1st Army (Japanese Empire)

1st Army
Japanese General Kuroki Tamemoto and his Chief of Staff Fujii Shigeta during the Russo-Japanese War.
active	September 1894 to September 1945
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	corps
Nickname	Otsu ( 乙 , "second") (3rd lineup)
Butcher	First Sino-Japanese War Battle of Seonghwan Battle of Pyongyang Battle of Jiuliancheng Battle of Lüshunkou Russo-Japanese War Battle of the Yalu Battle of Motien Pass Battle of Liaoyang Battle of the Shaho Battle of Sandepu Battle of Mukden Second Sino-Japanese War Battle of Beijing Tianjin Battle for Taiyuan Battle of North and East Henan
Supreme command
list of	Commander in chief

The 1st Army ( Japanese 第 1 軍 , Dai-ichi-gun ) was a large unit of the Imperial Japanese Army . It was erected and demobilized three times between 1894 and 1945. Her Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was second ( 乙 , Otsu ).

history

1894 to 1895

The 1st Army was set up during the First Sino-Japanese War on September 1, 1894 and took part in all major battles during this. It consisted of the 3rd and 5th divisions . It was dissolved on May 28, 1895.

1904 to 1905

Before the war began in the Russo-Japanese War , the 1st Army was re-established on February 2, 1904 under the command of General Kuroki Tamemoto . Subordinate to him was the Imperial Guard , the 2nd and 12th Divisions . General Kuroki landed the 1st Army at Chemulpo and successfully led it in the first land battle of the war on the Yalu . Then they advanced north to Feng-huang-cheng , where they occupied the important Motien Pass and defended it against the Russians . As the war progressed, she took part in the Battle of Liaoyang , Battle of Shaho , Battle of Sandepu, and Battle of Mukden . After the end of hostilities, the 1st Army was disbanded on December 9, 1905.

1937 to 1945

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the 1st Army was re-formed on August 26, 1937 in Tianjin , Republic of China . It remained stationed in northern China throughout the war and consisted mainly of the 36th , 37th and 41st Divisions . From July 1944, the 114th Division and the 3rd, 10th and 14th  Independent Mixed Brigade were assigned to her.

On September 30, 1945, the 1st Army in Taiyuan , China, was finally disbanded.

Commander in chief

	Surname	From	To
1.	Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo	September 1, 1894	December 19, 1894
2.	Field Marshal Nozu Michitsura	December 19, 1894	May 28, 1895
	demobilized	May 28, 1895	February 2, 1904
3.	General Kuroki Tamemoto	February 2, 1904	December 9, 1905
	demobilized	December 9, 1905	August 31, 1937
4th	Lieutenant General Katsuki Kiyoshi	August 31, 1937	May 30, 1938
5.	General Umezu Yoshijirō	May 30, 1938	September 7, 1939
6th	Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio	September 7, 1939	June 20, 1941
7th	Lieutenant General Iwamatsu Yoshio	June 20, 1941	August 1, 1942
8th.	General Yoshimoto Teiichi	August 1, 1942	November 22, 1944
9.	Lieutenant General Sumida Raishirō	November 22, 1944	September 30, 1945

literature

• Gordon L. Rottman : The Japanese Army in World War II. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2005, ISBN 1-84176-789-1 . P. 9 ff.
• Bernard Jowett: The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45). Osprey Publishing, Oxford 1999, ISBN 1-84176-354-3 .
• Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company, 1981.
• Daniel Marston: The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2005 ISBN 1-84176-882-0 .
• Rotem Kowner : The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-6841-0 .

Web links

• Organization of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Russo-Japanese War, page 1105
2. ^ The Official History of the Russo-Japanese War, Great Britain. Committee of Imperial Defense, 1908, p. 100
3. ↑ Imperial Japanese Army Order of Battle: North China Theater Army - 1st Army, 8 December 1941 (English)
4. ↑ Jowett, Philipp; The Japanese Army 1931-1945 , Osprey Publishing, p. 15

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Kuroki is the family name, Tamemoto the first name.