Nikolai Starikov, a writer, public figure, expert of the Federal News Agency, talks about little-known pages of Russian military history.
80 years ago, our army won a Victory, the importance of which cannot be overestimated. If not for this victory, the history of our country, and the whole world, could have gone differently. And at the same time, not everyone in Russia knows about this victory of ours, and certainly few people will be able to tell clearly and honestly about the meaning of what happened then. About the defeat of the Japanese troops at Khalkhin Gol.
So let's start with geography. And time.
Fact one. Where and when
The battles of the Red Army, our allied army of the Mongolian People's Republic against Japanese troops took place on Mongolian territory in the region of the Khalkhin-Gol River from spring to September 16, 1939. On both sides, groupings of under 100 thousand bayonets fought, with tanks, artillery and a large number of aircraft. But this was an undeclared conflict. No one has declared war on anyone.
The second fact. Outcome
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As a result of the ensuing encirclement of the Japanese troops and their attempts to break out of the ring, the Japanese army suffered such heavy losses that it did not recognize them then and does not recognize them to this day. Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov described the battlefield in the area of Mount Bayan-Tsayan as follows.
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin told Mr. Ribbentrop about the defeat of the Japanese at the end of September 1939, thereby showing that it was very right for Germany to conclude a Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR, which has such a powerful Red Army.
Fact three. Who commanded
At the final stage, the troops of the Red Army were commanded by Marshal Zhukov. Khalkhin-Gol is the actual start of his dizzying career. Here, on Khalkhin Gol, Zhukov defeated the Japanese, skillfully using the interaction of various types of troops and decisively applying methods that were contrary to the then rules of Soviet military art.
One of the key episodes of the battle was the commander's decision to throw tanks against the Japanese who had crossed the river and were already digging in. No infantry cover. Why? Because the infantry lagged behind for a day. And the Japanese buried themselves in the ground. And Zhukov gave the order to the tank brigade of our army and the Mongolian brigade to go ahead: to the anti-tank artillery and the Japanese infantrymen who had not yet buried themselves.
Fact four. Why and how Zhukov was appointed
There are several stories about Zhukov's appointment "to defeat the Japanese". This is what he himself said in his memoirs. At first, the Red Army began to yield to the Japanese. To correct the situation in the air, a special group of aces, who had experience of the war in Spain, was sent to Mongolia. And the air supremacy was captured. But on the ground everything was so far sad. Then Stalin said that “we need to appoint someone else there so that he can correct the situation and be able to act with initiative. So that he could not only correct the situation, but also slap the Japanese on occasion. " Tymoshenko said: "I have one candidate - the commander of the Zhukov cavalry corps."
"Zhukov … Zhukov … - Stalin said. - Something I remember this name." Then Voroshilov reminded him: "This is the same Zhukov who in 1937 sent you and me a telegram that he was being unfairly brought to party responsibility." “Well, how did it end?” Asked Stalin. Voroshilov replied that there was nothing - it turned out that there were no grounds for bringing to party responsibility."
This was followed by a call to Zhukov and an urgent call to Moscow.
And the army legend said that when Zhukov was summoned to Moscow by phone and, “without explaining anything, he was ordered to urgently arrive in Moscow, he asked only one thing over the phone:“Take a sword?” I don’t know if it was so or not, but it seems to me that in this oral story, even a legend, the correct understanding of the character of this person was expressed”- Konstantin Simonov wrote in his book.
Fact five. Khalkhin-Gol refutes liberal lies about repression in the army
In 1939, the Red Army defeated one of the most modern armies in the world. Dismissals in the army are long over, the Tukhachevsky case is over. The military traitors were convicted, the process of eliminating the excesses of "Yezhovism" began. When they tell us that in 1941 the Germans beat us because of the repression in the army, let them answer one question.
Who smashed the Japanese, already when Yezhov's bacchanalia stopped, if supposedly all the talented military men went to prison, and the army was bled? The reasons for our defeats in 1941 are in a completely different sphere, their reasons are completely different. And about them - another time.
Fact six. Why did it all work out this way
Japan was preparing for aggression against the USSR in the East, just like Hitler in the West. Rather, the same world forces pushed two totalitarian states to war against us. The Japanese had their first "test of the pen" in 1938 near Lake Khasan in Primorye - having received a rebuff there, the Japanese decided to build their strategy differently. Having seized part of China - Manchuria, they created a puppet state there and carried out their aggressive actions from its territory.
Japan's plan "Operation No. 8" meant delivering the main blow to the USSR not in Primorye, but through the MPR in the direction of Lake Baikal. To this end, the Japanese began building a railway and demanded to "move" the border of Mongolia 25-30 km deep into its territory. When Mongolia refused, provocations and preparations for military aggression began. Then the Soviet government announced that in the event of a Japanese attack on the Mongolian People's Republic, the Soviet Union would help defend its independence.
Among other things, Japan wanted to force the USSR to stop helping China, which had resisted Japanese aggression. After all, like Spain in its time, like Syria today, no one helped China then. Nobody except us.
And finally, by making a mess in Mongolia, the Japanese demonstrated to the Western powers their intention to continue their confrontation with the USSR.
Fact seven. Heroes of Khalkhin Gol, whom we do not know
Immediately, two names come to mind. Zhukov immediately spoke about them. Both, unfortunately, died.
The first is the commander of the 149th motorized rifle regiment I. M. Remizov.
Fact eight. Khalkhin Gol was a really large military modern operation
Fact nine. The Japanese were a serious and worthy opponent
The Japanese fought very well. Zhukov spoke very highly of the fighting qualities of the Japanese soldier, the Japanese had good aviation. But it was difficult to call Japanese tanks tanks …
Fact ten. Consequences of our victory at Khalkhin Gol
A lot of them. Let's start with the main thing - after the defeat, Japan did not dare to start a new war with the Russians. Even when Hitler was standing near Moscow! Second, Zhukov began his offensive exactly in those days when the question was being decided whether Germany would conclude a non-aggression pact with us. And the blow to the Japanese threw away the last doubts in Berlin. Ribbentrop flew to Moscow, not Goering to London.
And then the Non-Aggression Pact quarreled between the Japanese and the Germans. There was no more trust between them. After all, the signing of an agreement with Moscow by Berlin was a direct violation of Article 2 of the secret annex to the Anti-Comintern Pact concluded in 1936 between Japan and Germany, which read: or political treaties that would be contrary to the spirit of this agreement."
The armistice with the Japanese was signed on September 16, 1939.
Only the next day after that, September 17, 1939, Stalin, who did not trust either the Germans or the Japanese, brought troops into the territory of the collapsed Polish state. And he returned unity to the Russian people, returning Western Belarus and Western Ukraine to the USSR.
This was our little-known victory at Khalkhin Gol.
Author: Nikolay Starikov