The Indian National Army and Japan

10. The Rising Sun Unfurls; the Tiger Springs

174 CHAPTER฀TEN The฀Rising฀Sun฀Unfurls;฀฀ the฀Tiger฀Springs I฀ OPERATION฀U฀IS฀LAUNCHED ON฀ 7฀ January฀ 1944,฀ IGHQ฀Army฀ Directive฀ no.฀ 1776฀ was฀ issued฀ to฀ the฀ Southern฀ Army฀ “to฀ capture฀ strategic฀ areas฀ near฀ Imphal฀ and฀ in฀ north-eastern฀ India,฀ for฀ the฀ defence฀ of฀ Burma”.฀ One฀ of฀ Mutaguchi’s฀ divisions,฀ the฀ 15th,฀ was฀ late฀ in฀ arriving,฀ and฀ the฀ launching฀ of฀ the฀ offensive฀was฀postponed฀until฀March.1 ฀On฀8฀March฀all฀divisions฀were฀ deployed฀according฀to฀plan.฀In฀mid-April฀the฀31st฀Division฀occupied฀ Kohima฀and฀the฀33rd฀and฀15th฀Divisions฀fell฀on฀the฀bottlenecks฀north฀ and฀ south฀ of฀ the฀ Imphal฀ basin฀ respectively.2 ฀ Among฀ the฀ Japanese฀ ฀ troops฀a฀mood฀of฀optimism฀prevailed. II฀ THE฀INA฀IN฀ACTION฀AT฀LAST On฀ 24฀ January฀ 1944,฀ Colonel฀ Katakura,฀ staff฀ officer฀ of฀ the฀ Burma฀ Area฀ Army,฀ met฀ with฀ Netaji฀ to฀ outline฀ campaign฀ strategy฀ and฀ the฀ role฀ of฀ the฀ INA฀ in฀ it.฀ Colonel฀ Shah฀ Nawaz฀ Khan฀ was฀ the฀ third฀ person฀ at฀ the฀ secret฀ meeting.฀ When฀ Katakura฀ revealed฀ the฀ Japanese฀ plan฀ for฀ a฀ heavy฀ bombardment฀ of฀ Calcutta฀ simultaneous฀ with฀ the฀ ground฀ offensive,฀ Netaji฀ forcefully฀ objected.฀ Discussions฀ finally฀ yielded฀ Bose’s฀ consent฀ to฀ the฀ general฀ plan,฀ but฀ not฀ to฀ the฀ bombing.฀ Bose฀gained฀his฀point฀that฀the฀INA฀fight฀in฀units฀of฀regimental฀size,฀ not฀only฀in฀espionage฀and฀intelligence฀units฀attached฀to฀the฀Japanese฀ ฀ Army.3 10฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀174 4/11/08฀฀฀10:47:28฀AM 175 Bose฀ three฀ days฀ later฀ called฀ in฀ Shah฀ Nawaz฀ and฀ told฀ him฀ that฀ as฀ his฀ guerrilla฀ regiment,฀ the฀ Nehru฀ Regiment,฀ would฀ be฀ the฀ first฀ INA฀ unit฀ to฀ see฀ action,฀ it฀ would฀ be฀ closely฀ watched.฀ Shah฀ Nawaz฀ would฀ have฀to฀be฀the฀model฀for฀the฀whole฀INA.฀Bose฀briefed฀Shah฀Nawaz฀ on฀ the฀ deployment฀ of฀ battalions฀ and฀ told฀ him฀ detailed฀ orders฀ would฀ come฀ from฀ 15th฀ Army฀ Headquarters฀ at฀ Maimyo.฀ Japanese฀ officers฀ would฀ be฀ attached฀ to฀ each฀ battalion฀ for฀ liaison฀ and฀ to฀ arrange฀ for฀ supplies฀ and฀ transport.฀ INA฀ intelligence฀ units฀ of฀ eight฀ to฀ ten฀ men฀ would฀ also฀ be฀ attached฀ to฀ various฀ Japanese฀ forces฀ for฀ intelligence,฀ ฀ propaganda฀and฀interrogation฀of฀POWs.4 On฀10฀February฀Shah฀Nawaz฀met฀Mutaguchi฀at฀Maimyo฀for฀orders.฀ Mutaguchi฀ told฀ Shah฀ Nawaz฀ his฀ regiment฀ was฀ in฀ charge฀ of฀ defence฀ of฀ the฀ Haka-Falam฀ sector฀ in฀ the฀ Chin฀ Hills฀ against฀ two฀ British฀ brigades ฀(including฀Chins฀and฀Gurkhas)฀which฀might฀threaten฀Japanese฀ supply฀ lines.฀The฀ object฀ of฀ the฀ Shah฀ Nawaz฀ operation฀ was฀ to฀ divert฀ British฀attention฀from฀the฀main฀point฀of฀attack.฀Shah฀Nawaz฀objected฀ and฀ pointed฀ out฀ that฀ the฀ INA฀ should฀ not฀ be฀ allotted฀ an฀ out-of-theway ฀ sector฀ but฀ rather฀ should฀ be฀ the฀ spearhead฀ of฀ the฀ advance฀ into฀ India.฀ Mutaguchi฀ replied฀ his฀ orders฀ were฀ to฀ first฀ test฀ the฀ INA฀ in฀ a฀ ฀ separate฀ sector.฀ Of฀ this฀ Bose฀ had฀ already฀ warned฀ Shah฀ Nawaz.฀ The฀ sector฀would฀be฀hard฀to฀hold฀because฀of฀terrain฀and฀supplies,฀Mutaguchi฀ cautioned.5 Shah฀ Nawaz,฀ still฀ dissatisfied,฀ met฀ Fujiwara฀ at฀ 33rd฀ Division฀ headquarters฀in฀March.฀A฀year฀had฀elapsed฀since฀they฀last฀met.฀Fujiwara ฀ listened฀ as฀ the฀ gentle-mannered฀ Shah฀ Nawaz,฀ fingering฀ two฀ hand฀ grenades฀ around฀ his฀ neck,฀ told฀ Fujiwara฀ the฀ INA฀ should฀ be฀ sent฀as฀an฀advance฀unit฀into฀Tiddim฀and฀Imphal.฀Fujiwara,฀impressed฀ by฀ the฀ eagerness฀ of฀ the฀ handsome฀ Muslim,฀ agreed.฀Two฀ weeks฀ later฀ the฀ 33rd฀ Division฀ was฀ stalemated,฀ Tiddim฀ had฀ fallen,฀ and฀ Fujiwara฀ ฀ could฀not฀live฀up฀to฀his฀promise.6 Fujiwara฀also฀witnessed฀the฀first฀meeting฀between฀Bose฀and฀Mutaguchi ฀at฀Maimyo฀headquarters฀in฀early฀February฀1944.฀The฀two฀men฀ were฀ in฀ remarkable฀ harmony฀ and฀ spirits.฀They฀ appeared฀ to฀ Fujiwara฀ as฀ if฀ they฀ had฀ already฀ taken฀ Imphal฀ and฀ gained฀ India.฀ Mutaguchi’s฀ ebullience฀ led฀ him฀ to฀ promise฀ Bose฀ more฀ than฀ was฀ included฀ in฀ the฀ operation฀ plan.฀ He฀ said฀ to฀ Bose,฀ “The฀ occupation฀ of฀ Imphal฀ is฀ only฀ the฀ beginning.฀ The฀ problem฀ begins฀ after฀ that.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ Army฀ wants฀ to฀ advance฀ to฀ Dimapur,฀ and,฀ if฀ the฀ situation฀ warrants,฀ to฀ the฀ Brahmaputra฀ River.฀The฀ INA฀ should฀ go฀ in฀ at฀ that฀ time.”฀ Netaji฀ responded ฀ jubilantly,฀ “If฀ the฀ Japanese฀ Army฀ succeeds฀ in฀ the฀ Imphal฀ ฀ 10฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀175 4/11/08฀฀฀10:47:28฀AM 176 invasion฀ and฀ pushes฀ the฀ INA฀ forward฀ in฀ the฀ Assam฀ plain,฀ the฀ Indian ฀people,฀as฀well฀as฀officers฀and฀men฀in฀the฀British-Indian฀Army,฀ will฀ respond฀ to฀ the฀ INA.฀ This฀ will฀ spread฀ all฀ over฀ India,฀ especially฀ in฀ my฀ home฀ state฀ of฀ Bengal.”7 ฀ Both฀ men฀ had฀ the฀ same฀ tenacious฀ zeal฀ for฀ extending฀ the฀ Imphal฀ operation฀ into฀Assam.฀ But฀ the฀ operational ฀plan...