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 Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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 10 July 1945 in

Mishan Mishan () is a county-level city in the southeast of Heilongjiang Province, China, bordering Russia's Primorsky Krai to the south and southeast. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Jixi. History Early medieval histor ...

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 134th, 135th, 136th, 137th, 138th, 139th, 148th and 149th divisions. The nucleus for the formation were the 2nd (

Suifenhe Suifenhe () is a county-level city in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located where the former Chinese Eastern Railway crosses the border with Russia's town of Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai. In January 2014, Suife ...

) (or 3rd), 4th (

Hulin Hulin () is a county-level city on the Muling River in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. With a population of around 200,000, it is under the administration of Jixi. Nearby are Lake Xingkai, to the southwest, the ...

) border guards groups, 46th transport guards group and 77th Independent Mixed Brigade.

Action

The ''135th division'' took the defensive sector previously occupied by the 11th division and later by 77th Independent Mixed Brigade. With the start of the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

9 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 ...

immediately pierced in the sector of ''135th division'', manned by 15th border guards group at Hutou. The 15th border guards group was assigned to ''135th division'' at the beginning of the battle. Nonetheless, because of the more threatening Soviet breakthrough at

, two infantry battalions were detached from the ''135th division'' 9 August 1945 and were reassigned to the 124th division. The ''135th division'', catch off-guard, with majority of officers attending a war game at

Yangming District Yangming District () is a district of the prefecture-level city of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province, China. Administrative divisions Yangming District is divided into 4 subdistricts and 4 townships. ;3 subdistricts * Yangming (), Qianjin () ...

was ordered to withdraw to

in the evening 10 August 1945. 15 August 1945 it was ordered to retreat further to

Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later ...

, and finally order to surrender was received 17 August 1945 as the part of the

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 ...

. The lack of equipment was severe. Some of the required bayonets and swords of the division were forged locally from the available material like the steel salvaged from automotive suspensions. The artillery of the ''135th division'' was the worst among 5th army, with only about two-thirds complement represented by

Type 41 75 mm Cavalry Gun The Type 41 75 mm cavalry gun was a Japanese field gun first accepted into service in 1908. The ''Type 41'' designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the 41st year of Emperor Meiji's reign (1908).War Department TM-E-30-480 ''Han ...

s, trench mortars and other miscellaneous weapons. Before the

, the

Kwantung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

command has estimated the ''135th division'' being at 15% of the nominal combat strength. The ''135th division'' has suffered 1631 men killed during the short campaign. The majority of the troops of the ''135th division'' were taken prisoner by

and sent to the 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.135th Division (Shinshin)
/ref>

Notes and references

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第135師団 (日本軍), accessed 8 July 2016 * Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle'', 1937–1945 vols Allentown, PA: 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:135th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) 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

Action

See also

Notes and references