Reading the orders of battle for the Second Sino-Japanese War, it seems that in the major battles, the Chinese side consistently fields large numbers of divisions, but not as many total troops as that may suggest. It seems that the Chinese divisions are much smaller, especially compared to the opposing Japanese.
Divisions don't really have a standard size since they can be organised differently but generally consist of between 10000 and 20000 troops. But a closer look at some orders of battle shows that the Chinese have much less troops than the expected ratio:
- Shanghai:
- NRA: "700,000 troops in 75 divisions and 9 brigades", <9333 per division
- IJA: "300,000 troops in 8 divisions and 6 brigades", <37500 per division
- Wuhan:
- NRA: "1,100,000 (120 divisions)", <9166 per division
- IJA: 350,000 troops, 16 divisions, <21875 per division
- Nanchang:
- NRA: "200,000 troops in 39 Divisions", <5128 per division
- IJA: "120,000 troops in 3 Divisions", <40000 per division
Not all troops belong to divisions, so the actual ratio is even smaller than those calculations.
Why were the division sizes so different, with the Chinese ones much smaller than typical for divisions?
2月中旬,日军集中第十一军所辖之第六、第一 0 一、第一 0 六、第一一六等 4 个师团附战车及海军陆战队等部,作进攻南昌之准备 - 江西省军事志
| "In Mid February, the Japanese concentrated the 6th, 101st, 106th and 116th, four divisions and tanks as well as marines, for attacking Nanchang. - The Military History of Jiagnxi Province" – Semaphore♦ Dec 23 '15 at 3:42