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The Battle of Khalkhin Gol


John Dolva

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There are a number of histories and discussions about this 'forgotten' battle. It is important to understand what this battle meant in shaping future events. It also adds a dimention to understanding what various people were doing at this time, why they were doing it.

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The importance of the Battle of Khalkhi(y)n Gol cannot be underestimated. There are a number of histories and accounts of the battle giving different weight to various elements but there seems to be a general consensus that the result of the 'North Strike Force' fall from grace and the ascendance of the 'South Strike Force' and the avoidance of a two front CCCP was critical in the Red Armys' ultimate defeat of Hitlers Germany as well as leading to the attack on Pearl Harbour and the fall of the America First faction in the USA. (America First - German American Bund - KKK)

The following seems a good introduction and should be read in conjunction with a number of other sources.

http://maps.thefullwiki.org/Battle_of_Khalkhin_Gol

"The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol ( ; ) was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought between the Soviet Unionred_A.png, Mongoliared_B.png and the Empire of Japanred_C.png in 1939. The battle was named after the river Khalkhyn Golred_D.png, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the battle is known as the , after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The battle resulted in total defeat of Japanese Sixth Army.

The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol should not be confused with the conflict in 1945 when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in support of the other Allies of World War II and launched its invasion of Manchuria." - following the CCCP defeat of Hitlers Germany and before Hiroshima (and Korea' of course)

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"

250px-Soviet_tanks_cross_Khalkhin_Gol_riSoviet tanks cross Khalkhyn Gol river

Zhukov decided it was time to break the stalemate. He deployed approximately 50,000 Soviet and Mongolian troops of the 57th Special Corps to defend the east bank of the Khalkhyn Golred_D.png, then crossed the river on 20 August to attack the elite Japanese forces with three infantry divisions, massed artillery, a tank brigade, and the best planes of the Soviet Air Force. Once the Japanese were pinned down by the advance of the Soviet center units, the armoured units swept around the flanks and attacked the Japanese in the rear, cutting lines of communication, overcoming desperate Japanese counterattacks (one Japanese officer drew his sword and led an attack on foot against Soviet tanks), and achieving a classic double envelopment. When the two wings of Zhukov's attack linked up at Nomonhan village on the 25th, the Japanese 23rd division was trapped. On 26 August, a Japanese attack to relieve the 23rd division failed. On 27 August, the 23rd attempted to break out of the encirclement, but failed. When the surrounded forces refused to surrender, Zhukov wiped them out with artillery and air attacks. The battle ended 31 August with the complete destruction of the Japanese forces. Remaining Japanese units retreated to east of Nomonhan."

While this battle is interesing in itself >, for a number of reasons eg regarded by some as the first 'blitzkrieg', General Zhukov himself is of great interest for various reasons, the date of the end of the battle, what was happening west? What was Ford interested in.

If anyone has an august 7 issue of Life (1939) it could be interesting to read what it says. >What is most of interest is what the outcome of this 'little war' meant to wwII from this moment on, never forgetting what the isolationist were up to and where they went after pearl harbor...et.c. etc.

Without factoring in this 'forgotten', 'little war' a proper understanding of WWII cannot be fully understood.

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