Battle of Khalkhin Gol

The Battle of Khalkhin Gol was a WW2 military encounter between the Soviet-Mongolian forces and the Imperial Japanese Army. It took place in the Mongolian-Manchurian territory adjacent to the Khalkhin Gol River, from May 11 to September 17, 1939. Therefore, it could be said that this armed border conflict was the first battle of World War II. Result: Russian-Mongolian victory over the Japanese.

At the end of the 1930s, the Japanese Empire had established full control of Manchuria (northern China), setting up the puppet State of Manchukuo. This caused a territorial border conflict with Mongolia, which was a Soviet Union satellite country. The Japanese claimed that the Khalkhin Gol River was the natural border between the Mongolia and Manchukuo, while the Soviet asserted that the real political border ran 16 km east of this water course; thus, the Japanese troops had breached the frontier line and took positions in Mongolian territory.

Summary

The main Imperial Japanese force in Manchukuo (Manchuria) was the Kwantung Army. On the other side of the border, the Soviet Union had deployed the Red Army’s LVII Special Corps from the Trans-Baikal military district in Siberia. This unit was under the command of Komdiv N.V. Feklenko. In early May, 1939, small-intensity skirmishes broke out along the border. By mid June, they had gradually escalated into a full-fledged battle, with Japanese light bombers carrying out air raids against the Soviets.

Due to the initial Japanese fierce resistance, Feklenko was replaced by General Georgy Zhukov, who reinforced and reorganized the the LVII (57th) Corps into the 1st Army Group. On July 2, the Japanese forces launched a vicious counteroffensive, with armored elements. However, the Kuantung Army lost many tanks to the Soviet anti-tank guns and their offensive was stopped in their tracks.

Although the LVII Corps had also lost a lot of armored vehicles and men to the Japanese, Zhukov still had superior armored units at his disposal, with 550 tanks, and more than 300 armored cars and reconnaissance vehicles. Thus, on August 20, he launched a powerful counteroffensive against the Japanese positions. By August 31, the Red Army’s units managed to encircle and destroy the Kwantung Army’s 23rd Division. From then on, the Russian and Mongolian forces would keep pushing eastwards, forcing a cease fire agreement, with the Japanese withdrawing the remainder of their troops 16 km away from the Khalkhin Gol River.

A map of the geopolitical situation of the Far East in 1931, right before the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which would lead to the Khalkin Gol military campaign in 1939.

 Below, a diagram of the Soviet Army’s LVII Special Corps order of battle in early 1939.