The 731st unit was the largest bacteriological warfare unit of the invading Japanese army based in China, and also the largest bacteriological unit in the history of the world war. The data confirms that this unit madly developed various germs such as bubonic plague, typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, anthrax, tuberculosis and so on in a 12-year-long period, and carried out, on the healthy human bodies of at least 5,000 prisoners of war and civilians of the China, the USSR, and the DPRK, the following tests: Vivisection and various kinds of biological germs. In addition, they conducted a large number of inhumane experiments on at least 5,000 healthy human bodies of Chinese, Soviet and Korean prisoners of war and civilians, including vivisection and cultivation of various kinds of biological bacteria.
Japan used chemical weapons many times during the war of aggression against China. Japan's production of chemical weapons are mainly:
One, mustard gas: the first world war, this agent is known as the "king of gas", is the representative of the vesicant agent, the Japanese called "yellow 1". This kind of poison was released after the liquid droplets and aerosol, people through the respiratory tract inhalation or skin contamination after poisoning. Symptoms include tearing eyes, breathing difficulties, fear of light, pain, corneal clouding, respiratory obstruction, breathing difficulties, and even asphyxiation; skin contamination with poison, redness, swelling, blistering, ulceration, and in severe cases, can cause systemic poisoning or even death.
Two, Louis' gas: this agent is also a vesicant agent, the Japanese called "yellow 2", its performance is similar to mustard gas, but strong irritation, poisoning effect quickly. The Japanese often mix it with mustard gas to lower the freezing point of mustard gas, so that it can still play a role in killing at -25 ° C.
Three, diphenyl cyanide arsine: sneezing agent, the Japanese called "red 1". In the first world war, the German army had a large number of diphenylchloroarsine, the battlefield frequently won. In World War II, the Japanese developed diphenylchloroarsine, which was 10 times more toxic than the German diphenylchloroarsine. Its effect was mainly to irritate the mucous membranes, causing continuous sneezing, tearing and vomiting. In air with a concentration of the agent of one milligram per cubic meter, personnel can be temporarily incapacitated by 30 seconds of exposure.
Four, phenyl chloroethyl ketone: tear gas, the Japanese called "green 2". It irritates the eyes and respiratory tract, causing tears, runny nose, conjunctival congestion and coughing, etc., and works quickly.
Fifth, phosgene: asphyxiating agent, the Japanese called "green 1". Its role is mainly to harm the human lung cells, causing pulmonary edema, destroying respiratory function, high concentration, can quickly make people suffocate and die. At that time, the Japanese manufactured phosgene shells and bombs, which were loaded with 90% phosgene and 10% diarsine trichloride or triphenylarsine trichloride, and had considerable lethality.
Sixth, hydrocyanic acid: this is the whole body toxic agent, the Japanese called "tea 1". It is a kind of quick killing agent, can destroy the oxygen supply ability of the blood, resulting in muscle tissue hypoxia. In mild cases, the poisoned person suffers from tears, drooling, nausea and vomiting, headache and generalized weakness; in severe cases, the person suffers from tightness in the chest, dyspnea, coma and even convulsions and cessation of respiration. When the concentration is high, 1 to 3 minutes after poisoning can cause death.
From Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China to the time of defeat, *** counted the production of mustard gas 3610 tons, 1381 tons of Louie's gas, 1957 tons of dithiocyanine arsine, 172 tons of phenyl chloroethyl ketone, 255 tons of hydrocyanic acid.
Why Hitler did not use chemical weapons
Chemical weapons is a general term for all kinds of weapons and equipment that kill and maim living forces with toxic agents. In World War I, the German army for the first time large-scale use of shrapnel containing sneezing agent, and achieved remarkable results. 1915 April, the German army used a large number of liquid chlorine cylinders, blowing release of chlorine gas with asphyxiating effect, so that the Anglo-French allied forces suffered heavy losses. According to statistics, during World War I, the belligerent countries *** produced about 150,000 tons of toxic agents, most of which were used on the battlefield, and the total number of casualties due to poisoning amounted to more than 1 million. Since then, Germany has continued to strengthen the development of chemical weapons.
In 1936, Dr. Gerhard Schrader, a German scientist, discovered an unusually toxic organophosphorus compound called "tabun", and in 1937, Schrader discovered a compound similar to tabun called "sarin". Animal experiments showed that Sarin was 10 times more toxic than tabun. The German army quickly built chemical plants to secretly produce these two nerve agents. A chemical plant built by Arnold Garner was put into operation and produced 3,000 tons of tabun per month.
Thus, before the outbreak of the Second World War, the German army already possessed a strong chemical warfare capability.In September 1939, three weeks after Germany provoked the Second World War, Hitler made an unassailable radio speech in the city of Gdansk in German-occupied Poland. In a threatening tone, he said, "The German army has acquired a fearful new weapon against which Germany's enemies are defenseless." This fearful weapon of which he spoke was the two chemical agents mentioned above.
In 1943, after the German army's disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler had attempted to use the poisons to stop the Soviets, and in 1944, shortly before the Allied landings at Normandy, Hitler had bragged to Mussoneri that he had a secret weapon that could turn London into an empty city. So what kept the deranged Hitler from using his chemical weapons against the Allies until after the defeat of Nazi Germany .
Chemical weapons are not adapted to the requirements of the "blitzkrieg"
In the early days of the war, the German army adopted a mechanized force based on the large depth of the advance, proactive interspersed attack, in the movement to eliminate the enemy's "blitzkrieg" method of warfare, within a few months to take Poland in the east, across the country, in the middle of the country, and in the middle of the world. Within a few months, the Germans took Poland from the east, swept across Western and Northern Europe, and occupied most of the countries in Europe in one fell swoop. Although chemical weapons are a kind of weapons of mass destruction, their use is also subject to the constraints of many factors, such as the great influence of meteorological conditions, the spread of poisonous agents over a wide area, and the fact that poisonous gases do not select the target of killing and maiming, and so on. In addition, at the beginning of the war, the German army was equipped with chemical agents mainly mustard gas, which is mainly used to cause the ground persistent poisonous contamination, in order to slow down the enemy's military operations. But the formation of the poisoned territory, the passage of their own troops, occupation will also constitute a hazard.
At the same time, the use of chemical weapons requires close coordination between the participating forces in order to avoid the negative impact of chemical weapons on their own combat operations. The success of the German "Blitzkrieg" made its chemical weapons useless at the beginning of the war.
A Mistake in Judgment
Because the Peace of Versailles imposed severe restrictions on German chemical production after World War I, German chemists believed that Germany's chemical superiority no longer existed after the outbreak of World War II. Although they had invented the nerve agents tabun and sarin, the Germans judged that chemists in the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union might also have developed these two terrible agents.
They made this judgment on the basis of the following two main points: First, Germany used to produce sarin process in an important chemical reaction formula is utilized in the Soviet chemist A. I. Albuzov invented the Albuzov reaction formula. And the Soviet Union had an Institute of Organophosphorus Chemistry in Kazan based on Albuzov's findings. Secondly, after the beginning of World War II, information on nerve agent compounds, which had been regularly published in American academic journals, suddenly ceased to be published. The Germans thought that this must have been due to the fact that the United States authorities had seized articles on this subject for the purpose of secretly producing such agents. In fact, the U.S. stopped publishing information on this subject only to avoid disclosing information on DDT, the insecticide it was developing.
In fact, no other country had yet developed a nerve agent that could be used on the battlefield. Therefore, the Allies were greatly surprised when they discovered the large number of German nerve agent bombs after the war. This was because their level of research in this area was far behind that of Germany.