The 3rd Tank Regiment was created in 1937 by upgrading the 3rd Tank Battalion. At the end of January 1939, Lieutenant Colonel Kiyotake Yoshimaru took command of the regiment; Yoshimaru was promoted to full colonel in March, and under him the regiment participated in the
Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union in 1939, • 26
Type 89 I-Go medium tanks armed with a short-barrelled (low-velocity) Type 90 57 mm gun • 4
Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks armed with the similar
Type 97 57 mm tank gun • 4
Type 97 tankettes armed with a
Type 94 37 mm tank gun • 7
Type 94 tankettes armed with a light machine guns Japanese armor fared poorly in these battles, the low-velocity guns being unable to penetrate Soviet armor, while being themselves vulnerable to Soviet high-velocity tank guns. Colonel Yoshimaru himself was killed when his command tank was destroyed by Soviet gun fire on 3 July 1939. During the action of 2 and 3 July, the 3rd Tank Regiment was badly mauled by the Soviet army forces. The 3rd Tank Regiment was detached from the 1st Armored Division and attached to
11th Army for
Operation Ichi-Go against China in 1944. It remained in China while the rest of the 1st Armored Division returned to Japan for the defense of the home islands, and was disbanded with the rest of the 11th Army in 1945. ==References==