Q:Size of a Japanese Division

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I have a problem in rating Japanese Army division.

1 Minimum Japanese Division consisted of:
2 Infantry brigade(2 regiment each)
1 Cavalry regiment
1 Artillery regiment
1 Engineer regiment
(1 Supply regiment)

Some divisions held 1 cavalry/artillery brigade instead of regiment.

Japanese thought 1 Japanese heavy division was equivalant to 1 western corps. IJN reorganized their army from 1936-, extracted an infantry regiment from most of divisions to organize new divisions. At this point, They became light(3-regiment) divisions like european ones. But still, I think they were heavy divisions compared to western standard.
(A division in a game I played consisted of 3 regiment + 1 artillery brigade.)

How do you rate a post-reorganized IJN division for HoI?

Thanks in advance

 

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Japanese divisions were light compared to US or even Eng IIRC.

But what about the mixed brigades? (Konseidan). They had 5 inf battalions so I classify them as half-strength divisions.

 

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Originally posted by Johan Jung
Japanese divisions were light compared to US or even Eng IIRC.

Thx, Johan Jung. But could you tell me more detailed information? Online documents are welcomed.

I found an IJA cavalry regiment was equivalant to a battalion in size(2-3companies). So I ignored cavalry factor except for certaion divisions which had a brigade(3CAV equivalant to a regiment). But infantry is another matter.

An IJA INF regiment held 3000-5000 soldiers. So we can roughly count the number of foot soldiers in an IJA INF division(3 INF regiments) 10000+. Do you suggest an ENG/USA INF div held, say, 20000 foot soliders? I know some IJA divisions organized later had only 2 INF regiments. But it's out of consideration as I focused on 1936 OOB now.

BTW, I read in the other thread 1HoI division held roughly 10000 soldiers. I plan to follow this guidline.

 

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By "light" I meant number of heavy guns ect ect. The japanese division had more soldiers (cannon fodder) yes.

Here is what I have found on the net:

- Japanese divisions could be between 14,000 and 32,000
troops and were commanded by lieutenant generals. A 4,000 man transport regiment is included.

- Divisional artillery regiments averaged 36 x
75mm guns, but could have as few as 27 and as many as 48. Regiments could include any mix of 75mm and 105mm guns.


Personally I include the Mixed brigades (some I combine to form a full Div) in the OoB so that Japan will have more infantry capability.

See Orbat below:

http://orbat.com/site/history/historical/japan/administrativearmy1941.html

 

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Thanks! The information you presented helps a lot.