-- Time and space Tokyo of the Republic of China

This is the headquarters of the Japanese army, and at this time a group of staff officers are talking about the latest international situation.

"Is Germany going to make peace with Britain and France? There has been no action at all in this period of time? ”

"Who knows, but I don't think Britain and France will go to war for Poland and Germany, after all, who will plunge their own people into a big war for other countries."

"If Germany doesn't attack the Soviet Union, are we going to have to wait forever? When is this a head? ”

"What else? Do we want to go to war with the USSR ourselves? Although we have almost prepared supplies, the training of the soldiers is not enough. ”

Listening to the discussion of the staff officers, an old man sitting behind a curtain raised his hand and said, "Has there been any movement in Ishihara recently?" ”

Someone next to him immediately replied, "He has been quiet recently, either studying the map of the Far East or urging the development of new weapons, and His Majesty seems to have a lot of trust in him." ”

The old man smiled and said, "Your Majesty is still young, naturally likes young people, I can't listen to the opinions of us old people, Ishihara this guy also has some talent, but he is getting less and less courageous, which is why I took the opportunity to exclude him last time, and now I also appreciate his northward strategy, but he is too passive to wait for Germany to do it, who knows when." ”

This old man was the chief of the general staff of the Japanese army at this time, Prince Miyajihito, who was over 70 years old at this time, he was the oldest person in the Japanese army, and it was he who issued an order to allow the Japanese army to use chemical weapons and bacteriological weapons.

"There's no way around it, the Soviet Union is really too big, it's just us, it's really difficult to swallow it." The man next to him shook his head and said.

Prince Zairen of the Idle Yuan Palace said disdainfully, "The buffalo is big, but it can't withstand the bite of a wolf, I fought with the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, they are not remarkable, but under the will to fight, the equipment is backward, and the logistics are short, such a unit is just the object of our training, Ishihara was bluffed by the Soviets, and the Soviet army after the Great Purge still has any strength." ”

As he spoke, Prince Zaihito of the Idle Yuan Palace beckoned and said, "Let the Mongolian side test it, and also cheer up our Ishihara-kun, if you wait like this, I'm afraid it will be the forties." ”

-- Headquarters of the Japanese Army in Mongolia

Since the 77 Incident, the Japanese Kwantung Army Chahar sent a corps to attack Zhangjiakou, and in the same year took the entire territory of Inner Mongolia, at the end of the year, the Kwantung Army established a 26th Division, 118th Division as the core of the Mongolian Army, the headquarters is located in Zhangjiakou.

At this time, in the headquarters, Okabe Naosaburo and several staff officers were discussing how to cooperate with the sweeping plan in North China.

"Our army now has two divisions and three brigades, two of which are cavalry brigades, which are not suitable for mountain warfare. Chief of Staff Shinichi Tanaka introduced the plan, and Naosaburo Okabe nodded slowly and said, "Our troops are supposed to defend the Soviet Union in the north and Shanxi in the south, and there is a lot of pressure, and these are indeed our limits, so I think it's decided like this." ”

At this moment, a herald took a telegram and handed it to Naosaburo Okabe, who looked at it a few times, and said with a hint of joy in his eyes, "Has there been any friction with Outer Mongolia recently?" ”

Several people glanced at each other, shook their heads, and said, "I haven't heard anything about this recently. ”

Okabe Naosaburo put the telegram away and said, "We are going to send troops south, so we must pay attention to the situation in the north, and notify me as soon as there is news about this." ”

After the meeting, Komatsubara touched his chin and thought about the strangeness of Naosaburo Okabe, thinking about whether he suddenly guessed if Tokyo had something to think about Mongolia.

Komatsubara's eyes couldn't help but light up, he had long been dissatisfied with the strategy of waiting for the Germans to make the first move, and now that he had an idea above, it was okay to move on his own. There is too much friction, just find something to amplify it.

Maybe it was Komatsubara who really moved the heavens, and at this time, there were really gunshots on the border.

"Smack! Syllable! "A team of cavalry while pursuing, while shooting, these people are the 3rd Company of the puppet Xing'an garrison cavalry stationed in Xilin Taolagai outpost of a group of soldiers, they are pursuing the members of the 24th garrison of Outer Mongolia, these people say that it is the garrison, in fact, most of them are some herdsmen part-time, these herdsmen usually hold guns, cattle and sheep, even if they are a member of the garrison, this day, their cattle and sheep are probably more excited, and they walked across the line, so that the puppet army patrolling the border immediately shot and chased, They didn't stop until they were driven back to the other side of the border.

The group cheered back to their lodgings, and reported the incident, and drank wine, ate mutton, and sang.

The members of the Outer Mongolian garrison who were driven back were afraid and angry, and finally decided to go back to find someone and retaliate again.

In fact, the location of the Xilin Tauragai post is exactly the disputed area between Japan and the Soviet Union, to be precise, Japan does not recognize Outer Mongolia at all, while the Soviet Union has always demanded foreign ********.

This matter of Inner and Outer Mongolia has to be traced back to the time of the Xinhai Revolution, when the world was in turmoil, Tsarist Russia regarded itself as the protector of Mongolia and demanded foreign ********, and after the establishment of the Beiyang government, it immediately organized negotiations with Tsarist Russia, and finally signed the "Sino-Russian-Mongolian Entente" in 1915, barely retaining the sovereignty of Outer Mongolia in the legal sense.

In 1919, the Mongolian feudal elite headed by Jebtsundamba began negotiations with the Chinese Beiyang government on the abolition of "autonomy". In November, the "autonomous" government of Outer Mongolia revoked and petitioned for the restoration of the old system, and the Chinese government agreed to this request, declared the Sino-Russian document on the autonomy of Outer Mongolia null and void, canonized Jebtsundamba as Bogdor Khan, and sent Xu Shuzheng, the border guard envoy in the northwest, to lead troops into Outer Mongolia and restore territorial sovereignty. After the outbreak of the Zhiwan War, the main force of the Xu army was transferred back from Mongolia to Guannei to participate in the warlord melee, and only a small number of troops were stationed in Kulen and the trading city on the Mongolian-Russian border north of it.

In 1924, the Beiyang government and the Soviet Russian government signed the "Agreement on the Settlement of Outstanding Cases", which still stipulated that Outer Mongolia was part of China's territory and China enjoyed territorial sovereignty. In practice, however, China has lost control of Outer Mongolia.

However, Japan did not think so, at this time Japan and the Mongolian King De united to form a Mongolian autonomous government, naturally hoping that Mongolia would be as big as possible, so it strongly demanded that the Soviet Union withdraw the protection of Outer Mongolia and return Outer Mongolia to China, of course, by Japan for the time being.

The Soviets did not bother to heed Japan's demands, but only set up troops in Outer Mongolia and were ready to fight Japan at any time. If you want it, grab it! attitude.

When the Japanese army attacked the patrol, the commander of the Outer Mongolian Army immediately quit, you know, these patrols are actually militia drawn from tribes one by one, and the person who was beaten may be a relative of this commander, he didn't say a word, he took a gun with more than 50 people, rode a fast horse like a patrol point, and rushed over, and captured the post with only one round of charge.

In fact, this kind of thing often happens in Mongolia at this time, today you knock me, tomorrow I will beat you, it is lively, but there are not many people who die, most of them have the meaning of fighting for a breath in it. What's more, such a fight for water and grass is even more commonplace, and the commander of the Outer Mongolian Army went home to rest without even greeting his superiors after the fight.

Komatsubara returned to his headquarters, got the news, and laughed excitedly, "God help me, okay, immediately report the information to the headquarters, and send a report saying that my 23rd Division is ready for battle, and can give the Outer Mongolian Army an unforgettable lesson at any time." ”

Okabe Naosaburo of the Mongolian army saw that the telegram was written that 200 Mongolian cavalry had invaded the border, and after thinking about it, he changed the telegram to an attack post with 3,000 Mongolian troops and sent it to the Kwantung Army headquarters.

Kenkichi Ueda, who was in the headquarters of the Kwantung Army, rubbed his eyes, looked at the telegram, and said in disbelief, "This Mongolian army has attacked us?" What's going on? Did the Soviets find out that we were preparing for an attack? But even if I found out that there shouldn't be only such a few people to strike first, this is more like a temptation! Yes, this must be a test of our army! ”

The chief of staff next to him, Otozaburo Yano, said: "I think it's very simple, we have been preparing for such a big operation during this time, we must have leaked the rumors, the Soviets' test is to know how much we have prepared, and what we are going to do, if we don't fight back, I'm afraid we will be thought that we are playing tricks, but it is unfavorable, my opinion is to resolutely counterattack, but the restrained attack, the goal is only limited to the clean elimination of the enemy." ”

After listening to the analysis, Ueda Kenkichi nodded approvingly and said, "Yes, my thoughts are the same, immediately send a telegram to Nanjing to explain the situation, since the 23rd Division is recently, it will be handed over to the 23rd Division to solve, in addition, we support him with two aviation teams and a car brigade, if they still need anything, say it, I will try to meet it." ”

-- Tokyo

Ishihara looked at the telegram sent by the Kwantung Army, thought about it suspiciously, and couldn't help but feel that this was a test by the Mongolian army, and worried that the Mongolian army would expand such friction, so he came to the War Department to discuss with Seishiro Itagaki how to limit this war.

"Ishihara-kun, do you really want to fight?" Seishiro Itagaki said with some concern: "Didn't you say that you have to wait for Germany to act first?" “

Ishihara nodded helplessly and said, "But the Mongol army has already begun to test us. If we don't respond, I'm afraid the consequences will be even worse, I just hope that this time is really just a small friction, and in addition, we will use the force of diplomacy to appease the Soviet Union while contacting Germany, hoping that Germany can cooperate with us. ”

When Seishiro Itagaki heard this, he could only agree and said, "Okay, just issue a strict order, you can only limit the war to the Nomenhan area, and violators will be dealt with strictly!" ”

In this way, the second contest between Japan and the Soviet Union began.

After Komatsubara received permission and support, he was ecstatic, he clearly knew that there were actually only dozens of Mongolian patrols on the opposite side, and they were not vulnerable at all, and it would take some time for the main Mongolian force to react, and he could completely fight the time difference.

Komatsubara immediately ordered a brigade to advance towards Mongolia under the cover of the planes, and he continued to mobilize troops as a rear route.

-- Haraha River

This is a river on the Mongolian border, and on a high ground by the river, a Mongolian army is stationed, about a hundred people.

Hada was a company commander in the Mongol army, and when he got up early in the morning, he was yawning and packing up his harness to prepare for the day's work, when he suddenly heard the sound of an engine.

"What's that?" Hada raised his head and looked at the Japanese plane, and it took his brain a long time to react, shouting, "There is a plane!" It's an air raid! Be careful, everyone! ”

Looking at the panicked scene below, the Japanese machine swooped down triumphantly, and a shuttle of bullets was thrown at a tent, and the tent was beaten to the ground, and fell to the ground with a pop, and after a while, the red blood stained the tent red.

"Boom!" "Boom!" Another round of bombs was dropped, only the cavalry of the Mongolian army where to support, one by one on horseback quickly fled, looking at the scattered Mongolian army, the Japanese machine hesitated, and then immediately shot at the fleeing Mongolian army.

When the Mongol army fled to a safe place, the Japanese flag had been raised on the high ground of the Haraha River, Hada held a telescope and said viciously, "The Japanese army has attacked us, Changshengtian will not let them go, immediately send a telegram to Kulen, explain the situation, and the others go to the surrounding tribes and let them move north immediately." There's going to be a big war here. ”

After saying that, Hada rode his horse and retreated to the north, preparing to return for revenge after the arrival of the large army.

-- Moscow

Stalin anxiously asked, "Why did the Japanese attack suddenly, and was this a tentative or a full-scale attack?" ”

Beria immediately said, "It should be just a temptation, the attacking Japanese army is less than a thousand people, and there are not many heavy weapons, I am afraid that they want to occupy this disputed area." ”

Stalin waved his hand and said, "If Japanese imperialism invaded China, should it invade Mongolia?" We must help our Mongolian friends drive out the Japanese army! ”

Beria nodded and said, "General Zhukov is already preparing, if we win, will we continue the offensive, or will we only hit the border?" ”

Stalin touched his beard and thought for a while and said, "The negotiations between Germany and Britain were not successful, the situation in Europe is very turbulent, our focus is still in Europe, tell Zhukov, as long as we reach the national border, do not expand the war, if we put too much energy into the Far East, then there will be greater dangers waiting for us." ”

(To be continued.) )