Khalkhin Gol: the last rehearsal before the Second World War

The year 1939 has an ominous significance in world history, as it was the year that the Second World War began. It should be noted that many important events took place on the eve of the great war, as the shadow of the coming catastrophe was already hanging over everyone. Someone was desperately trying to accelerate the military industry, someone was making last-minute attempts to conclude the necessary agreements, and someone was testing the strength of their neighbors. Japan, one of the initiators of World War II, had been waging a full-scale war with China for two years, but could not deny itself the pleasure of participating in a major conflict with the USSR. Why the conflict on Halkhin Gol was necessary and what its consequences were, we will try to understand in the following article.

Soviet-Japanese relations in the first half of the twentieth century

The USSR and Japan had extremely deteriorated relations on the eve of the fighting on Halkhin Gol. Without exaggeration, they were direct competitors for four decades of the twentieth century, as they were interested in increasing their influence in the Far East. At the beginning of the century, the Russo-Japanese War took place between the countries. Subsequently, the civil war after the overthrow of the Russian Empire led to Japanese intervention in the Far East. Later, the Japanese and Western countries quietly hated the Communists, and the latter reciprocated.

In the 1930s, tensions between the countries gradually increased. At the beginning of the decade, Japan conquered Manchuria in another clash with China, resulting in the formation of the Japanese proxy country of Manchukuo. The newly formed country has a huge border with the USSR, so both neighbors regularly organize provocations on the border. In 1937, Japan launches a full-scale war with China. The USSR sees new prospects in this. As long as Japan is involved in the war, there is no need to fear a threat from the east. So it is not surprising that the USSR began to help China with equipment and military specialists.

Disputes on the border between Mongolia and Manzhouli

If Manchukuo was a Japanese proxy, the Mongolian People's Republic (hereinafter referred to as Mongolia) was a satellite of the USSR. Taking advantage of the revolution in China in the early 1910s, Outer Mongolia, with the active support of the Russian Empire, declared its independence. Later it was occupied again, but in 1924, with the support of the USSR, it regained its independence. Both Manchu and Mongolia were unrecognized countries. While Manchuria was recognized by only 7 states at the time of the Khalkhyn Gol conflict, Mongolia was recognized only by the USSR. Both "countries" used to be parts of China, which in the first half of the twentieth century was in deep crisis and gradually losing territory.

The Khalkhyn Gol itself is a river on the border between Mongolia and Manzhouli. About 25 kilometers east of the river is the village of Nomon Khan. It was between these two geographical locations that the main events of the conflict unfolded. The terrain is steppe with limited vegetation and occasional hills or plateaus. In summer, when the conflict took place, it is very hot during the day and very cold at night.

Disputed territory on the border between Mongolia and Manzhouli. Map: Wikipedia

The Soviet-Mongolian coalition believed that the border between the countries was near Nomon Khan, meaning that the entire 25-kilometer territory belonged to Mongolia. Japan and Manchukuo, on the other hand, were convinced that the border should run along the Halkhin Gol River. Both sides cited different maps that irrefutably proved their case, which led to a deadlock. Both sides were absolutely sure of their version of the border. Under such conditions, constant border clashes could hardly be considered provocations.

The beginning of the conflict

If we do not take into account the nonsense of Soviet propaganda that the samurai once again "crossed the border into the river" and insidiously attacked the innocent Mongols, other sources agree on something like this. On the night of May 11, 1939, a small Mongolian mounted border guard detachment crossed the Khalkhin Gol River, moved eastward, and reached the village of Nomon Khan. In other words, according to Mongolian logic, the border guards were on the very border of their own territory. But the Manchus disagreed with this, so their cavalry unit attacked the Mongols and forced them to retreat behind Khalkhyn Gol. After that, the parties fought for some time in small skirmishes to determine who should keep the territory.

Mongolian cavalry at Khalkhin Gol in 1939. Photo: Wikipedia

Why did this particular clash, among many similar misunderstandings, actually lead to a full-fledged war? As we mentioned above, officers of the Kwantung Army were furious at the defeat at Lake Hassan and were eager for revenge. However, Tokyo constantly hampered their initiatives because it was tied to the war with China. Since clashes were constantly occurring on the border between Manchukuo and Mongolia, the Kwantung Army headquarters in the spring of 1939 developed Directive No. 1488, which was supposed to explain to soldiers a clear algorithm for dealing with difficult situations. In fact, the document was obviously aimed at igniting a conflict as soon as possible. In particular, the directive stated that if the enemy crossed the border, they should be immediately destroyed, which allowed them to cross the enemy's border and even lure them to their own territory.

On May 15, Japanese light bombers attacked a border outpost on Mongolian territory west of Halkhin Gol in an act of revenge. Around this time, the Chief of the Red Army General Staff, Boris Shaposhnikov, ordered the leaders of Soviet troops in Mongolia to investigate the situation. So Soviet troops moved to the western coast of Khalkhyn Gol, and the USSR actually entered the conflict. The Mongols returned to the east bank of the river. Japanese officers took the Mongols' return to the east coast as a personal insult and began preparing a decisive strike.

The first major battle at Halkhin Gol

The Japanese plan was to cut off, encircle, and destroy the Mongol forces between Halkhin Gol and Nomon Khan. Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Yaozo Azuma's detachment moved to the bridge over the river to cut off the enemy's retreat to the west coast. At this time, the main forces of Colonel Takemitsu Yamagata attacked the enemy from the east and gradually forced them to retreat to the river. The Japanese did not take into account that Soviet troops near the bridge had artillery and armored vehicles. The latter represented a formidable force, having a turret from a T-26 tank with a rapid-fire cannon. So when Yamagata's group began to approach the river, it came under Soviet fire and was forced to stop its advance. Yamagata decided not to join up with Adzuma near the bridge, but simply to gain a foothold on the eastern bank, but due to communication problems, he was unable to inform the other group of the change in plans. Adzuma engaged in battle, but his lightly armed unit had no artillery or anti-tank weapons and was doomed, as he was now surrounded by two enemy units. Adzuma could have retreated at night, but retreating without a direct order was punishable by death in Japan. The next day, when Adzuma had two dozen men left, he led them in a last attack.

Zhukov goes to Halkhin Gol

Moscow was concerned about the events on Khalkhin Gol. So Marshal Kliment Voroshilov summoned Georgy Zhukov, the deputy commander of the Belarusian Military District, and ordered him to look into the situation on the Mongolian border. At the time, Zhukov had no experience in leading large operations, but he was considered a talented and ambitious officer. On the spot, Zhukov immediately negatively assessed the performance of the 57th Corps commander Mykola Feklenko and took over his position.

Georgy Zhukov (right) during the battles at Khalkhin Gol. Photo: argumentua.com

At Zhukov's request, he immediately began to receive reinforcements: soldiers, heavy artillery, tanks and other motorized vehicles, as well as aircraft. Moreover, about two dozen pilots who had been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for fighting in Spain arrived in Mongolia along with the planes. This moment was quite important, as Soviet aviation did not perform well in the first phase of the conflict. The I-15 aircraft were frankly outdated and inferior to the Japanese Ki-27s. In addition, Soviet pilots showed a lack of experience. Zhukov set a task: to deter enemy attacks, accumulate forces and prepare a powerful counterattack.

A Japanese Ki-27 fighter jet. Photo: Wikipedia

The battle near the Bain-Tsagan plateau

On June 19, Soviet planes raided field storage facilities in Manzhouli. The action did not have a key impact, but the Kwantung Army decided to use this as an excuse for another escalation. For Tokyo, which did not want an escalation, the attack plan was presented as an opportunity to deliver a decisive blow and crush the enemy, thereby quickly ending the conflict. The Japanese amassed a powerful group of 15,000 soldiers, 120 pieces of artillery, 70 tanks, and 180 aircraft for the attack. At the same time, they believed that the Soviet-Mongolian grouping near the river consisted of about 1,000 soldiers. In fact, at that time Zhukov had already managed to gather 12,500 soldiers, 109 pieces of artillery, 186 tanks, more than 100 aircraft, and 266 armored vehicles. Having made such a catastrophic mistake, the Japanese also abandoned aerial reconnaissance, as the "prey" could have been frightened and retreated from Halkhin Gol.

On June 27, a group of 120 Japanese planes attacked the Mongolian cities of Tamzag Bulak and Bain Tumen, where Soviet air bases were located. The attack was unexpected and therefore extremely successful. Soviet sources say that 22 Soviet planes were destroyed, while Japanese sources say that 100 or more were destroyed.

On the night of July 2, Japanese troops occupied the Fuyi Plateau on the eastern bank of the Halhin Gol. The next night, a group of Japanese crossed the river to the west bank, after which engineers were able to build a pontoon bridge. Because the bridge was unreliable, the Japanese were unable to transport tanks to the west bank. Further, according to the plan, the Japanese group on the west coast was to advance southward from the captured Bain-Tsagan plateau and reach the Soviet bridge. At this time, the group on the east coast was to attack the Soviet forces from the Fuyi Plateau, press them to the bridge, and destroy them in the encirclement.

The Soviet command missed the Japanese offensive. When Zhukov learned of the tank offensive east of the river, he ordered some troops on the west coast to move to Bain Tsagan and establish a foothold there. As the Soviet units advanced to Bain Tsagan, they encountered Japanese troops moving south along the west coast. The Soviet tanks and armored vehicles launched an attack, but proved ineffective without infantry support and suffered heavy losses under artillery fire.

Now Zhukov finally saw the whole Japanese plan and realized that he could lose the entire grouping on the eastern shore. There was no time, and reinforcements were coming slowly. Therefore, Zhukov launched a counterattack with 150 tanks and 154 armored vehicles with insufficient infantry support. The Soviet tanks suffered heavy losses, but Zhukov threw more and more units into the battle as they approached the river. On the eastern bank, Japanese tanks were stopped by anti-tank wire fences. The tanks caught in the "spider's web" were finished off by artillery as if in a shooting gallery. At noon on July 3, Soviet planes, which had a numerical advantage over the Japanese, took to the air. The great technical superiority of the USSR began to show, so the next morning the Japanese began to retreat to the east coast.

A destroyed Soviet BA-10 armored vehicle. Photo: Wikipedia

The USSR goes on the offensive

In August, Zhukov planned to launch a powerful offensive. When the amassing of troops was completed in mid-August, Zhukov had at his disposal an infantry grouping equivalent to four divisions, two cavalry divisions, 216 pieces of artillery, 498 tanks and armored vehicles, and 581 aircraft. These troops were to be confronted by the 23rd Japanese Division, which had borne the brunt of all previous battles. The Japanese had the elite 7th Division in reserve. The problem was that the Japanese did not know where the USSR was planning to attack. They considered that the offensive would take place near Lake Hassan. The 23rd Division did receive one regiment from the 7th and began preparing for defense.

A column of Soviet tanks near Khalkhin Gol. Photo: TASS

Despite the overwhelming advantage, the Soviets delayed the start of the offensive due to the difficult situation in Europe. A mortal threat hung over Poland. However, Hitler could have gone further, and it would have been suicidal for the USSR to fight on two fronts in such circumstances. The USSR was Hitler's enemy No. 1, but the war with it was not the right time for the German dictator. After the attack on Poland, Britain and France were to enter the war. Hitler also did not want an unexpected opening of a second front, so on August 18-19, he asked Stalin to accept Ribbentrop and sign a non-aggression pact. This untied Zhukov's hands.

On the night of August 20, the main Soviet forces moved to the eastern bank of the Khalkhin Gol. After the morning bombardment and artillery fire, Soviet troops attacked the Japanese in three groups. Heavy fighting was going on in the center. In the north, Soviet troops initially advanced, but were forced to stop before the Fuyi Plateau. The greatest success awaited the Soviet troops in the south, where the defense was breached in several places, and the flank was torn into separate segments. In the air, the Soviets had almost a twofold advantage, so Japanese losses were growing rapidly.

Soviet tanks crossing Khalkhin Gol. Photo: Wikipedia

On August 23, the reserve 7th Division was allocated to help the 23rd Division, and thanks to its freshness, the Japanese tried to organize a counterattack, but it quickly stalled. However, the Japanese northern flank on the Fuyi Plateau continued to fight desperately, thus destroying the Soviet encirclement plan. When Lieutenant Colonel Ioka was left with 200 combat-ready soldiers and Soviet troops broke through the defense in several places, he nevertheless agreed to retreat to save his men. On August 25, the wings of the Soviet encirclement converged near Nomon Han. The Japanese tried to break through the double ring, but the battle turned into a finishing offensive.

The fighting continued for half of the following month, but on September 15, the parties decided to cease fire. Reports of casualties on both sides vary widely. It is believed that both sides together lost up to 60,000 soldiers during the conflict.

Conclusions.

The fighting on the Halhyn Gol River was so intense and resulted in so many casualties on both sides that it can rightfully be considered a war. Since the events took place just before the outbreak of World War II, they undoubtedly influenced its course. It should be noted that on the eve of the war, Japan considered two vectors of expansion. According to one vector, it was necessary to move westward, capturing China, Mongolia, and the eastern part of the USSR. The other was to focus on Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the United States. As you know, Japan chose the second path. Obviously, this was influenced by the failures that the Japanese suffered at Lake Hassan and Halkhin Gol. On the other hand, although the USSR achieved a positive result in both conflicts, the invincibility of Soviet troops should not be exaggerated. In both cases, the USSR took advantage of the fact that the enemy had to fight on two fronts.

It can be said that the USSR won the diplomatic "Turkish Gambit" that was played out on the world chessboard on the eve of World War II. The USSR signed an agreement with Germany and thus thwarted the efforts of Japanese diplomats to sign an agreement with Hitler against the Soviets. In addition, Stalin managed to pit Hitler against the capitalist countries of Western Europe, while remaining on the sidelines. At the same time, one should not overestimate the Soviet achievement, because here the interests of Stalin and Hitler simply temporarily coincided. On the other hand, the cynical partition of Poland led to the formation of a common border with Germany.

The fighting on the Khalkhin Gol was another conflict based on the uncertainty of borders. So this example is another lesson in how carefully peaceful states should treat the signing of border delimitation agreements. Another thing is that the aggressor can find interesting opportunities in such uncertainty.

Олег Пархітько