Kōtoku Satō
| Kōtoku Satō | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | March 5, 1893 Yamagata Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | February 26, 1959 (aged 65) |
| Allegiance |
 Empire of Japan
|
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Years of service | 1913 -1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | IJA 31st Division |
| Battles/wars | Soviet-Japanese Border Wars, World War II |
Kōtoku Satō (佐藤 幸徳 Satō Kōtoku?, March 5, 1893 – February 26, 1959) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Sato was born in Yamagata prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1913 and the Army Staff College in 1921.
As a colonel, he commanded the 75th Infantry Regiment at the battle of Lake Khasan in 1938. His regiment ousted the Soviet forces from a disputed hill in a night assault which the Japanese considered to be a model of its tactical type.
At the time of the Nomonhan Incident in 1939, after his promotion to major general, Sato was in command of the 2d Sector Unit, 8th Border Garrison Unit (Hailar) under General Michitaro Komatsubara. As a lieutenant general, he was assigned command of the IJA 31st Division from the time of its activation in China in March, 1943. Assigned to construction operations in Thailand, the division was ordered to Burma to join the IJA 15th Army in September, 1943. The Japanese plan to invade India, codenamed U-Go, was originally intended as a spoiling attack against the IV Corps at Imphal, to disrupt the Allied offensive plans for that year. The commander of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi, enlarged the plan to invade India itself and perhaps even overthrow the British Raj. The objections of the staffs of various headquarters were eventually overruled by War Minister Hideki Tojo.
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