The Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
Japanese fighting spirit had proven its superiority to
Russian armored horde.
Sometimes spelled Halhin Gol or
Khalkin Gol after the
Halha River passing through the battlefield and known in
Japan as the
Nomonhan Incident (after a nearby village on the border between
Mongolia and
Manchuria), was the decisive battle of the undeclared
Soviet–Japanese Border War. After a series of skirmishes in May and June, the incident escalated into a series of engagements where both sides deployed corps-sized forces, though the
Soviets were again far more numerous and heavily armed than the Japanese. Soviets despite suffering far heavier casualties were able to expel
Kwantung army from Mongolia.
Kwantung army command underestimated the enemy.
Soviet forces with their allies outnumbered
Japanese Imperial army in troops
2:1, in artillery 2:1, in aircrafts 2,
5:1, in tanks 7:1. Still, Japanese soldiers in a series of battles in July and
August 1939 showed to the world bravery and sacrifice unseen in the whole world history.
The Japanese soldiers fought with courage and skill, particularly in night actions, and they were able to knock out most of the
Russian tanks with improvised incendiaries. However, the newer Russian tanks were equipped with diesel engines that caught fire much less readily. The Japanese made the uncomfortable discovery that their
Type 89 tanks were completely outclassed by the Russian BT-7s. Still, lacking infantry support, soviet tank casualties were very heavy, particularly from the Japanese 37mm antitank guns. Japanese also discovered to their chagrin that the
Russians were able to fire three shells for every Japanese shell fired. The heaviest Russian guns far outranged the heaviest Japanese guns, and the Japanese conceded defeat in most artillery duels on the battlefield.
The battle drifted into a stalemate, but Japan army has to completely withdraw from Mongolia after the cease-fire agreement signed on
15 September 1939.
Japanese records report losses for this battle as 8,
440 killed, 8,766 wounded, 162 aircraft lost, and 42 tanks lost (of which 29 were later repaired and redeployed). According to the records of the
Bureau 6A hospital, the Japanese casualties amounted to 7,696 killed, 8,647 wounded, 1,
021 missing, and 2,350 sick, for a total of 19,714 personnel losses, including 2,895 Manchukuoan casualties
.
In the latest
Russia’s documents,
Soviet losses are given as 9703 killed and missing, 15,952 wounded, and a further
2225 hospitalizations due to disease, with a total of 27,880 casualties. In addition to their personnel losses the Soviets lost a large amount of materiel including 253 tanks, 250 aircraft, 96 artillery pieces, and 133 armored cars. The large numbers of Soviet armor casualties are reflected in the manpower losses for Soviet tank crews. A total of 1,559 Soviet "
Tank Troops" were killed or wounded during the battles.
While this engagement is little-known in the
West, it played an important part in subsequent Japanese conduct in
World War II. The battle earned the
Kwantung Army the displeasure of officials in
Tokyo, because the conflict was initiated
and escalated without direct authorization from the
Japanese government. After
Germany signed
Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, during the peak of the battle on Khalkhin Gol, the
Imperial General Staff in Tokyo moved away from the policy of the
North Strike Group favoured by the
Army, which wanted to attack
USSR and seize
Siberia for its resources as far as
Lake Baikal. In the end, that will lead to the downfall for both Germany and Japan.
- published: 23 Mar 2016
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