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Mongolia 1939 – Stalin’s Shrewd Opening ActBy Stuart D. Goldman | World War II | 6 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post Zhukov became exasperated and summoned Alekseenko to the phone. When the latter expressed doubt about his ability to storm the heights immediately, Zhukov relieved him of command on the spot and ordered the man’s deputy to attack. A few hours later, Zhukov called again and, finding that the heights still had not been stormed, he dismissed the second officer as well and sent over one of his own staff to take charge. He also reinforced the northern force with the 212th Airborne Brigade, more artillery, and a detachment of flamethrowing tanks. Subscribe Today
The Japanese defenders were now hopelessly overmatched. Artillery came pouring in at two to three rounds per second. Earth and sky throbbed, reminding one defender of the incessant pounding of Buddhist monks’ koto drums. With their own artillery knocked out, they had no effective defense against the flamethrowing tanks, which a Japanese officer saw “spitting red darts like the tongues of snakes.” Lieutenant Colonel Ioki and 200 survivors, most wounded, abandoned Fui Heights without orders and retreated east, beyond the combat zone. After taking Fui Heights, the northern force began to roll up and envelop the entire Japanese northern flank in a wide sweeping movement south and east from the heights toward Nomonhan. The next day, elements of the northern force’s 11th Tank Brigade linked up with the southern force’s 8th Tank Brigade near Nomonhan. The steel ring was closed. As the Japanese northern and southern flanks dissolved, Komatsubara’s command as an integrated unit ceased to exist. Japanese lines were cut in several places and organized resistance continued only in three pockets. Their only hope lay in a powerful relief force that could break through the Soviet encirclement from the outside. But the Kwantung Army was spread thin and lacked sufficient trucks to get even the 7th Division to the combat zone quickly enough. On August 27, the 7th Division finally reached the northeastern segment of the ring Zhukov had forged around Komatsubara’s force. One day’s hard fighting showed that it lacked the strength to break through the Soviet armor. The 7th Division was withdrawn. The sun beat down on the surrounded Japanese defenders and the temperature rose to 100 degrees. Water canteens ran dry. Enemy positions could barely be discerned through the heat shimmers, sweat, and fatigue. With his men unable to reach the river to refill their canteens, the commander of the easternmost Japanese enclave ordered them to drain the water from the radiators of their vehicles. Drinking that foul liquid at the expense of immobilizing their vehicles was a sure sign the defenders knew their situation was hopeless. Throughout August 27 and 28, Soviet aircraft, artillery, armor, and infantry relentlessly attacked the three Japanese strongpoints, compressing them into ever-smaller pockets and gradually grinding them to pieces. The surrounded Japanese fought valiantly and continued to inflict heavy casualties on Soviet infantry, but the issue was no longer in doubt. The 23rd Division and its associated units were wiped out. Few surrendered. Shortly before midnight on August 30, the bulk of the Soviet armor withdrew briefly to refuel and some of the infantry that had been in continuous action for 10 days pulled back as well. General Komatsubara and about 400 survivors of his command managed to slip through the Soviet lines. Major Tsuji was among them. After four months of fighting, over 50,000 men on both sides were dead or wounded. In the days and years ahead, events set in motion at Nomonhan continued to play out. To begin with, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact called for the Soviet Union to join Germany in subduing and occupying Poland. After the German blitzkrieg struck on September 1, the main strength of the Polish army was broken within days. As early as September 3, Ribbentrop invited the Soviets to move into their agreed-upon occupation zone in eastern Poland. But for two and a half weeks the Soviet divisions that were poised on the Polish frontier did not move. Meanwhile, sporadic ground and air combat continued in the Nomonhan area. A formal cease-fire went into effect there on September 16. The next morning, the Red Army burst across the Polish border into a country that had lain open before it for days. Stalin apparently wanted the fighting in the east resolved before committing himself in the west. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
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6 Comments to “Mongolia 1939 – Stalin’s Shrewd Opening Act”
I am some knower over Japanese-Soviet Clashes in 1938 and 93 among the Japanese-Chinese Conflict in 1937-45.
based in own experience in Nomonhan Japanese developed a some type of 47mm AT infantry guns and Self-propelled vehicles, Armored carriers and Tanks with 47mm cannons
I considered why for Japanese having to chosen figthing against Chinese are erroneous and theirs poses some potential triumph charts in your hands for created needed base of war against Soviets in Siberia:
*Japanese a set up some anticomunist puppet states in Northern China:
-Chinese East Hebei Autonomous Council (1935 – 1938)
-Chinese Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1937-1940)
-Mongolian Mengkiang (1936 – 1945)
-Manchurian Empire of Manchoukou (1932 – 1945)
*Among Japanese poses some Siberian and Central asian nationalities disconformed with Soviets living in such territoires:
-White Russians and East Jews
-Exiled Yakutians and Buriats
-Tibetans,Uiguirs,Dungans and Central Asians
*Japanese during your failed campaing in mainlad China accumulated a force between 1 to 3 million of Japanese and Korean soldiers a half of total of Japanese land forces in Pacific war period.
*Japanese poses a important defector and expert in Soviets topics
the NKVD officer Genrikh Samoilovich Lyushkov why advised the needed of accumulated a 4,000 tanks for invading siberian lands
If Japanese Army have a decided to use such elements in adequate form for:
- created a combined force conformed by Japanese,white russians,mongol,chinese and Manchu units less between 2 to 3 millions of men
-the use of modified tanks and self-propelled vehicles armed with 75mm cannons
-joining with any type of aerial “Blitz” bombardments
for used an sort distracted strikes to Argun and Amur frontier fortifications and Japan sea fortifications for launched the main stream “lance point” land attack for main Mongolian territoire in route to Irkusts preceded with aerial landings and some undercover strikes for cutting Transiberian line along Irkust also.
such plan as results to “cut the neck” of the Soviet Far East and causing the isolation of such territoire of rest of European Soviet Union,and Japanese easy entering to Blagoveschensk and Khabarovsk without or scarcy resistance
Among this exists some reports from Siberia were one a Communist Serbian why making a interviews with diffrents siberian citizens (students,konsomolsk members,office workers, mining and factory workers,teaches and Communists Party officers,etc) why related stay agreed with seeking the entering of Japanese tanks and soldiers in disacord with Stalininst regimen among some inclusive as disposes to support a Japanese forces if enter in Siberian lands if aiding to a local rebellion against European Stalinists in local government also.
with these points i thinked why Japanese a poses some potential posibilities to defeated soviet forces in Siberia if proposed a making such campaing inclusive with Imperial Navy enter to war with United States in Pearl Harbor.
By Wladimir on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Wow, that’s some history I didn’t know, with gigantic implications.
Of course, Stalin, by buddying up with Hitler, set the Soviet Union up for horrendous casualties–in the range of 20 million-plus deaths. And *he’s* responsible for the eventual death of the marxist ideology(cept in liberal arts department in college), for he purged the party of anybody more charismatic, innovative, intelligent, talented, and inspriing than himself, and this eventually led to stagnation and the fall of the Soviet Union due to a paucity of actual ideas, combined with dizzying cynicism.
By Charles Laster on Apr 14, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Notice the parallel with Guadalcanal-The Japanese committed forces in a very piecemeal and indecisive fashion against an unfamiliar enemy and on both occasions got burned for it.
Excellent research-I enjoyed Zhukov’s ploys to lull the Japanese into not expecting an attack. The Germans pulled the same stunts on the Russians preceding Barbarossa
By paul penrod on May 5, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Paul Penrod’s comment about similar Japanese errors at Khalkhin Gol and Guadalcanal has a surprising basis. TSUJI Masanobu, who bears so much of the responsibility for the disaster at Khalkhin Gol, was in the thick of the ighting on Guadalcanal, where he again caused a military disaster.
By Stuart Goldman on May 9, 2009 at 6:46 am
Where these Soviets units from khalkhin Gol to same units that came to the rescue at Moscow and Stalingrad?
What was the predominant ethnic makeup of the units from Khalkhin Gol?
By Chic Lurch on May 25, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Many of the units that Zhukov commanded at Khalkhin Gol were transfered to the Moscow front in late 1941. But These Khalkhin Gol vetrans were only a fraction of the total forces transfered from the Far East to the Moscow front at that time. I’m not sure what percentage were Russian and slavic. I haven’t followed them after the Battle of Moscow, so I don’t know to what extent these same units were involved in the Stalingrad campaign.
By Stuart Goldman on May 27, 2009 at 1:13 pm