The Japanese Empire, which showed great interest in the coastal and northeastern regions of China, took advantage of the 1930s. the weakening of the "Celestial Empire", torn apart by internal contradictions, and partially occupied the Chinese territory. In the north and northeast of China, two formally independent states were created, which were called "puppet" states in the Soviet press. These were the "Great Manchu Empire", or Manchukuo, and its much less famous brother Mengjiang. We will tell you about the historical twists and turns of the latter and his armed forces below.
Inner Mongolia
The territory where in 1935-1936. the pro-Japanese state of Mengjiang appeared, called Inner Mongolia. Today it is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, occupying 12% of its territory and surpassing France and Germany combined in area. Inner Mongolia is the Mongolian plateau, steppe and desert areas. From time immemorial, these lands were inhabited by the warlike Mongol tribes, who periodically were part of the large states created by the Mongol dynasties. In the 17th century, the lands of Inner Mongolia became part of the Qing Empire. The Mongols, by virtue of a similar lifestyle and worldview, acted as allies of the Manchus in the conquest of China and in the Qing empire occupied a privileged position.
Nevertheless, by the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, as the national self-consciousness of the Mongols grew, the national liberation movement in Mongolia also intensified. It led to the formation of an independent state under the leadership of Bogdo Khan in Outer Mongolia (modern Mongolian republic). The population of Inner Mongolia, as well as the Mongols of the Qinghai province, advocated the annexation of their lands to the created Mongol state, but China opposed this. However, after the Xinhai Revolution, China did not represent a single force and was torn apart by internal contradictions, so that in its outlying territories like Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia, the power of the central administration was very weak.
At the same time, the territory of Inner Mongolia was included in the zone of interests of Japan, which sought to strengthen its influence in the region, including by playing on national contradictions. The Mongols and Manchus, who considered themselves disadvantaged and discriminated against after the Xinhai Revolution, were opposed by the Japanese to the Chinese majority, and for this they took on the idea of creating two "independent" states under their control - the Manchu and the Mongol.
For the Japanese Empire, the lands of Inner Mongolia were of particular interest because they were rich in natural resources. Including iron ore necessary for the military industry and mechanical engineering, as well as coal. In 1934, coal mining was organized with its subsequent export to Japan - from the Suiyuan province. In 1935-1936. the Japanese military command began to incite anti-Chinese protests on the territory of Inner Mongolia. Since China granted the status of autonomy to Inner Mongolia in April 1934, the Mongol elites wanted real power and were supported by the Japanese in this. The latter rightly relied on the local feudal nobility, opposing the "primordial" Inner Mongolia, which preserves old political and religious traditions, with the Mongolian People's Republic - the former Outer Mongolia, which was under the control of the USSR.
Mengjiang
On December 22, 1935 (there is a version that a little later), the independence of Inner Mongolia was proclaimed. On May 12, 1936, the Mongolian military government was formed. Naturally, Japan was behind this process. Stimulating the Mongolian elite to proclaim the political sovereignty of Inner Mongolia, Japan relied on the famous politician and major feudal lord Prince De Wang. It was he who was destined to head the political and military structures of the emerging new Mongolian state.
Prince De Van Damchigdonrov by birth belonged to the noblest Mongol aristocracy - Chingizids - direct descendants of Genghis Khan and his heirs. He was born in 1902 in the family of Prince Namzhilvanchug, who ruled in the Dzun-Sunit khoshun of the Chakhar province and was the head of the Shilin-gol Diet. When Namzhilvanchug died, his powers, as is customary among the Mongols and Manchus, passed to his only son, Damchigdonrov. The six-year-old prince ruled with the help of regents.
In 1929, De Wang was appointed a member of the Chakhar Provincial Committee, and in 1931 he headed the Shilin-Golsk Seim. Quickly enough, De Wang took a leading position among other Chahar feudal lords. It was he who was one of the initiators of the demands for self-government of Inner Mongolia, which were presented to the Chinese authorities in Nanking in October 1933 after the congress of the Chahar princes in the Bathaalga temple. However, at first, only the territory of the residence - Zhangbei, in the vicinity of Kalgan, and Hohhot were under the control of De Wang and his supporters. In the rest of Inner Mongolia, there were battles between the Kuomintang, communist and separatist armies.
On November 22, 1937, De Wang and the 100 largest feudal lords of Inner Mongolia proclaimed complete independence from China. The Autonomous Government of the United Mongol Aimaks was created, headed by De Wang, who took over as chairman of the federation and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Although the state formation on the territory of Inner Mongolia changed its name several times (May 12, 1936 - November 21, 1937 - Mongolian military government, November 22, 1937 - September 1, 1939 - United Autonomous Mongolian aimags, September 1, 1939 - August 4, 1941 - United Autonomous Government of Mengjiang, August 4, 1941 - October 10, 1945 - Mongolian Autonomous Federation), in world history it received the name Mengjiang, which in translation from the Chinese language can be translated as "Mongolian borderland". Naturally, Mengjiang's closest ally was another pro-Japanese state located in the neighborhood - Manchukuo, ruled by Emperor Pu Yi, the last Qing monarch of China, once again placed on the Manchu throne by the Japanese.
During its heyday, Mengjiang occupied an area of 506,800 m2, and its population numbered at least 5.5 million people. Although the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Mengjiang were Han Chinese, whose number reached 80% of the total population of the state formation, Mongols, considered the titular nation, Chinese Muslims, Hui (Dungans), and Japanese also lived in Mengjiang. It is clear that all power was in the hands of the Mongol nobility, but in reality Mengjiang's policy was determined by the Japanese leadership, as in neighboring Manchukuo.
The specificity of Mengjiang's population was reflected in the coloring of the national flag of this country. It consisted of four stripes - yellow (Han), blue (Mongols), white (Muslims) and red (Japanese). Flag modifications have changed over the course of Mengjiang's short history, but the stripe colors have remained the same.
However, given the low level of development of the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Mengjiang in fact had less significant rights than Manchukuo and was even more dependent on Japanese politics. Of course, most countries in the world did not recognize Mengjiang's sovereignty. However, De Wang and other Mongol aristocrats had enough Japanese support to consolidate in power. Since the Mongol princes had a negative attitude towards the Han ethnos and the possibility of restoring the Chinese state, they sought to enlist Japan's support in building Mengjiang as a Mongol state, which they succeeded in 1941, when the country received the name of the Mongol Autonomous Federation.
NAM - Mengjiang National Army
As in Manchukuo, in Mengjiang the Japanese began to form a national armed force. If in Manchuria the formation of the imperial army was carried out with the help of the Japanese military command of the Kwantung Army, then in Mengjiang the role of the Kwantung was played by the Garrison Army in Inner Mongolia. It was formed by the Japanese military command on December 27, 1937 with the aim of maintaining order and defending the borders of Inner Mongolia, on the territory of which Mengjiang was created. The Garrison Army included infantry and cavalry units. So, in 1939, the 1st and 4th cavalry brigades of the Japanese army were attached to it, and in December 1942, the 3rd Panzer Division was formed from the remnants of the cavalry group of the Garrison Army. Unlike the Kwantung Army, the Garrison Army was not distinguished by high combat effectiveness and remained the rear unit of the Japanese armed forces.
The formation of the National Army of Mengjiang began in 1936, however, despite the formal status of the armed forces of a politically independent state, in fact, NAM, like the imperial army of Manchukuo, was an auxiliary unit entirely subordinate to the military command of the Japanese imperial army. Thus, the Japanese officers, who played the role of military advisers, actually carried out the leadership of the armed forces of Mengjiang. The basis of the combat power of the Mengjiang national army was cavalry - the national Mongolian branch of the army. NAM was subdivided into two corps, which included nine cavalry divisions (including two reserve ones). The number of divisions was small - each consisted of 1, 5 thousand servicemen and consisted of three regiments of 500 soldiers and officers and a machine-gun company of 120 soldiers. Of course, in real conditions, the number of units could be either above or below the designated level. In addition to cavalry, Mengjiang's National Army included two artillery regiments, each of which was attached to a specific cavalry corps. Finally, as in Manchukuo, the ruler of Mengjiang, Prince De Wang, had his own guard, numbering 1,000 troops.
In 1936-1937. The Mengjiang National Army was also subordinated to the Great Han Fair Army under the command of General Wang Ying. This Chinese combat unit was formed in 1936 after Wang Ying defected to the side of Japan and numbered about six thousand soldiers and officers. The VHSA was staffed with Kuomintang prisoners of war and bandits from the detachments of field commanders. The low combat capability of the army led to the fact that during the Suiyuan operation on December 19, 1936, it was almost completely destroyed in battles with the Chinese.
In an effort to increase the combat capability of Mengjiang's national army and make its structure more manageable, the command in 1943 reorganized the armed forces of the Mongolian state. Its result was the reorganization of units and formations. By 1945, the time of the Soviet-Japanese war, when NAM acted, together with the Manchu imperial army on the side of Japan against the Soviet army and the troops of the Mongolian People's Republic, its number reached 12,000 soldiers and officers. The structure of the army included six divisions - two cavalry and four infantry, three brigades and 1 separate regiment. Mostly the army, although it was subordinate to the Mongol elite of Mengjiang, was Chinese in composition. Former soldiers of the detachments of field commanders and Chinese militarists, captured soldiers of the Kuomintang army were recruited into it. Thus, the First Corps of the Mengjiang National Army was almost entirely Chinese, like the Great Han Fair Army. The second corps and the guard of De Wang were manned by the Mongols. The rank system in Mengjiang's national army was almost identical to that of Manchu. The ranks of general were allocated - army general, lieutenant general, major general, senior officer ranks - colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, junior officer ranks - senior lieutenant, lieutenant, junior lieutenant, non-commissioned officer - ensign, sergeant - senior sergeant, sergeant, junior sergeant, privates - private of the highest class, private first class, private second class.
As for the armament of the Mengjiang national army, in terms of its quantity and condition, NAM was inferior even to the Manchukuo army. The personnel of the infantry and cavalry regiments were armed with Mauser 98 rifles, including their Chinese counterparts of inferior quality. De Wang's guards were armed with submachine guns. Also in NAM were in service with 200 machine guns - captured, captured from the Kuomintang army. NAM's artillery was weak and consisted of 70 artillery pieces, primarily mortars and Chinese cannons. NAM, unlike the army of Manchukuo, did not possess armored vehicles, with the exception of a few captured armored vehicles. NAM did not have an air force either - only De Wang had at his disposal one transport plane, donated to the Mongol prince by the Manchu emperor.
The weakness of Mengjiang's armed forces affected their combat path, which, in general, was inglorious. It began with the complete defeat of Mengjiang's national army in the Suiyuan campaign. On November 14, 1936, the 7th and 8th US Cavalry Divisions attacked the Chinese garrison in Hongort. Three days later, Mengjiang's troops were completely defeated by the Chinese. The Great Han Righteous Army, which was an ally of Mengjiang, ceased to exist. The remnants of the Mengjiang troops rushed into a disorderly retreat. NAM losses in this campaign amounted to 7000 out of 15000 military personnel who participated in the hostilities. Of course, not all seven thousand died - these numbers also include prisoners and deserted servicemen of the Mengjiang National Army.
In August 1937, Mengjiang's national army, together with Japanese troops, participated in the Chahar operation, which ended in victory for the Japanese. The next combat experience, which completed the history of the Mengjiang National Army, followed in 1945 during the Soviet-Japanese War. On August 11, 1945, the first division of the Mengjiang army was put to flight by a mechanized cavalry group under the command of Colonel-General Issa Pliev. Three Mengjiang divisions were destroyed by Soviet troops and units of the Mongolian People's Republic, the rest of the Mengjiang soldiers and officers went over to the side of the People's Liberation Army of China.
End of Mengjiang
After Japan's defeat in World War II, the de facto end of the semi-independent state of Mengjiang came. On October 10, 1945, the People's Republic of Inner Mongolia was created, a little to the west - the Great Mongolian Republic. On May 1, 1947, the creation of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region led by the Chinese Communist Party was proclaimed. However, the territory of Inner Mongolia during 1945-1949.remained the arena of fierce battles between the Chinese communists and the Kuomintang. Prince Dae Wang also tried to play his game. In August 1949 he organized the Mongolian Alashan Republic, but the latter soon ceased to exist. De Wang fled to the Mongolian People's Republic, but was arrested and extradited to the Chinese authorities. After his imprisonment, in 1963 he was pardoned and the last years of his life he worked in the historical museum. That is, his fate turned out to be similar to the fate of the head of another pro-Japanese neighboring state of Manchukuo - Emperor Pu Yi.
The territory of Mengjiang currently forms the Chinese Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia, in which, in addition to the Chinese, local peoples of Mongolian origin live: Chahars, Barguts, Ordians and some others. The total share of Mongolian ethnic groups in the population of the autonomous region barely exceeds 17%, while the Han people make up 79.17% of the population. Taking into account the peculiarities of the national mentality of the Mongols, their gradual assimilation by the Chinese population, one can hardly speak of the prospects for the development of separatism in Inner Mongolia, similar to the Uyghur or Tibetan.
