Russia commemorates victory over Japanese army in Manchuria

teleSUR English

Rare photographs and documents on display at the Victory Museum in Moscow are a faithful record of the Battle of Manchuria, becoming a test of strength for the Soviet army. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00And the Japanese invasion of Manchuria created a serious threat to the security of the Soviet Union.

00:05On the occasion of the commemoration of the important historical events of almost a century ago,

00:10an extraordinary exhibition was organized in Moscow. Let's see.

00:15Rare photographs and documents are on display at the Victory Museum in Moscow.

00:21Little is known about this military conflict that some Japanese historians even call the Second Russian-Japanese War.

00:28The conflict began with demands from the Japanese side to recognize the Jalgengol River

00:34as the border between the Manchukuo Puppet State and Mongolia,

00:38although the border extended 20 to 25 kilometers to the east.

00:49The objective was to create a springboard in this territory for a further advance into China

00:54and the occupation and exploitation of the Soviet Far East and Siberia.

01:03As part of the USSR-Mongolia Mutual Assistance Protocol, Soviet troops were sent to the Jalgengol River area.

01:11In addition, Japan raised the slogan of expanding its empire as far as Lake Baikal.

01:18Military operations began in May 1939 and continued until the end of August.

01:25One of the key roles as a military strategist was played by the future Victory Marshal Georgy Zhukov.

01:32It was he, who at the time was a division commander, who devised a plan to encircle the Japanese army.

01:39The methods used in the military operations that Zhukov undertook in Kaljingol

01:46were used during the Great Patriotic War against Hitler's Germany.

01:53The Jalgengol conflict became a real test of strength for the Soviet army.

02:00The fighting took place both on the ground and in the air.

02:05By the end of August, the Japanese already found themselves surrounded by a dense ring of Soviet and Mongolian troops.

02:13The final battle took place at the end of August, lasted six days, and ended with the total defeat of the Quantum Army.

02:22The armistice between the USSR and Japan was concluded on September 15, 1939.

02:29Zhukov showed himself to the country's top army leaders as a person capable of making decisions and taking responsibility.

02:38He was technically versed and capable of carrying out operational camouflage.

02:43These are the three foundations on which any good industrial-era military relies.

02:50In general, we treated the people, the cadets, like in the schools, and we taught them single combat.

02:58And here for the first time there were group battles and with an opponent who had a lot of experience.

03:03After all, few of us went through Spain, but the Japanese have been fighting since 1931, that is, they have been fighting for eight years.

03:13The victory of the USSR and Mongolia at Gelgen-Gol became one of the main reasons for Japan's refusal to attack the USSR before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

03:25And then the decision was made to wait until Germany was sure of winning.

03:30The plan developed by the Japanese for an offensive military campaign against the USSR was never implemented,

03:37although the USSR still maintained considerable forces for defense in the Far East in the event of a Japanese invasion.

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