Establishment After the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 and the creation of the
puppet state of
Manchukuo on 18 February 1932, they began raising an army to help them police the local population. The Manchukuoan armed forces were officially established by the Army and Navy Act of 15 April 1932 to maintain order in the new country. Former
Qing dynasty emperor
Puyi, who was later known by the era name Kangde upon his ascension to the throne of Manchukuo in 1934, had supreme command of the land, naval, and air forces. The Imperial Army's initial recruits came from the former
Chinese Nationalist troops in the army of
Zhang Xueliang, the
warlord who had ruled Manchuria prior to the Japanese invasion. Large numbers of Chinese soldiers had surrendered to the
Imperial Japanese Army and were recruited
en masse into the new Manchukuoan forces. About 60,000 of these troops gave themselves up and many more were later absorbed into the Imperial Army. Other recruits included local bandit groups and volunteers. The draft of soldiers did not begin until April 1940 and was not officially signed into law until 1941, which allowed every able-bodied male between the ages of eighteen and forty to be called up, of all ethnic groups. All youths were required to get a physical and then 10% of them were selected for service. Education, physical fitness, and their families' loyalty to the regime were things taken into consideration for selecting conscripts. When this was not enough, the Japanese forcibly drafted males from across the country into the army, and many efforts were taken to foster a Manchukuoan patriotic spirit among the troops. The number of insurgents in Manchukuo swelled from 130,000 initially to more than 300,000. The problem became so severe that the Japanese launched a number of anti-guerrilla operations throughout the early and mid-1930s. The operations saw the usage of Imperial Army troops in support of the IJA and were largely successful, confining the remaining insurgents to the northeast of the country and greatly reducing their numbers. They were complicated by the fact that many of the Manchukuoan troops had little loyalty to their new regime and frequently switched sides, or warned the bandits of the coming attacks. These operations often involved a smaller vanguard of Japanese troops doing much of the fighting with a larger Manchukuoan contingent that played a supporting role. A law enacted in September 1932 titled "Provisional Punishment of Bandits" allowed for captured insurgents to be executed. The War Ministry of Manchukuo provided monetary rewards for officers of units that killed insurgents. The Imperial Army suffered significant casualties during the period from 1932 to 1935 during these operations, losing 1,470 killed and 1,261 wounded. The first campaign conducted by Manchukuoan troops independently of the Japanese did not occur until 1936, when some 16,000 men took part in fighting the 1st Route Army, capturing or killing more than 2,000 insurgents. Some of the notable early operations that Manchukuoan troops were involved in included: •
Subjugation of the Anti-Jilin Army (March–June 1932): A campaign undertaken by Japanese forces and several Manchukuoan units to clear out 20,000 Nationalist troops from the
Jilin region. The units involved were the 7th and 8th Infantry Brigades along with the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades, for a total of 7,000 men. Several ships of the River Defense Fleet also took part. The Nationalists were pushed back to the north of the province and the
Sungari River was secured. •
Second Dongbiandao Subjugation (October 1932): The Fengtian Guard Army cleared a district of guerrillas, killing 270 men and taking another 1,000 prisoner. About 8,000 Manchukuoan troops acted as support for a much smaller Japanese force. When the
Second Sino–Japanese War broke out in July 1937, Nationalist Army units attacked Manchukuo, and in response the Imperial Army was partially mobilized. Several units were deployed along the border. Some clashes took place with Nationalist troops throughout August, and in most cases the Manchukuoans ended up being defeated. The arrival of a Japanese Colonel Misaki who took command of the Manchukuoan units improved the situation somewhat. Their performance improved during the campaign, but they took considerable losses nonetheless. The Imperial Army lost 60 killed and 143 missing in action. The Manchukuoan Imperial Army saw some action against the
Soviet Union during the
Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, which played out largely in the Manchuria region. When the
Battle of Lake Khasan occurred in the summer of 1938, Manchukuoan units were mainly used as reserves and saw little fighting, and reportedly some regiments mutinied during the battle. In May 1939, skirmishes broke out between the
Mongolian cavalry (Mongolia was an ally of the Soviet Union) and Manchukuoan troops. The battle escalated as both sides brought in reinforcements and after four months of fighting the
Battle of Khalkhin Gol ended up being a defeat for the Japanese and Manchukuo. About 18,000 Manchukuoans took part in the battle, mainly cavalrymen of the 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments. They were initially held in reserve and were sent to the front line in July shortly after being reinforced to divisional strength. These units were positioned on the left flank of the Kwantung Army as it advanced towards the
Khalkhin Gol river. The 1st Cavalry Regiment was then sent into battle in the northern sector in August as the situation deteriorated for the Japanese. Although the Manchukuoan units did not perform well overall, the Kwantung Army relied on them due to its desperation for manpower. After the conflict, the Japanese believed that the Manchukuo Imperial Army performed decently and saw reason to expand it. Most of the fighting was undertaken by elite units while the majority of the army was still considered to be too unreliable by the Japanese. The average Manchukuoan units were used for basic security and guard duties. Some attempts were taken to improve the army, however, and it did receive heavier artillery and armor from Japan. When the Soviets renounced their
non-aggression pact with Japan, preparations began for the coming invasion of Manchukuo. Although the Kangde Emperor's army was reasonably well-trained and decently-armed by 1945 it was still no match for the much larger and more experienced
Red Army. Its armored corps, consisting of some elderly
tankettes and armored cars, did not compare to the much larger Soviet tank forces. The main strength of the Manchukuoan army by that time was its cavalry and that branch did see much fighting during the invasion. The Soviet invasion force taking part in the
Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation entered the state on 8 August 1945, consisting of 76 battle-hardened divisions from the
European front, and including 4,500 tanks. The massive force easily swept aside both the depleted Kwantung Army and its Manchukuoan allies. In the early days of the assault small units of Manchukuoan cavalry saw action against the Red Army. When the Soviets reached
Hailar they quickly forced the Japanese and Manchukuoan garrison in the city to surrender. The city of Fuchin fell on 11 August despite Manchukuoan and Japanese resistance, forcing them to abandon the city and retreat to the south and east. Other units in the region continued to fight until 13 August. The Manchukuoan 7th Infantry Brigade surrendered the city of
Jiamusi on 16 August. Manchukuoan cavalry on the right flank of the front engaged the Soviets and Mongolian troops in
Inner Mongolia. On 14 August, this force defeated a small Manchukuoan cavalry unit on the way towards its objectives of
Kalgan and
Dolonnor. Among those troops were also some
White Russians. However, the majority of the former Manchukuoan Imperial Army remained in the countryside. Many of them joined the Communists since the Nationalists murdered those former Manchukuoan troops that they ran into, and as a result these former puppet troops provided an important source of manpower for the Communist Party in the region. Perhaps more importantly they also brought with them large amounts of weapons and equipment. == Weapons and equipment ==