Chapter 4 3. The strength of the Japanese army

Since ancient times, the weak prey on the strong, and the weak are always bullied and annexed by the strong.By early July 1937, when the Japanese imperialists launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, the overall strength of China and Japan was that the enemy was strong and we were weak. Therefore, China would inevitably be bullied by powerful countries. Mao Zedong once pointed out: Japan "is a powerful imperialist country, its military power, economic power and political organizational power are first-class in the East, and it is also one of the five or six famous imperialist countries in the world."China, on the other hand, is "a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country" and "is still a weak country" whose "military, economic, and political organizational capabilities appear to be inferior to the enemy's."

The strength of the enemy and the weakness of China and Japan are mainly reflected in the aspects of economic strength and military strength. In terms of economic power, Japan has an absolute advantage.By 1937, although Japan was facing a new economic crisis in the capitalist world, its modern industrial output value still reached 6 billion U.S. dollars, while China’s modern industrial output value was only 1.36 billion U.S. dollars. The ratio between the two was about 4.4:1.Take several major industrial products as examples: the total output of steel is 6.35 million tons in Japan and 556,000 tons in China; the total output of pig iron is 2.397 million tons in Japan and 959,000 tons in China; 393,000 tons, China is 0,200 tons.

In terms of military strength, in the first half of 1937, the Japanese Army had 17 permanent divisions, more than ten independent mixed brigades, cavalry brigades, and independent garrisons, totaling more than 400,000 people; There are about 190 divisions, more than 40 infantry and cavalry brigades, with a total of 2.029 million people; the Red Army led by the Communist Party of China has 3 front armies, the Southern Red Army guerrillas and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army, with a total of more than 80,000 people; the total strength of the Chinese Army is More than 2.1 million people.However, the weapons and equipment of the Japanese army are relatively strong. Compared with a Type A division of the Chinese Kuomintang army and a field artillery division, the number of rifles is 9,800 and 3,821 respectively, which is 2.6:1; the number of light machine guns is 290 and 274 respectively. 1.1:1; heavy machine guns are 100 and 54 respectively, 1.9:1; field, howitzer, mountain artillery and other artillery are 104 and 48, respectively, 2.2:1; a permanent division of the Japanese army There are also 24 tanks.The Japanese army has 4 naval fleets, more than 200 large ships, with a total tonnage of 771,000 tons; the Chinese navy has only 66 ships, with a total of 59,000 tons.The Japanese Army and Navy have 91 aviation squadrons with 2,625 aircraft of various types; the Chinese Air Force has 31 squadrons with more than 600 aircraft of various types, including 305 combat aircraft.The Japanese Kwantung Army in Northeast China consisted of 4 divisions, 2 independent mixed brigades, 1 cavalry group and 1 flying group; the Japanese Chinese Garrison Army in the pass governed 1 infantry brigade and 1 artillery regiment, etc. The Guannei Army has more than 5,700 troops.

The following is the composition of the Japanese 5th Division: The 5th Division of the Japanese Army governs 2 infantry brigades, and each brigade governs 2 infantry regiments. Each regiment is equipped with 2,124 38-type rifles, 72 light machine guns, 76 grenade grenades, 24 heavy machine guns, and 6 battalion guns. Door, 1 grenadier.Each regiment governs 3 infantry brigades, and each brigade is equipped with 686 38-type rifles, 24 light machine guns, 25 grenade bombs, 8 heavy machine guns, and 2 cannons.Each brigade governs 4 squadrons, and each squadron governs 3 squads. Each squadron is equipped with 38-style rifles, 6 light machine guns, and 2 grenadiers.In addition, each wing is also assigned a wing artillery squadron, equipped with 4 mountain guns, and a rapid-fire gun squadron, equipped with 4 37mm guns.Each division governs one cavalry regiment, each regiment governs two cavalry squadrons, each squadron is equipped with 123 carbine guns, and one light machine gun squad is equipped with two light machine guns.There is one field artillery or mountain artillery regiment, and each regiment governs four artillery brigades, equipped with 36 field artillery pieces (12 for each brigade), 12 cannons, and 315 38-type carbine guns.There is 1 engineering wing, governing 3 engineering squadrons, equipped with 200 38-type rifles.There is 1 logistics unit, 6 squadrons and 1 racecourse under its jurisdiction, equipped with 329 38-type carbine guns.There are 28,200 divisions equipped with pack horses in all divisions.There are 24,400 divisions equipped with horses.

Every time the 5th Division goes into battle, it is attached to a tank brigade, which has 3 squadrons of tanks under its jurisdiction, and the brigade is equipped with 39 light tanks.It is loaded with 39 17mm tank guns, 120 light machine guns, and 21 light armored vehicles. It can be seen from the above that the Japanese army is indeed stronger than the Eighth Route Army.