Junior Officers

Lately I've read a couple of books about Imperial Japanese forces during World War II. And one thing that struck me from both of these sources is that the command never knew exactly if the junior officers would obey direct orders when they were issued. Apparently the lowest echelons of officers were moderately unreliable and tended to do what they wanted, even when issued direct, detailed orders. They may follow the orders to the letter; or they might alter them a bit; or they could just as easily ignore the orders and take what they thought was the best course of action. Supreme Command could only give the orders and hope for the best.

So far, neither source has mentioned why this strange order of conduct was in effect. So I'll have to read more material to see if the first sources are wrong. If it was an accurate recording of how things were done on the Japanese side, I want to read more about why it was so.

Kwantung Army surrendered en masse to the Soviet Red Army.