Lawrence of Manchu
The English intelligence officer Thomas Edward Lawrence, a participant in special operations in the Middle East, gained worldwide fame as “Lawrence of Arabia.” His name became a household name. Japanese officer Kenji Doihara rightfully earned the nickname "Lawrence of Manchuria." Even the British, masters of secret warfare, praised Doihara's role in the behind-the-scenes struggle for dominance in the Asian region. British intelligence officer R. Seth wrote about his Japanese colleague:
“Calling Doihara the Lawrence of Manchu may be considered an insult to Lawrence's memory. However, the achievements of this man in scope, significance and results surpass the activities of the five Lawrences.”
Manchu Lawrence was born in 1883 in Okayama. Doihara began his military career as a combat officer in 1904. Despite his family's low social status, Doihara strived to make a good career. To get to the top, the young officer graduated from the Higher Military Academy in 1912. But it wasn’t just his good studies that made Doihara stand out.
To acquire a patron, he made his 15-year-old sister the mistress of one of the princes. Thus, the future intelligence officer managed to get into the military-diplomatic service in China. Occupying the position of secretary of the military attaché in Beijing, General Honjo Shigeru, he traveled throughout the Celestial Empire. Over time, Doihara mastered not only literary Chinese, but also local dialects. By the end of his career, in addition to Eastern languages, he also knew a dozen European languages.
In 1921–1922 Doihara took part in the intervention in Siberia as part of the Japanese expeditionary force. Upon returning from Russia, he again continued his service in China. Over time, Doihara managed to get into an influential group of military personnel called the “Reliable Eleven.” Members of this association advocated the modernization of the Japanese armed forces and the abandonment of outdated samurai customs. The patron of the "Reliable Eleven" was Royal Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Emperor Hirohito's uncle and advisor.
In 1931, Doiharu, who by that time had risen to the rank of colonel, was appointed to head the intelligence of the Kwantung Army. Having become a “knight of the cloak and dagger,” our hero, together with several officers of the Japanese army, organized a provocation that included history as the "Mukden Incident".
On September 18, 1931, Japanese special services blew up the railway track along with their own train. This provocation served as the reason for the intervention of the Land of the Rising Sun in Manchuria.
In the occupied Chinese provinces, the invaders created the puppet state of Manchukuo. According to some researchers, it was Colonel Doihara who put forward the idea of putting the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi at the head of Manchuria. The fact is that the Japanese needed allies to hold the northeast of the Celestial Empire.
The indigenous inhabitants of this region, the Manchus, were unhappy with the influx of Chinese settlers into their homeland. The Manchus remembered very well how they ruled the vast Chinese empire before 1911. Doihara decided to use Manchu nationalism to benefit his country.
Among the numerous representatives of the Manchu dynasty, Pu Yi was best suited to the role of the formal head of Manchuria.
Firstly, he was legitimate; from 1908 to 1912 he was officially the ruler of the Celestial Empire.
Secondly, he was young and had neither political experience nor the necessary knowledge.
And thirdly, since childhood, the last emperor was a puppet in the hands of others: court groups, then Chinese militarists, and after Pu Yi moved to Tianjin in 1924, he came under the influence of the Japanese.
To convince Pu Yi to accept the Japanese offer and become the head of Manchukuo, Doihara sent his best agent, the Manchu princess Aishingyoro Shanshi, known under the Japanese name Yoshiko Kawashima, to the abdicated emperor.
On the instructions of her boss Kenji Doihara, Yoshiko, taking advantage of her aristocratic origins, easily fell into the circle of the abdicated emperor. The Japanese intelligence officer influenced Pu Yi through his beloved wife Wanrong, with whom she started an affair and hooked her on opium. Yoshiko managed to complete the task and achieved Pu Yi's consent to take the throne of Manchukuo.
The Emperor was brought to Manchuria from Tianjin secretly. Those accompanying him had orders to kill Pu Yi if the Chinese tried to capture him. But the operation was successful. On March 9, 1932, the last Chinese emperor became the supreme ruler, and on March 1, 1934, the Emperor of Manchukuo.
Having placed a Japanese puppet on the Manchu throne, Doihara continued his active work in China. In Manchuria, and eventually in other occupied Chinese provinces, Doihara began distributing drugs. The drug business killed two birds with one stone: it replenished the Japanese budget and made the Chinese population dependent on the occupiers.
Of the 30 million inhabitants of Manchuria, 9 million regularly smoked opium. Moreover, 69% of drug addicts were under 30 years of age, i.e., they represented the most active part of the population. The distribution of drugs, primarily opium (the raw materials were grown in Korea and processed in Manchuria), brought the Japanese about 300 million dollars annually. In the occupied territories, the new authorities legalized drug use for the local population. At the same time, the sale of drugs to the Japanese was strictly prohibited, and the dens were controlled by the Japanese gendarmerie.
In order to get as many Chinese as possible hooked on drugs, Japanese tobacco factories began to produce a new variety of Golden Bat cigarettes. A small amount of opium was mixed into tobacco, so these products were intended only for the Chinese. In addition to cigarettes, drugs were distributed under the guise of tuberculosis drugs.
Japanese Lawrence worked not only in Asia. Kenji Doihara, acting through Colonel Hiroshi, who headed Japanese intelligence in Europe, contacted Admiral Canaris (chief of military intelligence of the Third Reich) and agreed on cooperation between the intelligence services of Japan and Germany. These behind-the-scenes negotiations contributed to the signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936, which laid the foundation for a bloc of states (Germany, Japan, later Italy, Hungary, Finland, etc.) directed against the Soviet Union.
The abilities of the Japanese Lawrence were appreciated by the command. In 1941–1943 Doihara served as Inspector General of the Army aviation. In May 1943, Lawrence of Manchu became commander of the Eastern Army. On March 22, 1944, under the command of Doihara, the 7th Front was formed, which controlled troops stationed in Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra and Java.
Returning to Japan in 1945, Doihara became chief inspector of military training (one of the most prestigious positions in the army) and commander-in-chief of the Japanese Army of the Twelfth District. In September 1945, after the suicide of Field Marshal Sugiyama, General Doihara headed the First Command, whose task was the defense of the Japanese islands.
Despite a brilliant military career, our hero had a sad end. After the defeat of Japan, the allies recalled Doihara to all his successes. On May 3, 1946, the International Tribunal for the Far East, the Tokyo Trial, opened in Tokyo. Representatives from 11 countries participated in the trial of war criminals. Seven people, including Army General Kenji Doihara, were sentenced to death.
On the night of December 22-23, 1948, the Japanese Lawrence was hanged in the courtyard of Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.
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