Mongolian People's Army

The Mongolian People's Army (Mongolian: Монголын Ардын Арми or Монгол Ардын Хувьсгалт Цэрэг) or Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army was established on 18 March 1921 as a secondary army under Soviet Red Army command during the 1920s and during World War II.

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 forces. 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.

Cold war era

Main article: Sino-Soviet split

During the Pei-ta-shan Incident, elite Qinghai Chinese Muslim cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians in 1947.^[1]

The military of Mongolian's purpose was national defense, protection of local communist establishments, and collaboration with Soviet forces in future military actions against exterior enemies, than by until 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia.

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 Soviet guidance.

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.

Strength

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 and seven armored cars, 20 light tanks

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.

List of Mongolian Army division and other units

   * 1th  Cavalry Division
   * 2th  Cavalry Division
   * 3th Cavalry Division
   * 4th  Cavalry Division
   * 5th  Cavalry Division
   * 6th  Cavalry Division
   * 7th  Cavalry Division
   * 8th  Cavalry Division
   * 9th Cavalry Division
   * 10th  Cavalry Division
   * 7th Motorized Armored Brigade 
   * 3d Separate Tank Regiment 
   * 3d Artillery Regiment
   * Aviation Mixed Division

Army rank and insignia

Uniform

Because it was established on a Soviet military system the 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 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 general population when the gymnastyorka was rather popular. After the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, slight modifications were made and in 1944 all uniforms and insignias were changed paralytically^{[clarification needed]} with Soviet uniform modifications. The shoulder insignia and camouflage cloaks were introduced. Beginning with the 1960s both equipments and uniforms of People's army began to modernize. In all as a Warsaw pact country Mongolian People's army had a close resemblance to Soviet Red Army in appearance and structure.

Military actions

Units of Mongolian People's Army supported and allied with a Soviet Red Army in the Battle of Khalkhyn Gol in 1939 and on the western flank of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. Domestically, it took part in the suppression of the 1932 armed uprising.

Stalinist repressions against Mongolian People's Army

Main article: Stalinist repressions in Mongolia

Light equipment

Mosin-Nagant,

PPSh-41,

PPSh-43,

Russian M1910 Maxim,

SG-43 Goryunov,

DShK

Degtyaryov machine gun

Artillery and mortars

37 mm anti-tank gun M1930 (1-K)

76 mm regimental gun M1927

45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K)

76 mm regimental gun M1943

Anti-aircraft Weapon

Vehicles

• ZIS-5
• Studebaker US6

Armoured vehicles during World War II

This is a list of Mongolian People's Army tanks and armour during the 1922s-WWII period.

Armored cars

File:BA-10 Armored car.JPG

Mongolian People's Army corporal, prepare to exercise a on the near Ulan-Bator, on July 16th 1936 07-3.

• Russian Austin Putilov (two examples)
• Soviet FAI
• Soviet BA-6
• Soviet BA-10
• Soviet BA-64

Light Tanks

• Soviet T-27- 10
• Soviet BT-5 - ? (Unknown number)
• Soviet BT-7 - 27

Medium Tanks

• Soviet T-34- (Unknown number)
• Soviet T-34/85- 33

Sps Tank destroyers

• Soviet SU-100

Mongolian People's Army Aviation in 1925–1945

In May 1925 a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military aviation and in march 1931, the Soviet Union donated three Polikarpov R-1s to the Mongolian Peoples Army, with Mongolia purchasing a further three R-1s.^[2] In 1932, an uprising broke out against Collectivization. Both Soviet and Mongolian-operated R-1s took part in actions against the rebellion, carrying out reconnaissance, leaflet dropping and bombing missions^[3] Chinese intelligence reports in 1945 the Mongolian People's Air Force had been with a 3 fighter and 3 bomber aviation-regiment and one flight school and more air squadrons. Mongolian People's Army Aviation demonstrated its full potential during the Khalkyn gol war which was its largest engagement. Apart from intercepting intruding aircraft, People's Aviation was used heavily to repress domestic rebel movements.

Mongolian People's air force has operated a variety of aircraft types

Trainer

• Po-1
• Po-2
• Yakovlev UT-2
• Yak-11

Bomber and ground-attack aircraft

• Polikarpov R-1-Unknown number
• Polikarpov R-5-40
• Ilyushin Il-2-70

Fighter aircraft

• Polikarpov I-15-50
• Polikarpov I-15bis-Unknown number
• Polikarpov I-16-1
• Yak-7-Unkhown number
• Yak-9-31.

Transport aircraft

• Lisunov Li-2
• Gan-3 (Stal-3. this airplanes frame is made with stainless steel. Stal means stainless steel in Russian but Gan is a Mongolian word)
• Kalinin K-5
• Yakovlev Yak-6
• Junkers F-13
• Junkers W 33
• Nakajima Ki-34-12

References

1. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 214. ISBN 0521255147. http://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=warlords+and+muslims&source=bl&ots=KzhMe1dpqU&sig=YUq2zwbyUFNCsO5Jnt2RTAKL0rc&hl=en&ei=SdobTNyIEYO8lQfuvYm1Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAQ#v=snippet&q=elite%20tungan%20cavalry%20incident&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
2. ^ Walg Air Enthusiast November/December 1996, pp. 18–19.
3. ^ Walg Air Enthusiast November/December 1996, pp. 19–20.

• 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.