HiEugen Pinak wrote:The number was probably lower.Peter H wrote:I think we are talking about an eventual 50,000 man Japanese force against 300,000 Chinese/Manchurians.
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.
I got some other numbers of chinese troops. I quote for Takehiko Yoshihashi, Conspiracy at Mukden: The Rise of the Japanese Military, in turn he quoted Toyoshima`s, Himerareta Shōwashi:
However that book was publicatego in 1960`s.The Chinese regulars with the Fengtien Army as the nucleus numbered about 250,000. Chang Hsueh-liang at the time had approximately 110,000 troops directly under his command, stationed in and about Peking and Tientsin. The remaining 140,000 were stationed roughly as follows in the four provinces: Fengtien 45,000; Kirin 55,000; Heilungkiang 25,000; and Jehol 15,000.