Japanese troops
03:15in China and ultimately bringing about Japan's downfall.
03:18During that period, 30% of Japanese military deaths happened in China, with nearly 2 million
03:23soldiers killed or wounded.
03:24These devastating losses also impacted the Pacific War.
03:28It advanced Korea's liberation by about 10 years.
03:30After that, Renya Mutaguchi made good connections, was promoted to lieutenant general in 1940,
03:35and was transferred to Singapore.
03:37At this time, Renya Mutaguchi led the Battle of Jitra during the Battle of Singapore.
03:41During this period, Renya Mutaguchi had a truly astonishing experience.
03:44British forces airdropped supplies, but the Japanese army captured them and ended the battle
03:48without supply issues or losses.
03:51This led Renya Mutaguchi to develop a new method.
03:54He found a way to fight battles without supplies.
03:57As time passed, Renya Mutaguchi was promoted to commander of the 15th Army in March 1943.
04:02At this time, Renya Mutaguchi came up with the idea of the invasion of India, the Imphal Operation.
04:07This Imphal Operation was a plan to cross the Arakan Mountains from present-day Myanmar
04:11and directly attack the northern region of India.
04:14Here, they only brought 15 days worth of supplies.
04:17He said that in his 30 years of military service, he had never felt such a strong conviction of
04:21certain victory.
04:22With this belief, he pushed forward with the Imphal Operation.
04:25And unbelievably, this absurd operation was actually approved.
04:29It seems that the political maneuvering rampant within the Japanese army played a part in this.
04:33Anyway, this strategy was a reckless gamble.
04:3590,000 Japanese troops headed toward the Imphal region in India completely unprepared.
04:40The importance of Imphal and the strategy of catching the British forces off guard were
04:44considered somewhat effective.
04:45The problem was that everything else was a complete mess.
04:48They entered battle with just 15 days of food, and the plan ignored the most important factor,
04:53supplies.
04:54Consider this.
04:55Each soldier had to carry a 40-kilogram pack and march dozens or even hundreds of kilometers
05:00quickly.
05:00That's highly innovative, even by today's standards.
05:03Those with military experience would understand.
05:05Being told to carry this load and march hundreds of kilometers is nothing short of hell for the
05:10soldiers.
05:10Naturally, once the Imphal Operation began, problems started to arise.
05:14At that time, animals were mainly used to transport supplies.
05:18But when they crossed the Chindwin River, 30% of these animals died.
05:21After 21 days when they reached Kohima, only five oxen remained.
05:26Since soldiers carried up to 40 kilograms of gear, they secretly discarded parts and shells.
05:31There were odd times when Japanese forces weakened their own firepower.
05:35And this operation started on March 8th.
05:37By around March 25, the Japanese forces had run out of food and ammunition.
05:42Because of that, the Japanese soldiers ended up having to pick up the supplies dropped
05:46by British transport planes.
05:47The situation got so bad that the British, after hearing that the Japanese were scavenging
05:51for supplies, would ambush near the dropped supplies and wipe out the Japanese soldiers.
05:56So later, the situation got so bad that the 31st Division under Mutaguchi Renya even mutinied.
06:01For reference, the commander of the 31st Division at that time was Lieutenant General
06:05Sato Kotoku.
06:06He was ordered to keep advancing under an unreasonable strategy.
06:09And as he watched his men die meaningless deaths, he was truly, he couldn't take it anymore,
06:13and eventually rebelled.
06:14This was the first case of insubordination in the history of the Japanese army.
06:18In fact, it made no sense to order them to hold their position and not retreat when
06:22they were on the verge of starving to death.
06:23In the end, divisions under the Japanese 15th Army suffered 32,000 dead, ending in a
06:29one-sided massacre.
06:30About 20,000 people died from disease or starvation.
06:33And there were as many as 23,000 wounded.
06:35It truly became a major disaster.
06:37Over 80% casualties occurred.
06:39Normally, if 20 to 30% of the total troops are lost, the unit is considered combat ineffective
06:44and is pulled back for reorganization.
06:45But in this case, 80% suffered casualties.
06:48The entire unit was practically wiped out.
06:50With the IMFAL operation ending in such a disastrous failure, the Japanese front in
06:54Burma and Bengal completely collapsed.
06:56After World War II ended, Renya Mutaguchi was indicted as a Class A war criminal at the
07:00International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
07:02Usually, most Class A war criminals were sentenced to death or imprisonment after trial.
07:06But even though Renya Mutaguchi was indicted as a Class A war criminal, he was not prosecuted.
07:11The reason for this is that, although Renya Mutaguchi was a huge disaster for the Japanese
07:15army, he didn't actually commit any war crimes.
07:17He was quite an ironic figure.
07:19He later died in 1966 at the age of 77.
07:22Until the end, he insisted that he had done nothing wrong.
07:26Yes, he died saying, it was my subordinate's fault.
07:29Mutaguchi Renya actually had a significant impact on Korea's liberation.
07:32First of all, the biggest factor was the Second Sino-Japanese War.
07:35By starting the war himself, he was able to tie down millions of Japanese troops in China.
07:40And as a result of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Pacific War broke out.
07:44As you all know, the Pacific War ended with Japan surrendering after being hit by two atomic
07:48bombs in the infall operation.
07:50Without fighting many battles, he devised some truly incredible strategies, losing 80%
07:54of his troops and causing the collapse of the Japanese front in Burma.
07:57So, while Korean independence fighters fought with weapons in hand, Mutaguchi Renya worked
08:02very loyally to bring down the Japanese army from within.
08:04I think he was truly an amazing contributor.
08:07If Mutaguchi Renya hadn't existed, history today might have turned out a little differently.
08:11Of course, Japan's ambition to conquer China was strong, so the Second Sino-Japanese War
08:15would have happened eventually.
08:16But you never know how things might have turned out.
08:18Mutaguchi Renya, the hero of Korea who sped up Korea's independence by 10 years.
08:23I will end this video with gratitude to Mutaguchi Renya.
08:25What do you think about Mutaguchi Renya?
08:27Please let us know in the comments.
08:28Thank you!
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