The Inner Mongolian Army was first formed by Prince Demchugdongrub with his personal bodyguard of 900 men in 1929. Although only armed with rifles and a couple of field guns from the Mukden arsenal, a gift of the Young Marshal (Zhang Xueliang) in 1929. His force became very efficient with the assistance of advisors from the Japanese Army. It was later expanded to 9 Divisions (8 of Cavalry) with 10,000 men for the Suiyuan Campaign of 1936 with the addition of Manchukuoan Mongol irregulars from Jehol under Li Shou-hsin, and various Mongol irregular troops from Chahar, and Suiyuan, bandits and Chinese deserters. Wang Ying lead a force of 6,000 Chinese troops in four brigades called the Grand Han Righteous Army.
After the defeat in the Suiyuan Campaign in 1936 the army was reformed into eight small Cavalry Divisions with a total force of about 20,000 men. It participated with the Japanese Army in the conquest of Suiyuan in 1937. Elements were also involved in the battle of Taiyuan.
Famous quotes containing the word army:
“These semi-traitors [Union generals who were not hostile to slavery] must be watched.—Let us be careful who become army leaders in the reorganized army at the end of this Rebellion. The man who thinks that the perpetuity of slavery is essential to the existence of the Union, is unfit to be trusted. The deadliest enemy the Union has is slavery—in fact, its only enemy.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)