The was an

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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 the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

History

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

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the 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 equivalent to the United States ...

. 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 headqu ...

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 Empire of Japan, Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade Republic of China (1912-1949), China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world ...

(the invasion of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Province in southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

), 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, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

’s 5th Fleet. On October 12, the

18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

and 104th Divisions landed, followed by command units the following day. By October 21, the provincial capital of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

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 we ...

continued to advance up the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

and by November 5 had taken the city of

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, 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 ...

. 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 Field armies of Japan, S Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 ...

, 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