After the
Lugou Bridge Incident, the
Japanese China Garrison Army was reinforced with the
Shanghai Expeditionary Army. This force was further supplemented by the
Japanese Tenth Army, and marched inland from
Shanghai to occupy
Hangzhou. In October 1937, this force was renamed the
Japanese Central China Area Army. After the fall of Nanjing, the
Central China Expeditionary Army was formed. On September 12, 1939, by Army Order 362, the China Expeditionary Army was formed with the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army with the
Northern China Area Army. It was headquartered in Nanjing throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War. The
North China Area Army was maintained as a subordinate unit headquartered in Beijing and was responsible for operations in the
north China plains from the
Yellow River to the
Great Wall, including
Inner Mongolia. The
Japanese Sixth Area Army covered
central and
southern China, and several independent armies reporting directly to the central command in Nanjing were used for
garrison,
strategic reserve and for specific operations. By the war's end it consisted of 1,050,000 men in one
armored and 25
infantry divisions. It also contained over 22 independent brigades; 11 infantry, 1 cavalry, and 10 mixed (combined infantry, artillery, armor and support units). Towards the end of the war much of its ammunition reserve and many of its units had been transferred into the
Pacific Theater leaving the China Expeditionary Army weak and undermanned. The China Expeditionary Army surrendered on August 15, 1945, but its troops remained armed to provide security until
Allied troops arrived. ==Commanders==