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477:...the most unenterprising of all the Japanese generals I encountered. He had been ordered to take Kohima and dig in. His bullet head was filled with one idea only – to take Kohima. It never struck him that he could inflict terrible damage on us without taking Kohima at all. Leaving a small force to contain it, and moving by tracks to the east of Warren's brigade at Nichugard, he could, by 5 April, have struck the railway with the bulk of his division. But he had no vision, so, as his troops came up, he flung them into attack after attack on the little town of Kohima.
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faltered around the middle of April, Mutaguchi ordered 31st
Division or parts of it to join in the attack on Imphal from the north, even while the division was struggling to capture and hold Kohima. Satō considered that his division was being "messed around" without proper planning or consideration for the conditions. Nor did Satō believe that Fifteenth Army headquarters were exerting themselves to move supplies to his division. He began pulling his troops back to conserve their strength, thus allowing the British to secure Kohima Ridge.
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361:, refusing to budge from its positions even after sustaining over 50% casualties, and then ousted the Soviet forces from a disputed hill in a night assault which the Japanese considered to be a model of its tactical type. Satō later boasted that since he was not in favor with Tōjō, his unit had been given the worst position on the front lines, and he looked forward to being given the worst position again at the next battle. From December 1938 he was commander of the 2nd Sector, 8th Border Garrison, which was at the
553:, Satō was often vilified in the press as a coward and was accused of causing the Japanese defeat in Burma. For his part, Satō continued to insist until his death in 1959 that the actions he took were necessary to save the lives of his men, and that the charges of insanity made against him for withdrawing from the battle were unjustified. Satō devoted his efforts to assisting surviving members of his former command, and he created a group of ex-army men who erected a monument to the fallen of the Imphal Campaign in
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On 25 May, Satō notified
Fifteenth Army HQ that he would withdraw on 1 June unless his division received supplies. Finally on 31 May, he abandoned positions north of the road, in spite of orders from Mutaguchi to hold his positions. (For a divisional commander to retreat without orders or permission
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By the middle of May, Satō's troops were starving as had been predicted. He considered that
Mutaguchi and the HQ of Japanese Fifteenth Army were taking little notice of his situation, as they had issued several confusing and contradictory orders to him during April. Because the main attack on Imphal
466:. Divisional commander Satō was unhappy with his role. He had not been involved in the planning of the offensive and seriously doubted the Japanese chances for success; he had already told his staff that they might all starve to death, as Mutaguchi made no provision for logistics or resupply.
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faction. Satō was promoted to lieutenant colonel in
December 1932 and assigned to the IJA 11th Infantry Regiment. From August 1934, he was assigned to the staff of the
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from his superior was unheard-of in the
Japanese Army.) After ignoring army orders for several weeks, Satō was removed from command of 31st Division on 7 July 1944.
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Part of the plan involved sending the 31st
Division (which was composed of 58th, 124th, and 138th Regiments, and the 31st Mountain Artillery Regiment) to capture
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440:. Despite the objections of his staff, Mutaguchi enlarged the plan to include an invasion of India itself and perhaps even overthrow the
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444:. Despite reports to Tokyo from his subordinates on the infeasibility of the plan, the objections were eventually overruled by
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In common with many senior
Japanese officers, Satō considered Mutaguchi to be a "blockhead", although General
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He was ordered to retire, but was recalled to active duty immediately and assigned to the staff of the
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to clear his name and publicly expose
Mutaguchi's incompetence. At the prompting of Lieutenant General
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offensive plans for that year. The commander of the
Fifteenth Army was none other than his old nemesis
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and in
October 1941 became commander of the IJA 67th Independent Brigade. He was promoted to
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from the time of its activation in China. Assigned to construction operations in
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Satō was promoted to colonel in October 1937 and assigned command of the
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in December 1942. From March 1943, he was assigned command of the
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in September, 1943. The Japanese plan to invade India, codenamed
537:-based Northeastern Area Army, which was assigned to defend the
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341:, IJA 6th Division played a role in the suppression of the pro-
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and was assigned to command the IJA 23rd Infantry Brigade, in
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in 1921, and was assigned to administrative duties within the
421:, was originally intended as a spoiling attack against the
357:-based IJA 75th Infantry Regiment. His regiment was at the
327:, who also happened to be a staunch supporter of the rival
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In March 1941, Satō was attached to the staff of the
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522:and was unfit to stand trial on 23 November 1944.
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500:Satō refused an invitation by Mutaguchi to commit
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458:and thus cut off Imphal, and then destroy the
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826:"After the war my father didn't recognise me"
307:political faction within the Army, including
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285:and attended military preparatory school in
867:Japanese military personnel of World War II
541:of Japan against possible Allied invasion.
592:The British Army 1939–45 (3): The Far East
518:, doctors declared that he had suffered a
315:, and was involved in the creation of the
254:, March 5, 1893 – February 26, 1959)
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654:Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography
385:Group photo of the command staff of the
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657:. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
882:Imperial Japanese Army Academy alumni
365:. In August 1939 he was promoted to
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299:Imperial Japanese Army General Staff
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529:, which was a garrison force in
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877:People from Yamagata Prefecture
723:Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
349:Soviet-Japanese border conflict
573:Burma: The Longest War 1941–45
473:considered Satō himself to be
409:, the division was ordered to
291:Imperial Japanese Army Academy
231:Imperial Japanese Army Academy
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594:. London: Osprey Publishing.
710:The Generals of World War II
42:when mentioning individuals.
27:Japanese general (1893–1959)
611:Kohima: The Furthest Battle
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197:Soviet–Japanese Border Wars
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680:. London: Arms and Armor.
676:Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
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651:Dupuy, Trevor N. (2006).
575:. London: Phoenix Press.
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806:Allen, p.292 (fn), p.308
672:Fuller, Richard (1992).
634:Burma: The Forgotten War
609:Edwards, Leslie (2009).
590:Brayley, Martin (2002).
289:. He graduated from the
38:. This article uses
30:The native form of this
636:. London: John Murray.
345:attempted coup-d'etat.
571:Allen, Louis (2000) .
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262:Imperial Japanese Army
146:Imperial Japanese Army
632:Latimer, Jon (2004).
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359:Battle of Lake Khasan
202:Battle of Lake Khasan
152:Years of service
339:February 26 incident
192:February 26 Incident
704:Ammenthorp, Steen.
485:Defeat into Victory
283:Yamagata prefecture
90:Yamagata Prefecture
743:Allen, pp. 154–155
551:surrender of Japan
435:Lieutenant General
399:lieutenant general
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377:The Burma campaign
319:organization with
295:Army Staff College
258:lieutenant general
169:Lieutenant General
40:Western name order
872:Japanese generals
832:. August 13, 2004
779:Allen, pp.287–293
761:Allen, pp.284–285
643:978-0-7195-6576-2
624:978-1-86227-488-4
615:The History Press
429:, to disrupt the
403:IJA 31st Division
395:IJA 54th Division
363:Nomonhan Incident
321:Kingoro Hashimoto
281:Satō was born in
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277:Early career
266:World War II
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209:World War II
185:Battles/wars
105:(1959-02-26)
61:Satō in 1937
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862:1959 deaths
857:1893 births
449:Hideki Tōjō
442:British Raj
313:Hideki Tōjō
251:Satō Kōtoku
239:Kōtoku Satō
67:Native name
49:Kōtoku Satō
36:Satō Kōtoku
18:Kotoku Sato
851:Categories
836:2008-03-27
565:References
549:After the
226:Alma mater
112:Allegiance
83:1893-03-05
460:rail yard
355:Manchukuo
317:Sakurakai
272:Biography
155:1913–1945
830:BBC News
480:—
423:IV Corps
407:Thailand
175:Commands
132:Service/
557:and in
545:Postwar
503:seppuku
464:Dimapur
304:Tōseiha
260:in the
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535:Sendai
456:Kohima
431:Allied
427:Imphal
371:Hailar
343:Kōdōha
330:Kōdōha
287:Sendai
256:was a
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134:branch
122:
731:Notes
411:Burma
245:佐藤 幸徳
125:Japan
94:Japan
71:佐藤 幸徳
682:ISBN
659:ISBN
638:ISBN
619:ISBN
596:ISBN
577:ISBN
531:Java
419:U-Go
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160:Rank
100:Died
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