13th Division (Japanese Empire)

13th division
Former headquarters of the 13th Division.
active	April 1, 1905 - May 1, 1925 September 10, 1937 to 1945
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	division
Strength	15,000-20,000
Location	Takada
Nickname	Kyō-heidan ( 鏡 兵 団 , "mirror division")
Butcher	Russo-Japanese War Occupation of Sakhalin Second Sino-Japanese War Battle of Shanghai Battle for Nanking Battle of Xuzhou Battle for Wuhan Battle of West Hubei Battle for Changde Operation Ichi-gō

The 13th Division ( Japanese 第 13 師 団 , Dai-jūsan Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up and disbanded twice between 1905 and 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Spiegel Division ( 鏡 兵 団 , Kyō-heidan ).

General data

The 13th Division, along with the 14th , 15th and 16th , was a division that was formed towards the end of the Russo-Japanese War . Responsible for the prefecture Niigata was the headquarters of the approx. 15,000 strong division in Takada .

History of unity

Landing of Japanese troops on Sakhalin Island

The division was set up as a square division on April 1, 1905 under the command of General Haraguchi Kensai and consisted of the 26th  Brigade (16th and 30th Infantry Regiment) and another brigade (50th and 58th Infantry Regiment ), the 13th  cavalry - regiment and the 13th  artillery regiment.

In Japan there had been conflicting discussions since the beginning of the war about whether or not to attack the island of Sakhalin . Ultimately, the decision to occupy Sakhalin was made on June 15, 1905. The operation was transferred to the 13th Division and already three months after the division was founded, it embarked. On July 7, 1905, two Japanese troop contingents landed at Korsakov and were able to successfully complete the occupation of Sakhalin within four weeks . A short time later, peace was made between the Russian Empire and Japan in the Treaty of Portsmouth .

In 1920 the 13th Division participated in the Siberian Intervention . She was part of the Entente Powers that supported the White Army in the Russian Civil War against the Bolshevik Red Army . In the course of the operation, all ports and major cities in the Russian province of Primorye and eastern Siberia were occupied. Given the withdrawal of their allies and the high costs, the Japanese soldiers also withdrew in October 1922.

On May 1, 1925, the division was disbanded to save costs.

After the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the division was re-established on September 13, 1937 as a square division with four regiments. a. participated in the battles of Xuzhou and Wuhan . During the Nanking massacre , soldiers of the 65th regiment were involved in the killing of approximately 20,000 Chinese prisoners of war .

In March 1943, the 13th Division was converted into a Triangular Division of type B "Standard", where it surrendered its 58th Regiment to the 31st Division .

The division was dissolved in 1945.

structure

1905

• 26th Brigade
  • 16th Infantry Regiment
  • 30th Infantry Regiment
• xx. brigade
  • 50th Infantry Regiment
  • 58th Infantry Regiment
• 13th Cavalry Regiment
• 13th Artillery Regiment
• 13th Engineer Regiment
• 13th Transport Regiment

1937

• 26th Brigade
  • 58th Infantry Regiment
  • 116th Infantry Regiment
• 103rd Brigade
  • 65th Infantry Regiment
  • 104th Infantry Regiment
• 13th Cavalry Regiment
• 13th Engineer Regiment
• 13th Transport Regiment

1943

• 65th Infantry Regiment
• 104th Infantry Regiment
• 116th Infantry Regiment
• 13th Engineer Regiment
• 13th Transport Regiment

guide

Division commanders

• Haraguchi Kensai, Lieutenant General: April 1, 1905 - July 6, 1906
• Okazaki Aichi-ken Gakusei, Lieutenant General: July 6, 1906 - June 1, 1910
• Nagaoka Gaishi, Lieutenant General: June 1, 1910 - January 15, 1913
• Akiyama Yoshifuru, Lieutenant General: January 15, 1913 - February 15, 1915
• Ando Imumizu, Lieutenant General: February 15, 1915 - July 24, 1918
• Nishikawa Torajiro, Lieutenant General: July 24, 1918 - January 6, 1921
• Kawamura Masahiko, Lieutenant General: January 6, 1921 - August 6, 1923
• Idogawa Tatsuzo, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1923 - May 1, 1925

• Ogisu Ryuhei, Lieutenant General: September 10, 1937 - August 1, 1939
• Tanaka, Shizuichi, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1939 - September 28, 1940
• Eitaro Uchiyama, Lieutenant General: September 28, 1940 - August 17, 1942
• Akashika Ri, Lieutenant General: August 17, 1942 - January 20, 1945
• Yoshida Minetaro, Lieutenant General: January 20, 1945 - September 1945

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

literature

• Rotem Kowner : The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-6841-0 .

Web links

• 13th Division, Regular Infantry Division (Square). niehorster.org, accessed October 22, 2015 . 
• 師 団 Ⅰ. Organization of IJA, accessed January 2, 2015 (Japanese). 
• Japanese Soldiers' Diaries. Asahi Newspaper, accessed October 22, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 師 団 Ⅰ. (No longer available online.) Organization of IJA, archived from the original on November 14, 2015 ; accessed on January 2, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Rotem Kowner, p. 107
3. ^ 13th Division, Regular Infantry Division (Square). niehorster.org, accessed March 12, 2017 .  
4. ↑ Rotem Kowner, p. 339
5. ↑ Japanese Soldiers' Diaries. Asahi Newspaper, accessed October 22, 2015 . 
6. ^ Underwood, p. 43