During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese military commanders frequently faced challenges requiring reconnaissance, rapid message transfer, and the utilization of maneuver warfare advantages.
However, the widespread adoption of the machine gun during the First World War revealed the significant vulnerability of horseback troops against defensive positions.
Simultaneously, the rapid expansion of automobile production led to numerous experiments with motorized and mechanized cavalry units worldwide.
With the adoption of the Nanshin-ron strategy for the Pacific War, reconnaissance regiments initially saw success during the Japanese conquest of Burma.
This led to the frequent deployment of infantry forces to outlying islands while reconnaissance regiments remained on the mainland.
Although the Japanese army initially fielded 40 reconnaissance regiments, only 23 remained by the war's end, with 9 of them significantly under-strength.
During the early stages of the Japanese conquest of Burma, the reconnaissance regiment of the 56th Division played an active role at the spearhead of the advance.
The reconnaissance regiment of the 1st Division, reduced to a headquarters, infantry company, and machine gun platoon without any vehicles (comprising about 200 men in total), landed in Ormoc in late November 1944.