Toshizō Nishio
General Nishio Toshizō | |
|---|---|
 General Nishio Toshizō | |
| Born | October 31, 1881 Tottori, Japan |
| Died | October 26, 1960 (aged 78) Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1902-1943 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | 10th Division |
| Commands | IJA 20th Division, Imperial Guards Division, IJA Second Army, 13th Army, China Expeditionary Army |
| Battles / wars | Russo-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese War |
| Awards | Order of the Rising Sun, Order of the Golden Kite |
| Other work | politician |
Template:Japanese name Toshizō Nishio (西尾 寿造, Nishio Toshizō, 31 October 1881 – 26 October 1960) was a Japanese general, considered to be one of the Imperial Japanese Army's most successful and ablest strategists during the Second Sino-Japanese War, who commanded the Japanese Second Army during the first years after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
Early life and career
Nishio was born in Tottori Prefecture, and was a graduate of the 14th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1902, and the 22nd class of the Army War College (Japan). He was in the Russo-Japanese War, and saw combat at the Battle of Sandepu
Nishio was first attached to the 10th Regiment/10th Division from 1921 to 1923. Afterward he was an instructor at the Army War College until 1925 when he became commanding officer of the 40th Regiment/10th Division. From 1926 to 1929 he was Chief of the 1st Section, Inspectorate General of Military Training. In 1929 he was assigned to command the 39th Brigade of the IJA 20th Division, stationed in Korea. From 1930 to 1932 he was Chairman of Military Investigation in the Ministry of War, and then Head of the 4th Bureau of the General Staff in 1934.
China
On 5 March 1934, Nishio was appointed Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army in Manchukuo, where he oversaw the establishment of the reorganization of the Manchukuo Imperial Army and the pacification of Manchukuo. In March 1936 he became Vice Chief of the General Staff and Acting Head of the General Affairs Bureau, of the General Staff. In early 1937 he briefly commanded the Imperial Guards Division, before being transferred to China at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident he was sent to North China, and took command of the IJA Second Army on 26 August 1937. He oversaw the Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation that took the Japanese to the Yellow River. He commanded the Battle of Xuzhou, crossing the Yellow river and overruning Shandong until 30 April 1938, shortly after the defeat his army suffered in the Battle of Taierzhuang, when he was replaced and returned to Tokyo to be Inspector-General of Military Training.
He returned to China again to take command of the 13th Army on 12 September 1939 for a month and then took Command of all the forces in China as Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Army on 22 September 1939. He oversaw the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang, and the First Battle of Changsha. His force withstood the Chinese 1939-40 Winter Offensive, and rolled back their gains in the spring with many operations including the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang. His forces were again struck in North China by the Hundred Regiments Offensive, while he continued attacks in the Yangtze valley in the Central Hopei Operation and Western Hopei Operation. On 1 March 1941 he was replaced, and returned to Japan to become a member of the Supreme War Council until he retired in1943.
Return to Japan
However he took up the governorship of the Tokyo Metropolis from 1944 to the end of the World War II. Although arrested after World War II by the American occupation authorities as a suspected war criminal, formal charges were never brought to trial and he was later released.
References
Books
- Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41; From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0025322001.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4.
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External links
- Ammenthorp, Steen. "Nishio, Toshizou". The Generals of World War II.