The Guandong Army again recklessly committed Japan to mili-tary action at Nomonhan in 1939, this time against the Soviet Union, whose forces badly bloodied the ill-prepared Japanese.. C
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their local leaders continuously pressed for more expansion into northern China When Tokyo refused permission, they moved anyway All-out invasion of north-ern China was assayed in 1937 following production of another false casus belli,
this one created by the neighboring North China Garrison Army: the Marco Polo Bridge Incident The Guandong Army again recklessly committed Japan to mili-tary action at Nomonhan in 1939, this time against the Soviet Union, whose forces
badly bloodied the ill-prepared Japanese The German Army fought extensively
in northern and central China during the opening campaigns of the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) During the Pacifi c War it was held in reserve against a possible Soviet strike, which fi nally came with the Manchurian offensive operation in August
1945 Crushed by the Red Army in just two weeks, the Guandong Army collapsed all along the front Its last campaign saw mass surrenders to Chinese, Mongolian, and Soviet forces
See also Imperial Japanese Army; Nanjing, Rape of; Toˉjoˉ, Hideki; Unit 731
GUARDS A unit-wide honorifi c granted to certain veteran units of the Red Army
Their men were mainly ethnic Russians Most Guards Divisions contained some formerly wounded men returning to action and valued because of their wounds as veteran and courageous soldiers, whether that was true or not
See also Guards Army; Guards Corps; Guards Division
GUARDS ARMY During 1942–1943 the Red Army granted 11 infantry armies
the collective honorifi c of “Guards” for performance in combat All were thereafter designated “Guards Armies.” 1st Guards Army was elevated on August 5, 1942 The 11th and last was designated “Guards” in April 1943 Comprised of all-Guards Corps and Guards Divisions, these elite and veteran armies were usually held in the second echelon or the Stavka reserve until a critical moment of assault, reinforce-ment, or counterattack There were no “Guards Air Armies,” but some air units were designated “Guards Aviation Corp.”
GUARDS AVIATION CORP
See Guards Army; Guards Division
GUARDS CORPS Forty out of 140 Red Army rifl e corps formed during World
War II were granted the collective honorifi c “Guards” for performance in combat Nine out of 30 mechanized corps were similarly honored, along with 12 out of 31 tank corps and 7 of 17 cavalry corps
GUARDS DIVISION The fi rst elevation of a Red Army division to “Guards
Di-vision” status was made on September 18, 1941 The honorifi c signaled outstand-ing collective conduct in battle and upheld the division as a model of defensive
courage and aggressive offensive spirit Of 430 rifl e divisions in the Red Army, over
the course of the war 117 were designated Guards Divisions Another 6 artillery