In September 1939 the 1st Guards Brigade of the Japanese Imperial Guards Division was split off and transferred to South China to became known as the Guards Mixed Brigade. It took with it the 1st and 2nd Guards Infantry Regiments, the Guards Cavalry Regiment, and about half of the other support and service units. There it defended against the Chinese 1939-40 winter offensive and participated in the later part of the Battle of South Guangxi.
In October 1940, the Guards Mixed Brigade joined other Japanese units occupying French Indochina. In April 1941 it returned to Tokyo, but did not re-join the Imperial Guards Division.
In June 1943 the 1st Guards Division was formed from the Guards Mixed Brigade in Tokyo.
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Weak men must fall; for heaven still guards the right.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Rational free spirits are the light brigade who go on ahead and reconnoitre the ground which the heavy brigade of the orthodox will eventually occupy.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)