Military Model Scene

Title: Red Star versus Rising Sun Volume 2
Author: Adrien Fontanellaz
Publisher: Helion & Company
ISBN: 978-1-911628-66-8

Number 27 in the Helion Asia@War series, this one tells us the story of the Nomonhan Incident in 1939, between the Soviet Union and the Imperial Japanese Army. A 72-page soft-cover book in the usual style for this series.
The book opens with some Addendums/Errata to volume 1 before settling into the detail of this new book. Japan had been at war with China since the early 1930s and with an army in Manchuria, chose to expand their ambitions across the border into Russia, fuelled by a number of border 'incidents' throughout the 1930s, reaching a climax in 1939 in fighting that is detailed in this book. It details the forces of both sides, in particular the Japanese 23rd division. The fighting is described, which includes both ground forces and the opposing air forces. Many of the aircraft are included among the archive images, and considering how close this is to the start of WW2, some look distinctly obsolete, even for that time. The Soviet forces came to be commanded by Georgy Zhukov, who succeeded in defeating the Japanese Kwantung army with his novel use of tanks in particular. The Russians knew it as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, the river which divided Mongolia from the Japanese controlled region of Manchukuo. The number involved on both sides were significant, and Zhukov won the first of his awards of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was to apply the lessons he learnt here to his battles later in WW2 against the German armies. In the centre of the book are 8-pages of colour artwork, with both AFV and aircraft profiles plus uniforms. Various tables give Orders of Battle for both sides, all adding to the detail in the main text.
While I had heard of Khalkin Gol before, this told me a lot more than I ever knew before. The fighting finished and despite being a Japanese defeat, the borders remained fairly static as both sides had other issue to tackle.
Thanks to Helion & Co for the review copy.

Robin