The was an area army of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

History

On November 7, 1937 Japanese Central China Area Army (CCAA) was organized as a reinforcement expeditionary army by combining the Shanghai Expeditionary Army (SEF) and the IJA Tenth Army. General Iwane Matsui was appointed as its commander-in-chief, concurrent with his assignment as commander-in-chief of the SEF. Matsui reported directly to

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council (Japan), Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equi ...

. After the

Battle of Nanjing The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing ( zh, c=南京, p=Nánjīng), the ca ...

in December 1937, CCAA forces perpetrated the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

, in which an estimated 200,000 people were brutally murdered. The CCAA was disbanded on February 14, 1938 and its component units were reassigned to the Central China Expeditionary Army.

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

Chief of Staff

References

* *{{cite book , last = Madej , first = Victor , year = 1981 , title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 , publisher = Game Publishing Company , location = , id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW C Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Nanjing Massacre perpetrators