| Original Caption: Henan Battlefront, China: The famous Mori Unit of the Japanese army pushes its way forward in the area North of the Yangtze River in pursuit, says the Japanese caption, of “the fast dwindling remnants of Chiang’s once mighty army.” There were several Mori Units during World War II. Sustaining 14 casualties, including Captain Eijiro Mori (???? – ????) the Mori unit, advancing northward, reduced Haozhuang in a night battle in July 1937. The Mori Unit staged surprise raids on 2 Kuomintang divisions at Yingcheng in January 1939. The 143rd Fortress Infantry Unit, under the command of Major Yoshikichi Mori, was detailed to Paramushir, Kurile Islands, where it was captured in the Soviet invasion in August 1945 and incarcerated in Siberia. Few of the men returned to Japan alive. Captain Kunizo Mori (1890 – 1949) took command of the Combined Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) on November 11, 1941. This was known as the “Mori Unit.” The 1st and 2nd Sasebo SNLF landed by sea on January 11, 1942, in the Netherlands East Indies. In Burma, Colonel Komatsubara Akio (???? – ????), formerly chief of the proving unit at the Nakano School for Military Intelligence, created a commando squad called the Mori Unit. This squad joined the Hikari Kikan (“Shining Agency”) of the Indian National Army for the Imphal Campaign (Operation U-Go) in March 1944. Henan was the scene of the June 13, 1938, Huayuankou Dam Burst Incident, where the Kuomintang National Revolutionary Army destroyed levees on the Yellow River, blocking the Imperial Japanese Army and flooding the farmlands of Henan Province. By 1942, Japanese occupation, flooding, war, instability, and population flight led to a famine. An estimated 2,000,000 Henan residents died. This photo was nationally syndicated the week before the Pearl Harbor attack. It was used for the cover of the December 8, 1941, issue of Newsweek Magazine, with the caption, “Japanese Army: The Dynamite of the Orient.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1992.jpg |
| Image Size | 486.54 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2040 x 1605 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 27, 1941 |
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| State or Province | Honan |
| Country | China |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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