Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

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BobTheBarbarian
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Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#1

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 30 Sep 2016, 16:44

Hi. I'm looking for information on the order of battle of the Japanese forces committed to Operation Ichi-Go in China during late 1944-early 1945. According to page 27 of the report compiled by former IJA officers after the war (http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/Monos ... /JM-72.PDF), a grand total of 23 divisions and 26 brigades took part in the offensive, but there is no mention of their specific names or strength classification (for example, many divisions normally considered "special wartime divisions," or 'Type B' in Western nomenclature, had their artillery increased to 'Type A' standard, and many garrison divisions 'Type C' had firepower increased to Type B level.) Basically what I'm trying to find is:

- A list of all 23 divisions and 26 brigades that fought in 'Ichi-Go'
- If possible, a list of the above that received reinforcement beforehand

Many thanks in advance.
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Akira Takizawa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#2

Post by Akira Takizawa » 01 Oct 2016, 11:49

> a grand total of 23 divisions and 26 brigades took part in the offensive

They are too many. According to "帝国陸軍の最後", they were 17 infantry divisions, 1 tank division and 6 brigades.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7 ... C%E6%88%A6

The OOB of Operation Ichi-Go is a bit different according to sources, because it was large and complicated operation. According to "図説陸軍史", the OOB is as follows.

3rd, 13th, 22nd, 27th, 34th, 37th, 40th, 58th, 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 68th, 69th, 104th, 110th, 116th infantry divisions
3rd tank division
3rd, 5th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 57th independent mixed bridges
4th cavalry bridge

Taki


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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#3

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 02 Oct 2016, 01:19

Thanks for the info. So it seems there are differences between sources. But if there were less than 20 divisions involved, what was the figure of 23 referring to? Was there a discrepancy between what units were planned to fight and those that actually did?

Also, is there any record of which divisions received reinforcement before the offensive?
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Akira Takizawa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#4

Post by Akira Takizawa » 02 Oct 2016, 05:00

The discrepancy mainly came from the 13th Army. Its duty during the Operation Ichi-Go was only to stay at its area to keep it. Most Japanese opinions don't regard that it participated in the operation.

> Also, is there any record of which divisions received reinforcement before the offensive?

Garrison divisions were reinforced with artillery as follows.

110th Division - 1st Independent Mountain Gun Battalion
62nd Division - 11th Independent Field Gun Battalion, 27th Mountain Gun Regiment
37th Division - 37th Mountain Gun Regiment

Taki

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#5

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 02 Oct 2016, 05:40

Many thanks; this has been very helpful. Now that the problem of divisions and brigades has been solved, I have one final question: were those the only divisions that received reinforcement? Did any "special wartime" or "Type B" division get extra guns as well, or was it just the above?
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Akira Takizawa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#6

Post by Akira Takizawa » 02 Oct 2016, 06:17

> were those the only divisions that received reinforcement?

No, they are only examples that I found.

> Did any "special wartime" or "Type B" division get extra guns as well, or was it just the above?

I don't know.

Taki

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#7

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 02 Oct 2016, 16:18

I see. I'll try to see what I can find out. Very good info all around!
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fontessa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#8

Post by fontessa » 14 Oct 2016, 05:34

Hello Bob,
BobTheBarbarian wrote: - A list of all 23 divisions and 26 brigades that fought in 'Ichi-Go'
OOB varied with the passage of time. According to Senshi Sosho, the OOB for the Operations Ichi-Go at the end of April 1944 was as follows.

◇Invasion Force
12th Army
- 37D, 62D, 110D, 3TKD
- 7Bs, 4KB, 9iBs
11th Army
- 3D, 13D, 27D, 34D, 40D, 58D, 64D, 68D, 116D
23rd Army
- 22D, 104D
- 22Bs, 23Bs
◇Rear Guard Force
1st Army
- 69D
- 3Bs, 3iBs, 10iBs, 14iBs
12th Army
- 59D
- 5Bs, 1iBs, 4iBs
Mongol Garrison Army
- 26D
- 2Bs
Directly assigned to North China Area Army
- 63D
- 1Bs, 8Bs, 9Bs, 2iBs
11th Army
- 39D
- 17Bs, 5iBs, 7iBs, 11iBs, 12iBs
13rd Army
- 60D, 61D, 65D, 70D
- 6iBs
23rd Army
- 19Bs, 8iBs, 13iBs
◇Abbreviations
D: Division
TKD: Tank Division
Bs: Independent Mixed Brigade
KB: Cavalry Brigade
iBs: Independent Infantry Brigade
◇Total Force
23 Divisions, 1 Tank Division, 11 Independent Mixed Brigades, 1 Cavalry Brigade, 14 Independent Infantry Brigades

fontessa

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#9

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 15 Oct 2016, 23:19

fontessa wrote:Hello Bob,

OOB varied with the passage of time. According to Senshi Sosho, the OOB for the Operations Ichi-Go at the end of April 1944 was as follows.
Hi fontessa,

Thanks for the very detailed OOB. I suppose, as both yourself and Taki have said, it varied based on which units were on the offensive and/or their duties at any given time, but this matches most closely with the chart given in the monograph at the beginning. You both have been extremely helpful with this subject.

I also found another interesting bit of information: during the Ko-Go phase of Ichi-Go, the "Pacific War Encyclopedia" website mentions the 6th Tank Brigade under the command of Satake Katsuji as part of the 11th Army. This brigade is not mentioned anywhere else. Is this an error, or did the 6th Tank Brigade actually fight during the first phase and then get withdrawn?
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fontessa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#10

Post by fontessa » 16 Oct 2016, 00:30

Hello Bob,
BobTheBarbarian wrote: This brigade is not mentioned anywhere else. Is this an error, or did the 6th Tank Brigade actually fight during the first phase and then get withdrawn?
The 6th Tank Brigade was a part of the 3rd Tank Division. It consisted of the 13th and the 17th Tank Regiments. MG Satake Katsuji commanded the brigade until the end of the war.

fontessa

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#11

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 16 Oct 2016, 04:26

fontessa wrote:Hello Bob,

The 6th Tank Brigade was a part of the 3rd Tank Division. It consisted of the 13th and the 17th Tank Regiments. MG Satake Katsuji commanded the brigade until the end of the war.

fontessa
Hello,

Ok. I have also heard of the 6th Tank Brigade being composed of the 37th and 40th Regiments as well. I suppose it was detached from the 3rd Tank Division and reorganized as an independent unit during the general mobilization in April 1945.

Since you have access to Senshi Sosho, did it specify which divisions/brigades were reinforced with additional tanks and artillery prior to the operation, in addition to the three already mentioned by Taki?

Thanks.
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fontessa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#12

Post by fontessa » 16 Oct 2016, 04:59

Hello Bob,
BobTheBarbarian wrote: Ok. I have also heard of the 6th Tank Brigade being composed of the 37th and 40th Regiments as well. I suppose it was detached from the 3rd Tank Division and reorganized as an independent unit during the general mobilization in April 1945.
No. The 6th Independent Tank Brigade was not reorganized from the 6th Tank Brigade. The latter remained as a part of the 3rd Tank Division until the end of the war. The former was newly mobilized in April 1945.
BobTheBarbarian wrote: Since you have access to Senshi Sosho, did it specify which divisions/brigades were reinforced with additional tanks and artillery prior to the operation, in addition to the three already mentioned by Taki?
I will check Senshi Sosho. However, I do not know whether the information you requested is listed in it.

fontessa

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#13

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 16 Oct 2016, 06:16

fontessa wrote:Hello Bob,

No. The 6th Independent Tank Brigade was not reorganized from the 6th Tank Brigade. The latter remained as a part of the 3rd Tank Division until the end of the war. The former was newly mobilized in April 1945.
...

I will check Senshi Sosho. However, I do not know whether the information you requested is listed in it.

fontessa
Ok, Thanks for clearing that up. It's a shame that even though the last volume has been published for over 30 years, Senshi Sosho has not yet been translated into another language like English or Russian. The best we have here are third party accounts and the postwar monographs, though some of the authors of Senshi Sosho were involved in both.
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fontessa
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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#14

Post by fontessa » 19 Oct 2016, 07:47

Hello Bob,
fontessa wrote:
BobTheBarbarian wrote: Since you have access to Senshi Sosho, did it specify which divisions/brigades were reinforced with additional tanks and artillery prior to the operation, in addition to the three already mentioned by Taki?
I will check Senshi Sosho.
According to Senshi Sosho:
The 3rd Division
- The 52nd Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion
The 13th Division
- The 51st Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion
The 68th Division
- The 5th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment
The 34th Division
- The 10th Independent Field Artillery Battalion
- The 1st Special Artillery Unit*
The 58th Division
- The 2nd Independent Field Artillery Regiment
- The 9th Independent Field artillery Battalion
- Ishizaki Unit**
The 40th Division
- The 2nd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment
The 64th Division
- The 2nd Special Artillery Unit*

* The 1st and the 2nd Special Artillery Units: Organized using personnel from disbanded China Expeditionary Army Artillery Training Unit
** Ishizaki Unit: Organized from personnel of Army Narashino School

fontessa

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Re: Operation Ichi-Go order of battle

#15

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 20 Oct 2016, 18:56

fontessa wrote:Hello Bob,

According to Senshi Sosho:
The 3rd Division
- The 52nd Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion
The 13th Division
- The 51st Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion
The 68th Division
- The 5th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment
The 34th Division
- The 10th Independent Field Artillery Battalion
- The 1st Special Artillery Unit*
The 58th Division
- The 2nd Independent Field Artillery Regiment
- The 9th Independent Field artillery Battalion
- Ishizaki Unit**
The 40th Division
- The 2nd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment
The 64th Division
- The 2nd Special Artillery Unit*

* The 1st and the 2nd Special Artillery Units: Organized using personnel from disbanded China Expeditionary Army Artillery Training Unit
** Ishizaki Unit: Organized from personnel of Army Narashino School

fontessa
Great! Thanks again for your help, couldn't have done it without you :milwink:
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