Mongolian People's Army
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The Mongolian People's Army (Red Mongolian Army) was a secondary army under the Soviet Red Army command during the 1920s and during World War II.
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[edit] Creation of the army
One of the first actions of the new Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party authorities was the creation of a native communist army in 1920 under the leadership of adept cavalry commander Damdin Sükhbaatar in order to fight against Russian troops from the White movement and Chinese bandits and warlords. The MPRP was aided by the Russian SFSR Red Army, which helped to secure the Mongolian People's Republic and remained in its territory until at least 1925. However, 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.
The army's purpose was national defense, protection of local Communist establishments, and collaboration with Soviet forces in future military actions against exterior enemies.
[edit] Political indoctrination
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 to expanded from 2,560 men in 1923 to 4,000 in 1924 and 1to 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 Russian guidance.
[edit] Training
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.
[edit] Strength
During 1925 the Mongol Air Army was formed with a fleet of four aircraft. In 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 and two armored cars.
[edit] Basic units
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.
[edit] Military actions
Units supported Soviet Red Army forces in the Battle of Khalkhyn Gol in 1939 and on the western flank of Operation August Storm in 1945. Domestically, it took part in the suppression of the 1932 armed uprising.
