The 3rd Tank Regiment was an armored regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It served in the China/Manchuria theater throughout the war.
The 3rd Tank Regiment was created in 1937 by upgrading the 3rd Tank Battalion.[ citation needed ] 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, [1] : 351 as part of the 1st Tank Corps. The other regiment of the 1st Tank Corps was the 4th Tank Regiment, which was equipped mostly with light tanks, and the 1st Tank Corps was part of the Yasuoka Detachment under Major General Masaomi Yasuoka.
At this time the 3rd Tank Regiment had the following order of battle: [1] : 349
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. [1] : 401–403
3rd Tank Regiment was included in 1st Tank Division when the division was formed at Ningan in Manchukuo in June 1942. [2]
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.[ citation needed ]
The Battles of Khalkhin Gol were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhin Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident after Nomonhan, a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army.
The Type 94 tankette was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance, and not for direct combat. The lightweight Type 94 proved effective in China as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, and those tank battalions were equipped only with some British export models and Italian CV-33 tankettes. As with nearly all tankettes built in the 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range.
The Type 97 Light armored car Te-Ke was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. It was designed as a fast reconnaissance vehicle, and was a replacement for the earlier Type 94 tankette.
The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II.
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Tanks were initially deployed in World War I, engineered to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare. Between the two world wars, tanks were further developed. Although they had demonstrated their battlefield effectiveness, only a few nations had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France pioneered tank technology, with their models generally serving as a blueprint for other countries. However, this initial advantage would slowly diminish during the 1930s, shifting in favor of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser degree, Nazi Germany.
A tank corps was a type of Soviet armoured formation used during World War II.
The order of battle for the Nanchang Campaign
The Type 97 57 mm tank gun was originally the main armament of the Imperial Japanese Army Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank during the Second World War.
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The 1st Independent Mixed Brigade or 1st Mixed Brigade (獨立混成第1旅團) was an experimental combined arms formation of the Imperial Japanese Army. In July 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the brigade was known as the Sakai Brigade, for its commander, Lt. General Koji Sakai. The brigade participated in Battle of Taiyuan in late 1937. After being promoted lieutenant general Masaomi Yasuoka took command from 1938 to 1939.
The Type 97 Shinhōtō Chi-Ha was a Japanese medium tank used in World War II that was an upgrade to the original Type 97 Chi-Ha. The new version was designated Type 97-Kai ("improved"), Shinhōtō Chi-Ha or simply "Type 97/47". Armed with a Type 1 47 mm tank gun, this design was considered to be the best Japanese tank to have seen combat service during the Pacific War. It first saw combat service at Corregidor Island in the Philippines in 1942.
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The 4th Tank Regiment was a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.