Conflict on Lake Khasan 1938 briefly. Short Course in History

Conflict at Lake Hassan

“In July 1938, the Japanese command concentrated on the Soviet border 3 infantry divisions, a mechanized brigade, a cavalry regiment, 3 machine gun battalions and about 70 aircraft ... July 29 Japanese troops suddenly invaded the territory of the USSR near the Bezymyannaya height, but were driven back. On July 31, the Japanese, using their numerical advantage, captured tactically important Zaozernaya and Bezymyannaya heights. A reinforced 39th corps was detached to defeat the Japanese troops that had invaded the territory of the USSR... At Lake Khasan, for the first time since the Civil War, the Soviet Army entered into battle with an experienced imperialist cadre army. The Soviet troops gained a certain experience in the use of aviation and tanks, and in the organization of artillery support for an offensive. For heroism and courage, the 40th Infantry Division was awarded the Order of Lenin, the 32nd Infantry Division and the Posietsky Border Detachment were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. 26 fighters were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 6.5 thousand people were awarded orders and medals, ”this is how the international conflict on the Soviet-Japanese border is presented in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

When reading the above TSB article, one gets the impression that for the Red Army the battle on Lake Khasan was something like an exercise, as close as possible to combat conditions, and the experience she gained was extremely positive. Of course, this is a delusion. In fact, everything was not so simple.

During the 1930s, the situation in the Far East gradually heated up. By capturing Manchuria and invading Central China, Japan turned out to be a neighbor of the USSR and "set its sights" on the Soviet Primorye. A large group of troops was concentrated here, the samurai from time to time staged provocations on the border, repeatedly violating it. Even 5 months before the start of the conflict, intelligence officer Richard Sorge warned Moscow about the impending Japanese attack. And he was not wrong.

The first armed incident between the border guards of the Soviet Union and Japanese soldiers occurred on July 15, 1938, when a group of the latter crossed the border and began photographing military fortifications. Fire was opened on the violators, in response to this, the Japanese captured Mount Sirumi. The situation was becoming critical, but the reaction of the Soviet command was inadequate. The border troops received an order: "Do not open fire." Fulfilling it, they did not respond to the shelling of the detachment by the Japanese in the area of the border sign No. 7. In the meantime, the samurai continued to build up their forces, which by July 28 amounted to 13 infantry battalions with artillery. Soviet side could oppose this force only 3 battalions. In such a situation, the command of the frontier outposts began to ask for reinforcements, which was refused. Marshal Blucher commented on this as follows: “The border guards themselves got involved. Let them get out on their own."

We really had to "get out" ourselves. On July 29, a battle broke out at the height of Bezymyannaya, in which the border guards had to retreat. Within hour 11 Soviet soldiers held the defense and retreated only after the death of 5 comrades. Reinforcements arrived in time from two border groups "saved" the situation: the advancing Japanese were thrown back beyond the border line. Only then was the order given: "Immediately destroy the Japanese advancing on the Zaozernaya height without crossing the border." This significantly hampered the actions of the border guards. On the night of July 31, as a result of the attack, the Japanese captured the Zaozernaya height, as well as the Bezymyanny, Chernaya, and Bogomolnaya heights. Losses Soviet troops 93 people were killed and 90 wounded.

The conflict ceased to be a frontier incident. Only towards the end of the day on August 1, reinforcements arrived, but the conditions in which the troops were placed seriously hampered the fulfillment of the combat mission. The advancing Soviet units were squeezed between the border line and Lake Khasan, which put them under Japanese flanking fire. Following the order, the border guards could not use either aircraft or artillery. It is not surprising that in such a disadvantageous position, the attack of the Soviet troops bogged down.

Immediately they began to prepare a new offensive, and this time the command allowed them to operate also on enemy territory. The assault on the Zaozernaya height was carried out by the forces of the 39th Rifle Corps and lasted 5 days - from August 6 to 11. The task was completed, the Japanese were thrown back abroad. Immediately after the end of the assault, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR gave the order to end hostilities. The victory was won, the provocations at the border stopped. The conflict ended, the Japanese were rebuffed, but the miscalculations made were worth analyzing more carefully.

So, for example, the reinforcements that arrived were not fully staffed: in some battalions there were only 50% of their regular strength. Artillery did not count the prescribed ammunition. Weakly organized logistic support. The field hospital arrived at the scene of hostilities seven days late, and only three of the prescribed doctors arrived. To all this Soviet military leaders made decisions only after their approval in Moscow. Of course, in last case it is not so much individual commanders who are to blame, but the excessive centralization and fear of taking initiative and responsibility that dominated the country and the army.

The fighting on Lake Khasan cost the Red Army 472 men killed, 2981 wounded and 93 missing. But in fact, the consequences of the mistakes made and then uncorrected were much worse. As the head of the Far Eastern Directorate of the NKVD noted later, the victory was achieved "only due to the heroism and enthusiasm of the personnel of the units, the fighting impulse of which was not provided high organization combat and the skillful use of numerous military equipment. The experience of 1938 was not sufficiently taken into account both from the point of view of the organization of the army and from the point of view of the tactics of conducting modern combat. It is no coincidence that the Red Army will make similar miscalculations in the summer of 1941. If all the misses of the fighting on Lake Khasan were taken into account, the consequences of the first months of the Great Patriotic War might have been for Soviet people not so tragic.

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22. Khasan and Khalkhin-gol After the massacre organized by the Japanese in Nanjing, President Roosevelt started talking about the need to help China. But... none official steps no effort was made to curb the aggressors. However, no one qualified the Japanese as aggressors.

The conflict in the area of Lake Hasan was due to foreign policy factors and very difficult relations within the ruling elite of Japan. An important detail was the rivalry within the Japanese military-political machine itself, when funds were distributed to strengthen the army, and the presence of even an imaginary military threat could give the command of the Korean Army of Japan a good opportunity to remind themselves, given that the operations of the Japanese troops in China, and did not bring the desired result.

Another headache for Tokyo was military aid coming from the USSR to China. In this case, it was possible to exert military and political pressure by organizing a large-scale military provocation with a visible external effect. It remained to find a weak spot on the Soviet border where it would be possible to successfully carry out the invasion and test the combat capability of the Soviet troops. And such an area was found 35 km from Vladivostok.

Badge "Participant of the Khasan battles". Established 5 June 1939. Awarded to Private andthe command staff of the Soviet troops who took part in the battles near Lake Khasan. Source: phalera. net

And if with Japanese side in this area approached the border Railway and several highways, then on the Soviet side there was one dirt road, the message on which is often interrupted during the summer rains. It is noteworthy that until 1938 this area, where there really was no clear marking of the border, was of no interest to anyone, and suddenly in July 1938 the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively dealt with this problem.

Every day the conflict grew, threatening to escalate into a big war.

After the refusal of the Soviet side to withdraw troops and the incident with the death of a Japanese gendarme shot by a Soviet border guard in a disputed area, tension began to increase day by day. On July 29, 1938, the Japanese launched an attack on the Soviet border post, but after a heated battle they were driven back. On the evening of July 31, the attack was repeated, and here the Japanese troops had already succeeded in penetrating 4 kilometers deep into Soviet territory. The first attempts to knock out the Japanese with the forces of the 40th Infantry Division were not successful. However, everything was not going well for the Japanese either - the conflict grew every day, threatening to escalate into a big war, for which Japan, which was stuck in China, was not ready.

Richard Sorge reported to Moscow: “The Japanese General Staff is interested in a war with the USSR not now, but later. Active actions on the border are taken by the Japanese to show Soviet Union that Japan is still capable of exerting its might." Meanwhile, in difficult off-road conditions, the poor readiness of individual units, the concentration of forces of the 39th Rifle Corps of the Red Army continued. With great difficulty, 15,000 men, who were armed with 237 guns and 285 tanks (of the 32,000 men, 609 guns and 345 tanks in the corps), were able to assemble in the area of hostilities. 250 aircraft were sent for air support.

Sopka Zaozernaya. One of the key heights near Lake Khasan. Height 157 meters, steepnessslopes up to 45 degrees. Photo source: zastava-mahalina.narod.ru

If in the first days of the conflict, due to poor visibility and, apparently, the hope that the conflict could still be resolved through diplomacy, Soviet aviation was not used, starting from August 5, Japanese positions were subjected to massive air strikes. Aviation was brought in to destroy the Japanese fortifications, including TB-3 heavy bombers. Due to the lack of opposition in the air, Soviet fighters were involved in assault strikes on Japanese troops. Moreover, the targets of Soviet aviation were not only on the captured hills, but also in the depths of Korean territory.

Japanese test of strength ended in failure

It was noted: “To defeat the Japanese infantry in the trenches and artillery of the enemy, high-explosive bombs were mainly used - 50, 82 and 100 kg, in total 3651 bombs were dropped. 6 pieces of 1000 kg high-explosive bombs on the battlefield on 08/06/38 were used solely for the purpose of morally influencing enemy infantry, and these bombs were dropped into enemy infantry areas after these areas were thoroughly hit by groups of FAB-50 and 100 SB bombs .

Scheme of military operations near Lake Khasan. Photo source: wikivisually.com

The enemy infantry rushed about in the defensive zone, finding no shelter, since almost the entire main zone of their defense was covered with heavy fire from bomb explosions of our aviation. 6 bombs of 1000 kg, dropped during this period in the region of the Zaozernaya height, shook the air with strong explosions, the roar of these bombs bursting through the valleys and mountains of Korea was heard for tens of kilometers. After the explosion of 1000 kg bombs, the height of Zaozernaya was covered with smoke and dust for several minutes. It must be assumed that in those areas where these bombs were dropped, the Japanese infantry was 100% disabled from shell shock and stones thrown out of the craters by explosions of bombs. Having made 1003 sorties, Soviet aviation lost two aircraft from anti-aircraft artillery fire - one SB and one I-15. Small losses in aviation were explained by the weakness of the Japanese air defense. The enemy had no more than 18-20 anti-aircraft guns in the conflict area and could not provide serious opposition.

Soviet flag near the top of the Zaozernaya hill, August 1938. Photo source:mayorgb.livejuornal.com

And throwing their own aircraft into battle meant starting a large-scale war, for which neither the command of the Korean Army nor Tokyo were ready. From that moment on, the Japanese side began frantically looking for a way out of the current situation, which required both saving face and stopping hostilities, which no longer promised anything good for the Japanese infantry. The denouement came when, on August 8, Soviet troops launched a new offensive, with overwhelming military-technical superiority. The attack of tanks and infantry was already carried out on the basis of military expediency and without regard to the observance of the border. As a result, the Soviet troops managed to capture Bezymyannaya and a number of other heights, as well as gain a foothold near the top of Zaozernaya, where he was hoisted soviet flag. On August 10, the chief of staff of the 19th telegraphed to the chief of staff of the Korean Army: “The division's fighting capacity is declining every day. The enemy is inflicted big damage. He applies all new methods of warfare, intensifies artillery shelling. If this continues further, there is a danger that the fighting will escalate into even more fierce battles. Within one to three days, it is necessary to decide on further action divisions... Until now, the Japanese troops have already demonstrated their power to the enemy, and therefore, while it is still possible, it is necessary to take measures to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means. On the same day, armistice negotiations began in Moscow, and at noon on August 11 hostilities were stopped.

In strategic and political terms, the Japanese test of strength, and by and large the military adventure ended in failure. Not being ready for a big war with the USSR, the Japanese units in the Khasan area became hostages of the current situation, when it was impossible to further expand the conflict, and it was also impossible to retreat, while maintaining the prestige of the army. The Khasan conflict did not lead to a reduction in Soviet military assistance to China either. At the same time, the fighting on Hassan revealed a number of weaknesses both the troops of the Far Eastern Military District and the Red Army as a whole. The Soviet troops apparently suffered even greater losses than the enemy, and the interaction between the infantry, tank units and artillery turned out to be weak at the initial stage of the fighting. Not on high level turned out to be intelligence, unable to accurately identify the positions of the enemy. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 759 people killed, 100 people. who died in hospitals, 95 people. missing and 6 people who died in accidents. 2752 people was injured or ill (dysentery and colds). The Japanese acknowledged the loss of 650 killed and 2500 people. wounded.

The battles on Khasan in July-August 1938 were far from the first and not the last military clash between the USSR and Japan in the Far East. Less than a year later, an undeclared war began in Mongolia at Khalkhin Gol, where, the Soviet troops would have to face units no longer Korean, but Kwantung Army Japan.

Sources:

The stamp of secrecy has been removed: Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, combat operations and military conflicts. Statistical study. M., 1993.

Koshkin A. Japanese Front of Marshal Stalin. Russia and Japan: the shadow of Tsushima is a century long. M., 2003.

"On the border, the clouds go gloomily." Collection for the 65th anniversary of the events near Lake Khasan. M., 2005.

Image for the lead: iskateli64.ru

Image for the announcement of the material on the main page: waralbum.ru

CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVENTS OF THE KHASAN ARMED CONFLICT
June 13th. In Manchukuo, fearing arrest, the commissar of state security of the 3rd rank, the head of the Far Eastern regional NKVD Genrikh Lyushkov, defected.

3 July. The Japanese company launched a demonstration attack on c. Zaozernaya.

July 8. By order of the head of the border detachment in. Zaozernaya is occupied by a permanent outfit of 10 people and a reserve outpost of 30 people. The digging of trenches and the installation of barriers began.

July 11th. VK. Blucher ordered to advance a company of 119 joint ventures to the area of Hasan Island to support the border guards.

July 15 (according to other sources, July 17). Foreman Vinevitin shot the Japanese Matsushima Sakuni, who, together with a group of Japanese, penetrated into Soviet territory. A camera with pictures of the area was found with him. Zaozernaya. To help Lieutenant P. Tereshkin, a reserve outpost was assigned under the command of Lieutenant Khristolyubov.

July 15. The Japanese side protested against the presence of forty Soviet military personnel on Japanese territory in the Zhang-Chu-Fun area (Chinese name for the Zaozernaya hill).

July 17th. The Japanese begin the transfer of the 19th division to the conflict zone.

July 18 at 19:00. At the Quarantine outpost section, in groups of two or three, twenty-three people violated our line with a package from the Japanese border command demanding to leave Japanese territory.

July 20. Up to 50 Japanese people swam in the lake, two were observing. Up to 70 people arrived on a freight train to Homuiton station. The Japanese ambassador Shigemitsu, in an ultimatum form, presented territorial claims and demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the height of Zaozernaya. Minister of War Itagaki and Chief of the General Staff Prince Kan'in presented to the emperor an operational plan for ousting Soviet troops from the top of the Zaozernaya hill with the help of two infantry regiments of the 19th division of the Korean Army of Japan without the use of aviation.

22 July. The Soviet government sent a note to the Japanese government in which it resolutely rejected all the claims of the Japanese.

23 July. The transfer of violators to the Japanese side took place. The Japanese once again protested the violation of the border.

July 24th. The Military Council of the KDF issued a directive on the concentration of reinforced battalions of 119 joint ventures, 118 joint ventures and a squadron of 121 cavalry. regiment in the Zarechye region and bringing the troops of the front on high alert. Marshal Blucher sent to c. The Zaozerny commission, which discovered a violation of the border line by 3 meters by a trench of border guards.

July 27th. Ten Japanese officers went to the border line in the area of Bezymyannaya height, apparently for the purpose of reconnaissance.

July 28th. Units of the 75th Regiment of the 19th Infantry Division of the Japanese took up positions in the area of Hasan Island.

July 29 at 15:00. Up to a company of the Japanese, they attacked the outpost of Lieutenant Makhalin at the height of Bezymyannaya, with the help of the Chernopyatko and Batarshin squads that came to the rescue and Bykhovets cavalrymen, the enemy was repulsed. 2 companies of the 119th joint venture of Lieutenant Levchenko, two platoons of T-26 tanks (4 vehicles), a platoon of small-caliber guns and 20 border guards under the command of Lieutenant Ratnikov are coming to the rescue.

July 29. The third reinforced battalion of the 118th Rifle Regiment was ordered to advance to the Pakshekori-Novoselki area.

July 29, 24 hours. 40th Rifle Division receives an order to advance to the region of Hasan Island from Slavyanka.

July 30th. The 32nd Rifle Division advances towards Khasan from the Razdolny area.

July 30, 23:00. The Japanese are sending reinforcements across the Tumangan River.

July 31 3-20. With forces of up to two regiments, the Japanese begin offensives to all heights. With artillery support, the Japanese make four attacks. Under pressure from a superior enemy, by order of the Soviet troops, they leave the border line and retreat beyond about. Khasan at 7-00 from Zaozernaya, at 19-25 from Bezymyannaya, the Japanese pursue them, but then return behind Hasan Island and consolidate on the western coast of the lake and on the lines conditionally connecting the tops of the lake and the existing border line.

July 31 (day). On 3rd Sat, 118th Rifle Regiment, with the support of border guards, ousted the enemy from the eastern and southern shores of the lake.

August 1. The Japanese hastily fortify the occupied territory, artillery positions are being equipped, firing points. There is a concentration of 40 sd. Parts are late because of the mudslide.

August 1 13-35. Stalin, by direct wire, ordered Blucher to immediately drive the Japanese out of our territory. The first air raid on the positions of the Japanese. At the beginning, 36 I-15s and 8 R-Zets attacked Zaozernaya with fragmentation bombs (AO-8 and AO-10) and machine-gun fire. At 15-10 24 SB bombed in the area of Zaozernaya and the road to Digasheli with high-explosive bombs of 50 and 100 kg. (FAB-100 and FAB-50). At 16-40 fighters and attack aircraft bombed and fired at the height of 68.8. At the end of the day, SB bombers dropped a large number of small fragmentation bombs on Zaozernaya.

August 2. Unsuccessful attempt knock out the enemy with the forces of 40 rifle divisions. Troops are forbidden to cross the line of the state border. Heavy offensive battles. 118 joint ventures and a tank battalion stopped in the south near the height of Machine-gun Hill. 119 and 120 joint ventures stopped at the approaches to Bezymyannaya. The Soviet units suffered heavy losses. The first air raid at 07:00 had to be postponed due to fog. At 8-00 24 SB struck at the western slopes of Zaozernaya. Then the six P-Z worked on the positions of the Japanese on the Bogomolnaya hill.

August 3rd. Under heavy enemy fire, 40th Rifle Division retreats to its original positions. People's Commissar Voroshilov decides to entrust the leadership of military operations near Hasan Island to the chief of staff of the KDF G.M. Stern, appointing him commander of the 39th Rifle Corps, effectively removing Blucher from command.

August 4th. The Japanese Ambassador declared readiness to start negotiations on the settlement border conflict. The Soviet side presented a condition for the restoration of the position of the parties on July 29, the Japanese rejected this requirement.

5th of August. Approach 32 sd. The order was given for a general offensive on August 6 at 16-00. The Soviet command is making a final reconnaissance of the area.

August 6 15-15. In groups of several dozen aircraft, 89 SB bombers began bombarding the hills of Bezymyannaya, Zaozernaya and Bogomolnaya, as well as the positions of Japanese artillery on the adjacent side. An hour later, 41 TB-3RNs continued their bombardment. In conclusion, FAB-1000 bombs were used, which produced a strong psychological impact on the enemy. Fighters during the entire time of the bombers' operation effectively suppressed enemy anti-aircraft batteries. After the bombardment and artillery preparation, the assault on Japanese positions began. The 40th Rifle Division and the 2nd Motorized Rifle Brigade advanced from the south, the 32nd Rifle Division and the tank battalion of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Brigade advanced from the north. The offensive was carried out under continuous enemy artillery fire. The swampy terrain did not allow the tanks to turn into a battle line. Tanks moved in a column at a speed of no more than 3 km / h. Parts of the 95th joint venture by 21-00 reached the wire barriers in. Black, but strong fire were repulsed. Zaozernaya height was partially liberated.

August 7. Numerous Japanese counterattacks, attempts to regain lost positions. The Japanese are pulling up new units to Hassan. The Soviet command reinforces the grouping of the 78th Kazan Red Banner and 176 joint ventures of the 26th Zlatoust Red Banner Rifle Division. After reconnaissance of the positions of the Japanese in the morning, the fighters worked as attack aircraft on the border strip, in the afternoon 115 SB bombed the positions of artillery and the accumulation of infantry in the near rear of the Japanese.

8 August. 96 cn came out on northern slopes in. Zaozernaya. Aviation continuously storms enemy positions. The hunt goes on even for individual soldiers, the Japanese do not risk showing up in open areas. Fighters are also used to reconnoiter Japanese positions. By the end of the day, Voroshilov's telegram forbade the massive use of aviation.

August 9th. The order was given to the Soviet troops to go on the defensive at the achieved lines.

August 10. Fighters were used to suppress the artillery of the Japanese. Effective interaction between aviation and heavy artillery. The Japanese artillery practically stopped firing.

August 11 at 12 noon. Ceasefire. Aviation is prohibited from crossing the border line.

Japanese invasion of Mongolia. Halkin Gol

The crossing of the Soviet troops through the flooded areas to the bridgehead at Lake Khasan.

Cavalry on patrol.

Type of disguised Soviet tanks.

The Red Army go on the attack.

Red Army soldiers on a halt.

Artillerymen during a break between battles.

The soldiers set the banner of victory on the hill Zaozernaya.

A Soviet tank is forcing the Khalkhin-Gol river.

And the Red Army because of the contestation by Japan of belonging to the territory near Lake Khasan and the Tumannaya River. In Japan, these events are referred to as the "incident at the height of Zhanggufeng" (jap. 張鼓峰事件 Cho:koho:jiken) .

Previous events

In February 1934, five Japanese soldiers crossed the border line, in a clash with border guards, one of the violators was killed, and four were wounded and detained.

On March 22, 1934, an officer and a soldier were shot dead while trying to conduct reconnaissance at the Emelyantsev outpost section. Japanese army.

In April 1934, Japanese soldiers attempted to capture the Lysaya height in the Grodekovsky border detachment section, at the same time the Poltavka outpost was attacked, but the border guards, supported by an artillery company, repelled the attack and drove the enemy beyond the border line.

In July 1934, the Japanese committed six provocations on the border line, in August 1934 - 20 provocations, in September 1934 - 47 provocations.

During the first seven months of 1935, there were 24 cases of Japanese aircraft invading the border line. air space USSR, 33 cases of shelling of the territory of the USSR from the adjacent territory and 44 cases of violation of the river border on the Amur River by Manchurian courts.

In the fall of 1935, 15 km from the Petrovka outpost, a border detachment noticed two Japanese who were trying to connect to the communication line, the soldier was killed, and the non-commissioned officer was detained, a rifle and a light machine gun were captured from the offenders.

On October 12, 1935, a detachment of the Japanese attacked the Bagpipe outpost, the border guard V. Kotelnikov died.

In November 1935, the political representative of the USSR in Tokyo, K. K. Yurenev, handed the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Hirota a note of protest in connection with violations Japanese forces Soviet border, which took place on October 6, October 8 and October 12, 1935.

On January 30, 1936, two Japanese-Manchurian companies crossed the border at Meshcheryakova Pad and penetrated 1.5 km into the territory of the USSR before being pushed back by border guards. Losses amounted to 31 Manchurian soldiers and Japanese officers killed and 23 wounded, as well as 4 killed and several wounded Soviet border guards.

On November 24, 1936, a horse-foot detachment of 60 Japanese crossed the border in the Grodekovo region, but came under machine-gun fire and retreated, losing 18 soldiers killed and 7 wounded, 8 corpses remained on Soviet territory.

On November 26, 1936, three Japanese crossed the border and began topographic survey of the area from the top of Pavlova Hill, while trying to detain them from the adjacent territory, machine guns and an artillery gun opened fire, three Soviet border guards were killed.

In 1936, at the site of the Hansi outpost, Japanese soldiers captured the Malaya Chertova height and erected pillboxes on it.

In May 1937, 2 km from the border, the border detachment again noticed the Japanese who were trying to connect to the communication line, a Japanese soldier was shot dead, six coils of field telephone cable, wire cutters, and six pickaxes were captured.

On June 5, 1937, in the area of responsibility of the 21st Rifle Division of the Red Army, Japanese military personnel invaded Soviet territory and occupied a hill near Khanka Lake, however, when approaching the border of the 63rd rifle regiment retreated to the adjacent territory. The regiment commander I.R. Dobysh, who was late with the advancement of forces to the border line, was brought to disciplinary responsibility.

On October 28, 1937, at an altitude of 460.1, the border detachment of the Paksehori outpost discovered two open trenches surrounded by a wire fence. Fire was opened from the trenches, in the skirmish the senior lieutenant A. Makhalin was wounded and two Japanese soldiers were killed.

On July 15, 1938, a border detachment noticed a group of five Japanese on the top of the Zaozernaya hill, who were conducting reconnaissance and photographing the area, while trying to detain a Japanese intelligence officer Matsushima was shot dead (weapons, binoculars, a camera and maps of the Soviet territory were found on him), the rest fled.

In total, from 1936 until the outbreak of hostilities near Lake Khasan in July 1938, Japanese and Manchu forces committed 231 violations of the USSR border, in 35 cases they resulted in major military clashes. Of this number, in the period from the beginning of 1938 until the start of the fighting near Lake Khasan, 124 cases of border violations by land and 40 cases of aircraft intrusion into the airspace of the USSR were committed.

During the same period, Western powers (including Great Britain and the United States) were interested in escalating armed conflict between the USSR and Japan in the Far East and the escalation of tension into the Soviet-Japanese war. One of the forms of encouraging Japan to go to war against the USSR was the supply of the Japanese military industry with strategic raw materials, the supply of goods and fuel for the Japanese army (an example is the supply of fuel from the United States), which did not stop either after the start of the Japanese offensive in China in the summer of 1937, or after the start of fighting near Lake Khasan [ ] .

Escape Lyushkov

After the beginning of the Japanese aggression in China in 1937, the Soviet state security agencies in the Far East were tasked with intensifying intelligence and counterintelligence activities. However, in the fall of 1937, the head of the NKVD Directorate for the Far Eastern Territory, Commissar of State Security of the 3rd rank, G.S. Lyushkov, ordered the liquidation of all six operational points on the border, and transfer work with agents to border detachments.

On June 14, 1938, in Manchukuo, near the city of Hunchun, G.S. Lyushkov crossed the border and surrendered to the Japanese border guards. He asked for political asylum and subsequently actively cooperated with Japanese intelligence.

The beginning of the conflict

As a suggestion for applying military force the Japanese put forward a territorial claim to the USSR, but the real reason was the active assistance of the USSR to China in the period after the signing of the Soviet-Chinese non-aggression pact on August 21, 1937 (which caused an aggravation of Soviet-Japanese contradictions and a deterioration in Soviet-Japanese relations). In an effort to prevent the capitulation of China, the USSR provided him with diplomatic and political support, logistical and military aid.

On July 1, 1938, due to the growing military danger, the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army of the Red Army was transformed into the Far Eastern Front of the Red Army.

Due to the complication of the situation on the section of the state border near Lake Khasan, as well as the important position of the Zaozernaya hills ( 42°26.79′ s. sh. 130°35.67′ E d. HGIO) and Nameless ( 42°27.77′ s. sh. 130°35.42′ E d. HGIO), from the slopes and peaks of which it was possible to view and, if necessary, shoot through a significant space into the depths of the territory of the USSR, as well as completely block the lakeside defile for the access of Soviet border detachments. On July 8, 1938, it was decided to establish a permanent border guard post on the Zaozernaya hill.

The Soviet border guards who arrived on the hill dug trenches and set up an inconspicuous wire fence in front of them, which infuriated the Japanese - a unit of infantrymen of the Japanese army, led by an officer, simulated an attack on the hill, deploying in battle formation, but stopped at the border line.

On July 12, 1938, the Soviet border guards again occupied the Zaozyornaya hill, which was claimed by the puppet government of Manchukuo, which made a protest on July 14, 1938 about violating its border.

On July 15, 1938, in Moscow, the Japanese ambassador to the USSR, Mamoru Shigemitsu, demanded in a note of protest to the Soviet government the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from the disputed territory. He was shown the documents of the Hunchun Agreement of 1886 and the map attached to them, indicating that the Zaozyornaya and Bezymyannaya heights are on Soviet territory. However, on July 20, the Japanese ambassador presented another note from the Japanese government. The note contained an ultimatum demand for the evacuation of Soviet troops "from the illegally occupied territory."

On July 21, 1938, the Japanese Minister of War Itagaki and the Chief of the Japanese General Staff asked the Japanese Emperor for permission to use Japanese troops in combat operations against the Soviet forces near Lake Khasan.

On the same day, July 22, 1938, the Japanese emperor Hirohito approved a plan for an attack on the border section near Lake Hasan.

On July 23, 1938, Japanese units began to be driven out of the border villages. local residents. The next day, on the sandy islands on the Tumen-Ula River, the appearance of firing positions for artillery was noted, and at the height of Bogomolnaya (located at a distance of 1 km from the Zaozernaya hill) - firing positions for artillery and machine guns.

On July 24, 1938, Marshal V.K. Blucher, without informing the government and the higher command in the person of the People's Commissariat of Defense about his actions, went to the Zaozernaya hill with a commission to check reports on the situation at the border. He ordered to fill up one of the trenches dug by the border guards and move the wire fence from the neutral zone by four meters to the border guards' trenches. Blucher's actions were abuse of power (the border guard was not subordinate to the army command) and direct interference in the work of the headquarters of the border district (whose order was carried out by the border detachment). In addition, as further developments of events showed, Blucher's actions were erroneous.

The balance of forces of the parties

the USSR

15 thousand Soviet military personnel and border guards took part in the fighting near Lake Khasan, armed with 237 artillery pieces (179 field artillery pieces and 58 anti-tank 45-mm guns), 285 tanks, 250 aircraft and 1014 machine guns (341 machine guns and 673 light machine guns). 200 GAZ-AA, GAZ-AAA and ZIS-5 trucks, 39 fuel trucks and 60 tractors, as well as horse-drawn vehicles participated in supporting the actions of the troops.

According to updated data, two border boats ( PC-7 and PC-8) border troops THE USSR .

Indirect participation in the operation was taken by radio intelligence specialists of the Pacific Fleet - they did not participate in hostilities, but were engaged in radio interception and decoding of Japanese radio transmissions.

Japan

By the beginning of hostilities, the border grouping of Japanese troops consisted of: three infantry divisions (15th, 19th, 20th infantry divisions), one cavalry regiment, three machine-gun battalions, separate armored units (numbering up to a battalion), anti-aircraft artillery units, three armored trains and 70 aircraft, 15 warships (1 cruiser and 14 destroyers) and 15 boats were concentrated at the mouth of the Tumen-Ula River. The 19th Infantry Division, reinforced with machine guns and artillery, took a direct part in the hostilities. Also, the Japanese military command considered the possibility of using white emigrants in hostilities - to coordinate the joint actions of white emigrants and Japanese troops during preparations for hostilities near Lake Khasan, a major of the Japanese general staff Yamooko was sent to ataman G. M. Semyonov.

More than 20,000 servicemen of the Japanese army, armed with 200 guns and 3 armored trains, took part in the fighting near Lake Khasan.

According to the American researcher Alvin D. Cooks, at least 10,000 Japanese troops participated in the fighting near Lake Khasan, of which 7,000 - 7,300 people were in combat units of the 19th division. This figure, however, does not include the personnel of the artillery units attached to the division in last days conflict.

In addition, during the fighting near Lake Khasan, the use of 20-mm Type 97 anti-tank rifles by Japanese troops was recorded.

fighting

On July 24, 1938, the Military Council of the Far Eastern Front ordered the 118th, 119th Rifle Regiments and the 121st Cavalry Regiment of the 40th Rifle Division of the Red Army to be put on alert. It was believed that defense in rugged swampy terrain was impossible, as this interfered with the contraction Soviet units to the place of conflict.

On July 24, the 3rd battalion of the 118th regiment of the 40th rifle division and the reserve frontier post of Lieutenant S. Ya. Khristolyubov were transferred to Lake Khasan. Thus, by the beginning of the Japanese offensive, the following forces were in the combat sector:

Before dawn on July 29, Japanese troops numbering up to 150 soldiers (a reinforced company of the border gendarmerie with 4 hotchkis machine guns), taking advantage of the foggy weather, secretly concentrated on the slopes of the Bezymyannaya hill and attacked the hill in the morning, on which there were 11 Soviet border guards. Having lost up to 40 soldiers, they occupied the height, but after reinforcements arrived at the border guards, they were driven back by the evening.

On the evening of July 30, 1938, Japanese artillery fired on the hills, after which the Japanese infantry again attempted to capture Bezymyannaya and Zaozernaya, but the border guards, with the help of the arrived 3rd battalion of the 118th joint venture of the 40th SD, repelled the attack.

On the same day, after a short artillery preparation, the Japanese troops launched a new attack with up to two regiments of the 19th Infantry Division, and occupied the hills. Immediately after the capture, the Japanese began to fortify the heights, trenches of a full profile were dug here, wire fences of 3-4 stakes were installed. At an altitude of 62.1 ("Machine-gun"), the Japanese installed up to 40 machine guns.

An attempt by a Soviet counterattack by forces of two battalions was not successful, although two Japanese anti-tank guns and three Japanese machine guns were destroyed by the fire of a platoon of 45-mm anti-tank guns under the command of Lieutenant I.R. Lazarev.

The battalion of the 119th Rifle Regiment retreated to Hill 194.0, and the battalion of the 118th Regiment was forced to retreat to Zarechye. On the same day, the chief of staff of the front G. M. Stern and the deputy people's commissar of defense, army commissar L. Z. Mekhlis arrived at the headquarters, G. M. Stern took over the overall command of the Soviet troops.

On the morning of August 1, the entire 118th Rifle Regiment arrived in the area of Lake Khasan, and before noon - the 119th Rifle Regiment and the 120th CP of the 40th Rifle Division. The general attack was delayed, as the units advanced into the battle area along the only difficult road. On August 1, a direct conversation took place between V. K. Blyukher and the Main Military Council, where J. V. Stalin sharply criticized Blyukher for commanding the operation.

In the border battles with the Japanese on July 29 - August 5, 1938, Soviet troops captured 5 artillery pieces, 14 machine guns and 157 rifles.

On August 4, the concentration of troops was completed, the commander of the Far Eastern Front, G. M. Stern, ordered an offensive in order to attack and destroy the enemy between the Zaozyornaya hill and Lake Khasan and restore the state border.

On August 6, 1938, at 16:00, after the fog cleared over the lakes, 216 Soviet aircraft began bombarding Japanese positions; at 17:00, after a 45-minute artillery preparation and two massive bombardments of the location of the Japanese troops, the offensive of the Soviet troops began.

The 32nd Rifle Division and the tank battalion of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade were advancing from the north on Bezymyannaya Hill;
The 40th Rifle Division, reinforced by a reconnaissance battalion and tanks, advanced from the south-east to the hill Zaozernaya.

On August 7, fighting for the heights continued, during the day the Japanese infantry launched 12 counterattacks.

On August 8, parts of the 39th Corps and the 118th rifle regiment The 40th division captured the Zaozernaya hill and also launched battles for mastering the Bogomolnaya height. In an effort to ease the pressure on their troops in the Khasan area, the Japanese command launched counterattacks in other sectors of the border: on August 9, 1938, in the sector of the 59th border detachment, Japanese troops occupied Mount Malaya Tigrovaya to monitor the movement of Soviet troops. On the same day, in the sector of the 69th Khankai border detachment, Japanese cavalrymen violated the border line, and in the sector of the 58th Grodekovsky border detachment, Japanese infantry attacked Hill 588.3 three times.

On August 10, 1938, the Japanese ambassador to the USSR, M. Shigemitsu, visited the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR M. M. Litvinov in Moscow and suggested starting peace talks. The Soviet side agreed to a cessation of hostilities from 12:00 on August 11, 1938, while maintaining the troops in the positions that the troops occupied as of 24:00 on August 10, 1938.

During August 10, Japanese troops launched several counterattacks and fired artillery at the heights from the adjacent territory.

On August 11, 1938, at 13:30 local time, hostilities ceased. In the evening of the same day, south of the Zaozernaya height, the first meeting of representatives of the parties took place to fix the position of the troops. On the same day, August 11, 1938, an armistice was concluded between Japan and the USSR.

On August 12-13, 1938, new meetings of Soviet and Japanese representatives took place, at which the parties clarified the location of the troops and exchanged the bodies of the dead. It was agreed that the boundary was established by an 1860 agreement, as no later boundary agreement existed.

Aviation Application

On the eve of the conflict in the Far East, the command of the Red Army Air Force concentrated a significant amount of aviation. Without taking into account the aviation of the Pacific Fleet, by August 1938, the Soviet air group consisted of 1298 aircraft, including 256 SB bombers (17 out of order). The direct command of aviation in the conflict zone was carried out by P. V. Rychagov.

In the period from August 1 to 8, Soviet aviation carried out 1028 sorties against Japanese fortifications: SB - 346, I-15 - 534, SSS - 53 (from the airfield to Voznesenskoye), TB-3 - 41, R-zet - 29, I-16 - 25. The operation involved:

In a number of cases, Soviet aviation mistakenly used chemical bombs. However, eyewitness and participant accounts claim otherwise. In particular, it is said that the delivered chemical bombs were loaded into the bomber only once, and during the flight it was found already in the air. The pilots did not land, but dropped bombs into the silted lake to avoid detonating ammunition.

During combat operations, 4 Soviet aircraft were lost and 29 damaged.

Japanese aircraft did not participate in the conflict.

results

As a result of the battles, the Soviet troops completed the task assigned to them to protect the state border of the USSR and defeat enemy units.

Side losses

The losses of the Soviet troops amounted to 960 dead and missing (of which 759 died on the battlefield; 100 died in hospitals from wounds and diseases; 6 died in non-combat incidents and 95 went missing), 2752 wounded and 527 sick. The main part of the sick were those who fell ill with gastrointestinal diseases as a result of drinking bad water. Since all the soldiers of the Red Army who took part in the hostilities were vaccinated with toxoid, for the entire period of hostilities there was not a single case of tetanus among military personnel.

Japanese losses were about 650 killed and 2,500 wounded according to the Soviet estimate, or 526 killed and 914 wounded according to Japanese figures. In addition, during the fighting near Lake Khasan, Japanese troops suffered losses in weapons and military property. In addition, the domestic sinologist V. Usov (IFES RAS) noted that, in addition to official Japanese communiqués, there was also a secret memorandum addressed to Emperor Hirohito, in in which the number of losses of Japanese troops significantly (at least one and a half times) exceeds the officially published data.

Subsequent events

November 16, 1938 in the city museum of Vladivostok opened an exhibition captured weapons, captured from Japanese troops during the fighting near Lake Khasan.

Rewarding participants in hostilities

The 40th Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Lenin, the 32nd Rifle Division and the Posietsky Border Detachment were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, 6532 participants in the battle were awarded government awards: 26 fighters were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (including nine posthumously), 95 were awarded the Order of Lenin, 1985 - the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star - 1935 people, the medal "For Courage" - 1336 people, the medal "For Combat Merit" - 1154 people. Among the awarded were 47 wives and sisters of border guards.

By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated November 4, 1938, 646 of the most distinguished participants in the battles near Lake Khasan were promoted.

On November 7, 1938, in the order of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR No. 236 of November 7, 1938, gratitude was announced to all participants in the battles near Lake Khasan

One of the points of accusation against Blucher was the creation of a commission that conducted an investigation at the height of Zaozernaya on July 24 and came to the conclusion that the Soviet border guards had violated the border line, after which Blucher demanded that the defensive positions at the height be partially liquidated and the head of the border station should be arrested.

On October 22, 1938, Blucher was arrested. He pleaded guilty to participating in a military conspiracy and died during the investigation. After his death, he was accused of spying for Japan.

Generalization of combat experience and organizational improvement of the Red Army

The Red Army gained experience in conducting combat operations with the Japanese troops, which became the subject of study in special commissions, departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, the General Staff of the USSR and military educational institutions and worked out during exercises and maneuvers. The result was an improvement in the preparation of units and units of the Red Army for combat operations in difficult conditions, improving the interaction of units in battle, improving the operational-tactical training of commanders and staffs. The experience gained was successfully applied on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 and in Manchuria in 1945.

fighting near Lake Khasan confirmed the increased importance of artillery and contributed to the further development of Soviet artillery: if during the Russo-Japanese war the losses of Japanese troops from Russian artillery fire amounted to 23% of total losses, then during the conflict near Lake Khasan in 1938, the losses of Japanese troops from artillery fire of the Red Army amounted to 37% of the total losses, and during the fighting near the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 - 53% of the total losses of Japanese troops.

To eliminate the shortage of command personnel at the platoon level, courses for junior lieutenants and junior military technicians were already formed in the troops in 1938.

The organization of the evacuation of the wounded and the provision of medical care during the hostilities near Lake Khasan took place on the basis of the provisions of the "Charter of the Military Medical Service of the Red Army" of 1933 (UVSS-33), however, some requirements of sanitary tactics were violated: the conditions in which hostilities took place (seaside swamps); the wounded were carried out during the battle, without waiting for periods of lull in the fighting (which led to an increase in the number of casualties); battalion doctors were too close to the combat formations of the troops and, moreover, were involved in organizing the work of company sections for the collection and evacuation of the wounded (which caused big losses among physicians). Based on the experience gained, after the end of hostilities, changes were made to the work of the military medical service:

By the beginning of hostilities at Khalkhin Gol, battalion doctors were transferred to the regiments, and paramedics were left in the battalions (this decision led to a decrease in losses among doctors during the hostilities and increased the efficiency of the regimental medical centers);
the training of civilian surgeons to assist the wounded in the field was improved.

Practical experience in the evacuation and treatment of the wounded, gained during the battles near Lake Khasan, was summarized by a specialist in the field of military field surgery, Professor M.N. Akhutin (who participated in the battles near Lake Khasan as an army surgeon) and Dr. medical sciences, Professor A. M. Dykhno .

In addition, during the hostilities, the vulnerability of T-26 light tanks (which had bulletproof armor) was revealed in the conditions of the use of large-caliber anti-tank rifles and anti-tank artillery by the enemy. During the battles, command tanks equipped with radio stations with a handrail antenna were disabled by concentrated fire, so it was decided to install handrail antennas not only on command tanks, but also on line tanks.

Transport infrastructure development

The fighting near Lake Khasan initiated the development of transport communications in the south Far East. After the end of hostilities near Lake Khasan, the People's Commissariat of Defense applied to the government for the construction of railway line No. 206 (Baranovsky - Posyet junction), the construction of which was included in the construction plan for 1939.

International Military Tribunal for the Far East

After the end of World War II, in 1946, by the decision of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 13 high-ranking officials of the Empire of Japan were convicted of unleashing a conflict near Lake Khasan in 1938.

Memory

In honor of the assistant chief of the border outpost, Alexei Makhalin, his native village in the Penza region was named.

In honor of the political instructor Ivan Pozharsky, one of the districts of the Primorsky Territory, the village of Tikhonovka (Pozharsky) and the Pozharsky railway siding, founded in 1942, received the name.

In honor of the heroes of Hassan in the USSR, streets were named and monuments were erected.

Reflection in culture and art

"Tractor Drivers" - a film directed by Ivan Pyryev, filmed in 1939. The events in the film take place in 1938. At the beginning of the film, Red Army soldier Klim Yarko (played by Nikolai Kryuchkov) returns from the Far East after demobilization. In another fragment, the heroine of Marina Ladynina Maryana Bazhan reads the book "Tankers" about the events near Lake Khasan. The songs "Three Tankers" and "March of the Soviet Tankers" in the minds of the generation of the 30s were strongly associated with the events in the Far East.
"Khasansky Waltz" - a film shot in 2008 by director Mikhail Gotenko at the studio "Eastern Cinema". The film is dedicated to Alexey Makhalin.

Heroes of the Soviet Union - participants in the hostilities near Lake Khasan

File:Hasan6.png

Monument " Eternal glory to the heroes of the battles at Lake Khasan. Pos. Razdolnoye, Nadezhdinsky District, Primorsky Territory

The titles of Hero of the Soviet Union were awarded to:

Borovikov, Andrey Evstigneevich (posthumously)
Vinevitin, Vasily Mikhailovich (posthumously)
Gvozdev, Ivan Vladimirovich (posthumously)
Kolesnikov, Grigory Yakovlevich (posthumously)
Kornev, Grigory Semenovich (posthumously)
Makhalin, Alexey Efimovich (posthumously)
Pozharsky, Ivan Alekseevich (posthumously)
Pushkarev, Konstantin Ivanovich (posthumously)
Rassokha, Semyon Nikolaevich (posthumously)

Orders of NPO USSR

Notes

Khasan conflict // Military History Journal, No. 7, 2013 ( the last page covers)
"Tashkent" - Rifle cell / [under the general. ed. A. A. Grechko]. - M. : Military Publishing House M-va defense USSR, 1976. - S. 366-367. - (Soviet military encyclopedia: [in 8 volumes]; 1976-1980, v. 8).
Khasan // Big Encyclopedia (in 62 vols.) / editorial board, ch. ed. S. A. Kondratov. volume 56. M., "TERRA", 2006. pp. 147-148
Major A. Ageev. Subject lessons for Japanese samurai. 1922-1937. // How we beat Japanese samurai. Collection of articles and documents. M., publishing house of the Central Committee of the Komsomol "Young Guard", 1938. pp. 122-161
Vitaly Moroz. Samurai reconnaissance in combat. // "Red Star", No. 141 (26601) from August 8 - 14, 2014. pp. 14-15
V. V. Tereshchenko. “The border guard is also entrusted with the duty to protect the borders from armed attacks” // Military History Journal, No. 6, 2013. pp. 40-43
V. S. Milbach. "Near the high banks of the Amur..." Border incidents on the Amur River in 1937-1939. // Military History Journal, No. 4, 2011. pp. 38-40
K. E. Grebennik. Hasan's diary. Vladivostok, Far East book. publishing house, 1978. pp. 18-53
A. A. Koshkin. "Kantokuen" - "Barbarossa" in Japanese. Why didn't Japan attack the USSR? M., "Veche", 2011. p. 47
D. T. Yazov. Faithful to the Motherland. M., Military Publishing House, 1988. p. 164

Military operations of Japan in the area of Lake Khasan and the Khalkhin-Gol River in 1938-39.

In the summer of 1938, Japan invaded Soviet territory in the area of Lake Khasan at the junction of the borders of the USSR, China (Manchukuo) and Korea in order to capture a strategically important area (a range of hills to the west of the lake, including Bezymyannaya and Zaozernaya hills) and create an immediate threat Vladivostok and Primorye in general. This was preceded by the deployment by Japan propaganda campaign on the issue of the so-called "disputed territories" on the Soviet-Manchurian border in Primorye (the line of passage of which was clearly defined in the Hunchun Protocol of 1886 and was never questioned by the Chinese side - ed.), which ended with the presentation to the Soviet Union in July 1938 of a categorical demand for the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the transfer to Japan of all territories west of Khasan under the pretext of the need to fulfill "Japanese obligations" to Manchukuo.

The battles, in which the 19th and 20th divisions, an infantry brigade, three machine gun battalions, a cavalry brigade, separate tank units and up to 70 aircraft were involved from the Japanese side, lasted from June 29 to August 11, 1938, and ended in defeat Japanese group.

In May 1939, also under the pretext of an "unresolved territorial dispute" between Mongolia and Manchuria, Japanese troops invaded Mongolian territory near the Khalkhin Gol (Nomongan) River. The purpose of the Japanese attack this time was an attempt to establish military control over the region bordering Transbaikalia, which would pose a direct threat to the Trans-Siberian Railway - the main transport artery connecting the European and Far Eastern parts of the country, which in this area runs almost parallel to the northern border of Mongolia and in close proximity to her. In accordance with the Mutual Assistance Agreement concluded between the USSR and the MPR in 1936, Soviet troops took part in repelling Japanese aggression along with the Mongolian ones.

Military operations in the Khalkhin Gol region lasted from May to September 1939 and, in terms of scale, far exceeded the events at Hassan. They also ended in the defeat of Japan, whose losses amounted to: about 61 thousand people killed, wounded and captured, 660 aircraft destroyed, 200 for captured guns, about 400 machine guns and more than 100 vehicles (the losses of the Soviet-Mongolian side amounted to more than 9 thousand people). Human).

In the Judgment of the Tokyo International Military Tribunal for the Far East of November 4-12, 1948, Japan's actions in 1938-39. Khasan and Khalkhin Gol were qualified as a "Japanese-led aggressive war."

Marian Vasilievich Novikov

Victory at Khalkhin Gol

Novikov M.V., Politizdat, 1971.

The brochure of the military historian M. Novikov acquaints the reader with the military operations of the Soviet-Mongolian troops on the Khalkhin-Gol River against the Japanese aggressors who violated the borders of the Mongolian People's Republic in the spring of 1939.

The courage and combat skill of the soldiers of the Red Army and the Mongolian cyrics, the superiority of Soviet military equipment led to victory. The Battle of Khalkhin Gol will forever remain an example of the fraternal community of two socialist countries, a stern warning to the aggressors.