80 years ago, in May-September 1939, Soviet troops defeated the Japanese army on the Khalkhin Gol River in Mongolia. The defeat of the Japanese armed forces thwarted the plans of the masters of England and the United States to incite the Japanese Empire against the Soviet Union, again to confront the Russians and the Japanese, realizing their strategic plans in the Far East and the Pacific Ocean.
Fights on Khalkhin Gol
In May 1939, the Japanese army invaded the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) in the region of the Khalkhin-Gol River. Mongolia was an ally of the USSR. The Japanese invasion of Mongolia was an important part of the expansionist plans of the Japanese Empire to capture China, Mongolia, the possessions of Western countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Soviet Far East and Siberia. The Japanese military-political elite claimed the complete dominance of Japan in Asia. To do this, it was necessary to completely subjugate China, drive the Europeans and Americans out of the Far East and defeat the Russians.
In 1931, the Japanese invaded Northeast China (Manchuria). China was defeated. In 1932, the Japanese created the puppet state of Manchukuo, gaining a strategic foothold in northeast China for further expansion against the Chinese state and against the USSR and Mongolia. A resource base for your empire. In 1937, Japan launched a war with China with the aim of dismembering and gradually absorbing it, including in the sphere of influence of its empire. By 1939, the Japanese had completed the capture of central China and began to prepare an attack on the USSR.
During this period, the Japanese headquarters was preparing two main plans for a major war: 1) the northern one - against Russia-USSR; 2) southern - against the United States, Britain and other Western powers that had possessions in the Asia-Pacific region. The masters of the West pushed Japan north to repeat the scenario of the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. Set the Japanese against the Russians, and then throw them against the USSR and the Germans. Therefore, the Anglo-Saxons at this time did not restrict Japan in the arms race, but supplied it with strategic raw materials. The masters of the West turned a blind eye to the massacre unleashed by the Japanese in China.
Despite Moscow's warning that the Union would defend Mongolia as its own territory (in March 1936, the USSR and the Mongolian People's Republic signed the Mutual Assistance Protocol, Soviet troops deployed in Mongolia - the 57th Special Corps under Feklenko), the Japanese troops in May 1939 invaded the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic. In May, the Japanese carried out reconnaissance in force in the area of the river. Khalkhin-Gol. On May 28, Japanese troops, having a numerical superiority over the Soviet-Mongolian forces, tried to carry out an operation to encircle the enemy. However, our troops successfully retreated and the next day launched a counteroffensive and pushed the enemy back to their original positions.
Bayan-Tsagan battle
In June 1939, there were no major battles on the ground, both sides were preparing for a decisive battle. Moscow strengthened the command, Feklenko was replaced by Zhukov, the headquarters of the 57th Special Corps was headed by the brigade commander M. A. Bogdanov. To coordinate the actions of Soviet troops in the Far East and Mongolian forces, the commander of the 1st Separate Red Banner Army, 2nd Rank Army Commander G. M. Stern, arrived from Chita to the Khalkhin-Gol River region. The Soviet command prepared a new battle plan: active defense at the bridgehead beyond Khalkhin Gol and with the simultaneous preparation of a counterattack against the Japanese group. For a decisive blow, the troops were pulled up: they were transferred along the Trans-Siberian to Ulan-Ude, then they marched for a forced march for hundreds of kilometers through the territory of Mongolia.
At this time, a real battle was going on in the air. At first, Japanese aviation prevailed. However, Moscow took extraordinary measures. A group of aces pilots, headed by the Deputy Chief of the Red Army Air Force Ya. V. Smushkevich, was transferred to the conflict area. Many of them were heroes of the USSR, fought in the skies of Spain and China. Measures were taken to train flight personnel, strengthen the air surveillance, warning, communications and air defense systems. Upgraded fighters I-16 and I-153 "Chaika" are being transferred to Mongolia. As a result, the Soviet Air Force gains air supremacy. In the battles on June 22-28, 90 Japanese aircraft were destroyed (our losses were 38 aircraft).
A link of Soviet I-16 fighters in the sky during the battles on Khalkhin Gol
Japanese fighter "Nakajima" Ki-27 at the airfield during the fighting on Khalkhin Gol
On July 2, 1939, the Japanese group, having a threefold superiority in forces (about 40 thousand soldiers, 130 tanks and 200 aircraft), went on the offensive. The Japanese command planned to encircle and defeat the enemy troops, cross the Khalkhin-Gol River and break through the defenses of the Red Army. The strike group of Major General Kobayashi crossed the Khalkhin-Gol River and, after a fierce battle, captured Mount Bayan-Tsagan on its western bank. Here the Japanese concentrated their main forces and began to build fortifications at an accelerated pace, creating an echeloned defense. The Japanese command was going, relying on the Bayan-Tsagan mountain dominating the terrain and the fortified area created here, to strike the rear of the Soviet troops defending on the eastern bank of the Khalkhin-Gol River, cut off and destroy them.
At the same time, there were fierce battles on the eastern bank of the river. Khalkhin-Gol. The Japanese, having a serious superiority in forces, 2 infantry and 2 tank regiments (130 vehicles), pushed 1.5 thousand Red Army men and 3.5 thousand Mongolian cavalry to the river (without the support of the Russians, the Mongols had no chance against the Japanese, yielding in combat training and material and technical equipment). There was a threat of defeat for the Soviet-Mongolian troops on the eastern bank of the Khalkhin Gol. However, the Japanese forces under the command of Lieutenant General Masaomi Yasuoka could not defeat our troops, they held out.
Zhukov threw a mobile reserve into battle, right from the march - the 11th tank brigade of the brigade commander M. P. Yakovlev (up to 150 tanks) and the 8th Mongolian armored division. Soon they were supported by the 7th motorized armored brigade (154 armored vehicles). It was a big risk, the mobile unit went into battle without the support of the infantry. Luck was on the side of Zhukov. During the bloody battle near Mount Bayan Tsagan (up to 400 tanks and armored vehicles, 800 guns and 300 aircraft participated in it on both sides), the Japanese strike group was destroyed. According to various sources, the Japanese lost 8-10 thousand people killed, almost all tanks and most of the artillery.
Thus, the Bayan-Tsagan massacre led to the fact that the Japanese no longer risked crossing Khalkhin Gol. Further events took place on the eastern bank of the river. But the Japanese were still standing on Mongol soil and preparing for new battles. That is, the struggle continued. There was a threat that this hotbed of conflict would grow into a full-scale war. It was necessary to restore the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and teach Japan a lesson so that the Japanese abandon the idea of northern expansion.
Japanese infantry in position near two damaged Soviet armored vehicles BA-10 in the Mongolian steppe (Khalkhin-Gol river region). On the right side of the photo is the calculation of the Type 92 machine gun, caliber 7, 7 mm. July 1939
Japanese tanks "Yi-Go" (Type 89) during the offensive in the Mongolian steppe. July 1939
A lesson for samurai
In July - August 1939, both sides prepared for a decisive offensive. The 57th Special Corps was deployed into the 1st Army (Front) Group under the command of Stern. It was reinforced, transferred to the battle area of the 82nd Infantry Division and the 37th Tank Brigade. On the territory of the Trans-Baikal Military District, a partial mobilization was carried out, two rifle divisions were formed. The Soviet command strengthened the defense on the bridgehead, transferred new units there. The Japanese carried out several attacks on the eastern bank of Khalkhin Gol, but were repelled. The battle continued in the skies, the Soviet Air Force retained its air superiority.
By the beginning of the decisive battle, the Soviet 1st Army Group consisted of about 57 thousand people, 542 guns and mortars, more than 850 tanks and armored vehicles, and over 500 aircraft. The Japanese group - the 6th separate army under the leadership of General Ryuhei Ogisu, consisted of about 75 thousand people, 500 guns, 182 tanks, 700 aircraft. That is, the Japanese retained an advantage in manpower, while the Red Army had superiority in armored forces and air supremacy (qualitative and quantitative directly in the battle area).
The Japanese were preparing to resume their offensive on August 24, 1939. Taking into account the sad experience of the Bayan-Tsagan battle, the Japanese command planned to deliver the main blow on the right wing of the Soviet group, without crossing the river. The Soviet command relied on mobile formations in order to surround and destroy enemy troops in the area between the river and the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic with sudden flank attacks. Soviet troops were divided into three groups - South, North and Central. The main blow was delivered by the Southern Group under the command of Colonel M. I. The central group under the command of the brigade commander D. E.
The Soviet offensive was carefully prepared, all movements of troops, equipment, supplies were carefully hidden, positions were masked. The enemy was told that the Red Army was busy only with strengthening the defense and was preparing to continue the campaign in the autumn-winter period. Therefore, the offensive of the Soviet troops, which began on August 20, 1939, and preempted the strike of the 6th Japanese Army, was unexpected for the enemy.
A group of Japanese soldiers captured during the fighting near the Khalkhin-Gol river
Red Army soldiers attack on Khalkhin Gol with the support of the BT-7 tank
As a result, the Red Army carried out a classic operation to encircle and destroy the enemy army. In the course of stubborn 6-day battles, the 6th Japanese Army was crushed. In the center, the Japanese, who had a strong defense, held on well. On the flanks, Soviet mobile formations, with powerful aviation support, crushed enemy resistance and on August 26 united, completing the encirclement of the 6th Army. Then the fighting began to dismember and destroy the enemy army. Attempts by the Japanese command to unblock the encircled grouping were unsuccessful. By August 31, the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic was completely cleared of the enemy. It was a complete victory. The Japanese army was destroyed. The Japanese suffered huge material losses. The remaining forces are demoralized.
In the first half of September 1939, Japanese troops made several attempts to cross the border of Mongolia, but were repelled and suffered serious losses. In the air, the battle was still ongoing, but also ended in favor of the Soviet Air Force. The Japanese elite, convinced of the failure of their plans of expansion to the north, asked for peace. On September 15, 1939, an agreement was signed between the USSR, Mongolia and Japan on the cessation of hostilities in the region of the Khalkhin-Gol River, which entered into force on September 16.
Japan turns south
The victory of the Red Army over the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol had important geopolitical consequences. The masters of the West in the 1930s again played out the old scenario in a new way: they set Germany, and with it almost all of Europe, against Russia. And in the Far East, the Soviet Union was to be attacked by Japan. The masters of the United States and England initiated a new world war, but they themselves remained on the sidelines. Their figures in the "big game" were Germany, Japan and Italy.
Thus, even before the official start of World War II, the masters of London and Washington initiated and secretly encouraged the aggression of the militaristic Japanese Empire against China. Japan was supposed to get stronger at the expense of the Celestial Empire and again turn its bayonets against Russia. Germany was the western cudgel of the masters of the West, Japan the eastern one. Since ancient times, the masters of the West have mastered the “divide and conquer” strategy, realized that it is better and more profitable to fight with someone else's hands, with “cannon fodder”, solving their strategic tasks and simultaneously profiting from the grief of other peoples and countries, on the supply of weapons and other goods.
Therefore, Japan was given the opportunity to smash China, plunder it, and create a springboard on its territory for the war with the USSR. According to the plan of the masters of the United States and England, after the capture of China and simultaneously with the attack of the Third Reich on the European part of Russia, Japan was to strike with all its might at the East of Russia, seize Primorye, the Far East and Siberia. The Japanese generals supported this scenario. The battles on Khalkhin Gol were supposed to be a preparatory stage before the full-scale war of Japan against the USSR along with Germany.
However, Russia taught the Japanese a hard lesson on Khalkhin Gol. The Japanese, seeing the might of the Red Army, the results of Stalin's industrialization, the reform of the armed forces, the strength of the Soviet mechanized troops and the Air Force, turned out to be smarter than the Germans. The Japanese headquarters realized that they wanted to pave the way to victory with them, to go to Moscow over their corpses. The Japanese figured out the plans of the masters of the West. As a result, the Japanese military-political elite began to lean towards the southern scenario of the war. Expansion southward, further into China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The war against the United States and Britain, other Western countries, to oust the Westerners from Asia and the Pacific.
Soviet cameramen examine the Japanese Type 94 tankette captured at Khalkhin Gol. In the background is a captured Japanese Chevrolet Master, 1938, American-made. This vehicle was used as a headquarters vehicle in the 23rd Japanese Infantry Division and was captured by Soviet troops on August 20-31, 1939.
Soviet tank crews inspect the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank captured at Khalkhin Gol
The Soviet commander examines the Japanese light 6, 5-mm machine guns "Type 11 Taise", captured during the fighting on the Khalkhin-Gol river
Commander of the 1st Army Group of Soviet Forces in Mongolia, Corps Commander Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov at the bodies of Japanese soldiers who died during the fighting on Khalkhin Gol. Photo source: waralbum.ru
