Rays of the Rising Sun

Armed Forces of Japan's Asian Allies 1931-45: China and Manchukuo

John Berger, Philip Jowett

• Publisher: Helion & Company
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781874622215
• eBook ISBN: 9781907677564
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

The first of a three-volume series examining the history of Chinese "puppet" soldiers fighting for the Japanese before and during World War II.
When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941. it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time, it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to co-operate with them. These so-called "puppet" governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their control. In turn, the "puppet" governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own 'independent' armed forces. These "puppet" armies were in large number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers.
The Chinese "puppet" soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly formed state of Manchukuo, 1932–45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the "secret war" waged in the Mongolian hinterlands.
The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tells the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a fourteen-year period.

CHAPTER TWO

The Manchukuoan Army 1932–45

When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in September 1931 they almost immediately set up the ‘puppet’ state of Manchukuo, which was duly proclaimed on 18 February 1932. As soon as they had consolidated their hold over the country they began to raise an army to help them control the population. The first recruits for the Manchukuoan Army came from the former soldiers of the pre-invasion ruler of the province, Chang Hsuehliang. Because Chiang Kai-shek wanted the blame for the invasion of Manchuria to fall fully on the Japanese he had ordered Chang's troops to offer little resistance to the invasion. This lack of resistance by the Manchurian soldiers meant that large numbers of them were captured and disarmed by the Japanese. In time-honoured Chinese fashion many of the defeated soldiers were recruited, either individually or more commonly en-masse, into the new Manchukoan Army.

The first volunteers to fight for Japan in Manchuria were groups of irregular horsemen who attached themselves to the invading army in late 1931 and acted as scouts. These volunteers were unofficially raised by the local Japanese commanders and were made up usually of deserters from the Nationalist Army or were ordinary bandits looking for a new employer. One such unit was under the command of the former Nationalist commander of Taonan in Heilungkiang Province, Chang Hai-pong. He was persuaded by the Japanese to command a Frontier Public Security Corps as well as acting as Governor of Heilungkiang Province. After receiving arms and ammunition from the Japanese, Chang changed sides again on 19 November. Another unit was attached to the 77th Infantry Regiment in November 1931 and were photographed in action by the Japanese press on the 26th of that month.

After the successful invasion of Manchuria the Japanese soon began to plan the formation of some kind of army for the new state of Manchukuo. The Manchukuoan Armed Forces were formed officially with the proclamation of the Army and Navy Act of 15 April 1932. This act called for the peace of the state of Manchukuo to be maintained by the Manchukuoan Army and Navy. These Armed Forces were to be formed from amongst the former Army and Naval forces of the ‘Young Marshal’ Chang Hsueh-liang. According to the Organic Law of the new government the post of Chief Executive held by Pu Yi was to have “The Supreme Command of the Military, Naval and Air forces”. Approximately 60,000 of the Young Marshal's former troops gave themselves up to the Japanese and many were absorbed into the new Manchukuoan Army.

The early Manchukuoan Army was regarded by the Japanese as totally unreliable and during the early anti-bandit operations it performed badly. In May 1932 a 2,000 strong force of Manchukuoan troops were operating against a group of ‘bandits’ at Nungan, 35 miles north of Changchun. Eyewitnesses present at the time noted that the soldiers were “driven like sheep” by the guerrillas. Manchukuoan soldiers in the early days of the state were mainly recruited from the former forces of the Young Marshal Chang Hsieh-Liang. Although Chang Hsieh-liang's Army was large in number, many of its soldiers were of poor quality and doubtful loyalty. Although the Japanese would have been fully aware of the Manchurian Army's unreliability they did provide them with a ready trained pool of men which meant that they could quickly raise a Manchukuoan Army.

The Emperor of Manchukuo, Pu-Yi is pictured at the time of his coronation in 1934 wearing his dress uniform. As the last emperor of Imperial China until his overthrow in 1911 he wears a mixture of Chinese and Manchukuoan decorations. Dress uniforms worn by the Emperor and his entourage had a ‘comic opera’ appearance and further reinforced the outside world's image of Manchukuo as a puppet state.

Masuo Fujita

The Young Marshal's Army was made up mostly of raw recruits and irregulars and a high proportion of them were opium addicts. These same men were now serving in the Manchukuoan Army and it is hardly surprising that they did not make the best fighting material. The loyalty of the men was constantly called into question and this was demonstrated by the number of mutinies that took place at this time. For instance in August 1932 a unit of 2,000 men mutinied at Wukimiho and went over to the guerrillas. Around the same time the whole of the 7th Manchukuoan Cavalry Regiment was reported to have deserted to the anti-Japanese fighters. The first few years of the Manchukuo regime's life were spent in fighting large number of ‘bandit’ groups. The Manchukuo Army was regarded as a good supply of arms and ammunition by the bandits and a Japanese officer Fujimoto said “Unfortunately one of the main sources of supply of weapons and ammunition to the bandits is the Manchukuoan Army. There have been cases where the Manchurian troops to all appearances went out to battle with the enemy, but in reality handed over their weapons to the opponent”.

The Manchukuoan Army was divided into an Independent Cavalry Corps to provide the capital a garrison; a special Guard Corps was formed in February 1933 as part of the capital garrison and this was recruited from men of Manchu ancestry, and a ‘Provincial Guard Corps’ was raised in each of the 7 provinces of the new state. The new army was reduced from the pre-Manchukuo days of 300,000 under the command of the Young Marshal to a more manageable 111,000 men. Soldiers who had served in the Young Marshal's Army were regarded as unreliable and would be replaced by more reliable recruits when circumstances allowed. In 1934 a new law was proclaimed which ordered that from now on only officers who had training organised by the Manchukuoan Government could serve in the Army. This law was instituted to try and expel all the former officers of the Nationalist Army of the Young Marshal. After the takeover of Manchuria in 1931 many of the commanders of the Nationalist Army simply continued in their former command under the new ‘puppet’ state. The old system of army commanders acting as ‘warlords’ over the area they controlled and using their command area as a personal fiefdom continued at first. This law would, the Japanese hoped, give them a legitimate excuse to get rid of these corrupt officers and replace them with their own reliable candidates.

Establishment of Manchukuo Army 1932
Fengtien Guard Army	20,541
Headquarters	678
1st Teaching Unit	2,718
1st Mixed Brigade	2,467
2nd Mixed Brigade	2,104
3rd Mixed Brigade	2,467
4th Mixed Brigade	1,755
5th Mixed Brigade	1,291
6th Mixed Brigade	2,238
7th Mixed Brigade	2,014
1st Cavalry Brigade	1,098
2nd Cavalry Brigade	1,625
Jilin Guard Army	34,287
Headquarters	1,447
2nd Teaching Unit	2,718
Cavalry Detachment	1,295
Infantry Detachment	1,163
4th Infantry Brigade	3,548
5th Infantry Brigade	3,244
2nd Infantry Brigade	2,343
8th Infantry Brigade	2,301
3rd Infantry Brigade	2,496
1st Infantry Brigade	2,301
7th Infantry Brigade	2,343
4th Cavalry Brigade	2,037
1st Cavalry Brigade	1,867
2nd Cavalry Brigade	1,598
3rd Cavalry Brigade	1,598
Yilan Unit	706
North Manchuria Railway Guard Force Headquarters	151
Sanrin Unit	1,452
Heilongjiang Guard Army	25,162
Headquarters	1,016
3rd Teaching Unit	2,718
1st Cavalry Brigade	2,244
5th Mixed Brigade	1,934
2nd Mixed Brigade	3,085
1st Mixed Brigade	3,085
3rd Mixed Brigade	3,085
4th Mixed Brigade	3,085
2nd Cavalry Brigade	2,244
3rd Cavalry Brigade	2,666
East Hingganling Guard Army	1,818
North Hingganling Guard Army	874
South Hingganling Guard Army	1,682
Rehe Guard Army	17,945
Headquarters	301
Artillery Unit	854
Cavalry Unit	172
Infantry Unit	1,294
Chengde Area Forces	4,783
Chifeng Area Forces	3,414
Chaoyang Area Forces	3,977
Weichang Area Forces	3,150
Seian Army ‘Fangtien’	3,760
Xinjing Cavalry Brigade	2,018
River Fleet	640
Total	111,044 men

At the Coronation of the Manchukuoan Emperor PuYi in April 1934 a line of Imperial Guard Cavalry stand to attention. They are dressed in uniforms made of Japanese khaki with a peaked cap, high collared tunic and breeches worn with high leather boots. Their lances have the pennant with the colours from the fly of the Manchukuoan flag on a field of yellow

Philip Jowett Collection

In August 1934 a major reorganisation of the Manchukuoan military establishment took place with five administrative districts being formed, each divided into 2 or 3 zones. Each zone had 1 or 2 Mixed Brigades with a higher ratio of cavalry and artillery in each brigade and after this reorganisation the Manchukuoan Army's formation was as follows.

Establishment of Manchukuo Army 1935
1st District Army ‘Fengtien’	12,321
Commanding Officer: General Yu Chih-shan
HQ
1st Teaching Unit
1st Mixed Brigade
2nd Mixed Brigade
3rd Mixed Brigade
4th Mixed Brigade
5th Mixed Brigade
6th Mixed Brigade
2nd District Army ‘Kirin’	13,185
Commanding Officer: General Chi Hsing
HQ
2nd Teaching Unit
7th Mixed Brigade
8th Mixed Brigade
9th Mixed Brigade
10th Mixed Brigade
2nd Cavalry Brigade
3rd Cavalry Brigade
4th Cavalry Brigade
3rd District Army ‘Qigihar’	13,938
Commanding Officer: General Chang Wen-tao
HQ
3rd Teaching Unit
11th Mixed Brigade
12th Mixed Brigade
13th Mixed Brigade
14th Mixed Brigade
5th Cavalry Brigade
4th District Army ‘Harbin’	17,827
Commanding Officer: General Yu Cheng-shen
HQ
4th Teaching Unit
15th Mixed Brigade
16th Mixed Brigade
17th Mixed Brigade
19th Mixed Brigade
20th Mixed Brigade
21st Mixed Brigade
22nd Mixed Briga...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Author's Note & Acknowledgements
• One – Introduction
• Two – The Manchukuoan Army 1932–45
• Three – Chinese ‘Puppet’ Governments & Armies 1931–40
• Four – Chinese ‘Puppet’ Governments & Armies 1940–45
• Five – ‘Puppet’ Air Forces & Navies 1931–45
• Six – Uniforms Of Manchukuoan and Other ‘Puppet’ Chinese Armed Forces 1931–45
• Appendix A – Orders of Battle
• Appendix B – ‘Puppet’ Military & Civil Leaders 1931–45
• Appendix C – Nanking Army Commanders 1940–45
• Appendix D – Japanese Officers involved in China and Manchukuo 1931–45
• Bibliography
• Colour plate section with notes on plates
• Helion eBooks Sept 2011