The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo from the Russo-Japanese War until the end of World War II.
History
Russo-Japanese War The Japanese 4th Army was initially raised on June 24, 1904, in the midst of the Russo-Japanese War under the command of General Nozu Michitsura out of various reserve elements, to provide support and additional manpower in the Japanese drive towards Mukden in the closing stages of the war against Imperial Russia. It was disbanded at Mukden on January 17, 1906, after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth and the end of the war.
Second Sino-Japanese War After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Fourth Army was raised again as a garrison force to guard the northern borders of Manchukuo against possible incursions by the Soviet Red Army. It was based at Bei'an, the capital of a northern Manchukuo province of the same name, that was heavily fortified with various ground emplacements. The Fourth Army afterwards came under the operational command of the Japanese First Area Army under the overall command of the Kwantung Army. As the war situation in the southeast Asia and China fronts of World War II worsened against the Japanese, experienced men and equipment were siphoned off from the Fourth Army to reinforce other units, leaving it largely hollowed out by the start of 1945.
During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in the final days of World War II, the Japanese Fourth Army was absolutely no match for the experienced, battle-hardened Soviet armored and mechanized infantry divisions, who quickly overran or circumvented the Japanese defenses, and its poorly equipped and poorly trained forces were driven back to Harbin by the time of the surrender of Japan. Many of its surviving troops became Japanese POWs in the Soviet Union.
List of Commanders
Commanding officer Name From To1 General Nozu Michitsura30 June 1904 12 January 1906X Disbanded 1 Lieutenant General Kesago Nakajima15 July 1938 1 August 19392 Lieutenant General Jun Ushiroku1 August 1939 28 September 19403 Lieutenant General 28 October 1940 15 October 19414 Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama15 October 1941 21 September 19425 Lieutenant General 21 September 1942 7 February 19446 Lieutenant General 7 February 1944 23 March 19457 Lieutenant General 23 March 1945 September 1945
Chief of Staff Name From To1 Major General Uehara Yusaku30 June 1904 23 January 1906X Disbanded 1 Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi15 July 1938 1 December 19392 Lieutenant General Masao Yoshizumi1 December 1939 9 September 19403 Lieutenant General Hiroshi Watanabe9 September 1940 7 July 19414 Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi7 July 1941 1 December 19415 Lieutenant General Hiroshi Watanabe1 December 1941 1 August 19426 Lieutenant General Kohei Takeshi1 August 1942 11 September 19437 Major General Saburo Hagi11 September 1943 26 December 19448 Major General Bujo Ono26 December 1944 September 1945
References
External links