The 200th Mech. division was formed to absorb the hotch potch of vehicles accumulated from western sources (that had been acting as independent units) in order to provide a more effective response to face the Japanese armies. Here are the 1st and 2nd (all three battalions were under the command of Xu Ting-yao): 1st Armoured Battalion (headquarters in Shanghai) 32 x Vickers-Carden-Lloyd Amphibious Tank Model 1931 and Vickers 6 ton E tanks 2nd Armoured Battalion (headquarters in Shanghai) 17 Vickers 6 ton E tanks, 8 VCL machine gun carriers and 4 VCL Light Tanks, 4 Renault ZB light tanks (which I suspect is the export designation of the MG-armed Renault UE carriersold to China) totalling 32 tanks 2nd Battalion formed in 1935, destroyed in the battle for Shanghai 13th August to 9th November 1937. 3rd Tank Battalion 15 x PzKpfw I/A light tanks (from Germany) 20 x Fiat CV33 tankettes (from Italy) 18 x Sdkfz 221 and 222 armd cars (from Germany) Formed in 1935; destroyed in the Battle of Nanking (4th to 13th Dec 1937). The above battalions were resupplied with new supplies from the Soviets which arrived in 1938: 87 x T-26 Model 1933 light tanks FAI and BA-6 armoured cars The 200th Mech Div was almost destroyed in the Battle of Kun-lun-guan (Kunlun Pass) in 1939 and was reformed as a motorised infantry division. The 200th Div (Mot) then went on to fight in the 1st Burma Campaign (7th March to 11th May 1942) under the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Back to Frontline Vol. 1 Iss. 3 Table of Contents Back to Frontline List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Rolfe Hedges This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com