What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
As the all-out War of Resistance entered the stage of stalemate, the Japanese top brass suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of invincibility in the world, and they felt that it was not necessary for the Empire of Japan to exert all its strength just to deal with a weak national government. So the Japanese began to no longer discuss the conquest of the nationalist government, but to consider whether to go north or south. To go north is to invade Siberia and the German army to destroy the Soviet Union, and to go south is to conquer Southeast Asia, but it may eventually compete with the United States.
The Army advocates going north, and only by invading the Soviet Union can the Japanese Army play the main force, and if it goes south, it must be the main force of the Navy. After a long argument, the Japanese base camp decided to try going north first. So the Japanese and the Soviet Union quietly fought a big war in Nomenhan. Although the Soviet army had advanced weapons, the army had just undergone a great purge, and there was a serious shortage of experienced soldiers, so the combat effectiveness was not high. Therefore, whenever the Japanese army approached the Soviet position during the battle, the Soviet soldiers would scatter, but even so, the Soviets still relied on artillery to wash the japanese and make heavy losses and finally forced to retreat and admit defeat.
Although Japan conceded defeat, the Kwantung Army was not convinced. The Japanese Army Ministry did not intend to expand the situation, but only to deal with the defeat in a low-key manner. At that time, all the Japanese troops had been put into the Chinese battlefield, and it was no longer possible to mobilize any troops to fight the Soviets. However, Masanobu Tsuji, known as the "Jackal Staff Officer" in the Japanese army, insisted on launching another battle against the Soviet Union. He shouted arrogantly: In the 70 years since the establishment of the Imperial Japanese Army, it has never suffered a loss in a foreign war! He also claimed that only one more division was needed to solve the Soviets. In the end, the Japanese Minister of War, Itagaki Seishiro, added a division and sent the Kwantung Army to death.
After receiving reinforcements, the Japanese Kwantung Army had a much larger list, and it directly attacked the Soviet air base and directly destroyed more than 150 Soviet fighters. The Japanese then sent 3 squadrons to prepare to cross the Halaha River, but before the Japanese could assemble, Soviet tanks rushed in from three directions. In this situation, the heroic and invincible Masanobu Tsuji actually ordered all the troops to charge and engage the tanks. How could an infantry be an opponent of a tank? The Japanese were completely bloodied by the Soviets. Although some of the Soviet tanks were also killed by the Japanese with Molotov cocktails and explosives packs, the Japanese were generally defeated.
After the Japanese had consolidated their positions, the Soviet tanks rested and it was the air force's turn to fight. Hundreds of Soviet aircraft struck the Japanese positions hard, and just 30 minutes later, the Japanese anti-aircraft guns were all destroyed and lost their air defense capabilities. The Soviets then shelled the Japanese positions for 2 and a half hours. Under the fierce shelling, the Kwantung Army was beaten completely unable to lift its head, and when the artillery fire was not easy to end, the Kwantung Army soldiers looked up and found that the Soviet tanks had come again, and the number of this time made the Japanese feel deep despair, and finally the Japanese fiasco could be imagined.
According to the current declassified materials, the number of casualties of Soviet soldiers in the entire Battle of Nomonhan was even higher than that of the Japanese, but the Soviet Red Army really hurt the Japanese and feared the Japanese. Later, the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany and almost destroyed, but despite Hitler's appeals, the Japanese did not dare to let the Kwantung Army attack the Soviet Far Eastern Group in the end, but turned around and launched the Pearl Harbor incident.