Manchukuo Imperial Army

The Manchukuo Imperial Army was the army of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by the Empire of Japan in Manchuria. Established in 1932, it was primarily involved in counterinsurgency operations against Communist and Kuomintang guerrillas in Manchukuo, and also fought against the Red Army on several occasions. Initially consisting of National Revolutionary Army deserters who had served under Zhang Xueliang and were recruited en masse after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Manchukuo Imperial Army was gradually expanded using a mixture of volunteers and conscripts.
From 1933 to 1945, it expanded in size from approximately 111,000 personnel to an estimated strength of between 170,000 and 220,000 at its peak in 1945. The Manchukuo Imperial Army's ethnic makeup was diverse, consisting of Han Chinese, Manchu, Mongol, Korean, Japanese and White Russian personnel. Throughout its existence, the majority of the Manchukuo Imperial Army's units were considered to be mostly unreliable by their Japanese officers and advisers due to poor training and equipment along with low morale. It was officially disbanded in 1945 with the end of World War II in Asia and disestablishment of Manchukuo.

History

Establishment

After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 and the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo on 18 February 1932, they began raising an army to help them police the local population. The Manchukuoan armed forces were officially established by the Army and Navy Act of 15 April 1932 to maintain order in the new country. Former Qing dynasty emperor Puyi, who was later known by the era name Kangde upon his ascension to the throne of Manchukuo in 1934, had supreme command of the land, naval, and air forces. The Imperial Army's initial recruits came from the former Chinese Nationalist troops in the army of Zhang Xueliang, the warlord who had ruled Manchuria prior to the Japanese invasion. Large numbers of Chinese soldiers had surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army and were recruited en masse into the new Manchukuoan forces. About 60,000 of these troops gave themselves up and many more were later absorbed into the Imperial Army. Other recruits included local bandit groups and volunteers.
Many of the Nationalist troops that formerly served under the Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang had received poor training and had little loyalty to anyone, with a high proportion of them being opium addicts. As a result, the new force was regarded as mostly unreliable by the Japanese, who decided to employ Zhang Xueliang's former troops because they provided a numerically large and already-trained army. Their performance against bandit groups was dismal. It was reported that in May 1932 a unit of 2,000 Manchukuoan troops were "driven like sheep" by a group of outlaws they were operating against. Their lack of loyalty to the new regime was demonstrated by the significant number of mutinies that occurred in those years. In August 1932, a unit of about 2,000 men deserted their garrison at Wukimiho, taking their weapons over to the anti-Japanese guerrillas. Likewise, the entire 7th Cavalry Regiment revolted around the same time and joined the partisans as well. According to Japanese officers, there were many cases of Manchukuoan troops giving their weapons to the enemies they were sent to attack.
In its first form the Manchukuo Imperial Army was organized in seven Provincial Guard Armies, with a total of about 111,000 men. An Independent Cavalry Brigade was created to provide a garrison for the capital of Xinjing, and the Manchukuo Imperial Guard was raised in February 1933 from men of Manchu ethnic backgrounds as part of the capital garrison to provide protection for Emperor Puyi and senior government officials. The Japanese intended to replace the unreliable former troops of Zhang Xueliang with those trained by them and the government of Manchukuo as soon as circumstances permitted. As part of this effort, a new law signed in 1934 stated that only those trained by the Manchukuoan government could serve as officers. It was done to remove those former Nationalist officers who had been in Zhang Xueliang's forces and break the tradition of warlordism.
In 1938, military academies were established in Mukden and Xinjing order to provide the Imperial Army with more reliable troops. A Central Training School for junior officers was opened in Mukden. The first class of 200 officer cadets graduated in November 1938, followed by 70 others in January 1939. Another class graduated in 1940, which included 97 cadets. After this, the number of native volunteers had dried up and the school accepted 174 Japanese recruits, who went on to serve in both the Manchukuoan army and the Japanese reserves. The military academy in Xinjing had its first class graduation in July 1938, which included 34 cadets. In addition, a signal school, medical school, and gendarmerie training school were established in Manchukuo. A military academy specifically for ethnic Mongols was established in 1934, taking in 100 cadets for a two-year course. The course included religious teachings and other classes to foster a patriotic Mongol spirit in the cadets. This first class graduated in the late 1930s.
An important factor that allowed for the expansion of the Manchukuoan army was conscription. The Military Supplies Requisition Law of 13 May 1937 allowed the Manchukuoan and Japanese armies to conscript laborers, as well as allowing them to appropriate land and materials for the purposes of keeping order. The draft of soldiers did not begin until April 1940 and was not officially signed into law until 1941, which allowed every able-bodied male between the ages of eighteen and forty to be called up, of all ethnic groups. All youths were required to get a physical and then 10% of them were selected for service. Education, physical fitness, and their families' loyalty to the regime were things taken into consideration for selecting conscripts. When this was not enough, the Japanese forcibly drafted males from across the country into the army, and many efforts were taken to foster a Manchukuoan patriotic spirit among the troops.

Counterinsurgency operations

In its early years, the Empire of Manchukuo was home to many resistance groups that fought against it and the Japanese occupation forces. Many of those guerrilla fighters were civilians, but a great many were former soldiers of Zhang Xueliang's army that decided to continue to resist on their own rather than surrender or leave Manchuria. One of the more notable resistance leaders was Ma Zhanshan, whose army fought rearguard actions as Zhang Xueliang's main force retreated south. The Japanese were impressed with him and decided to recruit him by offering a large sum of money to the general. Ma initially accepted the offer from Colonel Kenji Doihara and briefly served as the state of Manchukuo's war minister. He used the opportunity to equip and arm his troops before deserting en masse to fight against the Japanese again.
The number of insurgents in Manchukuo swelled from 130,000 initially to more than 300,000. The problem became so severe that the Japanese launched a number of anti-guerrilla operations throughout the early and mid-1930s. The operations saw the usage of Imperial Army troops in support of the IJA and were largely successful, confining the remaining insurgents to the northeast of the country and greatly reducing their numbers. They were complicated by the fact that many of the Manchukuoan troops had little loyalty to their new regime and frequently switched sides, or warned the bandits of the coming attacks. These operations often involved a smaller vanguard of Japanese troops doing much of the fighting with a larger Manchukuoan contingent that played a supporting role. A law enacted in September 1932 titled "Provisional Punishment of Bandits" allowed for captured insurgents to be executed. The War Ministry of Manchukuo provided monetary rewards for officers of units that killed insurgents. The Imperial Army suffered significant casualties during the period from 1932 to 1935 during these operations, losing 1,470 killed and 1,261 wounded. The first campaign conducted by Manchukuoan troops independently of the Japanese did not occur until 1936, when some 16,000 men took part in fighting the 1st Route Army, capturing or killing more than 2,000 insurgents.
Some of the notable early operations that Manchukuoan troops were involved in included:

Subjugation of the Anti-Jilin Army : A campaign undertaken by Japanese forces and several Manchukuoan units to clear out 20,000 Nationalist troops from the Jilin region. The units involved were the 7th and 8th Infantry Brigades along with the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades, for a total of 7,000 men. Several ships of the River Defense Fleet also took part. The Nationalists were pushed back to the north of the province and the Sungari River was secured.
First Dongbiandao Clearance : When a Manchukuoan commander revolted and surrounded the Japanese consulate in Donghe a force of Japanese police was sent to relieve it, along with 1st and 2nd detachments of the Fengtian Guard Army as support. They totaled 4,000 men. Although the mutineers were forced to retreat, the Manchukuoan troops performed poorly and took considerable losses.
Ma Zhanshan Subjugation : A campaign that was launched against the headquarters of Ma Zhanshan. Manchukuoan forces numbered 5,000 men and included detachments from the Heilongjiang Guard Army. They fought alongside Japanese troops during the operation. The poor performance of the Manchukuoans during the fight allowed his guerrillas to escape.
Li Haijing Subjugation : An attack launched by a force of 6,000 troops from the 1st Infantry and 2nd Cavalry Brigades of the Heilongjiang Guard Army, the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Jilin Guard Army, and the 1st, 4th, and 7th detachments of the Taoliao Army. It fought against a group of 10,000 insurgents in the southern Heilongjiang province. The joint Japanese-Manchukuoan force successfully drove out the insurgents.
First Feng Zhanghai Subjugation : A series of skirmishes between the units of the Jilin Guard Army and local guerrillas. Manchukuoan forces included the Jilin Railway Guards, Cavalry Corps and the 1st Infantry Brigade, in total 1,600 men. The Manchukuoans lost 150 men killed while claiming to have killed 1,000 guerrillas.
Second Feng Zhanghai Subjugation : An operation to clear out several districts from anti-Japanese fighters. The Manchukuoan contingent included units from the Taoliao and Jilin Guard Armies. The force totaled 7,000 men, and with Japanese assistance managed to drive out 15,000 insurgents.
Mongolian Bandit Subjugation Operation : Mongolian bandits attacked the Sidao railway line and captured a small town. A small force of Manchukuoans was sent to reclaim the area and forced the Mongolians to retreat.
Third Feng Zhanghai Subjugation : A force of 7,000 men of the Jilin Guard Army attacked 10,000 bandits who were retreating from their earlier defeat in July. They were attempting to cross the border out of Manchukuo into the Chinese province of Rehe. Although they were surrounded, the majority of the bandits were able to escape.
Su Bingwei Subjugation : A unit that had pledged loyalty to Manchukuo under Su Bingwen revolted against the Japanese. A force of 4,500 men took part in putting down the revolt and succeeded after heavy fighting, forcing Sun Bingwen to retreat into Soviet territory. Originally, the Manchu princess and soldier Yoshiko Kawashima wanted to negotiate with him, but the plans were cancelled. Japanese propaganda nonetheless published exaggerated tales of her exploits during the revolt.
Second Dongbiandao Subjugation : The Fengtian Guard Army cleared a district of guerrillas, killing 270 men and taking another 1,000 prisoner. About 8,000 Manchukuoan troops acted as support for a much smaller Japanese force.
Li Haijing Subjugation : A group of 3,000 insurgents attempted to attack the south Heilongjiang province before a joint Manchukuoan-Japanese force launched a counterattack. It then retreated into the Rehe province.
Ki Feng-Lung District Subjugation : An operation to clear the Ki Feng-Lung district of insurgents, involving about 5,000 Manchukuoan troops.
Third Dongbiandao Subjugation : An operation launched to eliminate the remnants of the bandit groups that remained after the second subjugation campaign. It involved about 5,000 Manchukuoan soldiers. The operation was a success and resulted in the capture of 1,800 bandits, some of whom may have been recruited into the Imperial Army.
Jilin Province Subjugation : A large-scale operation that occurred in the Jilin province, attempting to free the entire region from insurgents and involving 35,000 Manchukuoan troops. It involved the whole of the Jilin Guard Army as well as units from several other formations. It was successful and led to the deaths of a number of prominent anti-Japanese leaders.