Mongolian People's Army

 

One of the first actions of the new Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party authorities was the creation of a native communist army in 1921 under the leadership of adept cavalry commander Damdin Sükhbaatar in order to fight against Russian troops from the White movement and Chinese forces. The decision to create an army was made on 9 February 1921.^[1]

On 13 March 1921, four cavalry regiments were formed from partisan detachments.^[2] The MPRA was aided by the Red Army of the Russian SFSR, which helped to secure the Mongolian People's Republic and remained in its territory until at least 1925. A Military Council was formed soon after among the military leadership,^[3] while the General Staff was led by Soviet specialists.^[4]

In September 1923,^[5] on the outskirts of Urga, the first cavalry school and an artillery school were opened, and a year later, the publication of the army newspaper began.^[6] On October 16, 1925, Mongolia adopted a law on universal conscription, and in 1926, the creation of temporary detachments of the people's militia began.^[7]

Initially during the native revolts of the early 1930s and the Japanese border probes beginning in the mid-1930s, Soviet Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors for the native army and as guards for diplomatic and trading installations. Domestically, it took part in the suppression of the 1932 armed uprising. It also involved in many border conflicts against Manchukuo and the Kwantung Army (one of the largest parts of the Imperial Japanese Army) and the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. The Imperial Japanese Army recorded 152 minor incidents on the border of Manchuria between 1932 and 1934. The number of incidents increased to over 150 per year in 1935 and 1936, and the scale of incidents became larger.

In January 1935, the first armed battle, Halhamiao incident (哈爾哈廟事件, Haruhabyō jiken) occurred on the border between Mongolia and Manchukuo.^[8] Scores of Mongolian cavalry units engaged with a Manchukuo army patrol unit near the Buddhist temple of Halhamiao. The Manchukuo Army incurred slight casualties, including a Japanese military advisor.

Between December 1935 and March 1936, the Orahodoga incident (オラホドガ事件, Orahodoga jiken)(ja) and the Tauran incident (タウラン事件, Tauran jiken) (ja) occurred. In these battles, both the Japanese and Mongolian Armies use a small number of armoured fighting vehicles and military aircraft.

In the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol (or Nomonhan) heavily armed Red Army forces under Georgy Zhukov assisted by Mongolian troops under Khorloogiin Choibalsan decisively defeated Imperial Japanese Army forces under Michitarō Komatsubara. During a meeting with Joseph Stalin in Moscow in early 1944, Choibalsan requested military assistance to the MPRA for border protection.^[9] Units of Mongolian People's Army were also supported and allied with the Soviet Red Army on the western flank of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. As part of the Cavalry mechanized group of the Transbaikal Front under General Issa Pliyev, Mongolian troops under General D. Lhagwasuren comprised the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Cavalry Divisions, the 7th Motorized Armored Brigade, the 3rd Tank Regiment, and the 3rd Artillery Regiment.^[10]

•  
  Georgy Zhukov and Khorloogiin Choibalsan (left) consult during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
•  
  Mongolian cavalry in the Khalkhin Gol (1939).
•  
  Mongolian troops defend against a Japanese counterattack on the western beach of river the Khalkhin Gol, 1939.

During the 18 months of violence, Monks who were not executed were forcibly conscripted into the MPA.^[11] At the same time, 187 persons from the military leadership were killed on the orders of Marshal Choibalsan.^[12] The army stayed linked to Soviet Red Army intelligence groups and the NKVD.

During the Pei-ta-shan Incident, elite Qinghai Chinese Muslim cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians positions in 1947.^[13] The military of Mongolia's purpose was national defense, protection of local communist establishments, and collaboration with Soviet forces in future military actions against exterior enemies, up until the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia. In February 1957, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the MPRP passed a resolution on the establishment of a voluntary association to assist the People's Army.^[14] In 1961, the Defense and Labor Association was established by the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Mongolia.^[14] The first civil defense in the country was established in 1964 as the 122nd Civil Defense Battalion of the MPA.^[15] Moreover, all Mongolian citizens were obliged to participate in civil defense training organized by the Civil Defense Office of the Ministry of Defense.^[16]

In 1971–72, Mongolian forces were listed as two infantry divisions; 40 T-34 and 100 T-54/55 tanks; 10 SU-100 tank destroyers, BTRs, and Air Force of 1,000 men with no combat aircraft. The Air Force has transports, trainers, and 10 Mil Mi-1 and Mil Mi-4 helicopters.^[17][18]

 

The central Political Administration Unit was established in the army in 1921 to supervise the work of political commissars (Politruk) and party cells in all army units and to provide a political link with the Central Committee of the MPRP in the army. The unit served to raise morale and to prevent enemy political propaganda. Up to one third of army units were members of the party and others were in the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League.

The Red Mongol Army received sixty percent of the government budget in early years and it was expanded from 2,560 men in 1923 to 4,000 in 1924 and to 7,000 in 1927. The native armed forces stayed linked to Soviet Red Army intelligence groups and NKVD, Mongolian secret police, and Buryat Mongol Comintern agents acted as administrators and represented the real power in the country albeit under direct Soviet guidance.

By 1926 the government planned to train 10,000 conscripts annually and to increase the training period to six months. Chinese intelligence reports in 1927 indicated that between 40,000 and 50,000 reservists could be mustered at short notice. In 1929 a general mobilization was called to test the training and reserve system. The expected turnout was to have been 30,000 troops but only 2,000 men presented. This failure initiated serious reforms in recruiting and training systems.

In 1921–1927, the land forces, almost exclusively horsemen, numbered about 17,000 mounted troops and boasted more than 200 heavy machine guns, 50 mountain howitzers, 30 field guns, seven armored cars, and a maximum of up to 20 light tanks.

The basic unit was the 2,000-man cavalry regiment consisting of three squadrons. Each 600-plus-man squadron was divided into five companies: a machine gun company, and an engineer unit. Cavalry regiments were organized into larger units--brigades or divisions—which included artillery and service support units. The chief advantage of this force was mobility over the great distances in Mongolia: small units were able to cover more than 160 km in 24 hours.

 

Under Soviet support campaign for mechanization, the army formed its first mechanized unit in 1922. Also it was by structure in the ground force half-mechanization cavalry in the other units distributed to light armored vehicles until 1943. It began to process to motorised since 1943. This is a list of Mongolian People's Army tanks and armour during the 1922s-World War II period.

Although little attention was paid to anti-aircraft weaponry in the Mongolian People's Army, a few dozen units of Soviet origin were known to be distributed to light armored outfits.

 

The Mongolian People's Army Aviation drastically improved with Soviet training and vastly ameliorated within a time span of several years. In May 1925, a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military-related aviation. In March 1931, the Soviet Union donated three Polikarpov R-1s to the Mongolian People's Army, with Mongolia further purchasing three R-1s.^[19] In 1932, an uprising broke out against Collectivization, which saw both Soviet and Mongolian-operated R-1s taking part in actions against the rebellion. The aircraft carried out reconnaissance, leaflet dropping, and bombing missions.^[20] Chinese intelligence reports that in 1945 the Mongolian People's Air Force had been with a three-fighter and three-bomber aviation-regiment, and one flight training school and greater air squadrons. It was reported that headquartered in the Mukden Manchukuo spy-section in October 1944 air force whole units had been 180 aircraft and 1231 airmen. The Mongolian People's Army Aviation demonstrated its full potential during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, which was its largest engagement. Apart from intercepting intruding aircraft, People's Aviation was used heavily to repress domestic rebel movements.

The Mongolian People's Air Force has operated a variety of aircraft types.

 

• Conscript soldiers
  • Private
  • Lance Corporal
  • Corporal
  • Senior Corporal
• NCO's
  • Junior Sergeant
  • Sergeant
  • Senior Sergeant
  • Training Sergeant
  • Lead Sergeant
• Officers
  • 2nd Lieutenant
  • 1st Lieutenant
  • Captain
  • Major
  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • Colonel
  • Brigadier General
  • Major General
  • Lieutenant General
  • General

On 28 April 1944, the Council of Ministers promoted the 11 officers to the rank of general, a rank that was never crossed before up until then. This date has been remembered as “Mongolian Generals' Day”.^[21] The highest military ranks in the MPA army general, but in 2006 the Law on the Legal Status of Military Servicemen was amended to make it more developed to a Western model.^[21]

 

Because establishment of the Armed Forces was based on a Soviet military system in the 1920s, the Mongolian People's Army used similar uniforms with the Red Army, only with Mongolian distinctions. Until 1924, People's Army personnel wore traditional deel, which had their respective shoulder insignias. In the mid-1930s, the army adopted Soviet Gymnasterka and developed its true rank and distinction system. All personnel were distinct by their sleeve and collar insignias from the general population when the gymnastyorka was rather popular. After the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, slight modifications were made. In 1944 all uniforms and insignia were significantly changed to include shoulder insignia and camouflage cloaks, similar to Soviet uniform modifications but on olive green.

From the 1960s, the equipment and uniforms of the Mongolian People's Army were modernized.^{[citation needed]} As before, the Mongolian People's Army (a Soviet ally) was similar to the Soviet Armed Forces in appearance and structure.

• 17th Army
• 39th Army
• Tuvan People's Revolutionary Army

• Walg, A.J. "Wings Over the Steppes: Aerial warfare in Mongolia 1930–1945: Part One". Air Enthusiast. No. 66, November/December 1996. pp. 18–23. ISSN 0143-5450.
• Walg, A.J. "Wings Over the Steppes: Aerial warfare in Mongolia 1930–1945: Part Two". Air Enthusiast. No. 67, January–February 1997. pp. 25–23. ISSN 0143-5450.
• Walg, A.J. "Wings Over the Steppes: Aerial warfare in Mongolia 1930–1945: Part Three". Air Enthusiast. No. 68, March–April 1997. pp. 70–73. ISSN 0143-5450.