Guards their local leaders continuously pressed for more expansion into northern China When Tokyo refused permission, they moved anyway All-out invasion of northern China was assayed in 1937 following production of another false casus belli, this one created by the neighboring North China Garrison Army: the Marco Polo Bridge Incident The Guandong Army again recklessly committed Japan to military action at Nomonhan in 1939, this time against the Soviet Union, whose forces badly bloodied the ill-prepared Japanese The German Army fought extensively in northern and central China during the opening campaigns of the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) During the Pacific War it was held in reserve against a possible Soviet strike, which finally came with the Manchurian offensive operation in August 1945 Crushed by the Red Army in just two weeks, the Guandong Army collapsed all along the front Its last campaign saw mass surrenders to Chinese, Mongolian, and Soviet forces See also Imperial Japanese Army; Nanjing, Rape of; Toˉjoˉ, Hideki; Unit 731 GUARDS A unit-wide honorific granted to certain veteran units of the Red Army Their men were mainly ethnic Russians Most Guards Divisions contained some formerly wounded men returning to action and valued because of their wounds as veteran and courageous soldiers, whether that was true or not See also Guards Army; Guards Corps; Guards Division GUARDS ARMY During 1942–1943 the Red Army granted 11 infantry armies the collective honorific of “Guards” for performance in combat All were thereafter designated “Guards Armies.” 1st Guards Army was elevated on August 5, 1942 The 11th and last was designated “Guards” in April 1943 Comprised of all-Guards Corps and Guards Divisions, these elite and veteran armies were usually held in the second echelon or the Stavka reserve until a critical moment of assault, reinforcement, or counterattack There were no “Guards Air Armies,” but some air units were designated “Guards Aviation Corp.” GUARDS AVIATION CORP See Guards Army; Guards Division GUARDS CORPS Forty out of 140 Red Army rifle corps formed during World War II were granted the collective honorific “Guards” for performance in combat Nine out of 30 mechanized corps were similarly honored, along with 12 out of 31 tank corps and of 17 cavalry corps GUARDS DIVISION The first elevation of a Red Army division to “Guards Division” status was made on September 18, 1941 The honorific signaled outstanding collective conduct in battle and upheld the division as a model of defensive courage and aggressive offensive spirit Of 430 rifle divisions in the Red Army, over the course of the war 117 were designated Guards Divisions Another artillery 482