Manchuria 1931-1932

[Peter H]

Can anyone provide details of the opposing forces in Manchuria in 1931-1932?

The Japanese 2nd Sendai Division I have advancing from Port Arthur and the 38th Mixed Brigade from Korea.However the enormous size of Manchuria(as big as France and Spain combined?) suggests larger forces eventually deployed.

Some accounts also suggest that the takeover/pacification took more than a year to complete.

Thanks in advance.

Peter


From: http://www.gunboards.com/sites/banzai/

Japanese troops catch some sleep campaigning in Manchuria.

[Peter H]

More photos from Corbis.

[Peter H]

More photos from here:

http://www.jewsofchina.org/JewsOfChina/ ... p?cid=1051





Entering Harbin:

[Peter H]

Same source as above:

[VJK]

Hi Peter!

The Kwantung Army was the upper echelon unit involved in the occupation of Manchuria. From "KOGUN THE JAPANESE ARMY IN THE PACIFIC WAR" by Saburo Hayashi:

"On September 18, 1931, the Liutiaokou incident broke out (near Mukden). At the time Kwantung Army Headquarters was located at Port Arthur, and the garrison troops consisted primarily of one infantry division and six battalions of the Independent Garrison Unit (with headquarters at Mukden). Existing treaties provided for no more than seventeen railway guards per kilometer, and the total strength of the Kwantung Army amounted to only about 10,400 troops. On September 19, the day after the affair at Liutiaokou, the Japanese Government, which had decided upon a policy of localizing the incident, communicated its decision to the Kwantung Army authorities. Despite this, the Kwantung Army rapidly proceeded to expand its operations and, within the next five months, had seized most of the principal cities and towns throughout all Manchuria."

Best regards,

VJK

[Peter H]

Taki's coverage of Japanese Renaults used in Manchuria from his excellent website:

http://www3.plala.or.jp/takihome/history.htm

Was the Captain Hyakutake mentioned any relation to Hyakutake Haruyoshi of 17th Army fame?

[Peter H]

Hi VJK,

Your correct as usual!

I think we are talking about an eventual 50,000 man Japanese force against 300,000 Chinese/Manchurians.

Eventually the Emperor did approve units from Korea assisting in the occupation of Manchuria.

The campaign swinging south towards Jehol should also be mentioned.Chinchow(Chinchou) the last vestige of Chinese authority in Manchuria on the rail line between Peking and Mukden, October 1931, "suffered the fame of being the first city subject to air attack since 1918".

Best regards
Peter

[Eugen Pinak]

I think we are talking about an eventual 50,000 man Japanese force against 300,000 Chinese/Manchurians.

The number was probably lower.
At the beginning of the "conflict", Chinese had in Manchuria under Zhang Xueliang:
Zhang Xueliang's "own" army - 50000 in Mukden province (some 10000 in the Mukden itself)
Zhang Tzosiang's army - 80000 in Girin province
Wan Fulin's army - 30000 in Heilongjiang province
Total - some 160000 troops, of which c.60000 went to Japanese and 40000 best roops of Zhang Xueliang's "own" army retreated without much resistance to Great Wall (on the orders from Chiang Kai-Shek and Zhang Xueliang).
Only by Summer-Autumn 1932 number of Chinese fighters reached 300000, but 60% of them were barely armed peasants. Only 25-50000 were ex-soldiers and 20-40000 were ex-gangsters.

In 1931 Japanese probably had c.30000 troops, but by the Summer 1933 their number was increased up to 95000.

PS.Sorry for misspelling - I just don't know how to transcribe Chinese names from Russian.

[hisashi]

Sendai 2nd division came to Kwantung Army in turn after Kyoto 16th division in April 1931. 1st to 6th independent garrison infantry batallion (独立守備歩兵大隊) was raised in August 1931. These batallions are confusing with independent garrisons (独立守備隊) raised in 1933, several infantry batallions with battery-sized artillery unit.
Army staffs felt Japanese interest in Manchuria was in danger, confronting against 300.000 hostile army. They planned to move aggressively to defeat Chinese troops one by one and occupy important cities in a short period. In their plan reinforcement of one brigade-sized battlegroup from Korea was included.
I should explain in advance the notion of mixed brigade (konsei ryodan 混成旅団) in comparison with independent mixed brigade. Independent mixed brigade consisted of several infantry batallions with battery-sized artillery and engineer unit. Infantries were those who finished their two-year service and immediately re-mobilized, or those who had been in reserve, or older new draftees. Mixed brigade was a part of a division, dispatched abroad. Its size varied; it might be a third of the division, or even two thirds.
In Sep 19, 1931 Korea Army ordered 20th division to split its force as 39th mixed brigade, as planned. Japanese cabinet, however, disagreed with the army suspecting that Mukden Incident was a make-up by Japanese army officers. Without authorization by the emperor, the brigade departed at Sep 19. Finally the cabinet conceded and the movement was admitted at Sep 22.
Kwantung Army requested at 19 Sep, 1931 to send three more divisions. The army sent only one mixed brigade , the 14th MB from Asahikawa 7th division in September. Also in November they sent 4th MB from Hirosaki 8th division.
In December new cabinet led by Inukai was formed. He secretly sought an agreement with Kuomintang government (failed because of inaccordance among his staffs) but increased the force in Manchuria. 8th MB from Himeji 10th division was sent in December, and the rest of 20th division along with 38th MB from 19th division was sent from Korea. Just after Manchuria was founded, in April 1932 the rest of 8th and 10th division, along with Utsunomiya 14th division from Shanghai theater, came to Manchuria, and 20th division returned to Korea.

[Peter H]

Thanks gents!

Regards
Peter

[Peter H]

Interesting that pre September 18th General Tatekawa Yoshitsugu(the future Japanese Ambassador to the USSR) was despatched as a courier to the Kwantung army carrying a letter from the War Minister instructing them not to cause any incident with the Chinese.Travelling by train the story goes that he was intercepted by Colonel Itagaki Seishiro at Mukden who took him to a geisha house.Tatekawa had too much to drink,chased the geishas,and never completed his mission,the sound of gunfire later that night interrupting his passions.

The 'Young Turks' of the Kwantung Army 1931:

Colonel Itagaki Seishiro
http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/ ... ki_73.html


http://imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/f ... aki159.jpg

Lt Colonel Ishiwara Kanji
viewtopic.php?t=89034


http://imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/f ... ara002.jpg


Major Hanaya Tadashi
http://www.generals.dk/general/Hanaya/T ... Japan.html


http://imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/f ... aya106.jpg

[Peter H]

And Doihara Kenji:

viewtopic.php?t=85792


http://imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/f ... ara002.jpg


Details on the Mukden Incident,September 1931:

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-5.html

At 9 o'clock in the evening of 18 September 1931, Officer Liu, at the barracks of the 7th Chinese Brigade, reported that a train composed of three or four caches, but without the usual type of locomotive, had stopped on the South Manchurian Railway opposite the barracks. At 10 p.m., the sound of a loud explosion was heard, immediately followed by rifle fire. The Japanese account is that Lt. Kawamoto, of the Kwantung Army, with six men under his command, was on patrol duty, practising defence exercises along the track near the place where the explosion occurred, that he heard the explosion; that his patrol turned and ran back about 200 yards and found that a portion of one of the rails had been blown out; that while on the site of the explosion, the patrol was fired upon from the fields on the east side of the tracks; that at that moment, the regular southbound train, due in Mukden at 10:30 p.m., was heard approaching; and that the train passed over the damaged rail without mishap to arrive in Mukden on time. Captain Kawashima and his company arrived at 10:50 p.m. and the Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Shimamoto commanding the Second Battalion of the Independent Infantry Garrison ordered two more companies to proceed to the spot. They arrived about midnight. Another company at Fushun, which was an hour-and-a-half away, was ordered to proceed to the spot also. This is the Company of Kawakami, who had long ago announced that he and his Company would have to leave Fushun on the night of the 18th. The barracks of the 7th Chinese Brigade were glittering with electric lights, but the Japanese attacked the barracks without hesitation at 11:30 p.m., employing artillery as well as rifles and machine-guns. Most of the Chinese soldiers escaped from the barracks and retreated to Erhtaitze, to the northeast; however, the Japanese claim they buried 320 Chinese soldiers and captured 20 wounded. The loss to the Japanese was two privates killed and 22 wounded. Colonel Hirata commanding the 29th Regiment received a telephone message at 10:40 p.m. from Lt. Colonel Shimamoto informing him of the explosion on the railroad and the plan to attack the barracks.

Colonel Hirata immediately decided to attack the walled city of Mukden. His attack commenced at 11:30 p.m. No resistance was offered, the only fighting that occurred was with the police, of whom approximately 75 were killed. The 2nd Division and part of the 16th Regiment left Liaoyang at 3:30 a.m. of the 19th and arrived at Mukden at 5 a.m. The arsenal and aerodrome were captured at 7:30 a.m. Colonel ITAGAKI later admitted that heavy guns, which had been secretly installed in the Japanese Infantry Compound on the 10th, had proven useful in the bombardment of the airfield after the fighting got under way.

[Peter H]

From Rekishi Syashin.The scene of the railway 'sabotage".

[Peter H]

Disarming Manchurian soldiers.

[Peter H]

Japanese Renault tank.