Halaha, Mongolian means "barrier". Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Haraha River originates from the north slope of the Motianling, upstream through the volcanic lava section, in the dense forest sea zigzag to the west, to the south of Amugulang become the natural boundary river of Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia, flow through Outer Mongolia into the Bell Lake, and then turn into Hulun Lake, the total length of the river is 399 kilometers, because the west bank is higher than the east bank, from the east bank of the river to see the west bank like a long barrier in front of you, the Halaha River is named after this landform.

One day in April 1941, the sky was clear and cloudless, and a grass-green painted monoplane flew from north to south over the wilderness of the Nomenkan region. This 91 modified reconnaissance plane that took off from Hailar Air Base was carrying Cao Akamatsu Saburo and Commander Shinichi Takenaka of the Japanese Army Air Corps, and the two belonged to the 10th Squadron of the Japanese Kwantung Army's Flight Reconnaissance and were ordered to carry out patrol and reconnaissance missions along the Haraha River, so their flight routes basically coincided with the flow of the Haraha River.

Different from the history of the old time and space, due to the coercion of the great powers, the Japanese army launched an invasion of Northeast China in the autumn of 1933, and under the stubborn resistance of the Chinese army, it was not until the summer of 1934 that the three eastern provinces were completely occupied, and the puppet Manchurian regime was established, and the occupation of the ******** was in the spring of 1936. Although the war of aggression against China did not go smoothly, the war power of Japanese militarism expanded rapidly through the occupation of Southeast Asia and the islands of the South Pacific. After the signing of the armistice agreement with the United States, the supreme power circle headed by Emperor Showa readjusted the strategic layout of the Japanese army, and the newly occupied southern colonies focused on stable development, and the military center of gravity shifted northward, intensifying aggression against China to the west, and peering north into Siberia. Against this background, the strength of the Japanese Kwantung Army stationed in the puppet Manchurian area has been rapidly expanded, not only is the original eight divisions close to or at full strength, but also the main forces of the 25th Army, which are capable of conquest and battle, the Guards Division and the 5th Division, which are capable of conquest and warfare, and the 1st Armored Division, which is modeled after the German Army's armored group, with a regular combat strength of 220,000, and a puppet Manchurian army of 100,000 and tens of thousands of local security forces can be drawn to assist in the battle.

Until 1941, Outer Mongolia on the west bank of the Harar River was still nominally Chinese territory, and the history of the Soviet Russian army stationed here began in 1921, when China was mired in a warlord civil war, and the White Russian army that fled to the Far East colluded with the upper princes of Outer Mongolia to invade Outer Mongolia, intending to establish an independent regime, and the Soviet Russian army sent troops at the invitation of the Outer Mongolian People's Party, they quickly defeated the White Russian army, and supported Outer Mongolia to establish a pro-Soviet "constitutional monarchy", during this period, The Chinese government, grappling with the civil war, issued only a harshly but ineffective government statement that did not recognize the independence of Outer Mongolia. Three years later, Outer Mongolia announced the abolition of the constitutional monarchy and the establishment of the "Mongolian People's Republic". Soon after, China and Russia signed the "Sino-Russian Agreement on the Outline of the Settlement of Outstanding Cases," in which Soviet Russia announced the abolition of all unequal treaties between China and Russia, the renunciation of all concessions and leased land in China by Tsarist Russia, the renunciation of the Russian part of the Gengzi indemnity, the abolition of Tsarist Russia's extraterritorial and consular jurisdiction in China, and the recognition of Outer Mongolia as Chinese territory, and China's complete and permanent sovereignty over Outer Mongolia.

The importance that Soviet Russia attached to Outer Mongolia was not because it coveted some of its resources, but because of the strategic consideration of protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was built in the late 19th century and had a total length of nearly 10,000 kilometers, which was of great value during the Russo-Japanese War. Relying on this railway, Russia mobilized a large number of troops from Europe to the Far Eastern front in a short period of time, and finally surpassed the Japanese army in terms of strength, thus partially reversing the defeat, so that the compromise Treaty of Portsmouth was born. It is precisely because of the deep understanding of the importance of the Trans-Siberian Railway that the Soviet Russian government has further transformed and improved it. Relying on the labor and capital technology brought by the railway, Siberia became a major agricultural and animal husbandry base in Russia, and rich mineral resources were explored and exploited one after another. Because the middle section of the Trans-Siberian Railway is relatively close to Outer Mongolia, and the nearest station is only more than 200 kilometers away from the Outer Mongolian border, if Outer Mongolia is in the hands of another country, the Trans-Siberian Railway is extremely vulnerable to attack in times of war.

In the early days when the Japanese army occupied the eastern part of Inner Mongolia and stationed troops in ******** and even Hailar, due to the containment of the war in the Pacific and in the face of various temptations of the Soviet and Mongolian armies, the Japanese army and the puppet Manchurian border guards showed great restraint, but this situation changed with the signing of the non-aggression pact between Soviet Russia and the Western allies, and the signing of an armistice agreement between Japan and the United States. By the beginning of 1941, the Soviet Russian troops stationed in the Far East had accounted for about half of the total strength of its active troops, and the number of troops stationed in Outer Mongolia alone reached 150,000, equipped with a large number of aircraft, combat vehicles, artillery and other technical weapons, and a large number of fortifications were built in the depth of the border line. Correspondingly, the Japanese army and the puppet Manchu army also built fortifications in the border areas, and in the event of a change in the situation, the Japanese base camp was able to quickly draw combat forces from the Japanese troops deployed on the Korean Peninsula and in North China to come to support. The two sides have been actively preparing for military affairs for several years, but because there is a super-powerful military bloc such as the Western allies outside, neither of them wants to easily provoke a war.

The 32-year-old military commander Saburo Akamatsu and the 27-year-old soldier commander Shinichi Takenaka accidentally became the sparks that lit the fuse. During a routine patrol flight, the plane they piloted suddenly broke down and lost power, and in a hurry it landed on a sandy ground on the west bank of the Haraha River, Akamatsu Saburo was immediately seriously injured, and Takeaka Shinichi tried to return to the Japanese-controlled area with his companions on his back, but the border cavalry team of Outer Mongolia quickly arrived at the scene of the incident and easily captured the two Japanese pilots.

Soon after the patrol fighters lost contact, the Japanese army sent two military planes to search, but they were intercepted by a number of Soviet fighters in the Nomenkan area, and the air search was blocked. Later that day, the 72nd Wing of the 23rd Division stationed in Hailar sent a cavalry squadron to the banks of the Haraha River, but failed to find its own reconnaissance plane, which had lost contact, and its line of sight was restricted by the high west bank and the low east bank, so it was impossible to observe the situation on the other side. That night, the commander of the 72nd Wing sent some soldiers across the river to reconnoitre, and one of the groups found the wreckage of his own plane about two kilometers from the river bank and brought the news back to the east bank.

The next day, the 23rd Division of the Japanese Army sent people to the border checkpoints of the Outer Mongolian army to demand that the other side return the detained pilots, while the Outer Mongolian side accused the Japanese army of sending planes to cross the border to reconnoitre, and demanded that the Japanese Government publicly apologize and guarantee that similar incidents would never occur in the future.

The commander of the 23rd Division realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately reported it to the Kwantung Army Command, along with the request of the Outer Mongolian side. At this time, the generals of the Kwantung Army Command were divided into two factions: one group believed that the matter should be reported to the base camp as soon as possible and the government should resolve the matter through diplomatic channels, and the other group believed that the Outer Mongolian side was arrogant and unreasonable with the support of Soviet Russia, so it was better to take this opportunity to teach them a hard lesson, and to carry out a cross-border assault to rescue the pilot and blow up the wreckage of the plane before the other side transferred the pilot and the wreckage of the plane away. The result of the controversy was to report the situation and rescue plan to the base camp on the one hand, and to mobilize troops to prepare for a cross-border assault.

In the evening of the same day, more than 500 soldiers from the 23rd Division arrived on the west bank of the Haraha River by truck, the 71st and 72nd Wings each dispatched half of their troops as support troops, and the 10th and 24th Flying Reconnaissance Squadrons were also ready to provide air cover.

At about 7 o'clock in the evening, the Kwantung Army Headquarters received a reply from the base camp to "act with a camera", and the generals who advocated teaching the Outer Mongolian army a lesson were immediately overjoyed and issued an attack order to the 23rd Division without hesitation.

After receiving orders, the commandos immediately crossed the river in two ways from the vicinity of the crash site, and despite the cold weather, the Japanese soldiers still stripped naked, wading across the river with their weapons, ammunition, and military uniforms and helmets on their heads. The depth of this section of the river is usually 1-2 meters, due to the lack of special means to cross the river, the Japanese deliberately chose a relatively wide section of the river, and as a result, Team A crossed the river smoothly, and Team B ran into trouble and arrived at the west bank 20 minutes late.

The sand under the moonlight was as frosty as silvery-white, and the 91 reconnaissance plane, which had not been successfully forced to land, was still lying there quietly, and there were no Outer Mongolian soldiers guarding it. The commandos of Team A quickly approached, then loaded the wreckage of the plane with explosives, and only after rescuing their own pilot, they blew it to pieces, and there was no direct evidence of how Outer Mongolia and Soviet Russia were accused.

Team B, who was tasked with rescuing the two Japanese pilots, soon captured a squad of Outer Mongolian soldiers at a border outpost not far away, and learned from them that they had been held in a barracks more than 20 kilometers away, and that one of them was seriously wounded. If all the troops went on foot, they would be able to arrive before dawn, but the attack operation and withdrawal would inevitably reveal their whereabouts during the day, and it was likely to be attacked by enemy fighters, so the commander of the second team, Oda Shaosa, made a bold decision: send five soldiers who could ride horses to explore the road first, and at the same time ask the support troops stranded on the opposite bank to send a cavalry squadron to cross the river, and this cavalry squadron will carry out rescue operations and strive to end the battle before dawn. The remaining soldiers of Team B were divided into three groups, one group remained in place, one group hurried on a forced march, and one group advanced at an ordinary pace, covering and receiving them in a layered manner.

Like the superior commander who formulated this rescue plan, Oda Shaoza was also a man full of whimsical ideas and thought he was smart, and soon after his outpost left, a group of Outer Mongolian cavalry patrolled along the border line, and they found that there was something wrong with the river, and immediately fired several flares, and when the miserable white light reflected the surface of the Haraha River, the Japanese cavalry squadron that had been temporarily summoned had nowhere to hide, and the Outer Mongolian cavalry thought that the Japanese army had crossed the border in a big way, and reported the news without looking back.

(End of chapter)