The was a
field army of the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
History
The 10th Area Army was originally formed out of the
Taiwan Army of Japan
The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army recruited from, and stationed on, the island of Taiwan as a garrison force.
History
Following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki transferred control of Taiwan from Qing dynasty C ...
on September 29, 1944 under the
Imperial General Headquarters as part of the last desperate defense effort by the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
to deter possible landings of
Allied forces in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
during
Operation Downfall (or in Japanese terminology). It was headquartered in
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
. and consisted of the
32nd army,
40th army, and other smaller units.
As priorities after
Battle of Okinawa shifted, the
40th army headquarters were reassigned to control the units being raised in
Kagoshima Prefecture, and the former units of
40th army were subordinated directly to the ''10th Area Army'' from 14 May 1945.
As with similar field armies raised on the
Japanese home islands
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chin ...
during this time, the ''10th Area Army'' consisted mostly of poorly trained
reservists
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...
,
conscripted
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...
students and
home guard militia. In addition, the Japanese had organized the
Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps — which included all healthy men aged 15–60 and women 17–40 — to perform combat support, and ultimately combat jobs. Weapons, training, and uniforms were generally lacking: some men were armed with nothing better than muzzle-loading
muskets,
longbow
A longbow (known as warbow in its time, in contrast to a hunting bow) is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow and are circular or D-shaped in cross ...
s, or bamboo spears; nevertheless, they were expected to make do with what they had.
[Frank, ''Downfall'', p. 188–9. Bauer and Coox, ''OLYMPIC VS KETSU-GO''.]
The ''10th Area Army'' was
demobilized
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
at the
surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945 without having seen combat in Taiwan, although units transferred to the
Ryukyu islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...
for the
Battle of Okinawa were annihilated by American forces.
List of Commanders
References
Books
*
External links
*
Notes
{{reflist
10
Military units and formations established in 1944
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945