Japanese Third Army
Encyclopedia
The was an army
of the Imperial Japanese Army
based in Manchukuo
as a garrison
force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army during World War II, but its history dates to the Russo-Japanese War
.
. After the fall of that Russian stronghold, it was transferred north, where it played a crucial role in the subsequent Japanese drive towards Mukden
in the closing stages of the war. It was disbanded at the end of the war.
The Japanese 3rd Army was raised again on January 13, 1938 in Manchukuo as a garrison
force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet
Red Army
. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army
in July 1942. As the war situation deteriorated for the Japanese in southeast Asia, the more experienced units and much of the equipment of the IJA 3rd Army were transferred to other units.
During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, its poorly-trained and under-equipped forces were no match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet Army
, and it was forced back from various locations in Kirin province
to the Korean border
, surrendering at the end of the war in Yanji
and Hunchun
, in what is now part of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
of northeast China
.
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
based in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
as a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army during World War II, but its history dates to the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
.
History
The Japanese 3rd Army was initially raised during the Russo-Japanese War under the command of General Nogi Maresuke. In the initial stages of the war, its primary mission was the Siege of Port ArthurSiege of Port Arthur
The Siege of Port Arthur , 1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War....
. After the fall of that Russian stronghold, it was transferred north, where it played a crucial role in the subsequent Japanese drive towards Mukden
Battle of Mukden
One of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I, the , the last major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden in Manchuria...
in the closing stages of the war. It was disbanded at the end of the war.
The Japanese 3rd Army was raised again on January 13, 1938 in Manchukuo as a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army
Japanese First Area Army
The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, based in northern Manchukuo and active in combat against the Soviet Union in the closing stages of the war...
in July 1942. As the war situation deteriorated for the Japanese in southeast Asia, the more experienced units and much of the equipment of the IJA 3rd Army were transferred to other units.
During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, its poorly-trained and under-equipped forces were no match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, and it was forced back from various locations in Kirin province
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
to the Korean border
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
, surrendering at the end of the war in Yanji
Yanji
Yanji , also known as Yeon'gil from its Korean name , is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. Its population is approximately 400,000 of which a large section is ethnic Korean...
and Hunchun
Hunchun
Hunchun is a county-level city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, far eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. It borders North Korea and Russia , has over 250,000 inhabitants, and streching on a 5,145 square-kilometer...
, in what is now part of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
Yanbian is a Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, in Northeastern China, above the border with North Korea. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang, on the west by Baishan City and Jilin City, on the south by North Hamgyong Province of North Korea, and on the east by Primorsky...
of northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
.
Commanding officer
| Name | From | To | |
| 1 | General Nogi Maresuke | August 1904 | January 1906 |
| 2 | General Otozō Yamada | 13 January 1938 | 10 December 1938 |
| 3 | General Hayao Tada Hayao Tada -External links:* - Notes :... |
10 December 1938 | 12 September 1939 |
| 4 | General Kamezo Suetaka | 12 September 1939 | 1 March 1941 |
| 5 | General Masamitsu Kawabe | 1 March 1941 | 17 August 1942 |
| 6 | Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama | 17 August 1942 | 7 February 1944 |
| 7 | Lieutenant General Hiroshi Nemoto | 7 February 1944 | 22 November 1944 |
| 8 | Lieutenant General Murakami Keisaku | 22 November 1944 | September 1945 |
Chief of Staff
| Name | From | To | |
| 1 | Major General Ijichi Kōsuke Ijichi Kosuke Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the First Sino-Japanese War and Chief of Staff of the Japanese Third Army during the Siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War. His wife was the niece of Marshal Oyama Iwao.-Biography:... |
August 1904 | January 1905 |
| 2 | Major General Masatoshi Matsunaga | February 1905 | March 1905 |
| 3 | Major General Ichinohe Hyoe | March 1905 | January 1906 |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Akita Nakamura | 20 January 1938 | 14 April 1938 |
| 5 | Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki Teiichi Suzuki was a Japanese army general who helped plan Japan's economy in World War II and later was imprisoned as a war criminal, died of heart failure. He was 100 years old.Mr... |
14 April 1938 | 10 December 1938 |
| 6 | Lieutenant General Masami Maeda | 10 December 1938 | 9 March 1940 |
| 7 | Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura | 9 March 1940 | 1 April 1941 |
| 8 | Lieutenant General Takezo Numata | 1 April 1941 | 1 July 1942 |
| 9 | Major General Akio Doi | 1 July 1942 | 11 March 1943 |
| 10 | Major General Tatsuhiko Takashima | 11 March 1943 | 16 December 1944 |
| 11 | Major General Hanjiro Ikeya | 16 December 1944 | September 1945 |
External links
- Lt. Col. David GlantzDavid GlantzDavid M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
, August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, Leavenworth Paper No.7, Command and General Staff CollegeCommand and General Staff CollegeThe United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as a...
, February 1983.