The was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division 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 ...

. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

was the . It was formed 16 January 1945 in Mudanjiang as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...

. It was a part of the 8 simultaneously created divisions batch comprising 121st, 122nd, 123rd, 124th, 125th, 126th, 127th and 128th divisions. The nucleus for the formation were the 1st, 2nd, and parts of 11th border guards group.

Action

Initially, the ''128th division'' was assigned to the 3rd army. The ''128th division'' headquarters were established in March 1945 at Luozigou (Lotzukou), replacing the 120th division transferred to the south of Korea. The division combat efficiency was estimated to be 20%. Immediately after the start of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria 9 August 1945 the ''128th division'' was subordinated directly to 1st area army as planned. At the same time, 132nd Independent Mixed Brigade was attached to the division. Initial Soviet attack was parred by 132nd Independent Mixed Brigade at

Dongning, Heilongjiang Dongning () is a county-level city of southeastern Heilongjiang province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native ...

, but 11 August 1945 the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

column outflanked Dongning defenders from the south and penetrated deeply into Japanese-held territory. In the evening 12 August 1945, the ''128th division'' fell back to the second line of defenses around

Huadian, Jilin Huadian () is a city in south-central Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Jilin City. Administrative divisions Subdistricts: * Minghua Subdistrict (), Yongji Subdistrict (), ...

where it stayed until

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

news reached units 16 August 1945. Although the estimated number of soldiers of ''128th division'' killed in action during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria was only 1095 men, the ''128th division'' was severely disorganized, retaining only half of combat efficiency after the brief conflict. Majority of the troops of the division were taken prisoner by the

and were taken to Siberian

labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

s in September - October 1945.128th Division (Eibu)
/ref>

Notes and references

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第128師団 (日本軍), accessed 4 July 2016 * Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle'', 1937–1945 vols Allentown, PA: 1981. Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1945 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan {{mil-unit-stub

Action

See also

Notes and references