Battles of Khalkhin Gol

Battles of Khalkhin Gol
Part of the Soviet–Japanese border conflicts and World War II

Japanese infantrymen near wrecked Soviet armored vehicles, July 1939
Date11 May – 16 September 1939
(4 months and 5 days)
Location47°43′49″N 118°35′24″E / 47.73028°N 118.59000°E / 47.73028; 118.59000
Result Soviet–Mongolian victory
Territorial
changes
Status quo ante bellum;
enforcement of border claims in accordance with the Soviet and Mongolian interpretation.
Belligerents
 Soviet Union
Mongolia
 Japan
 Manchukuo
Commanders and leaders
Strength
57,000 (late August)
498–550 tanks
385–450 armored cars
900 aircraft (total), peak strength 623
546 artillery pieces (156 100mm+)
4,000 trucks
1,921 horses and camels (Mongol only)

25,000 (late August)
73 tanks
19 tankettes

  • Tanks withdrawn after July action
400 aircraft (total), peak strength 255
277 artillery pieces (50 100mm+)
2,000 trucks (20 August)
2,708 horses
Casualties and losses
Manpower:
Total: 26,211–28,169 casualties

24,903 combat
752–2,276 noncombat
556–990
Equipment:
250 aircraft lost
253 tanks destroyed or crippled
133 armored cars destroyed
96 mortars and artillery
49 tractors and prime movers
652 trucks and other motor vehicles
significant animal casualties
Manpower:
Total: ~21,000 – 30,000 casualties

See § Casualties.
17,364–17,716 combat
2,350 noncombat
2,895 (Soviet claim)
Equipment:
162 aircraft lost
29 tanks destroyed or crippled
7 tankettes destroyed
72 artillery pieces (field guns only)
2,330 horses killed, injured, or sick
significant motor vehicle losses
Khalkhin Gol/Nomonhan
Location within Mongolia
Khalkhin Gol/Nomonhan
Khalkhin Gol/Nomonhan (Inner Mongolia)

The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (Russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; Mongolian: Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhin Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Japanese: ノモンハン事件, Hepburn: Nomonhan jiken) after Nomonhan Burd Obo, an obo, a cairn set as a border marker in the Yongzheng period of the Qing dynasty. The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army.