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before tanks matured, the armored equipment that the armies of various countries that were moving towards motorization and mechanization relied on were mainly armored vehicles. early armored vehicles were different from later wheeled armored vehicles. early armored vehicles generally referred to armor and weapons directly installed on the chassis of trucks or jeeps, thereby quickly forming a motor vehicle with certain protection and offensive capabilities. the chassis of later wheeled armored vehicles were often designed separately or improved accordingly based on load-bearing racks. during the period of military equipment development after the end of world war i, the japanese army also introduced a number of armored vehicles, and developed its own products after introducing and digesting them.

figure 1. the rolls-royce armored car equipped by the british army. judging from the attire, it seems to be the equipment of the british africa corps.

figure 2. some armored vehicles (road and rail dual-purpose armored vehicles) equipped by the japanese army and navy, from top to bottom are the type 87 crossley armored vehicle, the type 92 osaka armored vehicle, the type 92 chiyoda armored vehicle, the type 93 sumida armored vehicle (called the type 92 armored vehicle by the navy), the type 93 sumida road and rail dual-purpose armored vehicle, and the type 90 sumida p armored vehicle

1. crosley-vickers armored car

the most photographed armored car introduced by japan is the british crossley armored car. because the semi-circular armored machine gun turret on the upper layer of the car is a product of vickers, it is often called the "vickers armored car". the crossley armored car was purchased by the japanese navy and equipped to the shanghai special marine corps stationed in shanghai. it was used in large quantities during the japanese invasion of china and was photographed by chinese and foreign journalists in shanghai. in particular, a number of classic photos appeared during the two songhu wars.

as early as 1867, francisFrancis) and william (Williamthe two brothers founded the crossley brothers company in manchester, england.Crossley Brothers), mainly engaged in engineering machinery-related businesses and was famous for its internal combustion engines. in 1904, the crosley brothers founded the crosley motor company and launched their first car in the same year. during world war i, the trucks modified from the 20/25 sedan chassis performed particularly well, which also made the company a lot of money.

figure 3. crosley 20/25 truck in the tender test

figure 4. towards the end of world war i, crosley introduced the 25/30 model, which had a higher engine compartment to increase heat dissipation and a slightly modified appearance.

because of crosley's advantage in automobile manufacturing, its products became the first choice for transformation into armored vehicles after world war i. in 1923, in order to meet the security needs of the british indian government, crosley designed a 30-hundred-weight (1,524-kilogram) version of the car. the chassis used was originally expected to be delivered to russia, but the order was cancelled due to the domestic revolution in russia at that time. after installing the same engine as the 25/30 model, the car was named igl (india government lorry, also known as bgv in china). to prevent tire punctures, igl installed solid tires on all vehicles, with a total of 450 vehicles delivered.

figure 5. the iga armored vehicle using the vickers upper design weighs 4 tons due to the thickened armor and the installation of a large turret.

as armored vehicles became more popular, the japanese navy also imported a batch of igls, calling them igas (a stands for armored car), and finally finalized as the type 87 armored car (finalized in 2587). the body of the vehicle is riveted armor with a thickness of 6 mm. it uses a vickers upper body and has a very conspicuous hemispherical machine gun turret, which is equipped with two 7.7 mm water-cooled vickers machine guns. the early engine power reached 50 horsepower, allowing the vehicle to reach a maximum speed of 65 kilometers per hour, which was quite a performance in that era.

the iga introduced by the japanese navy was deployed to the special marine corps stationed in shanghai and shenyang, and was used in the september 18th incident in 1931 and the subsequent invasion of china. since the performance of igl armored vehicles was seriously backward in the 1930s, this type of armored vehicle was mainly used in security warfare in the japanese army. in addition to india and japan, argentina, estonia and other countries have also introduced a batch of igl and its subsequent products.

figure 6. the japanese navy's iga armored vehicle. in this photo, you can see that the semicircular hatch on the top of the vickers upper body can be opened to both sides. a soldier wearing a helmet (probably the commander) is looking out to observe.

figure 7. vickers armored vehicles introduced by japan

figure 8. iga armored vehicles belonging to the imperial japanese navy shanghai special marine corps. the one in the foreground is numbered 6. photographed on the streets of shanghai in 1937

figure 9. the japanese army finally finalized the type 87 crossley armored car. the paint job of this cg model refers to the one in the historical photos.panzer 6

figure 10. japanese navy crossley armored car photographed in the 1930s

figure 11. a crosley armored car on the streets of shanghai, with an infantry gun on the side. this may have been taken during the battle.

figure 12. a japanese barricade during the battle of shanghai, using a bunker made of sandbags and two armored vehicles with semicircular machine gun towers. this angle is obviously taken from the rear of the armored vehicle so that the armored vehicle can quickly escape.

figure 13. a crosley armored vehicle of the japanese shanghai special forces on the streets of shanghai. the rear of the vehicle is rounded and there is a white number 8 on the turret.

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crossley igl (vickers upper deck conversion)

manufacturer: crosley motors, vickers

design year: 1925

service: 1925-1945

specifications: light armored vehicle

weight: 4 tons

length: 5.02 m

width: 1.87 m

height: 2.58 m

members: 5

armor: 6 mm

primary weapon: 2 x vickers 7.7mm machine gun

engine: crosley four-cylinder gasoline engine (50 hp, later 70 hp)

maximum range: about 150 km

maximum speed: 65 km/h

2. wolseley-sumida armored vehicle

in the fourth volume of the famous comic book "the adventures of tintin" by belgian cartoonist hergé, "the blue lotus", tintin came to shanghai in the 1930s and was involved in the japanese military's conspiracy to forcibly send occupation troops to the chinese mainland under a series of excuses. in the story, in order to chase tintin who was escaping in disguise, the japanese army dispatched an armored car.

figure 14.appeared in "blue lotus" in "the adventures of ding"japanese armored vehicles

the armored vehicle in the comics actually existed in the history of china's war of resistance against japanese aggression. it is now generally called the wolseley-sumida (Wolseley-Sumida) armored vehicles, however, the active stage is not the shanghai in the story, but shenyang during the september 18th incident. mr. hergé may have referred to a historical photo in the september 18th incident special issue of "good friend" magazine at that time.

figure 15. the wolseley-sumida armored car during the september 18th incident, published in liangyou, 1931

the wolseley-sumida armored car was produced by the japanese ishikawajima automobile works after purchasing the relevant technology of the british wolseley company. the ishikawajima automobile works was originally a shipyard established by mito kaoru on ishikawajima in edo at the end of the edo period. it began to manufacture thermal generators and gas locomotives at the end of the 19th century. after world war i, it also entered the field of automobile manufacturing and set up a factory in fukagawa city, tokyo. this manufacturing plant was later integrated into the famous isuzu motors by the japanese national promotion committee in the 1930s.

in the early 1920s, japan's automobile market was mostly monopolized by european and american brands. in order to encourage the development of its own automobile industry, the japanese military announced a policy of providing financial subsidies for the purchase of domestic trucks. seizing this opportunity, the ishikawajima automobile factory purchased the drawings of the 5-ton cp truck from the british wolseley company, produced it according to the drawings, and put its own brand "sumida" on it, thus beginning to enter the civilian and military markets.

figure 16. wolseley cp truck

in the mid-to-late 1920s, the japanese military began to consider equipping itself with armored vehicles and purchased a small number of tanks and armored vehicles from abroad for research and imitation. against this background, the ishikawajima automobile factory decided to manufacture a domestically produced armored vehicle based on the wolseley cp truck chassis.

since japanese designers had almost no experience in designing armored vehicles, they had to "steal" from their british colleagues at the factory. the vehicle was based on a metal frame on the chassis, with an average steel plate thickness of about 6 mm. the overall layout was traditional, with a small front compartment used as an engine compartment and a larger rear compartment for the crew and a round hemispherical machine gun turret carrying weapons.

figure 17. japanese soldiers are repairing the engine of a wolseley-sumida armored car. there seems to be a crossley armored car with a vickers upper to the right, and there seem to be two wolseleys behind it. judging from the winter uniforms worn by the japanese soldiers, this photo may have been taken in northeast china.

the wolseley-sumida armored vehicle was designed to have three crew members, including the driver, the driver's assistant, and the machine gunner in the back seat. the vehicle's weapon was a 6.5mm hotchkiss m1914 heavy machine gun imported from france, which the japanese called the tomosaka 3-year heavy machine gun. the rate of fire was 400-500 rounds per minute, and a magazine could hold 30 rounds of ammunition. the vehicle was powered by a 30-horsepower wolseley engine, and the vehicle speed could reach 40 kilometers per hour.

figure 18. a japanese armored convoy photographed on south street in shenyang

figure 19. still a group of japanese armored vehicles. the background building was changed to shenyang library after the founding of the people’s republic of china.

after the first wolseley-sumida armored vehicle rolled off the assembly line in 1930, the japanese military tested it and felt it was acceptable, so they continued to produce more of it. at least three of them were shipped to the japanese kwantung army stationed in northeast china, and participated in the september 18th incident and the subsequent kwantung army's attack on the northeast anti-japanese volunteer army.

in actual combat tests, the kwantung army stated that the vehicle's ordinary chassis had greatly reduced mobility and off-road performance in harsh outdoor environments. in addition, due to its thin and brittle armor thickness (it could not withstand 7.92mm rifle bullets at a close distance of 50 meters), it was usually not used in high-intensity front-line combat, but was mainly used for road patrols and key point guarding. it was believed that this led to the vehicle not being produced any further.

the wolseley-sumida armored vehicles were used in northeast china until the mid-1930s, when they were eventually scrapped due to the depletion of spare parts.

figure 20. wolseley armored vehicles fighting against the volunteer army in the suburbs of shenyang

figure 21. wolseley armored car, the photo is from the japanese postcard of the september 18th incident

figure 22. note: september 1931, shenyang

figure 23. wolseley armored car

figure 24. the japanese armored car that appeared in the adventures of tintin was based on a wolseley armored car.

wolseley-sumida armored car information:

service years: 1928-1945

weight: 4.2 tons

armor: 6 mm

engine: 30 hp gasoline engine

weapon: 6.5mm heavy machine gun x 1

crew: 3-5 people

equipment quantity: unknown