861.77 Chinese Eastern/573
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Eastern European Affairs (Kelley)
The following information with regard to the Soviet troops on the Chinese frontier is of interest in connection with the recent Soviet raids into Chinese territory.
The Soviet forces east of Lake Baikal are organized into a “special Far Eastern army” and consist of two army corps (3 rifle divisions, 1 cavalry brigade, 30–35 airplanes each) with a total strength of about 113,000 men. Before the seizure of the Chinese Eastern Railway the troops in this region numbered about 34,000. The increase to present strength has been brought about by the recruitment of the various units to war strength and by the transfer of two rifle divisions from Western Siberia. No new units have been transferred from European Russia to Eastern Siberia. The only transfers of which we have knowledge are individual replacements and a detachment of 7,000 O. G. P. U. (secret police) troops.
The Commander of the Special Far Eastern Army is General Vassili Blucher, who, under the name of Galen, was military adviser to the Chinese Nationalists at the time that Borodin was political adviser. He is considered to have an excellent knowledge of the organization of the Chinese military forces and internal political conditions [Page 353] in China. He is also well informed with regard to the Russian Far East, since he was Minister of War of the Far Eastern Republic in 1921–22.