Ronin at War: 3rd Sensha Rentai of Colonel Kiyotake Yoshimaru

The 3rd Sensha Rentai (3rd Tank Regiment) of the Japanese Imperial Army was created in August 1937 in Manchukuo, as an upgrade of the 3rd Tank Battalion after the Marco Polo Bridge incident.
Its first commander was Colonel Yamazaki Mikichi.

The regiment consisted on the regimental headquarters, the 1st tank company, 2nd tank company, 3rd tank company, 4th tank company and the repair and replacements company.

Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks (pinterest)

On 31st January 1939, Lieutenant Colonel Kiyotake Yoshimaru (born 28th October 1892) took command of the 3rd Tank Regiment. He was later promoted to Colonel on 9th March 1939. When Kwantung Army decided to bring reinforcements into the Nomonhan Incident area, the 3rd and 4th Tank Regiments were assigned to form the 1st Tank Corps which was included into the Yasuoka Detachment.

For its combat in Nomonhan, the Regiment fielded:

26 Type 98 I-Go medium tanks.
4 Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks.
4 Type 97 tankettes.
7 Type 94 tankettes.

Type 89 I-Go medium tank (pinterest).

Colonel Kiyotake Yoshimaru commanded himself a new brand Type 97 Chi-Ha in the first action for the newly developed tank model. Due to the combination of Japanese noneffective low-velocity guns incapable of penetrate the Soviet tanks, and its light armor being vulnerable to the Soviet high-velocity guns, the 3rd Tank Regiment was badly damaged.

Colonel Yoshimaru was killed in action on 3rd July when its Type 97 tank was destroyed by Soviet guns after being entangled with piano wire. He was posthumously promoted to Major-General.

Type 97 Te-Ke (tanksinworldwar2.com)

The 3rd Tank Regiment remained in China for the rest of the war as part of the 11th Army until its capitulation in August 1945. Throughout its existence, its commanders were: