THE Battle of Khalkhin Gol is the name given to the clashes that took place between the Soviet Union and Kwantung Army (Japan) troops between May and August 1939. Although little known, the battles fought at Khalkhin Gol and their outcome completely changed the fate of the Second World War.
Background
In the 1930s, the tension between the Soviets and the Japanese was huge. First, there was a great rivalry between these nations, due to the history of confrontation during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), which the Japanese won. Furthermore, the consolidation of a Japanese puppet state in China (Manchukuo State) had considerably increased the rivalry between the sides.
Read too:Russian-Japanese War
The ideological issue also had a relevant weight in the tension between the two nations. The Soviet Union was seen as a threat by the Japanese for being a communist nation. In the 1930s, there was a group within Japan's political cadres who considered confrontation with the Soviet Union inevitable and necessary.
Another element that added tension to the relations between the Japanese and the Soviets was the support offered by the Moscow government to the Communists who were fighting against the Japanese presence in China. The Soviets provided these revolutionaries with weapons. Finally, there was the territorial issue: Mongolia had been a communist nation since 1924, and with the establishment of the Japanese in Manchuria in 1931, the border dispute intensified.
Also understand:Second Sino-Japanese War
This border issue existing between Manchukuo and Mongolia referred to a small stretch of land that encompassed a region that included the Halala River and a village called Nomonhan. Since 1935, negotiations were held between nations, including the Soviet Union. However, these negotiations failed, leaving an impression that this issue would not be resolved peacefully.
The high tension between Soviets and Japanese established in Manchukuo was evident from the beginning of the Changkufeng Incident, also known as the Battle of Lake Khasan, which took place between July and August of 1938. This battle took place in a region that was close to Vladivostok.
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol
In 1939, the official order of the Japanese Empire for Kwantung Army troops was avoid the confrontation of Soviet troops on the existing borders between the Soviet Union and Manchukuo. This order was deeply displeasing to a group in Japanese society who considered the fight against communism through open conflict against the Soviet Union essential.
The battle of Khalkhin Gol ended up starting without formal authorization from Japan, as historian Antony Beevor records:
[…] The Kwantung Army, without informing Tokyo, issued an order allowing the local commander to act as he saw fit to punish the offenders [the Soviets]. This took place under the so-called “campaign initiative” prerogative, which allowed armies to move troops for security reasons, in their own areas, without consulting the imperial General Staff.|1|.
The battle itself began on May 12, 1939, before the formal start of World War II (September 1, 1939). It all started when part of the Mongolian cavalry crossed the Khalkhin Gol (River Halaha) so that their horses could graze on the steppes east of the river and settled near the village of Nomonhan.
This act of Mongolian cavalry was considered by the Kwantung Army troops to be an invasion, and the Japanese opened fire and drove the Mongols out of the region. Approximately two weeks later, the Soviets (allies of the Mongols) responded to the attack by sending in reinforcements, which conquered Nomonhan in June 1939.
From these events, the Soviet government realized that tensions in the region would not ease, so they named Georgy Zukov to lead the organization of Soviet defenses in the region. Zukov organized a major logistical effort to strengthen Soviet defenses and to organize the arrival of reinforcements. The Japanese appointed the lieutenant general Komatsubara Michitaro to lead the Japanese forces.
New orders from the Japanese Empire to prevent clashes with the Soviets from happening were ignored by the Kwantung Army, which organized air strikes against Soviet forces at the turn of June for July. Soon after, the Japanese managed to conquer strategic areas, ensuring their supremacy on the battlefield.
Starting in July, Zukov put in place a Russian tactic they named maskirovka. This Russian strategy consisted of deceiving the opposing forces, giving the impression that they were taking steps to strengthen their defenses, but remaining static. So, in secret, Zukov organized the arrival of his reinforcements and kept them hidden so that the Japanese would think that the Soviet forces were drastically smaller.
Secretly, Zukov managed to bring the Soviet army to a total of 58,000 men, in addition to nearly 500 tanks and 250 planes.|2|. The Russian attack began on August 20, 1939, with the infantry attack concentrated in the center. Meanwhile, Mongolian cavalry and armored divisions flanked and attacked the Japanese from the rear, completing a encirclement. Soviet armored forces were far superior to Japanese armor, and this was crucial to the Japanese defeat.
Japanese military culture did not accept setbacks or defeats, which led the Japanese to openly face the attack, a fact that, over the days, decimated their forces. Beevor estimates that the Japanese losses reached a total of 61,000 men, while Soviet casualties were around 23,000 men |3|.
Because of this defeat, the Japanese government put an end to attempts to keep fighting in Khalkhin Gol, and the Germany, great ally of Japan, signed a non-aggression agreement with the Soviets. Stalin also considered it prudent to end hostilities with the Japanese, and on 31 August 1939 the battle of Khalkhin Gol ended, with the Soviets winning a major victory.
Importance of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol
Looking at historical events chronologically, the battle of Khalkhin Gol was fundamental to the course taken by World War II. Prior to this battle, Japan's political and military cadres were divided between those who prioritized the struggle. against the Soviet Union and those who prioritized the struggle against the regions of Southeast Asia and against the States United.
The defeat suffered by the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol was essential for the course of the war, because, after that, the group that defended the fight against North against the Soviet Union was extremely weakened, and this view lost credibility in society and in the management cadres of Japan. If the Japanese had prioritized the attack to the north, the Soviets would not have been able to reinforce their defenses to the west. This could have been fatal for the Soviet Union, as it had two war fronts (one against germans and another against Japanese), the Soviets could hardly resist. Furthermore, if the Japanese had prioritized attacking the north, the attack on pearl harbor, for example, would not have happened. Thus, the entry of the United States into the war would not have taken place.
|1| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2015, pp. 24-25.
|2| Idem, p. 26.
|3| Idem, p. 27.
*Image credits: IgorGolovniov and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/batalha-khalkhin-gol.htm
