After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's economy developed rapidly. In order to alleviate the pressure on resources, Japan began a crazy expansion plan. At that time, China was in the late Qing Dynasty, and the Qing government was "unable to take care of itself", and the gap with Western countries was widening day by day. In this way, China, which is rich in resources, has become the object of division by the major powers. Under the pressure of the great powers, the Qing government gradually made concessions.
Signed map of the Treaty of Xinugu
At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan and Russia launched a war to divide our northeast. At that time, Russia misestimated Japan's military strength, and Russia's light enemy led to the final defeat. After that, Japan was able to enter our Liaodong Peninsula. Japan turned the Liaodong Peninsula into the Kanto Prefecture, so. These Japanese armies were named the Kwantung Army.
However, in 1945, 700,000 Kwantung Army was defeated by a rapid Soviet attack. At that time, Japan left a large amount of weapons and equipment, but the Soviet Union did not take it with it. The Soviets gave it to China, and it took the Eighth Route Army three days and three nights to withdraw all the equipment.
In 1945 the Soviet Union defeated the Kwantung Army
In fact, the Kwantung Army got its name mainly because of its invasion of jinxian and Dalian regions in northeastern China. At first, the Kwantung Army was indeed very effective. At its peak, the Kwantung Army had 800,000 troops and was well-equipped. They claim to have millions of troops, and although they are a bit bluffy, their combat effectiveness is beyond doubt.
In the Battle of Nomonkan, the Soviet Union won "miserably" despite Japan's eventual defeat. Is it because the Soviet army is not as well equipped as the Japanese army? Of course not. At that time, the weapons and equipment of the Soviet army were the top in the world, with a large number of tanks, fighter jets and other equipment, and even its military strength far exceeded that of the Japanese army. However, these Soviet troops paid a terrible price in this battle, because the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army at that time far exceeded that of the Soviet army.
The Battle of Nomonkan frustrated the Northeast Kwantung Army's attempt to invade the west
At that time, the number of Japanese tanks was only one-seventh of that of the Soviet army, the number of artillery was only one-sixth of that of the Soviet army, and the number of troops was only one-third of that of the Soviet army. The Battle of Nomenkan took place in the plains. Such plain areas facilitated the functioning of Soviet heavy weapons. It turned out that the highly mechanized Soviet army did not gain any advantage as a result.
At the end of the battle, although the Soviets won, the price of the war was the cost of more than 25,000 lives. However, the number of Japanese casualties was only 19,000. Although the Soviet army was well-equipped and well-armed, it did not destroy the Twenty-third Division of the Kwantung Army.
Japanese Kwantung Army
The Kwantung Army did have super combat effectiveness at that time, so why did the Kwantung Army lose to the Soviet Army later?
When Soviet and Japanese armies fought again in August 1945, the Soviet army made ample preparations. The Soviet Union gathered more than 1.5 million troops and equipped them with heavy weapons to attack the Kwantung Army from three directions: east, north, and west. At that time, the Command of the Soviet Army was commanded by two famous generals. This time, the Japanese Kwantung Army suffered a disastrous defeat in tohoku. Compared to the performance during the Battle of Nomenkan, it is a world of difference.
Soviet Army in World War II
In this battle, the Kwantung Army had 700,000 troops, of which more than 600,000 were captured, and the rest were killed on the battlefield. This time, why was the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army so different from the Battle of Nomonkan? It was hard for the Soviets to believe that the opponent before them was the Kwantung Army, which had made its heavy weapons ineffective. What exactly is the reason?
It turned out that the whole of Japan was already under the control of expansionist madness. Although none of Japan's allies suggested attacking several countries at the same time, Japan did not take it to heart. At the pace that the Japanese military had planned at the time, they would soon be able to reorganize the global international situation and rearrange the order of all nations. However, they misestimated the ability and determination of the peoples of the world to fight fascism.
Japanese Army in World War II
Beginning in 1942, the Japanese army gradually shifted its main forces away from China. At that time, they tried to profit from the Pacific Theater, dispersing the main Kwantung Army to the Pacific Theater, and of course, the troops were scattered in the northern, central and southern regions of China. Japan's own territory is certainly seriously short of troops and resources.
In early 1945, the 13th Division of the Kwantung Army was transferred to the Pacific Theater. Soon after, U.S. troops began to attack Japan. Japan had to gather troops to return home to fight the American army. At that time, the Kwantung Army transferred seven main divisions and a large strategic reserve.
Torpedo warfare between the United States and Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II
In this way, the Japanese Kwantung Army, which once possessed amazing combat effectiveness, is now dispersed in strength, coupled with the influence of unrealistic and exaggerated ideas, and its combat effectiveness is naturally much worse than before. In fact, the Kwantung Army had disintegrated, leaving only some old, weak, sick and disabled. Subsequently, Germany announced its surrender, and Japan gathered 250,000 retired Japanese soldiers to join the war again. In this way, the Kwantung Army was forced to expand to 8 divisions in addition to 1 tank regiment and 5 artillery regiments. It seems that "the soldiers are strong", but in fact they are very fragile.
Since then, the Japanese army has continued to recruit troops from all directions. Although the Kwantung Army has expanded to 700,000 people, its combat effectiveness has changed. Under the surface of frenzied expansion, Japan's resources are severely short and its economic conditions are seriously depleted. Just think, how can such a patchwork army fight a war?
The Japanese Kwantung Army at the end of World War II
In the Kwantung Army, there were many elderly people who were conscripted into the army by Japan, and even many minors. At this stage, the Japanese army has come to an end. Therefore, the Soviet army defeated 700,000 Kwantung Army in just over ten days.
On August 20, 1945, soldiers of the Japanese Kwantung Army surrendered their weapons to the Soviets in Harbin
After Japan's defeat, these weapons and equipment were simply dismissed by the Soviet army. Many weapons were thrown into the furnace or used for other purposes. However, at that time, China's military weapons were in a state of scarcity. So. The Soviet Union shipped these weapons to China. The weapons were packed in five carriages, and it took China three or four days to pull them back.