Mongolia. Niislel Khüree. Early April, 1925. A meeting with Khan Angarag.
Chicherin oversaw the Mongolian Princes. Truly they were a weird bunch. He pondered upon the history of the Great Horde, and it's uneasy relations with Russia. The descendants of the Horde now controlled barely a small part of what they used to have. But they were also far more powerful. Far more knowledgeable about the ways of modern politics... and modern war.
It was war, not peace, which brought Chicherin on the huge Ilya Muromets plane right into the heart of Mongolia. And he was sad for it. But what was there to do? The insulting behavior of Manchurians at an anti-communist witch-sabbat, and the rejection of a modest Soviet demand for apologies was not well received by the Circle. Chicherin knew that the Circle were long looking at the vast spaces of the Far East, lost by the ineptitude of weak-minded Tsars, as a welcome addition to the power of the USSR. Perhaps that forced their hand; perhaps not. But the colossal cog of mobilization started to turn, with screeching and rust falling off the Union's war machine, and the pendulum of the war clock swung heavily, with a louder sound each time. That pendulum started moving, and there was no turning back.
A deal with an empire? Chicherin pondered upon the proverb "deal with the devil". At least the Mongolian "devil" allowed Marxists a full representation in Parliament and even to serve in the Army. This was far better than the rabidly anti-Communist government of Manchuria. If you have to choose, better choose the lesser evil, right?
[img]http://www.s_103.edu54.ru/images/irza044.jpg[/img]
- Dear Khan, - the Soviet diplomat begun, - We have received several notes from your government that touch upon
expanding our cooperation, which so far was confined to shipping of machine guns and supplies through the Trans-Mongolian Railway into our Eastern military districts. I can inform you on behalf of the Soviet government that the Soviet Union is glad we have found ways to sign a full mutual defence treaty.
The Mongolian leader was not surprised.
- The winds blow over the plain. The times come and go, but the greatness of the sons of the Great Khan remains. It is only natural that such great people, the
Oros, shall come for council and support to us, another great people - the
Mongol. We have also found it very kind of you to sign guarantees that prohibit interference of the
Oros in Mongolian matters, including financial or armed support of the Mongolian Marxist Party. We assure you that we would not disallow the Party from taking part in the political process. In no way shall that be an insult to the mighty
Oros, but a sign of mutual respect, as we both might agree.
Chicherin nodded.
- As you understand, the agreement is indeed one of mutual trust. Actions that constitute a breach of such agreement, in any case, can lead to both parties abandoning it. I hope we understand our common interest. Now, my military advisor here, serving in the OGPU with the rank of Major, Maxim Maximovich Isaev. He will explain the basis of our further cooperation.
The young man walked to the table.
- Is this place secure enough, - he asked the Khan, - I have a great respect for your culture, but we only have a hut to negotiate. Perhaps a cabinet would be more apt, for such a secretive matter.
The Khan smiled.
- Horrors greater than the Death of Thousand Cuts await spies who dare to come here. This place is fully secured by my best professionals. You, serve in such units of the Great Oros, isn't it? - he pointed out. - Surely you should know how men of power work with security. Now, what are your
plans? We laid out our interest, but we want to see what the
Oros has prepared?
Isaev opened a folder.
- Please, look here. The plan is roughly the following. Now, the Manchurian imperialists know they have angered us, but they hardly can realize the full extent of this anger. They have around 300 heavy fortifications along the Amur and deeper into Manchuria, as well as light ones. All of that would be made largely irrelevant by a
deep, well-supported assault through Mongolia, from the very Easternmost parts deeper south, then a turn north, and into Cicigar. The Soviet tank armada, a 20 000 man strong tank force with 100 ultra-heavy tanks, mostly acting as mobile siege artillery, and 200 light tanks, will spearhead the assault, accompanied by roughly 10 crack Soviet divisions of the Special Far Eastern Army transported here by the Trans-Mongolian Railway, including the three very best, operating motorized units, and then 2 cavalry corps to ensure flanking attacks which could surround Manchurian fortifications. Also accompanying them will be 2 armored train brigades, each fielding 2 heavy and 2 light armored trains. They will advance along the Trans-Mongolian Railway and assault any forces the Manchurians might be trying to bring up. If we take Jilin, it will only be good for us. In total, there would be around 400 tanks in the attack, some active in the tank flotilla and others accompanying infantry divisions.
- Your forces, especially armored forces, would be welcome to assist in the deep attack. The tank assault will be spearheaded by Marshall Tukhachevsky on our side. The Joint Headquarters will reside in Niislel Khüree, with direct phone lines to Chita, Nerchisk, and other cities on the line. Choosing your capital, is a sign of great respect as much as it is a strategic necessity.
- The main task will be crushing the Ā'ěrshān Shì fortified region just up and above over our main assault direction - for that we shall dispatch 2 special artillery regiments, armed with 305mm mortars, the heaviest mobile land artillery pieces in the Soviet Union's inventory. Afterwards part of the assaulting forces will cut off the Manchurian forces positioned to defend Hailar He, from the rear, and thus bring their line of defences against the USSR in the Manchurian Fortified Region to a defeat. Once they are cut off, we shall use the squadron of ultra-heavy bombers based in Chita and re-dislocate it to border airfields; upon doing which, the bombers will assault the Manchurian positions on Hailar He, and coupled with the attack from the South, that would be effectively destroying their forces.
- Your mighty forces shall bring additional power to the main thrust against Cicigar and Harbin, thereupon, we will separate. Your forces shall go South and take anything that would be enough to defeat the enemy. Our forces shall go North and destroy his northern forces that effectively defend his lines against Russia.
The Khan and his generals oversaw the map.
- There will then be another simultaneous assault from the territory of the Soviet Union, - continued Maxim. - As you can see, the river Shilka offers a perfect offensive opportunity. That assault will be spearheaded by 13 Soviet divisions advancing with the help of very heavy siege artillery - the Eastern Railway Special Regiment, containing 2 railway 203-mm guns, 2 armored train brigades with 2 heavy and 2 light armored trains in each brigade. They will be using the full might of the Shilka River Flotilla to ruin the Manchurian fortresses along the Amur. That river flotilla posesses one aircraft carrying barge and 18 monitors. The river monitors will sail, along with the forces and heavily protected by them, to the mouth of river Shilka, where the Manchurian fortresses begin. The carrier will then dispatch it's planes for reconaissance and target correction, and the monitors shall bring down the Manchurian fortresses with a hailstorm of fire. This attack would be spearheaded by tank regiments of infantry divisions, around 160 tanks in total.
- We will assemble hundreds of planes to conduct recon runs over Manchuria and assault their river ships and monitors that might be called up from deep inside Manchuria to defend the Amur in the North. The Shilka assault in the North must not really advance deep into Manchurian lands, - continued Isaev. - It's task would be to disallow Manchurian forces to abandon positions and help the struggle against our tank force slamming into their soft underbelly. If the main forces advance and take Cicigar and then follow on to Harbin, the Manchurian fate will be sealed.
- I believe our combined strength in the region vastly outmatches anything the Manchurians can bring to bear against us in this war, - noted Maxim. - However, it's important to start operations and cut off their North units by Autumn. If the Amur starts freezing, that will hinder the movement of goods along the river and may critically undermine the success of the offensive. So the war must be started early in the summer... and finished by the end of autumn. Such is the call of fate.
The military advisor finished the explanation.
- As to the final result, we have proposed the following, oh great Khan... We would have arranged for regions around Haishenwai, Cicigar and Harbin to be fully under your control, to the fullest extent your forces might seize from Manchuria in the south, colored orange on the map. We would ask for the sea coast regions that border the island Sakhalin, as well as a sufficiently large Manchurian seaport with railroads, colored yellow-green. And for the Sakhalin Island itself. As for the time...
Isaev smiled.
- I believe the Manchurians should be receiving their ultimatum right now.
Vast plains of Mother Russia. Chita.
The city with a population of 130000, including around 33 thousand POW internees, taken by Tsarist Russia, but who were never released by the Soviet Union, became the epicentre of rapid military mobilization. Over 300 000 men were raised to fight in the rifle divisions, bringing the total number of active rifle divisions in the Special Far East Army to 51, and the total number of manpower to around 700 000 men.
Some of them, around 5 rifle divisions in total, were transferred to the sparsely populated territories of the North, away over the Amur river, as far as to Okhotsk. But the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, with a total population of barely one million men and most of it lying in permafrost, was hardly the main point of contention between the Soviet Union and Manchuria. The permafrost-locked terrain was poorly suited for flanking maneuvers and advances; there were no railways to supply any advance of forces - either into there, or from there.
But that was not the only thing happening at the time. The aircraft carrier of the Shilka Flotilla, accompanied by river monitors and over a hundred thousand men in 13 rifle divisions advanced from Nerchinsk to the mouth of river Shilka.
And the Soviet tank armada, along with over 100 000 men from the best Far East Army divisions, two heavy siege artillery regiments and 4 armored trains, were preparing for a deadly assault on Cicigar and the Ā'ěrshān Shì through Inner Mongolia.
NKID USSR. Official communique to the Kingdom of Manchuria.
It has come to our knowledge that you have not apologized for the wanton slaughter of communists, neither acknowledged a single Soviet demand issued in our prior note. We demand immediate apologies and release of communists in custody. Moreover, you have never even recognized the official government of the USSR as legitimate, or signed an agreement on the borders with our nation.
We demand such actions be taken immediately, or you will face the consequences.
