was a general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He commanded the Japanese forces at the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Angaur.

Early life and education

Inoue was born in

Kumamoto prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

as the third son of a local

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

; however, he listed his official residence as Kōchi Prefecture. He attended military preparatory schools and was a graduate of the 20th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1908.

Career

He was assigned to the IJA's 44th Infantry Regiment, and served during Japan's

Siberian Intervention The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian fo ...

against

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

forces in eastern Russia. With the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

, Inoue was commander of the IJA's 5th Infantry Regiment. After having risen steadily through the ranks, Inoue was commissioned as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in March 1939 and became commander of the

IJA 33rd Division The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 33rd Division was raised in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture, simultaneously with 32nd, 34th, 35th, 36th and 37th Divisions. Its headquarters were initiall ...

. In 1941, he was attached to the headquarters staff of the Taiwan Army of Japan. Inoue was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

in 1942, and from 1942–1943, was commanding general of the 69th division, stationed in Shanxi province, China. He assumed command of the 14th division in 1943, which was based in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

. However, as the war situation in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

continued to deteriorate against the Japanese, the 14th Division was reassigned to the Southern Expeditionary Army Group, and was personally tasked with the defense of

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

by General Hideki Tōjō. Both Inoue and Tōjō knew that the 14th division would not be able to hold the island group against the numerically superior Allied forces, but the Japanese government felt that it was critical to defend the islands to the death, which would result in a

Pyrrhic victory A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress. The phrase originates from a quote from ...

for the Allies and would serve to discourage further invasions of the Japanese South Seas Mandate. Two major battles were fought in Palau under Inoue's command: the Battle of Anguar and the Battle of Peleliu. Both were among the costliest of the war in terms of number of casualties on both sides, as Inoue deviated from previous Japanese tactics, eschewing banzai charges and making the best use of terrain and artificial fortifications in an attempt to create a war of attrition.Ross, Peleliu: Tragic Triumph

Later life and death

After the war, Inoue was arrested by the American occupation authorities and deported to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, where he was tried for Class B and Class C war crimes and condemned to death in 1949 for negligence of command responsibility in permitting subordinates to execute three downed American airmen captured in Palau. His sentence was commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

in 1951, and he was released in 1953. Inoue died in Japan in 1961.

References

External links

*
Bloody beaches – The Marines at Peleliu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inoue, Sadae 1886 births 1961 deaths People from Kumamoto Prefecture Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of World War II Japanese people convicted of war crimes Japanese prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States military

Early life and education

Career

Later life and death

See also

References

Further reading

External links