58th Division (Japanese Empire)

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58th Division

active February 2, 1942 to 1945
Country JapanJapan Japanese Empire
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese armed forces
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese army
Branch of service infantry
Type division
Strength approx. 12,000
Insinuation 11th Army
Location hupeh -Provinz
Nickname Hiro-heidan ( 広 兵 団 , "width division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

The 58th Division ( Japanese 第 58 師 団 , Dai-58 Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1942 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Breite-Division ( 広 兵 団 , Hiro-heidan ) or Hiro 2305 .

History of unity

The 58th Division was set up on February 2, 1942 under the command of Lieutenant General Shimono Ikkaku ( Japanese 下野 一 霍 ) in the Hupeh Province ( China ) as a Type C "Brigade" / "Special" Division. As with most divisions created later in the war, existing units were detached or disbanded from their parent units. In the case of the 58th Division, the 18th  Independent Mixed Brigade served as the main unit. Division under the stand 51.  infantry - brigade with the self-employed infantry battalions 92, 93, 94 and 95, and 52. infantry brigade with the self-employed infantry battalions 96, 106, 107 and 108 as well as the 58th pioneering, 58th signal, 58th transport and 58th medical unit. The division had a strength of around 10,000 to 12,000 men and had no field artillery or armored units of its own . Fire support was provided by Type 92 heavy machine guns , Type 89 50mm grenade launchers, and Type 92 battalion artillery. As is usual for Type C divisions, it was intended for fighting partisans .

From May 5, 1943, the 58th Division was involved in combat operations in the Battle of West Hubei . After the Japanese troops took the cities of Wuhan and Yichang in October 1938, they wanted to use the Yangtze River for shipping. In Yichang they had captured 53 barges that they wanted to transfer to Wuhan. However, the Chinese troops, mainly the Chinese 128th Division, disrupted or blocked the river traffic and so the high command of the 6th Regional Army was forced to drive out the enemy forces. The 58th Division of the 11th Army was used for this purpose. Supported by five other divisions of the 20th Army , the 58th made large gains against increasing Chinese resistance. After the river connection was secured, the 53 barges could be transferred to Wuhan. From June 6th, however, the Chinese 74th Corps began a large-scale counter-offensive that completely surprised the Japanese and threw them back from all areas conquered since May 1943 by June 11th. The battle had claimed 25,000 Japanese casualties versus 60,000 Chinese.

The movements of Japanese troops during Operation Ichi-gō

From March 1, 1944 Lieutenant General Mōri Suehiro took over the division with which he was involved in Operation Ichi-gō from April 17 to December 11, 1944 . A total of 23 divisions with over 400,000 soldiers were involved in the largest Japanese company of the war. In May there was the fourth battle for Changsha , which this time, after the three previous battles for the city had been fought off with losses, ended victorious for the Japanese. After taking Changsha, the 68th and 116th Divisions attacked Hengyang on June 22, which had been heavily fortified by the National Revolutionary Army . The Battle of Hengyang from June 22 to August 8, 1944 was the longest battle for a city during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the army air forces the city with firebombs had occupied, the attack was carried out infantry . The Chinese had built their defenses with overlapping fire zones, so the Japanese casualties rose rapidly. In order to increase the pressure on the Chinese defenders, first the 58th Division, then the 13th and 40th Divisions were brought in, which brought the Chinese resistance to a standstill. Hengyang fell on August 8th. Of the 110,000 Japanese attacking, around 30,000 were killed or wounded.

After the fighting around Hengyang ended, the remnants of the 58th Division under Lieutenant General Kawamata Taketo remained in the area and in 1945 the division was disbanded.

structure

In February 1942 the division was set up as a Type C "Brigade" / "Special" division as follows:

  • 68th Infantry Division Headquarters (250 men)
    • 57th Infantry Brigade Headquarters (150 men)
      • 61st Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 62nd Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 63rd Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 64th Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
    • 58th Infantry Brigade Headquarters (150 men)
      • 65th Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 115th Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 116th Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
      • 117th Independent Infantry Battalion (1220 men)
    • 68th Engineer Unit (250 men)
    • 68.Signal unit (140)
    • 68th transport unit (800 men)
    • 68th Veterinary Hospital (approx. 80 men)
    • 68th Medical Unit (500 men)

Total strength: approx. 12,080 men

See also

Web links

literature

  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II. Vol I, The Nafziger Collection, Inc., 1999, ISBN 978-1-58545-044-2
  • Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle 1937–1945. Volume I + II, Game Marketing Company, 1981

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 69
  2. ↑ a b Madej, p. 83
  3. ↑ a b Battle of Exi. World War II Database, accessed January 31, 2015 .
  4. ^ The Defense of Heng-yang. HyperWar, accessed January 29, 2015 . , English