The Eastern road that we lost. KVZhD. rocks near Jelantun
Hello Tanechka! Hello, honey! *
You know, lately I have to often travel between cities and villages of Russia, defending defendants in Russian courts. And I want a vacation, I want to take a break from Russia, where the courts have decided to completely abandon the mission of justice and have become an empty appendage to the most stupid of operas and preliminary investigation bodies. From the Khabarovsk Regional Court to the Amur Regional Court, I decided to ride a bicycle. And since there were few border crossings left where the devil had not yet carried me, I decided to enter through Suifenhe and leave in the not entirely beloved, but trampled length and breadth of Heihe.
The road was hard. I usually went in the spring or late summer, and at the height of the heat I only dared to go when I had time to acclimatize by arriving early. The sun was beating down mercilessly and I was pretty burned. But there were enough impressions.
In 2007, I discovered an absolutely Russian city in China - Lushunkou, our former Port Arthur. Well, yes, you remember. And now - Hengdaohezizhen 横道镇, a railway village on the Chinese Eastern Railway, which even now looks completely Russian. If you enter Hengdaohezi from Suifenhe, you will be greeted by a reserve with the world's largest nursery of Amur (northeastern) tigers. When in the late 90s the Chinese fenced off a large area of taiga here on the slopes of the hills to preserve tigers, there were only 8 of them here. Now - over three hundred. Tigers walk quietly around a huge fenced area, and tourists have the opportunity to observe them from behind the bars covering the windows of buses equipped with armored hanging chains and wheels. It’s interesting, of course, especially the process of feeding the tigers with live chickens, but I was in a similar park in Harbin and didn’t linger.
But the village itself attracted attention immediately and for a long time. From the G301 highway, passing above the village and along which I was driving, languishing from numerous slopes and the scorching sun, an ancient wooden church with a real Orthodox cross suddenly appeared. It’s strange to see something like this in China, and in such a beautifully preserved form. And nearby there are one-story houses and a warehouse that is clearly not of Chinese architecture. I had to go back and go down to the village. The most interesting thing is that exactly opposite the road where I had to return, the highway was blocked and the place from which I saw the church was completely free of cars - like a detour through Khendaokhetsy. So I didn’t understand who or what prompted me to return to the village. Was it just the appearance of an unusual and clearly Russian church in these parts, or the Lord God also helped. I just know that the Patriarch of All Rus' Kirill Gundyaev is definitely not involved in this - the church is non-working and the last time it played the role of the Orthodox Church was in 1945, if not earlier. Maybe the village administration just decided to secure a guaranteed interest in their town for passing motorists
On the road leading down to the village, I was greeted by a sign that immediately pleased me: ahead was Old Russian Street, the Church of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple and the CER depot.
The old Russian street strikes immediately, for these, naturally, regions - at first there are several newly restored wooden houses with carved platbands, so familiar to us from the Middle Zone, Siberia and the Russian Far East. Then two parallel streets of typical two-apartment houses built of brick...
What still fascinates me is the wonderful wooden slatted fences. They are not at all typical for China. It is clear that when the Russians lived here, everything was the same, with the exception of the street, paved with new paving slabs, but was this adopted during the time of Mao or were they installed based on photographs, after Hengdaohezi decided to make it a tourist site?
The church, although preserved in the same form as it looked in 1903, is now not in use - there is a local history museum, which, as usually happens, was tightly closed at the hours when I was passing through.
And all the same, Russians cannot understand the Chinese! In Blagoveshchensk, before the October Revolution, there were 23 churches, four stone, the rest wooden. So the wooden ones were burned, three stone ones were destroyed to the ground, and a powder warehouse was built in the last one. And the Chinese, what a strange people they are - even during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, they did not allow logs to be used for steel smelting!
The station master's house is surrounded by greenery, making it somehow inconvenient to show it, and the railway station building was clearly “improved and Russified” beyond the original design. There is traffic around the station, and quite a bit, but it is clear that passenger trains traveling at night (and in China, night trains do not stop at small stations and are designed to deliver those who boarded the train in the evening to their final destination by morning) do not stop there . But freight traffic is quite intense - next is a large coal deposit with all the ensuing railway consequences.
If you cross to the other side of the railway tracks, all the “Russianness” disappears completely - a typical Chinese village. I think that this was the case before, as in Harbin, Dalniy, Port Arthur or Qingdao, Weihai, Hong Kong - the Europeans built their own city for themselves, the Chinese settled nearby as they were accustomed to.
Hmm, but from the Russian side everything is still quite Russian! I was completely amazed by the building standing on a hill. I think this is something like a local hotel or apartment building. One might assume that there is a road authority or something like that, but it’s still a bit far from the road itself!
And for a bank or government office, a front entrance is somehow missing.
Below this wonderful building, so atypical for these places, is a circular fifteen-stall railway depot with a turntable and tracks that are just being restored. Just a couple of years ago there was no turning circle or tracks here, and the roundabout depot was in complete disrepair. And now there are four Chinese-built steam locomotives at the depot. You know, Tanya, China is the last country in the world to mass-produce steam locomotives - the last serial locomotive here was produced in 1989! I’m absolutely sure that in two years from here retro trains will set off, driven by steam locomotives pulling carriages from the early 20th century, both ordinary and with the most luxurious finishes. The Chinese are smart! They saw this in Europe, and if all this is received with a bang there, then it will be received with pleasure here too.
But once upon a time, as a result of the construction of the Manchurian Railway (the CER began to be called only after the October Revolution and until 1945), in the five years since it was put into operation, due to the arrival of people from the southern provinces, the population of Northern Manzhouria doubled . From the most backward region of the Celestial Empire, the Northeast became one of the most advanced and quite successfully argued with Shanghai. The road began construction in August 1897 and was transferred from the Construction Department to the Operations Department in June 1903.
On May 16, 1898, the now twelve-million-year-old Harbin began with the first barracks in the Sungari railway village... But as a result of defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia lost the most tasty and popular part of those traveling from Europe to Japan and Shanghai - from Changchun to Port Arthur. The revolutionary cataclysm finished off the Russian CER. And he would have finished it off even if there had been no armed conflicts on it in 1927-29. Although it was officially donated to the People's Republic of China in February 1950, under Stalin, the collector of Russian lands, it was hardly used for the delivery of Russian goods. And this is at a cost of construction of one verst of 152 thousand rubles, which was colossal at that time.
This is what fascinates me to the point of horror: once upon a time, Russia, as a result of the construction of the Manchurian Railway and the South Manchurian railway line to Dalian and Port Arthur, gave impetus to the development of all of Manchuria, all of Northeast China, then all this passed from the Russians to the Japanese , to the Manchus, again to the Japanese, again to the Russians, again to the Chinese... In China itself, under Mao Zedong alone, such whirlwinds swept through that other, calmer countries had not seen. How did it happen that all these cataclysms of the 20th century did not affect Hengdaohezi?
There are no Russians here now. But in the neighboring city of Hailin, to which Hengdehaozi is administratively subordinate, I met those who proudly consider themselves to be a northern ethnic group. And it’s true - the Han don’t grow such beards!
The Russian Empire once carried out a peaceful expansion into three provinces of what is now Northeast China. Saying goodbye to Hengdaohezi and watching the construction of the Harbin-Suifenhe expressway, I thought about the current peaceful expansion in the opposite direction, about what the Russians will look like in the next 100 years...
Well, some more photos:
The Church of the Mother of God and these houses with vegetable gardens - this is how Hengdaohezi appears when driving along the G301 highway
This house has recently been restored. It will fray in the air, and it will be like the real thing, unrestored!
Police department. She, as expected, is probably on a hill. I went out onto the porch - you can see everything!
Houses on Russian Street
Station building again 
Steam locomotive JF-886 axial formula 1-4-1 "Mikado" - the most common in China
Similar to it is SY-0477. Also 1-4-1 "Mikado". This one, it seems to me, is actually running now 
The pride of Chinese heavy industry during the Great Leap Forward is a steam locomotive with axial formula 1-5-1 QJ-6924 
Steam locomotive SY-8116 formula 1-4-1. This is the locomotive that was the last in the world to be mass-produced. 
Turntable with driver's booth and depot building 
Warehouse at Hengdaohezi freight station. Naturally still Russian built 
This is what the roundabout looked like in 2011. In January and August. Chinese! They harness for a long time, but they drive fast!
*Appeal Hello Tanechka! Hello, honey! was invented a long time ago for LiveJournal by me and former journalist of Amurskaya Pravda, and at that time deputy editor of Komsomolskaya Pravda in Saratov, Tatyana Patrusheva.
How many Tanechkas in the open spaces of LiveJournal accepted my letters from travel at their own expense!
The road was hard. I usually went in the spring or late summer, and at the height of the heat I only dared to go when I had time to acclimatize by leaving in advance. The sun was beating down mercilessly, and I was pretty burned out. But there were enough impressions.
In 2007, I discovered an absolutely Russian city in China - Lushunkou, our former Port Arthur. And now - Hengdaohezi, a railway village on the Chinese Eastern Railway, which even now looks completely Russian. If you enter Hengdaohezi from Suifenhe, you will be greeted by a nature reserve with the world's largest nursery of Amur tigers. When a section of taiga on the slopes was fenced off here in the late 90s to preserve tigers, there were only 8 of them here. Now - over three hundred. Tigers calmly walk around a huge fenced area, and tourists have the opportunity to observe them from behind the bars that cover the windows of buses equipped with armored wheels hanging from chains. It’s probably interesting, but I’ve been to similar parks and didn’t linger.
But the village itself attracted attention immediately and for a long time. From the G301 highway passing above the village, an ancient wooden church suddenly appears, which is strange to see in China in such a perfectly preserved state. And nearby there are one-story houses and a warehouse that is clearly not of Chinese architecture. I had to go back and go down to the village.
You are greeted by a sign from which we learn that ahead is Old Russian Street, the Church of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the CER depot.
The old Russian street strikes you immediately - at first there are several newly restored wooden houses with carved platbands, so familiar to us from Blagoveshchensk. Then two parallel streets of typical semi-detached houses built of brick, the station master's house, the station, in which one can already feel the Chinese "improvement" of the original design, the station hotel located on a hill and, finally, a fifteen-stall roundabout depot with a turning circle and tracks that are still are being restored. The depot has four locomotives. Just a couple of years ago there was no turning circle or tracks here, and the roundabout depot was in disrepair. It seems that in two years from here retro trains driven by steam locomotives will start their journey.
The church, although preserved in the same form as it looked in 1903, is now not operational - there is a local history museum, which, as usually happens, was tightly closed. But what fascinated me to the point of horror was the question: did the wonderful fences around the houses on the Russian street always remain like that, or were they erected after Hendaohezi decided to make it a tourist area?
Once upon a time, Russia, as a result of the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the South Manchurian railway line to Dalian and Port Arthur, gave impetus to the development of northeastern China and carried out peaceful expansion into these regions.
On May 16, 1898, the now twelve-million-year-old Harbin began with the first barracks in the Sungari railway village. In the five years since the CER was put into operation, due to the arrival of people from the southern provinces, the population of Northern Manzhouria has doubled. But as a result of defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia lost the most tasty and popular piece among those traveling from Europe to Japan and Shanghai - from Changchun to Port Arthur. The revolutionary cataclysm finished off the Russian Chinese Eastern Railway even without military conflicts on it. Although it was officially donated to the PRC in February 1950. And this is at a cost of construction of one verst of 152 thousand rubles, which was colossal at that time. How did it happen that all these cataclysms of the 20th century did not affect Hengdaohezi?
There are no Russians here now. But in neighboring Hailin I met those who proudly consider themselves to be a northern ethnic group. And it’s true - the Han don’t grow such beards.
As I said goodbye to Hengdaohezi and watched the construction of the Harbin-Suifenhe Expressway, I thought about peaceful expansion in the opposite direction.
In the section on the question What is the CER? given by the author User deleted the best answer is
Source: IMHO
Answer from Protozoa[guru]
China Eastern Railway.
Answer from I-beam[guru]
damn, the cat got ahead again
Answer from Ivan Ivanov[guru]
The Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) (from August 1945 - the Chinese Changchun Railway, from 1953 - the Harbin Railway) - a railway line in Northeast China, passing through the territory of Manchuria (China) and connecting Chita with Vladivostok and Port Arthur.
Built in 1897-1903 as the southern branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway. It belonged to Russia and was served by its subjects.
The construction of the road was an integral part of Russia's penetration into Manchuria and Korea, strengthening the Russian military presence on the shores of the Yellow Sea. This displeased the Chinese side. On June 23, 1900, the Chinese attacked construction workers and began destroying the railroad tracks and station buildings.
The fate of the party of builders leaving Mukden under the command of Lieutenant Valevsky and engineer Verkhovsky was tragic. Almost all of it died in unequal battles. Captured Verkhovsky was beheaded in Liaoyang. After the defeat in the war with Japan, it turned out that all construction efforts were in vain.
On October 22, 1928, all Russian employees of the CER were expelled from China.
On August 21, 1937, the Soviet-Chinese non-aggression pact was signed.
The road was transferred to China on December 31, 1952.
The same story repeated itself with the CER as with Alaska: it was sold for next to nothing. There was no other way out
[“Arguments of the Week”, Sergey NEKHAMKIN]
The CER ran through the steppes and mountains
110 years ago, Russia and China signed an agreement on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway - CER. Most readers know this word from the series “State Border” - the twenties of the twentieth century, China, Harbin, emigrants, red scouts. Those who are older will remember references to the “conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway” in Soviet textbooks. In the "GULAG Archipelago" Solzhenitsyn writes about the arrests of former employees of the CER, thousands and thousands of people - but how did they end up here?
A Russian enclave existed on foreign soil for more than 30 years, it lived to the envy of everyone, politicians squabbled over it, wars broke out... The 110th anniversary of the treaty is an occasion to recall this amazing story. And the sinologist's comments Victor Usov will complement the story.
Emerald price
LOOK at the map of the Far East, where along the Argun and Amur the Russian border arcs around the prominence of Chinese territory. Mentally draw a straight line from Chita on Lake Baikal to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. This is exactly how the CER proceeded. Partially on Chinese (Manchurian) territory - at the end of the 19th century both countries agreed on this. Both the Chinese dragon and the Russian bear were equally wary of the growing power Japan. Russia was still building the Trans-Siberian Railway at that time. The Chinese-Eastern Road - a branch from it - went directly, was shorter, and in case of war made it possible to quickly transfer troops and cargo to the Russian Far East.
The conditions were determined as follows: on Chinese soil, Russia is building a transport complex that China itself cannot afford. A in 80 years road free of charge passes to the Celestial Empire. It is possible earlier after 36 years, but then China should reimburse costs for construction. The personnel is joint, Russian and Chinese (from the Russians - competent specialists, from China, due to backwardness, - mainly “physical strength”). In order to avoid state claims from both sides, the CER had to be managed by a neutral structure - a specially created joint Russian-Chinese bank (later called the Russian-Asian Bank).
Construction began in 1897 and was completed in 1903.
Historian's Argument
VICTOR Usov: “On the Chinese side, the agreement was signed by those who arrived for the coronationNicholas IIChancellor Li Hongzhang. There were rumors that he was given a huge bribe (nothing was done in China at that time without bribes).Count Wittethe memoirs refutes this. But Li Hongzhang was not left without a “bonus” in any case. After signing, he was taken to Nizhny Novgorod to the All-Russian Fair. The pride of the Altai pavilion was the collection of emeralds. 72-year-old Li Hongzhang, dressed in luxurious national clothes, bent over the stones, clicked his tongue, chose the largest and most beautiful one, went to the window, and began to look at the light. Then he slightly unclenched his fingers - and the emerald fell into the wide sleeve of his robe. Li Hongzhang walked towards the exit with a calm expression. Everyone’s jaws dropped, but no one dared to say anything to the distinguished guest.”
Russian "Croatia" in China
RAILWAY is not just steam locomotives. Freight was moving, profits were accumulating - and by 1917 the CER had become huge a farm where there was everything: from their own gold mines and shipping companies to theaters, from their army (Cossack guards) - to apiaries. (By the way, Chinese Harbin was built by the Russians precisely as the center of the Chinese Eastern Railway).
The road had the right of extraterritoriality - on Chinese soil it lived according to Russian laws. Moreover, she lived wonderfully (especially against the backdrop of local poverty): she was paid well, employees had their own houses. Sort of Switzerland in China. More precisely, “Croatia” - that’s what the CER was called after its managing general Dmitry Horvat.
What happened in Russia in 1917 is known. In China (for its own reasons) it was also restless. “Croatia” found itself sandwiched between two elements.
The Bolsheviks initially rejected it. Then they came to their senses. Using the example of statements on the Chinese Eastern Railway, one can trace how, by the logic of history, recent crushers were forced to turn into pragmatic statists. 1919.: “Return to China without any compensation.” 1920th:“Our policy today is less declarative and more businesslike.” This is what the Soviet ambassador to China said Lev Karakhan, and it is characteristic that he considered the CER “Soviet”.
In reality, the issue has long been controversial. General Horvath became one of his comrades in Civil War Kolchak. But the whites are defeated. Whose path is it now? Red? However, it is on Chinese territory - come and reach it! (A special commission of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party considered the possibility of an armed takeover of the Chinese Eastern Railway and came to the conclusion that it would not work.) Chinese? China would be happy to crush it, but there are internal contradictions, and there are many competitors: too tasty a morsel, they tried to make the CER their own USA, England, France, Japan…
Diplomatic intrigues began and international conferences took place. The fate of the road was finally decided by the Soviet-Chinese agreement 1924: consider the CER a purely commercial enterprise under temporary joint management.
Extraterritoriality was lost. The Cossack guards were disbanded. The employees were required decide on citizenship(19 thousand accepted the Soviet one, a thousand accepted the Chinese one, a thousand refused to accept both and were fired).
The CER of the 1920s is an integral part of what is called “Russian China” of that time. Harbin is one of the centers of white emigration, Russian speech at every turn. The Chinese authorities practically do not interfere in “Russian affairs”. A lot of anti-Soviet newspapers and... Soviet institutions. Nikolai Bukharin, one of the Red leaders, it was not for nothing that he called the CER a “revolutionary finger” immersed in the depths of China.
Historian's Argument
VICTOR Usov: “Which of the Soviet intelligence officers was introduced into the CER? Well, for example, Konstantin Myachin- to Civil he transported the royal family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg, and in Harbin, in particular, he hunted for the archive of the famous investigator Sokolov involved in the murder investigation Romanovs. Myachin, under the name “Stoyanovich,” worked as an electrician in road workshops. Member of the board of the CER was Boris Melnikov- then a major employee of the Intelligence Department of the Red Army. I think we can talk about dozens of people.”
Our "revolutionary finger"
CHINA was subject of special interest Comintern: it was believed that the fire of the world revolution would blaze from here. The civil war did not subside here. Moscow did not stand aside - military advisers and Comintern emissaries were sent.
The Comintern had its own political goals - but it was not the only secret force that was operating in China at that time! Everything is intertwined- Japanese intelligence services, militant white émigré organizations, the Soviet military Intelligence Department, the foreign department of the OGPU, spies of the Chinese marshals who are always squabbling among themselves. What about the local Honghuz bandits? And those who transported opium - China's most reliable currency? A clash of interests, a quiet war, unexpected alliances and mutual betrayals...
It is better to catch fish in troubled waters while standing on a solid island of land. Soviet institutions in China - CER first of all! - and became such an island, a reliable “roof” for our intelligence. They say that in the Lubyanka Museum there is a special stand dedicated to the CER.
The Forgotten War for Business
And the cars rolled along the rails of the road, the income flowed. A well-fed hen in a hungry land always evokes unkind and interested glances, and if it is also known that she lays golden eggs... By the end of the 1920s, China was controlled by several military groups.
One of them is the Kuomintang General Zhang Xueliang- in the fall of 1929, it captured the Chinese Eastern Railway. The USSR responded harshly - it introduced the Special Far Eastern Army into Manchuria under the command of Vasily Blucher. In a month and a half of fighting, she restored the “status quo” - and withdrew. These events went down in history as the already forgotten “conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway.” The second (after the Civil) war, waged by the USSR.
If we discard the fluff of pompous words, Stalin was guided by the logic of an owner from whom some bandits are trying to take away a profitable enterprise. If conversations are meaningless, you need to punch him in the face.
"The Road We Lost"
The same story repeated itself with the CER as with Alaska: its sold for next to nothing. This happened in 1935. Why? There was no exit. In 1932, the situation in Manchuria changed radically - Japan created the puppet state of Manchukuo here and began to put pressure on the USSR so that the Manchukuo road was sold (fortunately, this “country” was headed by former Chinese Emperor Pu Yi, and the 36 years stipulated by the agreement have passed). The Japanese army is not the formation of some “field commander”; Stalin did not risk fighting it.
There was a whole campaign to return the CER railway workers to the USSR. They promised mountains of gold, put pressure on patriotism, and threatened with “samurai.” Most returned. Almost everyone ended up in the Gulag - those who lived abroad, knew prosperity and freedom, they were dangerous to the Soviet regime.
Historian's Argument
VICTOR Usov: “The longer they bargained, the harder the Japanese lowered the price. If you convert the yen to the gold rubles of that time... At first they talked about 200 million, then 100, then 50. At 50 million, Stalin stopped: he had to get at least something.”
The further fate of the CER is no longer our story. Just for the record, this is now the Harbin Railway of China. A few years ago, a documentary about the CER, “The Road We Lost,” was shown on television. The highway was never completely ours; to say “lost” is not entirely correct. But the nostalgic sigh is justified - this is also part of the Russian past, culture, destiny.
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Here in the European part of the country we rarely remember the Far Eastern conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway. There was also the fact that both before 1929 and after, the USSR actively collaborated in its own interests with various forces in China and, guided by the rules of good manners, had to “forget” some of their joint history.
But at the end of the 1920s, events on the Chinese Eastern Railway became quite significant in the foreign policy life of the country, were widely covered and, in addition, are quite rich in interesting details for us today. To begin with, this was the first major military operation of the Red Army after the end of the Civil War using aviation, ships of the Far Eastern (Amur) flotilla, landing forces and tanks. In addition, the command of the Red Army in the Far East had to fight against its own “pupils” from China, where our advisers successfully worked both several years before the conflict and more than a dozen years after.
Below the cut is a brief historical background and photographs. All photos are clickable.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN 
The Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) (built in 1897-1903, until 1917 - the Manchurian Road) was a railway line that ran through the territory of Manchuria and connected Chita with Vladivostok and Port Arthur directly with the Trans-Siberian Railway. The road was built by Russians, belonged to Russia and was maintained by its subjects. An exclusion zone existed and was guarded around the road.
CER bridge across a tributary of the Amur river. Songhua
CER station "Manzhouli"
Khingan Tunnel
As a result of all the vicissitudes of the 20th century, by the end of the 1920s, the status of the road was regulated by Sino-Soviet agreements concluded when diplomatic relations were established in 1924.
At the CER station
The Chinese, having recovered from the civil war, sooner or later had to try to change the status of the most important infrastructure facility in their favor. Numerous Russian White Guards who settled in Harbin took an active part in this; not only did they have no sympathy for the Soviets, but they were also forced to earn their living by serving in the armies of various Chinese authorities.
Joint Russian-Chinese personnel of the CER
The events that led to the military actions of 1929 took place from mid-1925 and are usually called “Provocations on the Chinese Eastern Railway.” These included numerous incidents with the detention of diplomatic workers, raids on administrative buildings of the Chinese Eastern Railway, as well as border skirmishes.
Particular aggravation was caused by the order of the manager of the CER M.N. Ivanov, which noted that from June 1, 1925, all road employees who do not have Soviet or Chinese citizenship are subject to dismissal.
“The order was directed, first of all, against emigrants who worked in various structures of the railway. As a result of the actions of A.N. Ivanov, 19,000 railway workers began petitioning to transfer to Soviet citizenship, mainly due to economic considerations.
In Chinese service
About a thousand emigrants renounced Soviet citizenship and took Chinese citizenship. About a thousand more preferred to be fired from the CER than to accept this or that citizenship. A significant part of the emigrants, left without a means of subsistence, joined the ranks of the Chinese army.
In turn, the policy of provoking conflict situations on the Chinese Eastern Railway, considered, in the words of N.I. Bukharin, like a “revolutionary finger” launched into China, led to confrontation with the local Chinese authorities."
Evacuation of CER employees from Harbin after the Chinese seized the road administration
The main northern militarists in Beijing - a group photo of their worst enemies: 1) Zhang Zuolin; 2) Zhang Zongchang; 3) Wu Peifu; 4) Zhang Xueliang (son of Zhang Zuolin). 06/28/1926, Beijing, Shuncheng-wan's palace.
“In June of the same year, Chiang Kai-shek held a meeting in Nanjing with the former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, Zhu Chaoliang, on the issue of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and in early July, at a meeting of Chinese generals held in Beijing under the chairmanship of Chiang Kai-shek, a decision was made to seize the road.” The goal of our program is the destruction of unequal treaties,” “Red imperialism is more dangerous than white,” said Chiang Kai-shek.
Soviet magazine "Ogonyok", 1929
Meeting of Chinese Eastern Railway employees released from captivity by the Chinese in Moscow
On July 10, 1929, by order of the Nanjing government, the Mukden troops of the governor of Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang, seized the CER telegraph along the entire line, closed the trade mission and other economic institutions of the USSR. Local authorities removed Soviet employees from their duties and replaced them with white emigrants. During this provocation, professional and cooperative organizations of road workers and employees were destroyed, more than 200 citizens of the USSR were arrested, and about 60 people, including the manager and his assistant, were expelled from China.
At the same time, Zhang Xueliang put his troops and detachments of Russian White emigrants on alert and moved them to the Soviet border."
Governor of Manchuria Zhang Xueliang inspecting his aircraft
On July 13, 1929, the Soviet government protested these illegal actions and drew the attention of “the Mukden government and the national government of the Republic of China to the extreme seriousness of the situation created by these actions.”
After a diplomatic sparring match, mutual refusals to impossible demands, on July 20 there was a rupture in diplomatic relations between the USSR and the central Nanjing government.
Soviet aviators with their "working tools"
Soldiers of armored train No. 13 "Red Ufimets" guarding the Soviet border
A report from the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald about escalating tensions between the Red and White Russians on the border and the Chinese actions to strengthen their defenses in case of hostilities
STRENGTHS OF THE PARTIES 
VC. Blucher, commander of ODVA
On August 6, 1929, the Special Far Eastern Army (SDVA) was formed. V.K. Blucher, who had previously successfully worked in China as an adviser to the Kuomintang army, was appointed commander. Now he had to fight against his own charges.
The monitors of the Amur flotilla, still built by the Tsars, took an active part in the hostilities
The conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway with the Chinese became the first real military clash for our army after the Civil War. The military reform authored by M. Frunze was just being completed, which introduced a territorial police system in the Red Army. By 1928, the number of non-cadre units in the army was 58%. This was the time of the First Five Year Plan. The country was saying goodbye to its agrarian past and hastily began industrialization. We can probably say that we went to fight the Chinese with revolutionary enthusiasm, strengthened by the experience of the Civil War and the first samples of Soviet military equipment.
Tank MS-1 (T-18)
Seaplanes of the Amur Flotilla
The number of Soviet troops taking part in the first stage of the conflict in the Sungari operation was about 1,100 people, 9 tanks (the first combat use of the domestic MS-1 tank), 15 bombers, 6 seaplanes and ships of the Amur Flotilla.
The Chinese dig in before the battle
The Chinese had a manifold advantage everywhere. Detachments of Russian White Guards operated in their ranks. There were several different types of ships and armed steamships, armored trains, and airplanes. The latter never took part in the hostilities “due to weather conditions.” The presence of Japanese and European weapons is indicated, as well as the presence of foreign advisers. The main forces of the Mukden Army were concentrated in strategic directions: along the Hailar-Manchuria railway; Zhalaynor, Hailar, Qiqihar - south of Blagoveshchensk, at the mouth of the Sungari River and in the Turyev Rog area.
White officers in the service of the Chinese came across quite often. Not only in Zhang Xueliang's army. They had to somehow feed their families, and getting a job in China was problematic for many reasons. Even the most "junk" positions were unavailable due to the huge number of poor Chinese
COMBAT ACTIONS (briefly)
The actions of the Red Army were in the nature of preemptive strikes in places where the Chinese army was concentrated. 3 separate operations were carried out: the attack of the Sungari group (divided into 2 stages - the capture of Lakhasusu and the subsequent campaign to Fugdin, the Manchu-Zhalaynor operation and military operations at Lake Khanka in Primorye.
Soviet landing under the cover of river monitor guns. Half-hearted!
The battle for Lajassa began on 10/12/1929 at 6:10 a.m. with a seaplane raid on the city and the Chinese flotilla. Next, the ships of the Amur flotilla enter the battle, disabling the artillery of the Chinese flotilla and landing troops. The Chinese move inland along the river and gain a foothold in the city of Fugdin. The landing continues to move up the river. Sungari.
Soviet aviators demonstrate fashion for the fall/winter season 1929.
Rows of brave Chinese with slight splashes of Slavic eyes
Under the banner of His Excellency...this one, God forgive me, yellow-faced devil, you can’t remember them all by nicknames...Smirrrrr!
Soviet river monitor of the Amur flotilla "Sun-Yat-Sen". The ship was laid down in 1907 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg as the armored river gunboat Shkval.
A day later, the ships of the Amur flotilla were at Fugdin. The Soviet offensive began on October 31 and November 3, the city was captured. (I’ll make a separate post later - I love river battles!) The defeat of the Sungari group was completed. The Red Army units soon leave Chinese territory and return to Khabarovsk.
The pilots are in a fighting spirit! Charismatic faces with an equally impressive Lewis machine gun
Combat operations in the Trans-Baikal direction began on November 17 with the Manchu-Zhalaynor operation. Three Soviet divisions and a cavalry brigade advance to cut the railway between Dalainor and Hailar and encircle the Manchu forces in the area. On November 18, OKDVA units entered the city. On the same day, thanks to the support of aviation, it was possible to occupy the Manchuria station.
Soviet tanks MS-1
P-1 aircraft of the 19th aviation detachment "Far Eastern Ultimatum". On board the squad’s emblem is a fist and the inscription “NNN’Aa!”
Soviet-Chinese conflict on the K.V.Zh.D., 1929.
One of the Chinese officers, Wei Chang-lin, who died during the conflict
The entire headquarters of the Zhalaynor-Manchu group, led by Liang Zhujiang, was captured. Heavy fighting with heavy mutual losses ended on November 27 with the defeat of the Manchu group near the future famous Lake Khanka. There was no further pursuit of the retreating enemy due to the reluctance to aggravate relations with the Japanese. Soviet troops, having completed their task, left China within a few days.
INTERCLOSURE
The Chinese requested negotiations and on December 22, a Soviet-Chinese protocol on restoring the situation on the Chinese Eastern Railway was signed in Khabarovsk. In May 1930, for victory in the conflict V.K. Blucher was awarded the Order of the Red Star for No. 1.
Real fighting Buryats! - military personnel of the Buryat-Mongol cavalry division
Participant in those events K.K. Rokossovsky also noted the role of the Buryat-Mongol division in the pre-dawn battle: “The division especially distinguished itself in the battle in the area southeast of the city of Manchuria, when General Liang’s column of thousands attempted to break through to the east. The Buryat division, alerted, without waiting for the approach of units of the Kuban brigade, He was the first to boldly attack numerous columns of the enemy rushing to the east and, cutting into their ranks, delayed their advance, and then, together with the approaching Kubans, put the enemy to flight. This attack completed the operation to defeat the Manchurian enemy group.”
Participants in combat operations on the CER were awarded quite original awards - the badge “OKDVA Fighter” (1930). The badge was established by the Central Council of Osoaviakhim at the beginning of 1930 for soldiers of the Red Army and fighters of special detachments formed from members of Osoaviakhim, in memory of these events and was very much valued in the Far East.
The ruler of Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang, soon staged a rebellion against the central government. Then he unexpectedly gave up and voluntarily appeared in court. Chiang Kai-shek commuted the rebel's sentence and replaced ten years of imprisonment with house arrest. However, since the “Young Marshal” had to leave big politics forever, the terms of house arrest were not specified.
1931, from right to left: Yu Fengzhi (Zhang Xueliang's wife), W. Donald (Zhang Xueliang's consultant, Australian), Zhang Xueliang, Countess Ciano (Mussolini's daughter)
For the next 40 years, Zhang Xueliang remained under house arrest; Even when the Kuomintang was forced to flee the continent to Taiwan in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek took Zhang Xueliang with him and continued to keep him in Taipei as his personal prisoner. Even after Chiang Kai-shek's death in 1975, Zhang Xueliang's freedom of movement was limited; it was only in 1991 that President Li Denghui allowed him to leave the island. Despite numerous offers to return to China, where he was considered a hero, Zhang Xueliang flew to Honolulu, where he died in 2001 from pneumonia at the age of 101.
According to reporting documents, during all the battles on the Chinese Eastern Railway, our troops lost 281 people killed or died from wounds during the sanitary evacuation stages. (28% of total losses); wounded, shell-shocked, frostbitten (excluding lightly wounded who did not require hospitalization, and sick) - 729 people. 17 people went missing.
The rifle units suffered the greatest losses. For example, during the battles, the 21st Perm Rifle Division lost 232 people, of which 48 were killed or died from wounds. In the 36th Infantry Division, 61 people were killed or died from wounds.
Losses of other types of troops were insignificant. Thus, out of the total number of casualties, the cavalry brigade accounted for 11 people. killed and 7 people. wounded, to the Far Eastern Flotilla - 3 people killed and 11 people. wounded (of which 3 people were wounded as a result of the explosion of their gun on the ship during shooting), only 1 wounded were among the aviation detachments participating in the hostilities. From here.
“After the signing of the Khabarovsk Protocol, all prisoners of war and those arrested in connection with the conflict on the CER were released, and Soviet troops were withdrawn from Chinese territory. The last detachment returned to the USSR on December 25, 1929. Soon the normal operation of the CER was restored.
Chinese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union were carefully “processed.” Among them were experienced political workers who agitated Chinese soldiers for Soviet power. On the barracks there were slogans in Chinese: “We and the Red Army are brothers!”
A wall newspaper called “The Red Chinese Soldier” was published in the camp. Within two days, 27 Chinese prisoners of war applied to join the Komsomol, and 1,240 people applied to remain in the USSR."
In 1931, Manchuria was finally occupied by Japan. In 1935, after numerous provocations in the area of the road, the USSR sold the Chinese Eastern Railway to Manchukuo, only to regain it in 1945, and then again give it to communist China for political purposes along with Port Arthur in the early 1950s.