A disputed border
The border between Soviet-backed Mongolia and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo remains disputed. The raid by Mongolian horsemen on 11 May triggers a series of engagements that grow to involve divisions and armor.
Battle
Khalkhin Gol
11 May–16 September 1939
A mechanized encirclement that foreshadows combined-arms warfare.
Military history
How did a Japanese line pinned in the center become enveloped by the Soviet-Mongolian wings?
At Khalkhin Gol, the border incidents of May became an operational battle in August. The Japanese bridgehead at Bain-Tsagan, established on the west bank on 2 July and abandoned on 5 July, was not the August pocket: Zhukov pinned the Japanese line on the east bank on 20 August, sent both wings across, and converged on the rear of the 23rd Division.
The Japanese choice
The Japanese 23rd Division holds the main line on the east bank. The 2 July offensive creates a bridgehead at Bain-Tsagan in the west, but the Soviet-Mongolian counterattack forces its abandonment on 5 July; this action is not the August encirclement of the eastern line.
Soviet depth
Zhukov prepares the 20 August offensive with a concealed concentration, artillery support, and prepared crossings. The central fixing action and north-south pincer target the depth of the Japanese east-bank line, its roads, and its reserves.
Military history
Sources
Digitized contemporary archiveJACAR, documents de l’incident de Nomonhan
Timeline du 12 mai 1939 : C01003453200 (télégramme du 12 mai), C01003463200 (rapport/censure du 5 juin) et A06031030100 (Weekly Report no. 139, 14 juin, carte contemporaine).
Beginning of the incident, Japanese chronology, and situation documents.
View ↗Modern monographEdward J. Drea, Nomonhan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939
Maps 4, 6, 7, 17–19 ; pp. 1–10 et 32–85 ; tableau p. 9 pour 57 000 Soviétiques/Mongols et 30 000 Japonais ; annexe des pertes
Orders of magnitude for the decisive offensive, operational decisions, chronology of crossings, and losses.
View ↗Modern academic overviewDavid M. Glantz, The Battle of Khalkhin Gol
Notice de l’Encyclopedia of War : sections sur le conflit frontalier et la défaite japonaise de 1939
Operational scale, coordinated use of armor, aviation, and artillery, and the strategic consequence.
View ↗Specialist cartographyAMS, Topographic Map of the Khalkhin Gol battle area, sheet NL50-3
Feuille NL50-3 ; Khalkhin Gol nord-sud, Bain-Tsagan à l’ouest, Nomonhan et les arrières japonais à l’est ; topologie schématique. Une mesure exacte dépasse l’usage documentaire retenu ici
Topological verification of the river, Bain-Tsagan, Fui, Nomonhan, and approach roads.
View ↗Specialist pressConflits, La bataille de Khalkhin-Gol / Nomonhan. Un affrontement nippo-soviétique structurant de la Seconde Guerre mondiale
Sections « Un affrontement massif aux confins de l’Union soviétique » et « Le respect des principes stratégiques comme clef de la victoire » : séquences du 11 mai, du 2 juillet et du 20 août ; interarmes, logistique et manœuvre soviétique. Ne porte pas les coordonnées fines.
Specialist overview of the combined-arms and logistical sequence. Using it alone for precise positions would exceed the documentary use adopted here.
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