Storm in the East v2.0: The Second Russo-Japanese War

The Red

So I've wanted to do a second version of this for a while after I started to dislike the way the first was going. Now with a few days off I'm going to have another crack at it. So, without further ado:

A STORM IN THE EAST


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It was perhaps not all that surprising that the Soviet Union and Japan often butted heads in the borderlands between the Soviet client state of Mongolia and the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Tensions between the two had been high for decades, and had erupted into open conflict on a number of occasions. Japan had decisively defeated Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, and had occupied Vladivostock for several years during the Russian civil war. Both for historical, regional and ideological reasons, it was hardly nay surprise that both the Japanese and the Soviet Union despised one another.

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire had been the lesser concern of the Japanese. Dominated by internal corruption and revolution, the Russians had never seemed a credible threat for an expanding empire, concerned with the United States and the European imperialist powers to it's south and east and the lumbering giant of China to it's west. However, by the 1930s, the Soviet Union was a resurgent power, and had become a major regional rival to the Japanese. Under Stalin the Red Army had enjoyed high military spending and by 1938 had began to match Japanese troops in terms of numbers and outnumber them in armour. The purges of many of the more competent areas of the Soviet officer corps, had led to the Soviets strength being dismissed by the European powers. The Japanese High Command, on the other hand, were particularly concerned about the threat Soviet submarines posed to Japanese shipping, and the ease with which Soviet bombers, operating out of Vladivostok, would be able to reach Tokyo. The Japanese wished to remove this threat by from the Soviets the port of Vladivostok, minimising their strength in the Far East. The Soviets, wishing to redeem their humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and protect their only warm water port, were not going to encourage the Japanese to make another attempt at expansion into Siberia, but if they did, they would make sure it would not be a successful one.

Due to these factors. The hotly disputed border between Mongolia and Manchukuo was hotly disputed had led to violent skirmishes more than once. The Manchukoan puppet had claimed that the border ran along the Khalkhin-Gol river, whereas the Mongolians argued that the border actually ran just east of Nomonhan village.
The most notable of these shirmishes had been the battle for Lake Khasan in North Eastern China. The conflict started on July 15, 1938, when the Japanese attaché in Moscow demanded the removal of Soviet border troops from the Bezymyannaya Hills to the west of Lake Khasan in the south of Primorye, not far from Vladivostok, claiming thiswas Japanese. The demand was promptly rejected. The Japanese attacked on July 1938, forcing Soviet troops to retreat, bringing the Japanese close to Vladivostock. Too close for Joseph Stalin. However under the command of the chief of the Far East Front, Vasily Blücher, additional forces were moved to the zone of conflict and after several brutal engagements the Japanese forces were repulsed. The Japanese prime minister was sent humiliated to the United States to negotiate peace peace.

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Soviet soldiers on Zaozyornaya Hill.

Although the Japanese had been soundly whipped the small skirmishes continued. However the Soviets had greater concerns in Europe and whilst they were confident they could defeat the Japanese on their own soil, a war against a major power in the far east did not seem particularly feasible, or desirable. Lake Khasan was hoped by both sides to be a one off failure in communications and that no other large scale engagements would take place.

But merely 7 months later the skirmishes would get severely out of hand once more, when a few Mongolian cavalrymen would unwittingly change history...
 

mowque

Banned
Actually would it be a "Russo" war since the USSR involved non-Russians? Wouldn't it be the "Soviet-Japanese War"?
 

zeppelin247

looking good, give Japan a bit of a reality check before it starts all out war and show the Germans that Russia is not a toothless bear
 

Some Bloke

I dunno the Finns were caught with their pants down and they still managed to kick 7 kinds of shit out of the Soviets. Their officer corps had been decimated and they were attempting to implement a doctrine most of them didn't really understand.

Maybe this serves as an early wakeup call.
 

The Red

On the eleventh of March, like many of the major events in history, the face of the world was changed not with large scale social events but with a few Mongolian cavalrymen on the hunt for grazing for their horses. Unknown to them they had wandered into the disputed area between Manchuko and Mongolia. However their Manchukoan counterparts were quickly made aware of their presence by traders from the nearby village of Nomonhan. Mere hours after they had first entered the disputed zone, hundreds of Manchukoan cavalrymen had descended upon the unwitting Mongolians.

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Manchukoan Cavalry outside Nomonhan

The resultant battle was quick and brutal, out of the 78 Mongolians had had entered the area of the Khalkyn Gol river only 6 came back, confused and terrified. Mixed and unclear messages were recived by both sides over the incident. The HQ of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Hsinking were reciveing reports that the Mongolians had crossed the border but had been driven back. Meanwhile Soviet Far Eastern Command were recieving alarming reports that Mongolian Cavalry had been ambushed by Manchukoans inside Mongolian territory.

But both sides would soon find that events were out of their control and that by the time the messages reached HQ’s new developments had already arisen. Hundreds of Mongolian Cavalrymen had crossed into the disputed area again in search for revenge and quickly managed to repulse the Manchukoans from the area. Within two days the situation would spiral out of control. After hearing of slightly alarming reports of more Mongolian incursions into Manchuko, General Michitarō Komatsubara who commanded the Japanese 23rd Division garrisoning western Manchuko sent his reconnaisance regiment into the area along with an infantry regiment. This force of green albeit professional soldiers easily drove out the Mongolians..

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Machine gunners of the 23rd division during their repulsion of the Mongolians

In the following days the two regiments returned with similar orders. However this time they found themselves facing Soviet troops who had arrived to bolster their Mongolian allies. They found themselves encircled and were soon gutted by the superior force. Over the next fortnight, news of scattered engagements continued to pour in. In Hsinking the general staff of the Kwantung Army watched these developments with concern. It seemed that the Soviet-Mongol agitation was a move to correct the border dispute on their terms, possibly using events in Europe as a distraction of the other main powers. Were they looking for a response?

The Soviet Far Eastern Front waited, they were used to repulsing small Japanese incursions. Would the Japanese dare escalate this any further? They were waiting for an answer.

On the day Hitler declared the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the crews at Tamsak-Bulak airbase woke up to the drones of fighter aircraft.

The Japanese were about to give their answer...

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The Nakajimas of the Kwanftung Army prepare to nose dive Japan into conflict with it's northern neighbour
 

The Red

As the last Japanese plane disappeared from view, Tamsak-Bulak airbase lay burning. Grigori Shtern, Chief of staff of the Far Eastern Front was enraged to say the least but also in a state of shock. Within hours of the raid he was recieving urgent reports that the Japanese moving in two prongs to encircle his forces in the Nomonhan area. Within the first day of their offensive the Japanese had crossed the khalkyn gol, forced the Soviets from Baintsagan hill and were continuing to advance southwards. The encirclement and destruction of all Mongolian and Soviet forces in the Nomonhan area seemed imminent.

However, as dangerous as the situation seemed, all was not lost. The Japanese had been bold, but their plan had been hasty at best and ignorant at worst and although the Japanese had managed to cross the river they were completely reliant on one shaky pontoon bridge for all supplies. What made things even worse was Tokyos anger over the highly independent Kwantung commanders failing to inform them of the air raid and subsequent attack. It was ordered that no further air operations were to take place.

The Soviet and Mongolian forces which the Japanese presumed would either wither away or retreat within days of the offensive stood firm, with every plane and tank the far eastern front could spare going towards Nomonhan. Within just 3 days of the offensive beginning, the Japanese were forced to wait for further supply. They had been forced into a stalemate by the determined Soviet resistance, their commanders would soon regret their poor logistical position.

With the Japanese being unable to provide their troops with air support, they were an easy target for the Red Air Force. Although diminished after the suprise Japanese attack, Soviet bombers managed to destroy the Japanese pontoon bridge, cutting the Japanese off from resupply. 3 days later, with the Japanese attempting to resestablish another bridge, Shtern counterattacked, driving the Japanese back across the river and continued until all Japanese forces in the area had been driven 20 kilometres back leaving the Soviets in complete control of the disputed area.

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Although outnumbered, Shtern managed to force a humiliating retreat on the Japanese

The Japanese began building up for a second strike. However whilst Tokyo continued to urge restraint, Moscow ordered Shtern to prepare his own offensive, shipping thosuands of men, tanks and planes to the frontline. By the time the Japanese were ready to attack again, Shtern had amassed 60,000 men, 550 tanks and 300 planes. Although the opposing Japanese forces were of similar size they had very little armour and what they did have was completely inferior to their Soviet counterparts. Also stripped of air support, the Japanese attack did not look promising.

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Soviet tanks advance across Khalkyn Gol River

On the 25th of April, the second Japannese offensive begun with a massive artillery barrage. As planned, Shtern had previously withdrew his troops leaving the Japanese thinking that the barrage had more or less destroyed Soviet forces in the Nomohan area. As the Japanese advanced into the area, Shtern continued to retreat. With the Japanese believing that they had cleared the area of the Soviets they again crossed the Khalkyn Gol. After allowing the Japanese to set up a pontoon bridge and advance several more miles Shtern struck. With little reconaissance done before hand the Japanese had no idea of the size of the Soviet forces in the area. Thus when the Soviet artillery and air force struck they where taken completely by suprise. His armoured units swept around the Japanese flanks center and attacked the Japanese in the rear, cutting lines of communication, overcoming desperate Japanese counterattacks and achieving a double envelopmentof the Japanese forces. When the two wings of Shtern's attack linked up at Nomonhan village on the 25th, the Japanese 23rd division was trapped. The day after when the remaining Japanese forces refused to surrender they were destroyed utterly.

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Captured Japanese soldiers
 

The Red

With an entire division lost both Kwantung HQ in Hsinking and Tokyo panicked. The Soviets now occupied the disputed territory in force and had inflicted significant casualties on Japanese forces, an entire division destroyed. A further escalation would have to involve several divisions at least, leaving Japan openly at war with the Soviet Union, a war the Japanese weren't sure they could win. With a heavy heart, attempts were made to establish a cease fire. Shterns forces, now firmly in Manchukoan territory halted, awaiting Moscows orders.

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Whilst Stalin had initially been open to the idea of a cease fire, the reports coming in the aftermath of the battle made him pause. Tens of thousands of Japanese casualties, with relatively small Soviet losses. It was clear that the Japanese had been too accustomed to fighting feebly armed peasants, stuck in a mindset that the the First World War seemed to outdate, their tanks were based largely on fighting infantry and they had had little role outside of infantry support. Easy prey for Soviet fast tanks.

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Soviet troops inspect a captured Japanese Type 95 'tank'.

For these reasons he understood why this proud warrior race had asked for a cease fire, they were afraid.

If Joseph Stalin was good at anything, it was handing out nightmares.

Stalin made his thoughts clear on the issue to Shtern. ”You have blown a giant hole in the Japanese defense. It is time to wipe these imperialist agressors off the Asian mainland”
Shtern was ordered to prepare his own offensive which would radically enhance the nature of the conflict, a Soviet invasion of Manchuria. He replied that. although he agreed with Stalin's low estimations of the Japanese, he would need greatly increased resources. If they brought their strength to bear the Japanese would air supremacy and greater numbers of experienced troops. Attacking now would also effectively be handing the Soviet Pacific fleet a death sentence and it would be almost certain that Vladivostok would be blockaded at best and quite possibly rendered useless at worst. There would also be little guarantee of holding Sakhalin, or being able to recapture it afterwards.

This certainly halted Stalin's ambition, but only that he begin to become more logical. He told Shtern to prepare for a late summer offensive and guaranteed him and he would access to the resources needed to ensure air and numerical superiority. Naval matters could not be helped but if the Soviets could deprive the Japanese of ports on the Asian mainland, whilst ensuring with aerial supremacy that Valdivostok was kept safe and Sakhalin defensible then they would have the time to alter their Naval weaknesses.

Shtern was less confident but realised that Stalin's ambitions, at least those on land, were achievable and he wouldn't dare oppose Stalin too far unless he were to face the same fate so many other Soviet officers had befallen.

Soon the trans-siberian railroad was a hive of activity, as Shtern prepared to bring war to the Japanese empire.

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Shtern discusses strategy with his deputy, Georgy Zhukov
 

MerryPrankster

Good TL. I bet the Japanese leadership is kicking itself about denying their units air support.

Might it be more realistic that the Japanese get distress calls about the devastation that division is getting and THEN release the air support, but it's too late to matter?
 

The Red

MerryPrankster said:
Good TL. I bet the Japanese leadership is kicking itself about denying their units air support.

Might it be more realistic that the Japanese get distress calls about the devastation that division is getting and THEN release the air support, but it's too late to matter?
Click to expand...

The same thing happened with the incident in OTL, I guess it's case of real life being implausible, either that or terrible communication.
 

HeavyWeaponsGuy

Banned
"For these reasons he understood why this proud warrior race had asked for a cease fire, they were afraid."

Ha! You sneaky devil... I better not get caught on TV Tropes because of this.

"If Joseph Stalin was good at anything, it was handing out nightmares."

Uncle Joe was the man to be feared... especially by ambitious little pitbulls like Imperial Japan... don't beat 'em up too fast Uncle Joe, draw it out a little...
 
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