Construction of the CER
The next step of Russian diplomacy was the creation of a special fund for bribing Chinese officials in order to obtain from them permission to create a concession in the construction of the railway in Manchuria, isolating this region important for Russia from Southern and Central China, where American and European banks were in charge, and subjecting Manchuria to influence Russia. The Moscow Treaty between Russia and China spoke about military assistance countries to each other in the event of aggression against one of them and the construction of a railway through Manchuria to Vladivostok, supposedly to facilitate the supply of troops. The Russian-Chinese Bank received a concession for the construction of the road.
In 1898, another agreement between Russia and China was signed: on the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur and the construction of a railway from Port Arthur to Harbin towards the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Boxer Rebellion in China made road construction difficult. However, according to Wikipedia, in 1901 temporary train service was opened, and 2 years later regular train service was opened along the entire length of the CER. It was possible to get from Moscow to Port Arthur in 13-16 days, depending on the class of train.
After the CER was under the control of the USSR until 1929, then it was captured by the Chinese and again ceded to the Soviet Union, which in turn lost control over it due to the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. Only in 1945 did the road return to Russia, so that under the 1952 agreement with the Chinese People's Republic finally move on to it.
History of the CER in dates
- 1894, July 25 - Beginning of the war between Japan and China
- 1894, August 21 - A meeting of the highest dignitaries of Russia with the participation of the Tsar developed a course for reconciliation of the parties, but did not find a response from Japan
- 1895, January 30 - Chinese commissioners arrived in Japan in search of peace
- 1895, February 1 - the second meeting with the Tsar decided to appeal to England and France with a proposal to jointly resolve the conflict
- 1895, March - the influence of European powers forced Japan to negotiate with China
- 1895, March 13 - China received the text of Japanese peace initiatives
- 1895, March 20 - The Japanese-Chinese peace conference opened in Shimonseki
- 1895, April 17, the Treaty of Simonsek was signed
- 1895, April 23 - representatives of Russia, France and Germany demanded that Tokyo renounce the Liaodong Peninsula
- 1895, May 10 - Japan returned Liaodong to China
- 1895, July 8 - Agreement between Russia and China on a loan to pay indemnity
- 1895, December 22 (New Style) - the Russian-Chinese Bank was established
- 1896, January 21 - the first meeting of the bank’s shareholders (out of 6 banks, one was Russian, the rest were French)
- 1896, May 22 (new style) Moscow defensive alliance of China and Russia
- 1896, September 8 - concession agreement Chinese government and the Russian-Chinese Bank on the construction of the CER
- 1896, December 16 - The charter of the joint-stock company was approved by Nicholas II
- 1897, April 24 - the vanguard detachment of the Construction Department of the Chinese Eastern Railway, led by engineer A. I. Shidlovsky, arrived on the bank of the Songhua River (Songhuajiang), to the place where it was supposed to cross the railway line, where the city of Harbin subsequently stood.
- 1898, May 16 - Harbin's birthday - the foundation of the first barracks was laid
- 1898, March - agreement between China and Russia on the lease of the latter Port Arthur and the Liaodong Peninsula
- 1899, April - agreement between Russia and England on the delimitation of spheres railway construction in China
- 1899, November 2 - the beginning of the Chinese popular uprising"boxers"
- 1900, June 6 - the first attack of the rebels on the builders of the Chinese Eastern Railway
- 1900, June 23 - new attack. The Chinese destroyed the railway track and station buildings. Telegraph poles were knocked down
- 1900, early August - Armed forces of Russia, USA, Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan, Austria-Hungary and Italy. launched an attack on the Boxers and suppressed the uprising
- 1901, July 18 - Temporary train traffic and cargo transportation along the entire length of the CER was opened
- 1903, June 14 - The Construction Department of the CER transferred the road to the Operations Department, which became the official opening date of the CER
- 1917, December 12 - the Harbin Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies proclaimed itself the sole owner of the CER
- 1917, December 26 - Harbin is occupied by Chinese troops
- 1920, March 19 - the Chinese occupied the right-of-way around the CER and stopped the activities of the CER security guards
- 1924, May 31 - according to the agreement concluded that day between the USSR and China, the CER continued to be serviced by Russian specialists
- 1929, July 10 - another conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Chinese army captured the Chinese Eastern Railway
- 1929, December 22 - The Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army restored the status quo
- 1931, September - the beginning of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
- 1932 February 5 - Harbin is included in the new Japanese-controlled puppet country Manchukuo
- 1935, March 23 - The USSR and Manchukuo signed an agreement on the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway
- 1945, August 20 - troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and ships of the Amur Flotilla returned the CER under the control of the USSR.
- 1950, February 14 - the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between the USSR and the People's Republic of China took place in Moscow.
) [in 1935-1945, the North Manchurian Railway, in 1945-1952, the Chinese Chang-Chun Railway (KChR), then - Har-bin- skaya railway].
The total length is 2450 km (including the Southern Line - 950 km). Built in 1897-1903 by the CER joint-stock company, founded by the Russian-Chinese Bank (it was under the control Russian Ministry finance). The board of the company was located in St. Petersburg, the management of the CER was in Harbin. The construction of the CER was a success Far Eastern policy Russian government, and above all S. Yu. Vit-te.
The construction of the road is formal - in order to ensure allied obligations- was provided for by the Russian-Chinese Moscow Treaty of 1896. The concession for the construction and operation of the road was issued to the CER company in accordance with a special agreement between the Chinese ambassador and the Russian-Chinese Bank (1896). The concession period was 80 years, the Chinese government had the right to buy the road 36 years after the opening of traffic; The Russian Empire had the right to transit its troops along the CER for both military and peacetime. The CER, being part of the Russian Trans-Siberian ma-gi-st-ra-li, connected Chita and Vladivostok in the shortest direction. Consisted of two lines: Main line connected the Manchuria (Zabaikalsk) and Pogranichnaya (Suifenhe) stations, the Southern Line connected the Kuanchengzi station (near Changchun) with the cities of Dalniy (Dalian) and Port Arthur (Lüshun), which were located in the Kwantung Region.
The Chinese government transferred to the Chinese Eastern Railway society free of charge state lands (privately owned - for ransom) necessary for the construction, operation and protection of the railway line. The company had the right to unconditional and exclusive management of the road right-of-way (by 1917 - an area of 114 thousand hectares, including the city of Harbin - 12 thousand hectares), and was exempt from a number of Chinese taxes and duties, and from control by the Chinese government. The composition of the CER management was approved Russian minister finance. The CER line under construction was protected by the CER Security Guard. After the suppression of the Yihetuan uprising (1901), the Russian government transformed it into the border guard of the Trans-Amur District of the Separate Border Guard Corps (in 1901 - 500 officers and 25 thousand soldiers of all branches of the military), directly subordinate to the manager of the CER (in 1903-1920 - D. L. Horvath).
92 stations and 9 tunnels were built on the CER (the largest is the Khingan tunnel, 3077 m long, laid at an altitude of 970 m above sea level). The construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway stimulated the economic development of Manchuria, contributed to the emergence of the cities of Harbin and Changchun, as well as the development of the cities of Dalniy, Port Ar-tour, Jia-mu-si, Futsin. Repair of rolling stock was carried out at the Main Railway Workshops in Harbin.
The problem of the CER played a significant role in international relations in the Far East, which was due to its important economic, political and military-strategic significance in the region. The construction of the road was one of the reasons for the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905. The course of the war was largely determined by the desire of the Russian command to maintain control over the CER (its Southern Line was in the sphere of military operations) as the only communication linking active army with Russia. To increase the road's capacity, 146 new sidings, or 525 km of tracks, were built. According to Portsmouth Peace In 1905, the Southern Line of the Chinese Eastern Railway came under the control of Japan (received the name South Manchurian Railway).
Here in the European part of the country we rarely remember the Far Eastern conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway. It was also superimposed that both before 1929 and after, the USSR actively collaborated in its own interests with by various forces in China and, guided by the rules of good manners, some of our joint history had to be “forgotten.”
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, were quite eventful 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 short one 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) - a railway line that passed through the territory of Manchuria and connected Chita with Vladivostok and Port Arthur directly with 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 come to their senses after civil war, sooner or later they 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 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 - group photo 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 against 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 
V.K. 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. Just finished military reform authored by M. Frunze, who introduced the 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 domestic tank MS-1), 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 "because of weather conditions". The presence of Japanese and European weapons, as well as the presence of foreign advisers, is indicated. The main forces of the Mukden army were concentrated in strategic directions: along the Hailar - Manchuria railway; Zhalaynor, Hailar, Tsitsikar - south of Blagoveshchensk, at the mouth of the Songhua 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 huge amount 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 Lahasusu and the subsequent campaign to Fugdin, the Manchu-Zhalaynor operation and fighting near 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 their 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. Soviet offensive began on October 31 and November 3, the city was taken. (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, was the first to boldly attack the 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 in early 1930 for Red Army soldiers and fighters special units, formed from members of Osoaviakhim, in memory of these events and was highly valued in the Far East.
The ruler of Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang, soon staged a rebellion against 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 number 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 air 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 Chinese Eastern Railway were released, and Soviet troops removed from Chinese territory. The Last Squad returned to the USSR on December 25, 1929. Soon 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 campaigned Chinese soldiers for Soviet power. On the barracks there were slogans on 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, in order to regain it in 1945, and then again give it to communist China for political purposes along with Port Arthur in the early 1950s.
Chinese Eastern Railway.
CER– China Eastern Railway
There was a right-of-way around the railway that was considered Russian territory. Russian railway workers lived there, Russian laws were in effect and special money from the Russian-Asian bank circulated. Joint Stock Company CER also participated in the equipment of the seaport in Vladivostok and, through the mediation of the Russian East Asian Shipping Company, made voyages to the ports of Japan, Korea and China. By 1903 the Society CER already owned its own flotilla of 20 steamships.
The money that went to CER
D B 1918 Japan sent its troops into the areaCER
and in 1920 tried to take possession of it.
On March 16, 1920, Chinese troops under the command of Major Luo Bing occupied the Headquarters of the Russian Commander-in-Chief in Harbin and by March 19 completely occupied the exclusion zone CER. However, trains to Vladivostok continued to run, and the road was still maintained by Russian workers and specialists, and the head of the road was the Russian engineer Boris Vasilyevich Ostroumov.
On May 31, 1924, the USSR and the Republic of China signed the “Agreement on general principles to resolve issues between Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of China,” according to which the two countries were restored diplomatic relations, and the USSR government renounced “special rights and privileges,” after which the Russian concessions in Harbin, Tianjin and Hankou were liquidated, with the Chinese government undertaking not to transfer these rights and privileges to a third power. But at the same time CER remained under the control and maintenance of the Soviet side.
St. Nicholas Cathedral in Harbin
However, Zhang Zuolin, aided and abetted by the Japanese, sought to take over CER to his raking hands, because the road brought us tens of millions of gold rubles annually, on which he sought to lay his furry paw. In the end, we got tired of Zhang Zuolin’s provocations, and on June 4, 1928, our special services blew up his train at railway station Huangutun. But after the death of the Generalissimo, the head of the Fengtian clique became his son, 27-year-old Marshal Zhang Xueliang, who, having formally recognized the power of the Nanjing government of Chiang Kai-shek over himself, continued to pursue an independent policy, and part of this policy included plans to seize CER.
Following a propaganda campaign in the press, Chinese police seized the telephone exchange on December 22 CER in Harbin. The flag was lowered on December 29 CER, consisting of Chinese, five-color at the top and Soviet red at the bottom. Instead, the Kuomintang flag was flown. At the beginning of 1929, the Chinese authorities demanded that the orders of the Soviet general manager of the road be coordinated with Chinese advisers. On February 2, 1929, the Soviet side invited the government of Zhang Xuelian in Mukden to discuss the emerging differences. But the meeting of the Soviet Consul General in Harbin Boris Melnikov with Zhang Xueliang ended in mutual accusations and a quarrel.
On May 27, 1929, Chinese police raided the premises of the Soviet Consulate General in Harbin and seized part of the documents. Under the pretext that a meeting of Comintern workers was taking place at the consulate, 80 people were arrested, including 42 consulate employees.
Finally, on July 10, 1929, the Chinese militarists actually captured CER, over 200 Soviet road employees are arrested, 35 of them are deported to the USSR. This event is considered the starting point of the conflict. On July 17, the USSR broke off diplomatic relations with China, and on August 7, the Special Far Eastern Army (SDVA) was formed.
Squadron of P-1 aircraft that took part in the conflict
On October 12, the Sungari war began offensive ONE. During the battle near Lahasusa, the Amur flotilla destroyed 7 out of 11 enemy ships. The next day Lahasusu was captured. Chinese troops began to retreat in disorder towards Fugdin, and Soviet cavalry and infantry killed more than 500 enemy soldiers and officers during the pursuit. In total, Chinese losses amounted to almost 1,000 killed and wounded.
The war entered its decisive phase on November 17. On that day, the Mishanfu operation began. Suddenly crossing the frozen border river Argun, units of the Red Army, supported by artillery and aviation, attacked the positions of the Chinese army in the Zhalaynor area.
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The first line of defense was crushed within minutes. At the same time, the cavalry cut the railway at Zhalaynor, so that the Chinese troops could neither retreat along it nor receive reinforcements. Finding themselves trapped, the Chinese put up a fierce resistance, despite losses (almost the entire Chinese 14th Regiment was killed). On November 18, soldiers of the 35th and 36th rifle divisions The spacecraft, with the support of tanks (about him), managed to break the enemy’s resistance before reinforcements spotted from the air had time to approach. The remains of the Chinese soldiers were destroyed by the Kuban cavalrymen.
At the same time, Soviet troops crossed the border into Primorye near the city of Mishanfu.
By November 20, the fighting ended with the unconditional victory of the Red forces, although it is formally considered that the armed conflict, which began on October 12, was finally resolved on December 22, 1929. Estimates of the parties' losses are contradictory. According to reporting documents, Soviet troops then lost 211 soldiers killed. But 60 years later - also according to documents - they established that there were at least 281 dead. The wounded were officially counted at 729, but later it turned out: through hospitals Far East then more than 1,400 wounded passed through. There were 32 missing people. The Chinese losses were much higher: almost 10 thousand prisoners were taken, and they stopped counting the dead when the figure reached two thousand.
On December 22, 1929 in Khabarovsk the authorized Republic of China Cai Yuanshen and the USSR commissioner, NKID agent Simanovsky signed the “Khabarovsk Protocol”, according to which the status quo was restored on the Chinese Eastern Railway in accordance with the Beijing and Mukden treaties. In September 1931, Japan began to seize Manchuria under the pretext of combating the lawlessness of local governors. On September 18, Japanese troops invaded northern Manchuria. On February 5, 1932, Japanese troops occupied Harbin and then incorporated it into the state. Manchukuo, the creation of which was proclaimed on March 1, 1932 by the governors assembled by the Japanese in Mukden. There should be a break in the relationship Manchukuo with the Republic of China. On September 19, 1934, months-long negotiations on the sale ended Soviet side CER government Manchukuo, which were led by the Consul General of the USSR in Harbin Slavutsky. The amount of the agreed transaction was 140 million yen. March 23, 1935 USSR and Manchukuo signed an agreement on the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway. It was agreed that in monetary terms Manchukuo will pay 1/3 of the amount, the remaining 2/3 of the amount will be repaid within three years supplies of Japanese and Manchurian companies on orders from the USSR in Japan. After signing the deal Manchukuo immediately deposited 23.3 million yen. Under control Manchukuo, the road was converted to European (1435 mm) gauge, widely used on other railways in China.
During August 20, 1945, troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and ships of the Amur Flotilla, with the support airborne assault captured Harbin. The Chinese Eastern Railway returned to our USSR control.
On February 14, 1950, the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and mutual assistance between the USSR and the PRC, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, Port Arthur and Dalny, which were transferred free of charge to China, and agreements on the provision of a long-term economic loan by the USSR to the government of the PRC. In 1952, with the transfer of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China, the Russian history of the CER was completed.
Look
The CER, its history begins from the end of the nineteenth century, from the month of August. It was during that period of time that the construction of the construction of the century of the CER began. This name lasted until the revolutionary days of October 1917.
The need to start so grandiose construction was due to the first steps of the tsarist government aimed at increasing Russia's influence throughout the Far East. All this made it possible to strengthen the obligatory Russian military presence on the coast of the Yellow Sea. Victory of Japanese troops and navy while leading Russian-Japanese War nullified all the efforts made by the government, thereby burying unfulfilled hopes.
It started grand construction since 06/03/1896 a secret agreement was signed, the purpose of which was to create a Russian-Chinese alliance directed against Japan. The agreement was called the “Moscow Treaty”. The agreement was signed by those representing Russian side Prince A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky and S.Yu Witte. The Chinese side was represented by Li Hongzhan.
The conclusion of the “Moscow Treaty” granted the right to the Russian Empire to begin construction of a railway passing through Manchurian territory. Three months later, on September 8, 1896, the Chinese envoy Xu Zengcheng signed another important agreement with the Russian-Chinese Bank for the right to build the Chinese Eastern Railway.
The period of validity of the treaty was eighty years. The bank also became the owner of the right to conduct the construction of the CER with the simultaneous creation of a company of shareholders of the railway. The importance of implementing the points of this “Moscow Treaty” also lay in the fact that the approval of the Charter of Shareholders was made on December 16, 1896 by His Majesty Nicholas II himself. The duty of the Russian-Chinese Bank included the mandatory creation of a company of shareholders. The amount of share capital was represented by five million credit rubles.
The board of the CER joint stock company was elected at the end of December 1986. A month later, the Chinese Emperor issued a decree approving the first chairman of the CER shareholder company. He became the Chinese envoy Xu Zengcheng in the city St. Petersburg and in Berlin.
The personnel selection of engineers to ensure the laying of the CER rail track was carried out with direct participation the then Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire Sergei Yulievich Witte. His protégé is A.I. Yugovich, who at that time held the post of chief engineer of the CER. IN track record of the mentioned specialist there is a record of his leadership in the construction of the Ryazan-Ural railway communications. The location of the construction of the Chinese-Eastern Railway begins with the railway village of Sungari, located on the banks of the river of the same name. The Chinese name of the river is Songhuajiang. Where the railway line crosses the named river, a the whole city, called Harbin. The laying of tracks begins on April 24, 1897 by the vanguard detachment, which is part of the construction department of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Security duties were performed by fifty of Yesaul Pavievsky. On its basis, the creation of the Trans-Amur District was subsequently organized; the fifty itself became a separate corps of border guards of the Russian Empire.
The full-scale construction work that began was carried out by branches from Port Arthur, from the Trans-Baikal region and from the Primorsky station point of Grodekovo. Starting from June 1898, the Russian Empire received permits for the implementation construction work southern rail track, called the South Manchurian Railway. All this made it possible to connect Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway in the Dalny region by rail. The construction of the city of Harbin begins with its first barracks, built by engineer Adam Szydlowski, which housed working roads.
Since the highway under construction was of great length, the road management made a decision on disaggregation, by organizing the creation individual areas railway, each of them was headed by its own leader. Railway line, starting from the Pogranichnaya station, which is part of Primorye, and to the Manchuria station in the Trans-Baikal region, is divided into thirteen independent sections for road construction. The track line from Port Arthur to Harbin is divided into eight sections.
From 1899 to 1901, the construction of the road was repeatedly interrupted due to the outbreak of an uprising in the territory that was part of the Qing Empire. On June 23, 1900, the Yihetuan Chinese attempted to attack road builders. Station buildings and railway tracks were partially destroyed. There were also tragedies, as the construction party of engineer Verkhovsky and the team of lieutenant Valevsky, retreating from Mukden, practically died in their entirety during clashes with the rebels. In Liaoyang, the captured engineer Verkhovsky is publicly beheaded.
Despite all these events associated with the uprising of the Chinese-Yihetuan, in mid-July from July 18, 1901, the temporary movement of trains began to deliver various goods along the entire length of the already built CER. Soon the need for the existence of small sections of the road disappeared, and they began to be united. The management positions for each department were abolished, and the chief engineer again began to lead the entire department.
The Allied Army, which included troops from eight countries: Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia, the USA, Germany, France and Great Britain, was engaged in suppressing the rebels. All these ongoing military actions allowed the Russian Empire to occupy the northeastern provinces that were part of the Qing Empire, gaining additional advantages in the area. Since there was very strong opposition from the rest of the allied states due to the strengthening of the positions of the Russian Empire in this region, then positive result when conducting separate negotiations could not be achieved with the Chinese government. Two years later, the Russian Empire, represented by its government, takes a step towards creating a Far Eastern governorship, headed by Admiral E.I. Alekseev. Namely, this admiral had to carry out further negotiations with representatives of the Qing court.
Starting from June 14, 1903, all the reins of power of the CER passed into the hands of the Operations Department. The named date began to be considered the official opening of the operational period of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Based on the results of the summed up results of the construction of the road, a figure appeared for the cost of each section with a length of one mile; the stated amount was equal to one hundred and fifty-two thousand rubles.
At that time, a fast train on the Moscow-Port Arthur route covered the route in thirteen days and four hours. The passenger train traveled this route for sixteen days and fourteen hours. The cost of a ticket in a first-class carriage of a fast train was two hundred and seventy-two rubles. The cost of a ticket in third class, a passenger train, was sixty-four rubles. Upon the arrival of the fast train at the Dalniy station, on the same day passengers departed further on express ships belonging to the CER in the direction of the ports of Nagasaki and Shanghai.
The beginning of the operational period of the constructed railway made it possible to significantly improve the position of Manchuria, turning it into a developed region of the Qing Empire economically. Over a seven-year period, the population of the Manchurian region almost doubled and numbered fifteen million eight hundred thousand people. The main increase in this indicator was due to the influx of people from China. Manchuria developed at a rapid pace. And after some time, there were more people living in Port Arthur, Dalny and Harbin than in Russian cities: in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk or Blagoveshchensk. Since on Manchurian territory there was an excess amount local population, then the Chinese began to move in tens of thousands to the territory of Russian Primorye, where there was an acute shortage of population Russian origin, which hampered economic development of this region. The presence of the CER on the map clearly confirmed the data on the conclusion made on economic development this region.
At the end of conducting Russian-Japanese war, according to the clauses of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, the southern branch of the highway, its most went to Japan as the victorious country, and part of the road at that time was already occupied by the country rising sun. This part of the tracks began to bear the name “South Manchurian Railway.” The development of this situation in this direction did not allow the plans of the Russian government to come true regarding the use of the CER as a springboard to ensure the emergence of Russia in the market of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. However, every cloud has a silver lining, the same reason pushed Russian Empire to the resumption of construction work on the Amur Railway.
With the onset of 1908, Tobolsk Governor N.L. Gondatti made an attempt to resume construction railroad tracks in the Amur region, he writes a memo to V. Plehve, in which the governor insistently draws attention to the feasibility of the proposed construction. L.N. Gondatti, having received the post of governor-general in the Amur region in 1911, was able to realize his plans. A bridge, unique at that time, was built across the Amur River, thereby connecting the Amur and Ussuri railways, gaining access to the Transbaikalia railway.
A year earlier, the merger of two banks, Northern and Russian-Chinese, which had the right to the Chinese Eastern Railway, took place. This event allowed the formation of the Russian-Asian Bank, whose initial capital was equal to thirty-five million rubles.
Revolutionary events 1917 had a negative impact on the welfare of the Chinese Eastern Railway. After three years of military operations, the struggle for new government, 03/19/1920 the road falls into the occupied zone. Simultaneously with this event, the CER security guards cease to perform their functional duties.
Another six years passed and a conflict erupted on the road, started by Zhang Zuolin and Guo Sulin, who were Chinese military commanders. Despite desperate attempts on the part of the USSR to restore normal operation of the road, this can only be achieved for short periods; the conflict flares up with new strength. The apogee of these events was 1929, when the Chinese side arrested two hundred Soviet people who worked at the CER. Thirty-five of them were deported to the young Soviet republic. 07/17/1929 by the government Soviet Union Diplomatic relations with China are severed.
Thanks to the active actions of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, at the end of the successful operation, control over the CER was restored on December 22, 1929. All this is reflected in the concluded “Khabarovsk Protocol” and confirmed in the Mukden and Beijing treaties.
Since September 1931, Japanese troops The occupation of Manchurian territory begins.
In the thirties, relations between China and Soviet republic. The reason for the break in relations was the locomotive business. This technique was purchased by Russia in the USA in a large quantity for the needs of the Chinese Eastern Railway. During the civil war, one hundred and twenty-four locomotive units ended up on Chinese territory. But Soviet machinists, some of them eighty-three steam engines, managed to transport them to the territory of the USSR.
