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words written in front: this article is excerpted from the article "bessūsūshi 読本戦记シリーズ32", which was slightly abridged. it was first published on the "war history compilation" public account on september 18, 2024. if you need to reprint, please indicate the source. the article is only for learning. the purpose of communication does not mean that the translator agrees with the views of the original text.

what is a permanent "army"?

the division is the highest-level fixed establishment unit stationed in japan during normal times. it has its own division area and is responsible for recruiting troops. it is not only a combat unit, but also a standing force with military and political functions.

correspondingly, the so-called "armies" such as the kwantung army stationed in manchuria (northeast china), the korean army stationed in north korea, and the taiwan army stationed in taiwan, china, are composed of multiple divisions (or front armies, or like the third army). a very large force with a designation such as the army. these "armies" are also standing troops.

as of the full outbreak of the sino-japanese war, in addition to the three mentioned above, plus a chinese garrison, the old japanese army had a total of four such permanent "armies". the commander of its troops is called the military commander, who is personally replaced by a lieutenant general or a general, that is to say, he is directly appointed by the emperor.

its main forces include:

kwantung army(the headquarters in xinjing is now changchun) it has jurisdiction over four divisions, two independent mixed brigades, five independent garrison groups, and one cavalry group (including two cavalry brigades, cavalry artillery team, cavalry armored convoy and other units) , a cavalry brigade, and a regiment each of mountain artillery and field artillery, etc.

north korean army(headquarters in pyongyang) has jurisdiction over two divisions.

taiwan army(headquarters in taipei) it has jurisdiction over two infantry regiments, one mountain artillery regiment, two heavy artillery regiments and anti-aircraft artillery regiments.

chinese garrison(headquarters tianjin) it has jurisdiction over an infantry brigade, a chariot team, a cavalry team, an engineering team, etc.

it can be seen that except for the taiwan army and the chinese garrison army, they all have multiple divisions under their jurisdiction.

among them, the korean army and the taiwan army were specially formed to maintain deterrence in north korea and taiwan, the two de facto colonies of japan at the time. after creating the september 18th incident and establishing the so-called puppet manchukuo, the kwantung army directly stationed itself in the puppet manchukuo and was the actual controller of the puppet manchukuo. as for the chinese garrison, they jointly sent troops with the european and american powers (the so-called eight-power allied forces) during the gengzi incident (boxer rebellion) in meiji 33 (1900), and then stationed local troops with the powers after the incident.

the kwantung army was originally formed for the purpose of protecting the south manchuria railway.

the rise of the kwantung army was due to the fact that after the end of the russo-japanese war, japan gained control of the south manchuria railway, also known as the manchuria railway (port arthur to changchun section), which was transferred from imperial russia. the rights of fifteen (a total of 14,419) soldiers used to perform railway garrison duty began.

kwantung army railway guards

from this time until twenty-six years later, when the september 18th incident was planned and the puppet manchukuo was established as a so-called "state" in name only, it goes without saying that the strength of the kwantung army continued to expand during this period. . by the time the pacific war broke out, it had become a super-large "army" with 13 divisions and a total strength of more than 700,000. this is mainly because the kwantung army has a large number of independent mixed brigades and independent garrison units that are not directly under the jurisdiction of the division, and are also equipped with aviation units at the same level as the division.

the kwantung army armored train heading towards jinzhou after the september 18th incident

if it was just to maintain law and order in the puppet manchukuo, there was obviously no need to assemble such a large number of troops. its real purpose was actually to prepare for the invasion of the soviet union (to achieve this purpose, a special exercise of the kwantung army was held from july to august 1941, known as the "kwantung special exercise" in history. as a result, after the war plan against the soviet union, was put on hold).

kwantung army armored column during exercise

with such a large-scale force, one person from the kwantung army headquarters alone (a total of about 600 people including 130 officers) could not see the end of the army at a glance. in addition to the personnel required by the kwantung army headquarters, the directly affiliated forces also include three divisions, the kwantung army epidemic prevention and water supply department (the so-called 731st unit, notorious for studying germ warfare), and the lushun fortress headquarters, etc. . the other units are commanded by five corps (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and twentieth corps) and two headquarters (kwantung defense forces headquarters and aviation corps headquarters).

kwantung army aviation during the 918 incident

although the kwantung army (originally called the manchurian garrison army and renamed the kwantung army in 1919) was only a small "garrison" in the early days that was solely responsible for the security of the railways along the line, with the september 18th incident as an opportunity, as the all-out war between china and japan became protracted, it was also given combat missions and gradually developed and strengthened. however, when it comes to its real combat target, it should be said that it is the soviet union.

manchukuo was a de facto colony of japan, while the situation in korea and taiwan was different and had already been annexed as japanese territory. therefore, the main purpose of the establishment of the two "armies", the korean army and the taiwan army, was to maintain local security and suppress activities that attempted to subvert japanese rule. these two "militaries" are not affiliated with the highest local chief executive known as the governor. they can only be dispatched to maintain public security at the request of the governor when necessary.

a temporary "army" formed for war

the "army" temporarily formed for combat after the war began is also called an "army", but it is different in nature from "armies" such as the kwantung army, the korean army, or the taiwan army. the first army and second army formed during the sino-japanese war, and the manchurian army (first to third armies) formed during the russo-japanese war all belong to this type of army. this kind of military-level unit temporarily formed during wartime will be deactivated after the war. even during the war, it may be disbanded for various reasons.

the china expeditionary force was an "army" that was formed midway through the sino-japanese war (july 7th incident) and maintained its organizational structure until japan announced its unconditional surrender.

since the marco polo bridge incident broke out on july 7, 1937, the japanese army established several "armies" and carried out a series of dazzling adaptations.

first, it was establishedshanghai dispatched troopswent to china to participate in the war, and then upgraded the chinese garrison to anorth china front. immediately afterwards, anothertenth armyimplemented the hangzhou bay landing operation. after that, the shanghai expeditionary army and the tenth army were further merged intocentral china front army. three months later (february 1938) the department was renamedcentral china expeditionary force, the establishment of the shanghai expeditionary army and the tenth army were cancelled. therefore, for a period of time, the positions of the north china front army and the central china expeditionary army on the chinese battlefield formed a situation of equal strength. the "army" established to provide unified command over the above two was established in september of showa 14 (1939). this ischina dispatched troops. after that, the organization of the north china front army was continued to be retained, while the central china expedition army was abolished.

from left to right in the picture are commander kiyoshi hasegawa of the third fleet of the invading japanese army, commander matsui iwane of the central china front, commander of the shanghai expeditionary force asaka miya hatohiko, and commander yanagawa heisuke of the tenth army.

this kind of "military"-level organic unit temporarily formed due to war can be adapted, merged or canceled at any time according to actual conditions. especially in the early stages of the all-out war between china and japan (the july 7th incident), the purpose of the war was not clear from the beginning. the war was fought in a way where it was completely unknown where the next front line would extend. what places do you want to capture? to what extent will the troops be mobilized? when will we withdraw? it was carried out in a state of affairs, which caused considerable confusion. such a large-scale war is treated like child's play. the changes in the establishment of the above-mentioned "armies" under various names truly reflect this.

commander of the central china expeditionary force of the japanese invaders, shunroku hata (left) and commander of the north china front, juichi terauchi (right)

it is generally believed that the formation of the chinese expeditionary force represents that the base camp has finally adopted a relatively fixed policy for the sino-japanese war - it is believed that although it currently occupies the three towns of wuhan (the three cities of wuchang, hankou, and hanyang, now wuhan) and guangdong however, they were no longer able to continue launching offensives to expand the occupied area, so they decided to station the army directly in various occupied areas and shift to protracted operations. its military strength mainly includes:

north china front

first army: four divisions and three independent mixed brigades

twelfth army: two divisions and three independent mixed brigades

the mongolian army: a division, an independent mixed brigade, and a cavalry group

eleventh army: seven divisions and one independent mixed brigade

thirteenth army: four divisions and three independent mixed brigades

twenty-first army: two divisions and one mixed brigade

the 3rd flying group (later the 3rd flying division)

in addition, it also has communications corps, railway troops, meteorological troops, depot logistics troops and military police troops, with a total strength of nearly 700,000. although these troops are all under the unified command of the china expeditionary forces, there are several "armies" under the "army". therefore, in order to distinguish them from the armies under their jurisdiction, they are divided into the headquarters and commander of the china expeditionary forces. a general word is added in front, and it is called china expeditionary forces.headquartersandcommander in chief. so compared to the simple "military", another one appeared"general army"title.

the last commander-in-chief of the china expeditionary forces, okamura neiji

the "southern army" that commanded the southern operations in the pacific war, the first general army and the second general army formed in the mainland at the end of the war also have terms such as general headquarters and commander-in-chief. as for the kwantung army, although it is inconsistent with the development history and nature of the temporarily formed "army" mentioned above, it also renamed its headquarters to the general headquarters in october 1942, from showa to in april 1990, the commander was renamed commander-in-chief.

various "armies" formed one after another during the pacific war

the "southern army" in the pacific war was a military-level unit established in the early stages of the war to capture the malay peninsula, singapore, the philippines, java, and burma. it has an aviation force that can be directly commanded by itself, as well as four corps directly under its control: the 14th army, the 15th army, the 16th army, and the 25th army.

by the end of the war, the forces under his unified command included four front armies, two aviation armies, and a regional group (palau regional group). the various corps that constitute the front are as follows:

myanmar front: in charge of the 28th and 33rd army

7th front(singapore): in charge of the 16th, 25th and 29th armies

fourteenth front(luzon island): in charge of the 35th and 41st army

18th front(bangkok): in charge of the 15th and 2nd armies, the 18th, 37th, and 38th armies.

although some of these armies, such as the fourth air force, the thirty-fifth army, and the eighteenth army, have long been left with only numbers, and are basically in a state of destruction with only a few small units remaining. but all in all, the southern army alone already had such a large number of "armies" under its jurisdiction.

the order of battle of the fourth air force that existed in name only at the end of the war

in addition, in the pacific region, there are the eighth front army stationed in rabaul, the tenth front army stationed in taiwan, the 31st army stationed in truk (mariana area), and the ogasawara corps stationed in iwo jima. other troops remain under the direct control of the base camp.

the kwantung army was also organized into three front armies at the end of the war, commanding seven armies under its jurisdiction. the china expeditionary force consists of two front armies commanding nine armies respectively.

as for the japanese mainland, six armies were deployed at the beginning of the pacific war. later, in order to prepare for the decisive battle on the mainland, the first general army (responsible for the eastern region), the second general army (responsible for the western region) and the aviation general army were respectively formed. . among them, the first general army has three front armies (a total of eight armies or corps), the second general army has two front armies (a total of five armies), and the aviation general army has four aviation armies directly under it.

an overview of the defensive areas of responsibility of the 1st general army and the 2nd general army on the eve of japan's surrender.

as of the end of the war, the old japanese army's combat sequence had a total of six general armies (including the aviation general army), seventeen front armies, and an organization of about fifty corps. the number of troops under its command was estimated to be about 5.5 million. at this time, the total number of dead soldiers exceeded 2.3 million (sino-japanese war + pacific war).