Often a skirmish in one seemingly unimportant area would have long term strategic consequences.

30 years after the Russo-Japanese War, the USSR and Japan were struggling over the borders

in Mongolia and that led to the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1937.

This minor conflict proved to be among the most crucial fought in the pre-war period.

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In the 19th century, the Russian Empire was expanding its influence in the Far East, but

the victory in the Russo-Japanese War, allowed Imperial Japan to check that and eventually

it gained control over Korea, Manchuria and South Sakhalin.

The Soviet Union tried to recover its control over the region, successfully aiding Revolutions

in Mongolia and China.

The 1930s saw Japan's increasing interest in Mongolia and the region more generally

as they invaded Manchuria, establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 and advancing

into Inner Mongolia one year later.

The Japanese had suddenly and violently acquired a three-thousand-mile border with the USSR

and Mongolia, and this border was very ambiguous and subject to dispute.

Soon the Japanese Army stepped up its presence in the region, creating a quasi-independent

military force and government known as the Kwantung Army.

At the same time, the Soviet Union began bolstering its defenses and signed a mutual assistance

pact with their Mongolian satellite state in 1936.

In 1937 Stalin purged the army, wiping off eighty percent of the staff in the Far East

and Japan saw this debilitation of their rival and decided to exercise some pressure on the

Manchurian frontier.

In the Amur River, the Japanese managed to occupy Kanchatzu Island as a result of one

of the many border skirmishes.

On July 7 the Marco Polo Bridge Incident ignited a full-scale Sino-Japanese War that would

weaken Japan in their possible war against the USSR.

Soviet aid to China and the Japanese divisions being tied down in Manchuria helped prevent

a swift Japanese victory, which emboldened the Soviets to take a tougher stance m.

In 1938, this culminated in the Battle of Lake Khasan, called Changkufeng Incident in

Japan, where Japanese forces occupied the disputed area but withdrew after heavy fighting.

Although they managed to repel their foes thanks to the actions of Commander Grigori

Shtern, the Soviets suffered more losses than the Japanese because of the incompetence of

Marshal Vasily Blyukher.

However, this battle shows the shift in the balance of power in the region, as the Soviet

Union had now more forces stationed in the Manchurian frontier than the Japanese.

In mid-1938, the Japanese 23rd Division was created within the Kwantung Armyassigned to

Hailar, responsible for frontier security in Northwestern Manchukuo.

Subordinated to the infantry division was the 8th Border Garrison Unit, composed of

some 7000 Manchukuoan troops.

The 23rd Division was composed of three inexperienced and ill-equipped infantry regiments and was

commanded by the inexperienced General Komatsubara Michitaro.

The Soviet High Command countered by relocating the 57th Special Rifle Corps, consisting of

the 36th Motorized Rifle Division, 11th Tank Brigade and 7th, 8th and 9th Armored Car brigades

to Mongolia to defend its border with Manchuria.

The Corps was led by Commander Nikolai Feklenko and the Mongolian forces were commanded by

Marshal Khorloogiin Choibalsan.

Shtern replaced Blyukher and was given command of the Far Eastern front.

Since 1935 border conflicts happened around the Mongolian-Manchurian frontiers across

the Halha River, known as the Khalkhin Gol to the Mongolians.

The Soviets claimed that the border shouldn't be across the river, but some ten to twenty

miles east and through the tiny hamlet of Nomonhan.

To establish that on May 11, 1939, a twenty-man Mongolian border patrol crossed the Halha

River moving eastward to Nomonhan.

The patrol was discovered by the Japanese and a Manchukuoan cavalry force of about forty

men was sent to drive back the Mongolians across the river.

Some casualties were sustained by both sides, but the Manchukuoans had drawn first blood.

The next day, a bigger border force, commanded by Major Chogdan, pushed the Manchukuoan cavalry

out of the disputed area.

This spurred both sides to appeal to their protectors.

General Komatsubara dispatched Colonel Azuma Yaozo on 14 May to lead the reconnaissance

into the disputed territory and expel the intruders.

This force consisted of an armored car reconnaissance company, two infantry companies and some cavalry.

Azuma discovered that the Mongolians had retreated, leaving small elements on the banks of the

River.

An airstrike was ordered on these forces by Komatsubara.

The Soviets were furious at this strike and decided to support the Mongolians.

Feklenko was away from headquarters at the time, so he hurried back to the Mongol capital

of Ulaanbaatar to dispatch a mixed force of infantry and motorized artillery, commanded

by Major Bykov, to support the Mongolian 6th Cavalry Division in securing the border.

Bykov had around 1,000 infantry and 1,250 Mongolian cavalry.

Several skirmishes happened in the disputed area and gradually grew in intensity, while

the Soviets started building a bridge near the junction between the Halha and Holsten

rivers.

On May 20, Japanese reconnaissance discovered Bykov's forces and Komatsubara decided to

send a strike force under Colonel Takemitsu, composed of the 64th Infantry Regiment and

Azuma's reconnaissance force.

Having around 2,000 men, Yamagata was ordered to destroy all enemy forces east of the Halha

River.

The attack was set to be launched on May 28 with Yamagata planning to trap the enemy forces

in the eastern bank of the river as Azuma's force went south directly towards the bridge,

cutting off the enemy's escape route.

Bykov had placed his infantry regiments in the flanks and the Mongolian cavalry in the

center, with one infantry regiment and his artillery in reserve near the bridge, while

Yamagata concentrated his forces at the town of Kanchuerhmiao, north of Nomonhan.

In the morning, the battle began with Yamagata's infantry attacking Bykov's force near Nomonhan.

The lightly armed Mongolian cavalry was routed and driven back, forcing the Soviet infantry

to retreat as well towards the river.

Moving closer to the river, the Soviet artillery and armored cars came into action slowing

the Japanese offensive.

Bykov was able to regroup his forces near the bridge and started counterattacks, forcing

Yamagata's men to dig in.

Meanwhile, Azuma went south and soon found himself encircled by the Soviet reserves in

the bridge and the forces under Bykov.

Refusing to and under heavy artillery fire, Azuma's forces were annihilated on May 29

and Azuma himself died, while Yamagata was unable to regroup his forces and come to his

rescue.

Later that day, Yamagata retreated back to Kanchuerhmiao.

The first battle of Khalkhin Gol ended with almost 500 Japanese casualties and the Soviets

occupying the disputed territory with less than 100 casualties.

In the aftermath, the Kwantung Army misinformed the Japanese General Staff, assuring that

everything was in order, while the Soviet 57th Corps headquartered in Tamsag Bulak,

an airbase in Mongolia.

On 5th June, Soviet High Command decided to replace Feklenko with a young-but-capable

commander named Georgy Zhukov.

Reinforcements were allocated to strengthen Zhukov's new command and an aviation unit

under Commander Yakov Smushkevich was assigned to Tamsag Bulak.

The Soviets now had around 12,500 men, 109 artillery, 186 tanks, 266 armored cars and

more than 100 aircraft in the region, with more tanks arriving daily, bolstering the

number to 500.

On June 19, two Soviet airstrikes near Kanchuerhmiao caused the Kwantung Army's Major Masanobu

Tsuji to draw up plans for a large-scale attack across the Halha River and to reinforce the

23rd Division with additional forces, including the 2nd Air Group under the command of General

Gigi Tetsuji and the excellent 26th Infantry Regiment with an armored tank detachment under

General Yasuoka Masaomi.

The Japanese now had 15,000 men, 120 artillery, 70 tanks, and 180 aircraft.

Tsuji's plan was to approach the Halha River and seize a group of hills called the Fui

Heights, some eleven miles of the Soviet bridge.

They would secretly build their bridge nearby and, after crossing the river, they would

strike southwards to the Soviet bridge while Yasuoka's detachment would push south from

the Fui Heights in a pincer movement, leaving the Soviet forces trapped near their own bridge.

To secure Japanese air superiority, needed for the success of the plan, on May 28 Tsuji

sent the 2nd Air Group in an airstrike against Tamsag Bulak.

The raid was highly successful and around 100 Soviet planes destroyed, but the strike

was against General Staff orders and this soured relations between them and the Kwantung

Army.

In the Far East, General Shtern had organized trucks with supplies and reinforcements eastwards

to Zhukov's position.

The Japanese misinterpreted this as a Soviet retreat, and decided to rush the offensive's

preparations to the start of July.

Sensing a forthcoming attack, Zhukov moved his 11th Tank Brigade, 7th Mechanized Brigade

and 24th Mechanized Infantry Regiment to the west of the Halha River.

The offensive started on July 1 at 4:00 a.m. with the Japanese forces marching undetected

20 miles towards the Fui Heights.

The following night, a battalion of the 71st Infantry Regiment silently crossed the Halha

River and built a pontoon bridge between the two banks of the river.

When the bridge was completed, the main body of Komatsubara's 23rd Division, along with

the 26th Regiment, began a slow and arduous crossing.

They had to proceed without tank support but could carry their old artillery and antitank

guns.

The Japanese achieved a complete tactical surprise and found the Soviet forces in a

vulnerable position.

The battle began on July 3 when General Yasuoka's tanks attacked the 149th Mechanized Infantry

Regiment in the eastern bank of the river, while Komatsubara occupied the Bain Tsagan

hill on the western bank and continued southward.

Unaware of Komatsubara's position, Zhukov ordered his 11th Tank Brigade, 7th Mechanized

Brigade, 24th Mechanized Infantry Regiment and the Mongolian 6th Cavalry Division to

advance northeastward to Bain Tsagan.

Early in the morning, both sides were surprised by the encounter.

The Soviet tanks took the initiative and started the attack, but the Japanese enjoyed air support

and their anti-tank guns were highly effective.

Now aware of the enemy's plan, Zhukov sent the 7th Brigade, 24th Regiment and an armored

battalion of the Mongolian 8th in an attempt to hold the Japanese at Bain Tsagan.

The assault was uncoordinated and lacked infantry support, allowing the Japanese infantry to

destroy at least 120 tanks.

But the repeated tank attacks forced the Japanese to dig defensive in by afternoon.

Zhukov had managed to stop their advance.

In the eastern bank, Yasuoka enjoyed initial success beating the 149th, getting a few miles

away from the bridge, but would later face increasingly determined Soviet resistance.

Yasuoka's vanguard was led by two tank regiments of Type 89 medium tank, designed primarily

for an infantry support role.

Zhukov's antitank defenses were as effective as the Japanese ones, even using strands of

piano wire to immobilize their tanks.

Meanwhile, Yasuoka's infantry was forced to dig in for protection against artillery

fire and tank counterattacks.

Even worse, the appearance of Soviet aircraft led by Smushkevich destroyed Japanese air

superiority.

By late afternoon, Yasuoka's advance was stopped and his tanks had to retreat.

Having his plan thwarted, Komatsubara finally decided to retreat at nightfall.

The 26th was left in Bain Tsagan to cover the retreat, suffering heavy losses.

By July 5, after destroying their own bridge, Komatsubara's forces regrouped in the Fui

Heights.

4 days later, Yasuoka did the same, ending the Japanese offensive.

Even with numerical superiority and tactical surprise, the Japanese had failed once again.

They had lost 10% of their infantry and 60% of their tanks, and while Soviet losses were

heavier, they were easier to replace.

Several night attacks ensued in the next two weeks with the Japanese facing supply problems.

The Japanese gradually advanced close to the bridge, but as they suffered heavy casualties

Komatsubara decided to halt the attack.

When artillery reinforcements arrived, led by General Uchiyama Eitaro, a new attack was

launched on July 23, but it ultimately proved fruitless against the overwhelming Soviet

artillery, stopping two days later and bringing the total Japanese casualties to 5000 since

May.

Meanwhile, Zhukov was given autonomy from Shtern's command as the leader of the new

First Army Group, receiving reinforcements and supplies including two artillery regiments.