Yaozo Azuma led the reconnaissance regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division, supported by the 64th Infantry Regiment of the same division, under Colonel Takemitsu Yamagata, into the territory and the Mongolians withdrew. On 13 May, the Mongolian force returned in greater numbers and the Manchukoans failed to dislodge them. On that day, Manchu cavalry attacked the Mongolians and drove them back across the river Khalkhin Gol. A Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70 to 90 men had entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses. Additionally, the Kwantung Army, which had long been stationed in Manchuria far from the Japanese Home Islands, had become largely autonomous and tended to act without approval from, or even against the direction of, the Japanese government. In 1939, the Japanese Cabinet sent instructions to the Kwantung Army to strengthen and fortify Manchukuo's borders with Mongolia and the Soviet Union. On 2 June 1939 Georgy Zhukov was told by Commissar of Defence Kliment Voroshilov that Stalin was dissatisfied with the local commander and he was to go to Mongolia, take command of the 57th Special Corps and eliminate Japanese provocations by inflicting a decisive reverse on the Imperial Japanese Army (when summoned to Moscow on 1 June he had feared he was to be arrested and interrogated by the NKVD). The Mongolian troops mainly consisted of cavalry brigades and light artillery units, and proved to be effective and agile, but lacked armor and manpower in sufficient numbers. They were responsible for defending the border between Siberia and Manchuria. The Soviet forces consisted of the 57th Special Corps, deployed from the Transbaikal Military District. Japanese army experts rated the combat capability of the 23rd Division as "below medium", comparable to a garrison division on occupation duty in China. ![]() In addition to this, the 23rd Division was equipped with outdated equipment. The 23rd was the newest and least experienced division in the entire Kwantung Army. However, the western region of Manchukuo was garrisoned by the relatively newly formed 23rd Infantry Division at Hailar under General Michitarō Komatsubara and included several Manchu army and border guard units all under the direct command of the Sixth Army. The principal occupying army of Manchukuo was the Kwantung Army of Japan, consisting of some of the best Japanese units in 1939. In contrast, the Mongolians and their Soviet allies maintained that the border ran some 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of the river, just east of Nomonhan village. The Japanese maintained that the border between Manchukuo and Mongolia was the Khalkhin Gol (English "Khalkha River") which flows into Lake Buir. In 1939, Manchuria was a puppet state of Japan known as Manchukuo, and Mongolia was a communist state allied with the Soviet Union, known as the Mongolian People's Republic. Clashes between Japanese and Soviet forces occurred frequently along the border of Manchuria. The first major Soviet-Japanese border incident, the Battle of Lake Khasan, occurred in 1938 in Primorye. Significant motor vehicle losses Īfter the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories that bordered those areas. 1,921 horses and camels (Mongol only) Ģ5,655–27,179 (including 24,900 combat casualties) Ģ53 tanks destroyed or heavily damaged Ħ52 trucks and other motor vehicles ħ2 artillery pieces (field guns only) Ģ,330 horses killed, injured, or sick
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