The was an

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

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

The Japanese 21st Army was formed on September 19, 1938 under the

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 ...

. It was transferred to the control of the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was ...

on September 23, 1939 and assigned the primary role in the

Canton Operation The Canton Operation (; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control ...

(the invasion of

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Province in southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

), together with the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

’s 5th Fleet. On October 12, the 18th and 104th Divisions landed, followed by command units the following day. By October 21, the provincial capital of

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

was under Japanese control. The

IJA 5th Division The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 5th Division was formed in Hiroshima in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. Its personnel w ...

continued to advance up the

Pearl River The Pearl River (, or ) is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi ('west'), Bei ('north'), and Dong ( ...

and by November 5 had taken the city of

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

. By the end of November, the entire province was under Japanese control. The Japanese 21st Army was disbanded on February 9, 1940. Its command staff joined the staff of the Japanese Southern China Area Army, and its divisions were reassigned to other areas.

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

Chief of Staff

Organization (as of February 9, 1940)

21st Army * 5th Infantry Division ** 9th Infantry Brigade *** 11th Infantry Regiment *** 41st Infantry Regiment ** 21st Infantry Brigade *** 21st Infantry Regiment *** 42nd Infantry Regiment ** 5th Mountain Artillery Regiment ** 5th Cavalry Regiment ** 5th Engineer Regiment ** 5th Transport Regiment * 18th Infantry Division ** 23rd Infantry Brigade *** 55th Infantry Regiment *** 56th Infantry Regiment ** 35th Infantry Brigade *** 114th Infantry Regiment *** 124th Infantry Regiment ** 22nd Cavalry Battalion ** 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment ** 12th Military Engineer Regiment ** 12th Transport Regiment * 38th Infantry Division ***228th Infantry Regiment *** 229th Infantry Regiment ***230th Infantry Regiment * 104th Infantry Division ** 107th Infantry Brigade *** 108th Infantry Regiment *** 170th Infantry Regiment ** 132nd Infantry Brigade *** 137th Infantry Regiment *** 161st Infantry Regiment ** 104th Field Artillery Regiment ** 104th Cavalry Regiment ** 104th Engineer Regiment ** 104th Transport Regiment * 106th Infantry Division * 111th Mountain Artillery Regiment * 10th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment * 15th Independent Military Engineer Regiment

References

* *

External links

*{{cite web , last = Wendel , first = Marcus , url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6951 , title = Axis History Factbook , work = Japanese Twenty-First Army 21 Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations disestablished in 1940