Just when Liu Yimin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot because he didn't know the progress of the Nomonhan Battle, the Manchuria-Mongolia border conflict analysis meeting was being held in the headquarters of the Japanese Kwantung Army.
The Battle of Nomonhan is really like history. It started in mid-May and has been fought for two months now. In these two months, the Japanese and Soviet sides fought from the ground to the air, and the fighting was unprecedentedly fierce.
Looking at the officers sitting neatly on both sides of the conference table, the aging Kwantung Army Commander Ueda Kenkichi turned his attention to Chief of Staff Isotani Rensuke sitting next to him, and said a little irritably: "So, the 23rd Division
Did the group suffer a loss?"
Ueda Kenkichi has been the commander of the Kwantung Army for a long time, and he has psychologically regarded himself as the master of Manchuria. The tone of his speech has changed, sounding slow and careless.
Isotani Rensuke is one of the four famous China hands in the Japanese army. However, due to the main force of the 10th Division being wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, this arrogant guy now loses a lot of his arrogance and becomes a little humble.
After listening to Ueda Kenkichi's question, Isotani Rensuke once again stood up and stood at attention, and reported respectfully: "Your Excellency, Commander, this is indeed the case. According to the report of the commander of the 23rd Division, Komatsubara-kun, starting from July
Since being bombarded by Soviet aircraft and suppressed by heavy artillery fire on the morning of the 3rd, the 23rd Division has been in a passive state. Now 3,000 people have been killed."
Only now did Ueda Kenkichi begin to feel regret in his heart. If he had known this would be the result, he should not have sent the 23rd Division, leaving the elite 1st Division, 2nd Division, and 5th Division unused.
, use the 23rd Division!
Speaking of the Battle of Nomenhan, we have to talk about the Zhang Gufeng Incident. At that time, although Liu Yimin gave a speech and basically explained clearly the deployment of the 19th Division, the main force of the Japanese and Korean troops, the Soviet Army also did
The division was bombed badly enough, but Liu Yimin's judgment was incorrect in one thing, that is, the Zhang Gufeng incident exposed the weakness of the Soviet Red Army's lack of combat effectiveness. The Japanese Chief of General Staff later said that the Zhang Gufeng incident was generally a draw between the two sides.
, should be said to be objective. But even if it is a tie, the Japanese army looks down on the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army. This is mainly because the Japanese army did not seriously mobilize during the Zhang Gufeng incident. The scale of the battle was only limited to the division level, and it was really put into battle.
The troops were at the brigade level. The Soviet Red Army not only dispatched large-scale aircraft, tanks and artillery, but the strength alone was a group army. Therefore, it is fair to say that although the Japanese army was defeated, it was not a cowardly defeat. Although the Soviet army won, but
The victory was a bit miserable. It was precisely because of this that the commander of the 19th Division, Otaka Kamezo, who was defeated by the Japanese army, not only did not receive any punishment, but was promoted to the commander of the 12th Army. The Soviet Union not only disbanded the Far East Front Army, but also
Marshal Brücher, the commander of the Far East Front, who was also an old friend of the Chinese people when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party first cooperated, "General Galen" was purged and executed as a scapegoat. If the Soviet Red Army really believed that it had won a great victory in the Zhang Gufeng incident
, Marshal Brucher's fate is likely to be rewritten.
Liu Yimin originally knew the outcome of the Zhang Gufeng incident, but he believed that through his conversation, he had roughly explained the deployment of the Japanese and Korean troops. The Soviet Red Army could use air superiority to completely destroy the Japanese defense system and expand the
The results of the battle. Unexpectedly, the development of things did not depend on his will. The Soviet Red Army was limited by its own strategic considerations and had no requirement to expand the scale of the war against Japan. The Japanese army only made a tentative attack, combining two and one, and actually went against the historical Zhang
The Gufeng incident coincided.
It was precisely because of the outcome of the Zhang Gufeng incident and the fact that the intelligence agencies had a clear understanding of the Soviet Union's great purges that after carefully analyzing the Zhang Gufeng battle, the Japanese army not only failed to learn lessons, but instead began to despise the Soviet combat effectiveness.
Arrogant heart. According to the Kwantung Army, the Korean army was incapable of fighting. If it were the Kwantung Army, ten Zhang Gufeng were also captured. So, on April 25, 1939, General Kenkichi Ueda, commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army
The "Outline for Handling Manchurian-Soviet Border Disputes" was issued, which pointed out that next time we encounter similar border disputes, we should learn from the practices of the 38th Infantry Brigade of the 19th Infantry Division of the North Korean Army, resolutely fight back, and take the opportunity to occupy the disputed area and firmly hold it, creating a fait accompli.
Forced the Soviet Union to recognize the Kwantung Army's territorial claims. This led to the current Battle of Nomenhan.
Different from history, because the 23rd Division withdrew from Suxian County in northeastern Anhui Province late, the first phase of the Nomenkan conflict was between the Eighth Independent Guards of the Kwantung Army and the Border Guards of the Puppet Manchuria National Defense Force.
The conflict between the Soviet and Mongolian armies. The combat staff of the Kwantung Army Headquarters believed through aircraft reconnaissance that only 400 cavalrymen of the Mongolian army had crossed the border, and asked the Eighth Independent Guards to destroy these 400 cavalry. As a result, after the Eighth Independent Guards was dispatched,
They did gain glory at the beginning and successfully attacked the headquarters of the Mongolian Sixth Division, resulting in the death of division commander Sharibu. However, when the Japanese army retreated, they were bombarded by heavy artillery and mortars at Highland 733. Then, the Soviet armored forces
In the battle, the 45mm cannon on the tank hit the Japanese tank, which was as simple as piercing the window paper. All the Japanese troops in the sneak attack were wiped out. At this time, the staff of the Kwantung Army Headquarters Qian Zhengxin arrived by plane and insisted on
The Eighth Independent Guards launched a night attack and found the bodies of the Japanese soldiers who died in the battle. As a result, the Japanese army attacked at night and the Soviet and Mongolian troops counterattacked during the day. The two sides launched a tug-of-war in the Nomenkan area.
Originally, this was just a small loss. Since the 1st, 2nd and 23rd Divisions were all fighting within the Pass, the Kwantung Army was short of troops and could only watch helplessly as the Soviet and Mongolian armies had an absolute advantage.
Stationed in the Nomenkan area, and drove the border garrison of the Puppet Manchuria National Defense Force into the Greater Khingan Mountains.
When the First Division, the Second Division and the 23rd Division returned to their original form, the Kwantung Army's operational staff Qian Zhengxin began to go crazy. He repeatedly said that the Japanese army could not suffer the loss of being dumb and must be resolute in dealing with the actions of the Soviet and Mongolian troops who had no one around them.
Beat.
At this time, Chongqing's "Wenhui Po Military Forum" came out. It was full of stories about the war between Japan and the Soviet Union. Some of the articles were really good, which attracted the attention of the top brass of the Japanese army.
Ueda Kenkichi felt that it was time to have a good fight with the Soviet and Mongolian troops, so he reported to the base camp and requested to mobilize a division to destroy the Soviet and Mongolian troops that invaded the Nomonkan area. Since the base camp had no troops to mobilize, he called back to the Kwantung Army to handle it on its own.
.Later, perhaps due to Ueda Kenkichi’s strong demands, the headquarters transferred the Fifth Division in Qingdao to the northeast to support the Kwantung Army’s operations.
The Kwantung Army, which received authorization and reinforcements, dispatched the 23rd Division to the fighting area, accompanied by a regiment of the 7th Division. The mission was to eliminate the Soviet and Mongolian troops in the Nomenkan area and recapture the lost Manchukuo.
territory.
It should be said that the Japanese army was fully prepared this time. In order to deal with Soviet tanks, Ueda Kenkichi ordered the Second Flying Group to cooperate with the Japanese army's only First Tank Division.
As a result, the day after the Second Flying Group arrived at Hailar Airport to complete its assembly, it engaged in an air battle with the Soviet Air Force, losing 30 fighter jets and the Soviet Army lost forty fighter jets. Immediately afterwards, within a few days, the Japanese Second Flying Group
Successfully carried out sneak attacks on three airports in the Far East of the Soviet Red Army and destroyed 124 Soviet aircraft. According to the report of the Japanese pilots, the number was actually 150.
The actions of the Japanese aviation forces were equivalent to fighting deep into the territory of the Soviet Union, elevating the border conflict to a war of aggression. As a result, the Battle of Nomonkan was no longer possible.
Feeling that the air threat was lifted, the Kwantung Army headquarters began to urge the 23rd Division to launch a ground attack as soon as possible to completely annihilate the Soviet and Mongolian troops in the Nomenkan area.
The Japanese army was doomed to fail from the beginning of this battle. On the Soviet side, after the Japanese air attack on the Far East Airport, the Red Army Artillery Commander Voronov, the Armored Forces Commander Pavlov, and the Air Force Acting Commander Bolgikin all left.
Inspection of the front line of the Halaha River. The Siberian Air Force was transferred to support, and tanks and artillery were continuously sent to the front line through the railway. Zhukov even transferred 48 Belarusian veteran pilots who participated in the Spanish Civil War to enrich the air force. As for the Japanese army, there was no
They didn't realize that the Soviet Red Army wanted to defeat the Japanese army's dream of marching north in one battle. They also thought that the troops commanded by Komatsubara Michutaro alone could wipe out the Soviet and Mongolian troops in the Nomonkan area. Due to the lack of cars for the troops heading to the front, the soldiers
They had to carry 30 kilograms of baggage and march on the grassland. Almost half of them were left behind, and defeat became inevitable.
It was under this circumstance that Lieutenant General Michutaro Komatsubara, commander of the 23rd Division, launched an attack on the Nomonkan area.
At this time, in addition to the 23rd Division, the 26th Regiment of the 7th Division, and a reinforced brigade of the 28th Regiment, the Japanese troops on the Nomonhan front line also had the 4th Brigade of the 1st Tank Division.
The 3rd and 4th Regiments, the 1st Field Artillery Regiment, the 24th Engineer Regiment, plus a flying division and an automobile regiment. The armaments are roughly 212 artillery pieces, 128 rapid-fire guns (anti-tank guns), and 24 mountain guns
doors, 36 field guns, 24 Type 90 field guns, 180 aircraft, 82 tanks, 26 armored vehicles, and 400 cars.
Lieutenant General Michutaro Komatsubara formulated an operational plan for a cross-strait attack on the Soviet and Mongolian armies. He planned to use a brigade of the 26th and 28th Infantry Regiments of the Japanese 7th Division as the main force to cross the river from the upper reaches of the Halaha River and enter the Hamal Daba Mountain on the west bank.
, annihilate the Soviet and Mongolian army artillery positions, and bombard the Soviet and Mongolian army positions on the east coast from a high position; the 23rd Division and the 1st Chariot Division of Jiangjunmiao and the Manchukuo Xing'an Cavalry Division (regiment organization) attack Halaha from the front
The Soviet and Mongolian troops on the east bank of the river formed a pincer attack and completely annihilated the Soviet and Mongolian coalition forces.
The plan was good and the start was good. In the early morning of July 3, the 26th Regiment and the 28th Regiment of the Japanese Seventh Division successfully crossed the Harlexin River and stormed Bayingchagang Mountain. Due to the strength of the Japanese army,
Due to their superiority and the Mongolian army's lack of preparation, the Japanese army occupied Bayingchagang Mountain and its adjacent areas in the morning. The defending Mongolian 6th Cavalry Division withdrew to the northwest area of Bayingchagang Mountain. However, the Mongolian 6th Cavalry Division's tenacious resistance
It bought Zhukov a few hours of precious time. Under the command of Lieutenant General Angan, the Japanese army on the other side of the Halakhin River gathered 87 medium and light tanks and 37 armored vehicles after 30 minutes of artillery preparations.
With the cooperation of the infantry and cavalry regiments of the 23rd Division, they launched attacks on the left and right lines and broke through two Soviet infantry defense lines.
However, the Japanese offensive was subsequently contained. Zhukov, who personally rushed to the Bayingchagang Mountain area, ordered all aircraft to dispatch, bombard the Japanese troops who crossed the river and occupied Bayingchagang Mountain, and mobilized heavy artillery units to bombard the Japanese army assembly area. The Japanese army
The frontal offensive was also blocked by the Soviet army's intensive artillery fire in front of the Soviet army's third line of defense.
At 10:45 in the morning, the Soviet army launched a counterattack. Heavy tanks, one every 5 meters, roared towards the Japanese army. Thick bombers flew across the grassland and destroyed the pontoon bridges and bridgeheads set up by the Japanese army. Where are the little devils?
Having seen this kind of formation, I could only grit my teeth and persevere, desperately using anti-tank artillery to fight against Soviet tanks and armored vehicles. The Japanese army's results were not bad, destroying hundreds of Soviet armored vehicles and tanks. However, the Soviet army was all mechanized troops.
, tanks, and armored vehicles formed a torrent of steel that the Japanese army could not stop no matter what. When the Soviet army detoured back to the vicinity of the 23rd Division headquarters and the 7th Division crossed the river to sneak attack the troop crossing, the Japanese army
The battle had to be defeated. The Japanese troops who occupied Bayingchagang Mountain retreated into the mountains, and the infantry regiment and tank troops of the 23rd Division, which were attacking frontally, were divided by the Soviet army.
At night, the 4th Brigade of the 1st Tank Division, led by commander Colonel Tamada, took advantage of the heavy rain to successfully attack the artillery position of the Soviet 36th Motorized Infantry Division at night, destroying 18 Soviet 122mm howitzers and 6 152mm howitzers.
Tamadabe lost only one tank, and Lieutenant Colonel Fujikihisa, the commander of the 2nd Squadron, was killed.
The next day, the two sides used a thousand tanks to start a tank battle on the grassland with a radius of seven kilometers. By dawn on the 5th, the Japanese attack was completely crushed, leaving corpses on the ground and retreating to the starting position.
Michutaro Komatsubara, who lacked the support of armored troops, had no choice but to organize troops to cross the river for night attacks for several consecutive days, but was beaten back by the Soviet army, and the battlefield entered a stalemate.
The meeting at the Kwantung Army headquarters was to discuss the battle on the Nomenkan front.
After listening to the report from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Isotani Rensuke, although Ueda Kenkichi felt regretful, he still turned his attention to the officers present and wanted to see what these officers had to say.
Seeing the commander's eyes glancing over, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Gangbe, commander of the 1st Division, knew that they were being asked to speak. Just in time, the 1st Field Artillery Regiment of his 1st Division was dispatched to participate in the Nomenkan War.
, Needless to say, the loss must not be small, he just had something to say.
Naosaburo Okabe straightened his back unconsciously and prepared to speak.
Ever since Naosaburo Okabe's genitals were aborted by Eighth Route Army sniper Liu Bin in Su County, his whole body always smelled like urine, so that people sitting next to him had to take out their handkerchiefs and cover their noses.
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