What the Russians recognize, even if it is a hundred or two hundred years from now, they will do it, and that is national resilience. We can see this clearly from various events in history.
For example, in the 17th century, Peter the Great, after reading the "Map of the Amur River" brought back by Khabarov, wanted to seize the Heilongjiang River basin and its estuary.
They thought about this for more than 100 years, and finally in 1860, Tsarist Russia passed the "Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty", cut off more than 1 million square kilometers of the Outer Northeast, and took the Heilongjiang estuary.
Also in the 17th century, Peter the Great had always wanted to expand his territory in the Black Sea, but the strength of the Ottoman Turkey, the overlord of the Black Sea at that time, was very strong, so Tsarist Russia did not hesitate to fight the Russian-Turkish war with Ottoman Turkey for more than 200 years, and gradually seized the territory of Ottoman Turkey on the Black Sea coast into the hands of Tsarist Russia.
Maybe that's national resilience, what they want, no matter how long it takes, their children and grandchildren will want to take it away. Of course, this is also a manifestation of greed, after all, thinking about other people's territory all day is not a good thing.
The same is true for the treatment of Outer Mongolia, as early as the end of the 19th century, Tsarist Russia adopted the Yellow Russia Plan, intending to include the north of the Great Wall into its sphere of influence. This includes Outer Mongolia.
In 1911, with the support of Tsarist Russia, Outer Mongolia tried to go it alone for the first time. However, after the fall of Tsarist Russia in 1917, this matter was not done logically, and China successfully recovered the ruling power of Outer Mongolia. However, Soviet Russia, which succeeded Tsarist Russia, and later the Soviet Union, spent decades of effort to do what Tsarist Russia failed to do.
In 1922, the Soviet Union was the first to recognize the independence of Outer Mongolia
In 1919, Xu Shuzheng once sent troops to recover Outer Mongolia. Many people think that a coordinated approach to bringing Mongolia back may be a better solution.
In fact, this method is very unsafe, and the really safe way has to be similar to Xu Shuzheng, using the army to recover Outer Mongolia. However, Xu Shuzheng withdrew in 1920, which led to the emptiness of the Outer Mongolian army, which allowed the Russians to take advantage of the loophole.
After Soviet Russia gradually seized the initiative in the war, it began to take over the large areas of land and spheres of influence left by Tsarist Russia. They believed that since Tsarist Russia had supported the independence of Outer Mongolia, then Soviet Russia had to continue this matter and make Outer Mongolia a Russian sphere of influence.
For this reason, in 1921, with the support of Soviet Russia, Outer Mongolia once again declared its independence from Chinese rule and went it alone. This incident caused an uproar at the time, but at that time, Beiyang was in a melee, and no one cared about the matter of Outer Mongolia.
Outer Mongolia, supported by Soviet Russia, soon came out to go it alone, and even though it was unanimously opposed by all forces in China at that time, they still went their own way. The reason is simple, they are again under the dock of the Russians.
In 1922, Soviet Russia and Outer Mongolia signed the Soviet-Mongolian Treaty of Reconciliation, formally recognizing the independence of Outer Mongolia and formally establishing diplomatic relations with Outer Mongolia. This matter basically did not receive the support of any other country, and was purely a unilateral act of Soviet Russia.
In 1924, the Sino-Soviet Agreement was signed between China and the Soviet Union, which once again stipulated matters involving Outer Mongolia. The Soviet Union said it recognized Outer Mongolia as Chinese territory and China's permanent sovereignty over Outer Mongolia, and even promised to withdraw all Russian troops stationed in Outer Mongolia.
However, the reality was the opposite, the Soviet Union not only did not withdraw its troops from Outer Mongolia, but even strengthened its garrison, supporting the independent establishment of Outer Mongolia in 1924. Of course, China is firmly opposed to this.
For more than 20 years after that, we were in a state of war, so we once again had no time to take care of the affairs of Outer Mongolia, so the Soviet Union took this opportunity to completely transform Outer Mongolia into a pro-Russian country and held it in its own hands for a long time.
At the Yalta Conference in 1945, the Soviet Union put forward many conditions for declaring war on Japan, one of which was to maintain the status quo in Outer Mongolia. On August 14 of the same year, Wang Shijie, the representative of the Chinese side, signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the Soviet Union. In this way, Outer Mongolia, with the support of the Soviet Union, finally moved towards independence. That's 1.56 million square kilometers, more than 50 times more than the 36,000 square kilometers on the island.
In the battle of Beita Mountain, the Mongolian army was naturally inseparable from the support of the Soviet Union
With the Yalta Agreement, the Soviet Union and the Outer Mongolian authorities have a bottom in their hearts. After all, this was a document recognized by Britain and the United States, and a document supported by Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, which no country could oppose at that time.
So why did the Soviet Union have to go out to Mongolia and go it alone? Was it simply to fulfill the legacy of Tsarist Russia? Of course, it was not so simple. The purpose of Tsarist Russia was to eat Outer Mongolia and even the area north of the Great Wall, turning it into Russian territory. But the Soviet Union did not do this, but regarded Outer Mongolia as a buffer between China and the Soviet Union.
In Stalin's view, the territory of the Soviet Union was too large, especially in the Asian part, and there was no sense of security at all. Unless Outer Mongolia is in the hands of the Soviet Union, once a force goes north from Outer Mongolia to cut off the Trans-Siberian Railway, won't the Soviet Union be finished?
Beita Mountain is the Altai Mountains in the north, Junggar Basin in the south, and after Mongolia came out to go it alone, Beita Mountain became the boundary mountain between China and Mongolia.
Since the altitude here is generally above 2,000 meters, it belongs to the local strategic highland, and it must be a battleground for soldiers. For this reason, when China and Mongolia had not really divided the border, Outer Mongolia started the idea of this mountain.
In addition to getting the strategic commanding heights, you can also get the water and mineral resources here. Even in the future, it will become a traffic hub.
In February 1947, the unstoppable Mongols sent more than 2,000 people to the vicinity of Beita Mountain, which was described in their historical documents, and they advertised that Beita Mountain was their territory, but it was forcibly occupied by the enemy, and now they want to regain their lost land.
After some investigation, the Chinese side learned that the group of people used basically Soviet-style weapons, and even camped in camps, and there were a large number of Russian-language signs, which showed that Mongolia's attack was clearly a test by the Soviet Union, or at least a military aggression with the support of the Soviet Union.
For this reason, in May 1947, under the arrangement of the superiors, Ma Xizhen, the commander of the cavalry company of the third regiment, took his headquarters to Beita Mountain to build fortifications. During this period, Ma Xizhen's troops captured two Mongolian soldiers who crossed the border.
Therefore, the Mongolian army immediately demanded that Ma Xizhen hand over his men and withdraw from the Beita Mountain position, because this was theirs. Without waiting for Ma Xizhen to report the matter, the Mongolian army launched a fierce attack on Ma Xizhen's troops.
It doesn't matter if the Mongolian army is doing things, and with the help of the Soviet Union, the situation will be different. In addition to the support of the Soviet Union for the ground forces, even in the air, the Soviet Union also sent five fighters to fight together, and its firepower naturally cannot be underestimated. In the first battle, Ma Xizhen's troops were able to win a complete victory, which shows that their combat effectiveness is extraordinary.
Two days later, the unwilling Mongolian army launched a second charge against Beita Mountain, only to be beaten by Ma Xizhen's troops. The Mongolian army, which had just lost the battle, after receiving supplies from the Soviet Union, launched another charge only one day later, but was still repelled by Ma Xizhen's troops.
This time, the Mongolian army finally realized that its opponent was not a good one, and the Chinese side quickly sent a regiment of troops to Beita Mountain to support, which completely dispelled Mongolia's ambition to seize Beita Mountain, and at the same time let the Soviet Union see the strength of the Chinese army clearly.
After this battle, Outer Mongolia never dared to enter China again
Although the Sino-Mongolian border is very long, after the Battle of Beita Mountain, Mongolia has never easily waged war against China. It can be said that this battle played out the momentum of the Chinese army, and also made the Soviet Union behind the Mongolian army realize that it was a very unwise thing to support Outer Mongolia to invade and occupy China's territory.
The Soviet Union abandoned this idea for several reasons:
- First, Outer Mongolia only needs to achieve the buffering effect, and there is no need to fight for every inch of land. After all, it was just a tool, did the USSR still have to maintain the face of all the tools?
- Second, the Chinese army has honed its strong willpower and mature combat methods in many years of war, and it is not easy to defeat such an army, and there is no need for the Soviet Union to risk itself.
- Third, if the war is won, it is nothing more than letting Outer Mongolia seize a few mountains. However, if it is defeated, will the Chinese side demand huge concessions from Outer Mongolia on the territorial issue? This is something that the Soviet Union does not want to see.
Without the support of the Soviet Union, the Mongol army was stationed near Beita Mountain until the autumn of 1948, when it left the area in anger. Mongolia has not invaded the area by force since.
The Soviet Union collapsed, but the matter of Outer Mongolia was already in the boat
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it did not recognize any unequal treaties, and it stands to reason that Outer Mongolia, as the territory of China in the past, should be returned. However, at that time, Outer Mongolia had become the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union and could be regarded as a satellite country of the Soviet Union.
With the support of the Soviet Union, how difficult would it be for Outer Mongolia to return? Forty-nine years later, the Chinese side repeatedly approached the Soviet Union to discuss the issue of recovering Outer Mongolia, but was all rejected. After 1960, China and the Soviet Union were at loggerheads, and Mongolia remained neutral on the surface, but in fact turned to the Soviet Union.
Since the end of the 60s, the Soviet Union has stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in Outer Mongolia, deployed a large number of heavy weapons, and has plans to move south at any time. At the beginning, the Sino-Soviet buffer zone became the strategic front line of the Soviet Union's southward movement, how tragic. After all, there is a border line of more than 8,000 kilometers between China and Mongolia, and a breakthrough of the Soviet army at any point will be a huge blow to us.
It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that such a threat came to an end. Since then, Outer Mongolia has seen that we have developed better and better, so it has become singing and dancing again, and its relations with us have gradually become harmonious, and it has embarked on the road of normal trade development. After all, the former eldest brother can't protect them, so they can only change the court. As for the return, how difficult is it? Their former eldest brother is still very strong, and as long as they are in the world, they will never allow this place to return to our arms.