Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army) at Chita. The 21st was commanded by Pavel Ashakhmanov and included the 61st, 62nd and 63rd (named for M.V. Frunze) Rifle Regiments and the 21st Artillery Regiment. On the night of October 2, a battalion from the 61st Regiment launched a raid on Chinese trenches held by the 15th Heilungkiang Brigade's 38th Infantry Regiment near the Abugatai Siding, halfway between Manzhouli and Dalainor. The battalion captured the first Chinese trench line by 01:00 hours on October 3. After Chinese counterattacks, the Soviet troops withdrew from Chinese lines by 03:00 hours. According to an American intelligence report, the battalion inflicted 314 casualties on the Chinese but suffered 183 casualties. During the Dalainor–Manzhouli–Hailar Operation, the largest operation of the war, which began on November 16, the division, with support from armoured trains, tied down the 15th Brigade at Manzhouli. At noon on 17 November, the 21st's 63rd Regiment linked up with the 36th Rifle Division's 106th Rifle Regiment, preventing the 15th Brigade from moving on Dalainor to aid the defending 17th Brigade and cutting off its retreat. After the capture of Manzhouli on November 20, the division remained behind as a garrison force, allowing the 18th Rifle Corps to advance to Hailar. The 21st restored order and basic public services in Manzhouli by November 25, while also distributing propaganda to the civilians. In 1930, the division was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner for its actions in the Russian Civil War and the Sino-Soviet conflict. By 1937 it was stationed at Spassk-Dalny near the Manchurian border. On June 5 of that year, Japanese troops occupied a hill near Lake Khanka in the 21st's sector. The division commander, Kombrig Ivan Boryayev, was ordered to use the division's troops to assist the border guards in repulsing an attack by Japanese troops. Colonel Iosif Dobysh's 63rd Rifle Regiment was moved forward, but by the time it arrived near the border, the Japanese had already withdrawn. Dobysh was subsequently shot, charged with negligence and failure to speedily deploy troops. Boryayev himself was later dismissed on July 13 and arrested weeks later before being shot during the Great Purge. In September 1938, the 21st Division became part of the 1st Red Banner Army. World War II On June 22, 1941, the division was part of the 1st Red Banner Army's 26th Rifle Corps. It included the 94th, 116th, and 326th Rifle