It noted the invulnerability of Soviet heavy tanks to Japanese anti-tank weapons and the ruthless aggressiveness of Soviet assault tactics and commanders.. The Japanese were also stunned
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one of the few foreign intelligence services to correctly gauge the strength of the
Red Army It noted the invulnerability of Soviet heavy tanks to Japanese anti-tank
weapons and the ruthless aggressiveness of Soviet assault tactics and commanders
The Japanese were also stunned at the appearance of Soviet fl ame-throwing tanks
and found their artillery outranged by its Soviet counterpart All that changed the
Japanese view of tanks as merely infantry support fi repower But it took until 1943
for the Japanese Army to ready its fi rst true armored division The Japanese were
deeply impressed by the fi ghting prowess of the Red Army, once freed of political
controls and commanded by able generals, as it would be after its catastrophic
defeats of 1941 and 1942 Memory of the undeclared border war along the Khalka
river in July–August 1939, was a critical factor in persuading Imperial General
Headquarters to turn away from military confrontation with the Soviet Union
Tokyo abjured the “ hokushin ” or “northern advance” to instead contemplate an
oce-anic war against the United States and Great Britain, the “ nanshin ” or “southern
ad-vance.” A formal policy shift was adopted by Tokyo on December 28, 1939, in favor
of seeking a nonaggression pact with Moscow As only the Japanese could phrase
such a strategic conclusion, the decision was made “to wait until the persimmon
ripened and fell” before attacking the Soviet Union, which remained a long-term
goal In the end, the Soviet persimmon never fell Instead, it was the Red Army that
waited years to attack, then overwhelmed overripe Japanese forces in Manchuria
during a brief but violent Manchurian offensive operation in August 1945
See also Choibalsan, Khorlogin; FALL WEISS; Hitler, Adolf; second front
Suggested Reading: Alvin Coox, Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939 (1985)
NONAGGRESSION TREATIES A number of nonaggression pacts were
signed in this period A pact for 10 years between Germany and Poland was
signed on January 26, 1934, as a means of eliminating a Polish threat to Germany
while Adolf Hitler consolidated power It was renounced by Hitler on April 28,
1939 Denmark was the only Scandinavian country to sign a nonaggression pact
with Hitler, in 1939 It was invaded anyway the next year The three most
impor-tant nonaggression pacts of the period were the Pact of Steel (May 22, 1939), the
Nazi–Soviet Pact (August 23, 1939), and a Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact signed
on April 13, 1941
NONBELLIGERENCE A unique, quasi-legal status claimed by Benito
Mussolini for Italy upon the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 It
went beyond even “tilted neutrality,” in which Italy would not take up arms but
clearly favored Nazi Germany rather than maintaining strict neutrality It was
essentially a declaration of prebelligerence The model was followed by Spain and
several other minor states within the German orbit However, Spain did not follow
Italy into actual belligerence
NORDEN BOMBSIGHT A USAAF prewar bombsight and aiming computer
American bombardiers and planners believed in the Norden bombsight to the