The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

. Its call-sign was the .

History

The 23rd Division was formed in Kumamoto on 4 April 1938 as the first reserve division for the Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

.

The 23rd Division was almost immediately sent to the northern frontier of Manchukuo

Manchukuo

Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...

, where replaced a cavalry brigade on garrison duties in Hailar

Hailar, Inner Mongolia

Hailar District is an urban district that serves as the seat of the prefecture-level city Hulunbuir in northeastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. Hulunbuir, due to its massive size, is a city in administrative terms only, being mainly grassland and rural. Hailar, therefore, is a de...

 (in what is now part of Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

). The 23rd Division was thus the primary Japanese division involved in the subsequent Battle of Nomonhan

Battle of Khalkhin Gol

The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield...

 against the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

's Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 from May – September 1939. In this campaign, which was a disaster for the Imperial Japanese army, the 23rd Division suffered from 11,958 men killed, (or about 80% of its combat strength), including most of its regimental commanders. Commanding general Michitaro Komatsubara

Michitaro Komatsubara

was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, during the Nomonhan Incident.-Biography:A native of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, where his father was a naval engineer, Komatsubara graduated from the 18th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1905. He served as a military attaché to Russia...

 was recalled to Japan in disgrace.

The remnants of the 23rd Division returned to Japan, and were assigned to assist the No.8 Border Defense Force (the future IJA 119th Division) in 1940. In 1944, now back up to strength, the 23rd Division was reassigned to garrison duties in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

.

However, with the situation in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 against the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

 becoming ever more precarious, the 23rd Division was reassigned to Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

, under control of the Japanese 14th Area Army. It suffered heavy losses when the convoy transporting it (Convoy HI-81

Convoy Hi-81

was the designation for a fleet of Japanese transports that carried soldiers bound for Singapore and the Philippines during World War II. The transports were escorted by a large force of surface combatants including the escort carriers Shinyo and Akitsu Maru which were sunk in the Yellow Sea by...

) was attacked in mid-November 1944. It arrived just in time to engage in combat against the Americans during the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf

Invasion of Lingayen Gulf

The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...

. At this battle, and in subsequent combat against the combined American and Philippine Commonwealth armed forces during the Battle of Luzon

Battle of Luzon

The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony The Philippines, and Mexico against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory...

 through March 1945, the 23rd Division suffered 24,508 killed in combat, out of a total strength of 29,636 men. The 23rd Division effectively ceased to exist after the Battle of Luzon.

Organization

The original Order of Battle

Order of battle

In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

of the IJA 23rd Division included:

• 23rd Infantry Brigade Group:
  • 64th Infantry Regiment (Kumamoto)
  • 71st Infantry Regiment (Kagoshima)
  • 72nd Infantry Regiment (Miyokonojo)
• 23rd Reconnaissance Regiment
  • Cavalry Troop
  • Tankette Company
• 13th Field Artillery Regiment
• 23rd Engineer Regiment
• 23rd Transport Regiment