Sukhbaatar
It won’t take long before you wonder who Sukhbaatar is – his statue astride a horse dominates the square named after him in Ulaanbaatar, his face is on many currency notes, and there is a provincial capital and aimag called Sukhbaatar.
- Born in 1893, probably in what is now Ulaanbaatar, Sukh (which means ‘ax’), as he was originally named, joined the Mongolian army in 1911. He soon became famous for his horsemanship, but was forced to leave the army because of insubordination. In 1917, he joined another army, fought against the Chinese, and picked up the added moniker of baatar, or ‘hero’.
- By 1921, Sukhbaatar was made commander-in-chief of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army, which defeated the Chinese again, and, later, the White Russians. In July of that year, he declared Mongolia’s independence from China at what is now known as Sukhbaatar Square.
- He packed a lot in a short life; he died in 1923, at the age of 30. The exact cause of his death has never been known, and he did not live to see Mongolia proclaimed a republic.
On the Road
to
Khalkin-Gol
-Part One-
by Henry Sakaida
"Let’s go to Nomonhan!" my dad would joke to me. "Yeah, let’s go to Nomonhan!" I would echo. We were always interested in this obscure border clash between Soviet/Mongolian forces and the Japanese Kwantung Army prior to World War II. Very few people know about this footnote in modern military history which occurred during the summer of 1939.
An ill-defined border between Mongolia and Japanese-occupied Manchuria in Northern China, and national pride ignited this conflict over an area which had no economic nor strategic value. The Japanese claimed that the border followed the meandering Khalkin Gol (Khalka River) while the Mongolians countered that it was actually about 10 miles east of the river near the small village named after a hill called Nomon Haany. To the Japanese, it became the Nomonhan Incident. The Soviet and Mongolian troops entered combat at the Khalka River, so the conflict took the name of Khalkin Gol.
Travel map provided by the author which traces his expedition from beginning to final destination at Khalkhgol.
Mongolian herdsmen crossed the Khalkan Gol on 11 May 1939 to graze cattle and were chased back by Manchurian border guards. There were no boundary markers; the Mongolians had been pasturing their stock across the Khalka for centuries. Two days later, Mongolian cavalrymen returned and pushed back the Manchurian guards in a shooting match. Things escalated. The Manchurians called on the Japanese Kwantung Army for help while the Mongolians sought military support from their "big brother" - the Soviet Union. A mutual defense pact signed between Mongolia and the USSR in 1936 brought the Red Army into the fray. Mongolia was the second Communist country in the world.
The tit-for-tat engagements blossomed into a full blown war involving heavy artillery, tanks, aircraft, and thousands of men on both sides. After 129 days, an armistice was signed. The Soviets were preoccupied with problems in Europe, Hitler, and the coming war with Finland. The Japanese suffered horrendous losses and wanted a face-saving exit.
My father passed away in October 2004 and I never really entertained thoughts of
Justin Taylan, travel partner and proprietor of pacificwrecks.com, our guide Chinzorig, proprietor of drivemongolia.com, and author Henry Sakaida.
I quickly called my buddy Justin Taylan. He is a seasoned traveler, humanitarian, and fellow war historian. The young New Yorker operates a website called Pacific Wrecks. "Hey, wanna go with me to Khalkin Gol and look for battlefield artifacts?" I asked. "I would kill to go there!" he exclaimed.
The Buryat Veterans Association provided three retired MVD colonels for interview.
We each flew separately to Tokyo, linked up, and boarded a Mongolian Airlines flight for Ulan Bator on 6 August. Our guide Chinzor picked us up at the airport and deposited us at a hotel. After a two day stop, we hopped a train for Ulan Ude in Russia to see some old friends from my 2004 adventure there. A few days after our arrival, we were taken to the headquarters of the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) and questioned about our presence in Russia by a panel of officials and uniformed colonels.
The Mongolian Military Museum is a must see in Ulan Bator.
"Welcome to Buryatia!" greeted the official host. No, we were not in any trouble. We told our friends that we wanted to meet Soviet veterans from the Khalkin Gol battles. The MVD produced a 90-year old Khalkin Gol veteran, plus two others from the Great Patriotic War. After videotaping their stories and snapping photographs, we became "victims" of the infamous Russian hospitality. The vodka began to flow, there were toasts upon toasts, followed by speeches and eating. We took a train back to Ulan Bator on 20 August.
Marshal Zukov Monument in Ulan Bator. Zukov led Soviet troops against the Japanese at Khalkin Gol.