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 Russia n 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 . 1930s conflicts . Initially 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 . However in the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol ( or Nomonhan ) heavily armed Red Army forces under Georgy Zhukov assisted by Mongolian troops under Khorloogiin Choibalsan decisively defeated the IJA forces under Michitarō Komatsubara . Cold war era . 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 . The military of Mongolia n ' s purpose was national defense , protection of local communist establishments , and collaboration with Soviet forces in future military actions against exterior enemies , up until the 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 to 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 gun s , 50 mountain howitzer s , 30 field gun s , seven armored car s , and a maximum of up to 20 light tank s . Basic units and motorization . The basic unit was the 2 , 000 - man cavalry regiment consisting of three squadron s . 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 division s — 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 Army rank and insignia . Uniform . Because it was established on a Soviet military system , the Mongolian 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 their respective 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 the general population when the gymnastyorka was rather popular . After the Battle of Khalkhin Gol , slight modifications were made . In 1944 all uniforms and insignias were significantly changed to include shoulder insignia and camouflage cloaks , similar to Soviet uniform modifications . From the 1960s , the equipment and uniforms of the Mongolian People ' s Army were included a program to modernize the military . As before , the Mongolian People ' s Army ( a Warsaw pact ally ) was similar to the 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 . Also involved to many border conflict against Manchukuo with a Kwantung Army ( one of large part of the Imperial Japanese Army ) and Chinese National Revolutionary Army . Imperial Japanese Army recorded 152 minor incidents on the border of Manchuria between 1932 and 1934 . The number of incidents increased to over 150 per year in 1935 and 1936 , and the scale of incidents became larger . In January 1935 , the first armed battle , occurred on border between Mongolia and Manchukuo . Scores of Mongolia cavalry units engaged with Manchuko army patrol unit near the Buddhist temple Halhamiao . Manchuko Army incurred slight casualties , including a Japanese military advisor . Between December 1935 and March 1936 , the ( ) and the ( ) occurred . In these battles , both Japanese Army and Mongolian Army used a small number of armoured fighting vehicle s and military aircraft . 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 Multiple Rocket Launchers . BM - 13 - 150 Anti - aircraft Weapon . Although little attention was paid to anti - aircraft weaponry in the Mongolian People ' s Army , a few dozen units of Soviet origin were known to be distributed to light armored outfits . Armored corps . Under Soviet support campaign for mechanization , the army formed its first mechanized unit in 1922 . Also it was by stucture in the ground force half - mechanization cavalry in the other units distributed to light armored vehicles until 1943 . It began to process to motorised since 1943 . This is a list of Mongolian People ' s Army tanks and armour during the 1922s - World War II period . Mongolian People ' s Army Aviation in 1925 – 1945 . The Mongolian People ' s Army Aviation drastically improved with Soviet training and vastly ameliorated within a time span of several years . In May 1925 , a Junkers F . 13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military - related aviation . In March 1931 , the Soviet Union donated three Polikarpov R - 1 s to the Mongolian People ' s Army , with Mongolia further purchasing three R - 1s . In 1932 , an uprising broke out against Collectivization , which saw both Soviet and Mongolian - operated R - 1s taking part in actions against the rebellion . The aircraft carried out reconnaissance , leaflet dropping , and bombing missions Chinese intelligence reports that in 1945 the Mongolian People ' s Air Force had been with a three - fighter and three - bomber aviation - regiment , and one flight training school and greater air squadrons . It was reported that headquartered in the Mukden Manchukuo spy - section in October 1944 air force whole units had been 180 activity aircrafts and 1231 flight and technical personnel . The Mongolian People ' s Army Aviation demonstrated its full potential during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol , which was its largest engagement . Apart from intercepting intruding aircraft , People ' s Aviation was used heavily to repress domestic rebel movements . The Mongolian People ' s Air Force has operated a variety of aircraft types . See also . Group of Soviet Forces in Mongolia . 17th Army ( Soviet Union ) 39th Army ( Soviet Union )