Yama County Wakuhiro was also one of the Japanese Army Colonels who died in " Nomenkan Battle ". He was the captain of the 64th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Division at that time. He was also the first Japanese Army Colonel to arrive in the Nomenkan area to fight. As the highest commander of the "Shan County Detachment", the Soviet army led by Zhukov began the counterattack, the "Shan County Detachment" was surrounded and annihilated by the Soviet army.Yama County Wakuhiro committed suicide in the early morning of August 29, 1939, under the desperate situation of exhaustion of ammunition and food and hopeless breaking through.
Yama Prefecture Takehim
Yama Prefecture Takehim (1893-1939) is from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the 26th Infantry Department of the Japanese Army Non-Commissioner School on May 28, 1914. He was with Okamoto Tomi, Ouchizu , Miyazaki Shinsaku, Arimiya Sumita, Nakanagataro, Wakamatsu Shiichi, Hirano Yiichi , Rakyu Shinjiro and others. He was admitted to the 38th Infantry Department of the Army University on December 26, 1923. He also graduated from the 38th Infantry Department of the Army University with Okamoto Yoshikiro Kimura, Matsujiro Kimura, Junichi Tasaka, Uzawa Nagato, Mitsuzo Goto, and Wakamatsu Shiichi, and others.
After graduating from Army University, Yama Prefecture Takehiko was promoted to Army Captain until he was promoted to Army Colonel on July 15, 1938, and was transferred to the Japanese Kwantung Army, and went to Hailar to serve as the captain of the 64th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Division. It took him twelve years to go from Army Captain to Army Colonel.
Japanese army stationed in Hailar
Japanese 23rd Division was formed in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was directly transferred to the Hailar area of China to replace the defense of the former cavalry group and serve as a security task against the Soviet Union. The division was under the jurisdiction of the 64th Infantry Regiment, the 71st Infantry Regiment and the 72nd Infantry Regiment, and was appointed by Dao Taro Komatsuhara. The division commander, Ouenzi, is the chief of staff, and the 23rd Infantry Regiment Command is the commander of Kobayashi Hiroichi. The division command is directly under the Search 23rd Regiment, the 17th Regiment of Field Artillery, the 23rd Regiment of Engineers, the 23rd Regiment of the Independent Field Artillery, the 13th Battalion of Independent Field Artillery, and the health team, the communication team, the drug manufacturing training center, the weapons service team, the sick horse factory, the epidemic prevention and water supply department, the 1st Field Hospital and the 4th Field Hospital, the total strength is about 15,000.
On May 11, 1939, in the Nomenkan area on the border between China and Mongolia, more than a dozen Mongolian cavalry crossed the Halaha River and to "Manchukuo" to graz and patrol. The puppet Manchurian border guards believed it was a cross-border provocation, so they immediately drove away. The Mongolian cavalry was forced to retreat back to the west bank of the Halaha River. The next day, more than 60 Mongolian cavalry entered this area again, once again triggering a conflict between the two sides.
In response to the cross-border behavior of Mongolian cavalry, the 23rd Division Command followed the combat plan formulated by Kanto Army Command and sent troops to the Nomenkan area on May 13, with the search team of the 23rd Division as the basis for advance troops, including the 1st infantry battalion of the Wuguang Regiment of Shanxian County, led by Dongbabaihua Zhongzuo, so it is also called the "East Detachment". When the "East Detachment" arrived near the China-Mongolian border, the Mongolian army was no longer visible.
Japanese cavalry unit
When the "East Detachment" retreated to Hailar, the Mongolian army appeared near the border again. Such capricious provocation made Daotaro Komatsuhara, Ouchi and others very angry. On May 22, on the basis of the "East Detachment", the 64th infantry revolt was added to form the "Yama County Detachment". The command of Colonel Wuguang of Yama County rushed to the Ganzhuer Temple in the Nomenkan area. That night, a few troops were sent to sneak into the area west of Nomenkan to conduct close reconnaissance, and were ready to drive the enemy and fight.
On the evening of May 27, Wu Guang of Shan County led the main force of the "Shan County Detachment" to set off, arrived near the Qi 37 Highland at dawn the next day, and launched an attack at 5:00 the next day to launch a fierce battle with the Su-Meng Army. After a day of fierce fighting, the ammunition carried by the "Shan County Detachment" was almost exhausted, and the two supply teams responsible for transporting ammunition and supplies were surrounded and annihilated by the Su-Meng Army's roundabout troops. Due to the lack of ammunition and supplies, the "Shan County Detachment" fell into a dilemma and the combat situation was even more difficult.
Nomenkan Front Japanese army
Since the morning of May 29, the Soviet and Mongolian army began to fight back, and the "Shan County Detachment" was forced to enter defensive operations. Due to the inability to supplement ammunition and supplies, Wu Guang of Shan County led the remnants of the troops to break through on the night of the 30th and retreated to the Ganzhuer Temple to rest and fight again.
In early June 1939, the two sides of the war were in a stalemate. In order to confuse the reconnaissance of the Soviet reconnaissance plane, the officers and soldiers under the Wuguang organization of Shanxian County set up camouflage positions on the front lines of Ganzhuer Temple, Amugulang and General Temple, and also sent officers and soldiers bottled soda and filled gasoline after drinking, as a molten bottle to deal with the Soviet tank .
Soon after, the 11th Tank Brigade and the 7th Armored Brigade of the Soviet Army arrived on the east bank of the Halaha River and formed a defense system with infantry, cavalry and artillery. The two sides started artillery battles across the bank, and the Soviet artillery gained the upper hand. The Japanese army also sent artillery troops that could be mobilized by Kanto Army to the Nomenkan area, and were unified in command of artillery commander Hidetaro Uchiyama to engage in artillery battles with the Soviet army.
Uchiyama Hidetaro
Starting from late June, Japanese reinforcements continued to arrive in the Nomenkan area, especially aviation troops participated in the operation, and launched a crazy counterattack on the Soviet-Mongolian Army's airports, frontier positions and surrounding towns. As the commander-in-chief of the front line, Omatsuhara Daotaro commanded more than 40,000 Japanese troops to carry out a large-scale general attack on July 2, which was blocked by the Soviet-Mongolian Army with fierce artillery fire. The "Yama Prefecture Detachment" as the vanguard attacking force suffered heavy casualties and was blocked north of the Barkigaal Heights.
At dawn on July 4, 1939, in order to prevent the Soviet and Mongolian army from anti-encirclement and annihilation, the Japanese army decided to withdraw the troops on the west bank of the Harha River to the east bank. However, during the retreat, they were suddenly shot by Soviet long-range howitzers. Onezi, the chief of staff of the 23rd Division, died on the spot because he was hit by a shell in the chest.
Komatsuhara Daotaro
Faced with the death of Chief of Staff Ouchi, Komatsuhara Daotaro organized a night attack on July 7. The "Yama Prefecture Detachment" attacked as a left-wing assault force. The Soviet army had to withdraw from the frontline position. The "Yama Prefecture Detachment" then occupied the position. However, after dawn, the Soviet army began a strong counterattack. Under the attack of Soviet aircraft and artillery fire, the "Yama Prefecture Detachment" had to give up the seized position. Since then, it has organized many night attacks, but they all returned in vain.
After more than half a month of preparation, the Japanese army launched a full-line general attack on July 23. Uchiyama Hidetaro commanded the artillery and bombarded the Soviet positions with no ammunition. In the first round of artillery battle alone, more than 200 tons of shells were poured into the Soviet positions, setting the highest record of the consumption of ammunition in the Japanese war history.
Japanese artillery
"Shanxian Detachment" and other infantry corps immediately launched an attack, but every time they attacked the Soviet front-line subway wire, they were blocked by Soviet artillery fire. Almost no Japanese army came back alive. The two sides fought fiercely until the dusk of July 25, and the Japanese army had to be forced to enter defensive operations.
As the war continued, the battlefield situation became increasingly unfavorable to the Japanese army. The turning point was on August 20, Zhukov commanded the Soviet army to start a large-scale counterattack. The powerful Soviet army crushed the arrogant Japanese army, and the central position defended by the "Shan County Detachment" was under the uninterrupted attack of the Soviet army.
Ogisu's squad
Ogisu's squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad squad
On the morning of August 26, the Soviet army launched a full-scale attack and began to encircle and annihilate the "Yama Prefecture Detachment". The encirclement continued to shrink. The Japanese positions were filled with corpses, and the trenches were covered with wounded people. The "Yama Prefecture Detachment" was trapped in the encirclement. The reinforcements sent by Daotaro Komatsuhara also stopped because they were intercepted by the Soviet army.
Nomenkan Front Soviet Army
Fierce battle until the afternoon of August 28, Shan County Wu Guang himself was seriously injured. The entire "Shan County Detachment" was in despair. At 18 pm, Shan County Wu Guang left a suicide note to the infantry commander of the 23rd Division. At 2:00 a.m. on the 29th, Shan County Wu Guang ordered the burning of the corps flag and combat documents, etc., and issued an order to break through the night darkness. In the end, Shan County Wu Guang committed suicide in despair to avoid being captured by the Soviet army. On the same day, he was chased by the Jin army major general. He received the fourth-level medal of the gold medal .
