World War II: Soviet and Japanese Forces Battle at Khalkhin Gol

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Komatsubara was keenly aware of the Soviet threat to his southern flank. He wanted to shift elements of his 23rd Division south to meet it, but Soviet pressure on his beleaguered soldiers in the north compelled the Japanese commander to reinforce that endangered flank instead. Met by Japanese resistance in the north, Zhukov committed the 9th Armored Brigade and the paratroopers of the 212th Brigade to his northern force. As a result, Japanese attention remained focused on the northern flank.

By August 23, the southern Soviet force had driven to the Manchukuoan border and cut off any Japanese retreat from the area below the Holsten River. The encirclement was completed on August 24, when the 9th Armored Brigade linked up with the 8th Armored Brigade from the south.

Japanese forces drawn from Manchukuo made efforts to rescue their trapped comrades from August 24 to 26. Soviet air attacks made any road movement very difficult, however, and a hammer blow by the 6th Tank Brigade finally forced the Japanese to abandon their efforts to break the iron grip of the Soviet vise. Divided into pockets, the Japanese were crushed by August 31.

In the midst of the fighting, the Japanese were shocked and infuriated to learn that their German ally had negotiated and signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union on August 23. Japanese feelings were bitterly summarized by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun: ‘The spirit of the Anti-Comintern Pact has been reduced to a scrap of paper and Germany has betrayed an ally.’ In light of that development and their failure to secure victory on the ground, the Japanese government and army high command in Tokyo concluded that the conflict in Mongolia must be brought to a close.

In September, to discourage any Soviet move into Manchukuo and to prepare for renewed ground action if needed, the Japanese mounted an intense air campaign. For that purpose, six fighter squadrons were transferred from China. By September 13, the Japanese army air force had arrayed 255 warplanes, including 158 fighters along the front. Air battles swirled in Mongolian skies in the first and second weeks of September and climaxed on the 15th, as 200 Japanese warplanes struck Soviet air bases in Mongolia. Fierce aerial combat ensued as 120 Japanese fighters fought 207 Russian adversaries. All combat came to an end, however, when a cease-fire agreement was signed on September 16.

The Japanese conceded the loss of 8,717 soldiers and airmen killed and missing, and 10,997 wounded and ill during their incursion into Mongolia. Soviet sources report 8,931 killed and missing, and 15,952 wounded and sick. But both sides’ losses may well have exceeded those figures.

The scope and results of this conflict were not widely known at the time. Mortified by defeat in battle, the Japanese sought to conceal their disgrace. For its part, the Soviet Union was preoccupied with seizing defensive positions in the West with the division of Poland and the occupation of the Baltic States, and did little to trumpet its victories.

In addition, having killed most of his military leaders in his purges, Stalin was unwilling to promote Zhukov’s victory and see the general emerge as a popular hero. Even so, later actions during the war would ensure that Zhukov would become justly famous as the leading Soviet commander of World War II. Many of the characteristic features of the Russian way of war can be seen in his leadership at Khalkhin Gol: massive firepower; tight integration of infantry, artillery, tanks and warplanes; elaborate deception measures; and ruthless sacrifice of lives.

When Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, the Japanese were tempted to join the assault, but the shadow of Khalkhin Gol haunted them. With the influence of the Strike North group at an end, Japanese military planners began to look at British, French and Dutch colonial possessions in Southeast Asia as offering greater prospects for expansion.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, World War II

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