Elements of the army fought in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, a series of border clashes between the Soviet Union and Japan, in mid-1939 under the control of other formations. On 4October 1939, the Northern Army Group was established at Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, controlling troops in the fortified regions of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and De-Kastri, Kamchatka and Sakhalin. Subordinated to the 2nd OKA, the group operationally controlled the Northern Pacific Flotilla. By an order dated 21 June 1940, the Far Eastern Front was recreated and the headquarters of the 2nd Independent Red Banner Army was abolished and used to form the headquarters of the 2nd and 15th Armies. The 2nd (Blagoveshchensk) Red Banner Army (2nd KA) was headquartered at Kuibyshevka. It included the 3rd and 12th Rifle Divisions and the 69th Motorized Division (the former 69th Rifle Division, stationed in the Blagoveshchensk area). The 34th, 35th, and 78th Rifle Divisions became part of the 15th Army. Lieutenant General Vsevolod Sergeyev became army commander on 22 June. On 27 August, the 31st Mixed Aviation Division (SmAD) was formed from its 26th Mixed Aviation Brigade. In March 1941, the 59th Tank Division was formed in the Khabarovsk area as part of the army. Lieutenant General Makar Teryokhin replaced Sergeyev on 11 March. By 22 June the army also included the 101st Blagoveshchensk and the Ust-Bureysk Fortified Regions.