39th Airborne Corps (Soviet Union)
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The 39th Airborne Corps (Russian: 39-й воздушно-десантный корпус, 39 вдк) is a division-sized airborne corps of the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV) headquartered in Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai. It is the only major VDV formation in the Russian Far East, although Soviet Ground Forces armies and operational maneuver groups in the region do operate their own Air Assault Brigades and Regiments respectively.
The 39th Airborne Corps was formed partially on the basis of the 39th Rifle Corps headquarters and 2nd Separate Mechanized Brigade on 14 July 1945 in anticipation of hostilities against Japan in China. At that time the 202nd and 212th Separate Airborne Brigades garrisoned in the far east were assigned to it. The corps took part in the 1946 Soviet invasion of Manchuria to support the communist elements of the National Revolutionary Army and prevent the western allies attacking from up from the south from occupying the entirety of China. During the brief Soviet-Japanese War which it seized several airfields in northwestern China and the Korean Peninsula and supported the maneuver of the Red Banner Far Eastern Front. Major operations included parachute landings on Jilin, Pyongyang, and Harbin to enable further airlanding of ground forces. Famously the 1st Battalion of the 202nd Airborne Brigade that landed at Harbin ahead of the 15th Army was exposed to fleas infested with the bubonic plague released by Japan's infamous Unit 731 located in that city. This created a local plague outbreak known as the Harbin germ weapon attack and resulted in the deaths of 300 Soviets and thousands of Chinese civilians.
After the Pacific War, the 39th Airborne Corps moved its permanent headquarters from Mongolia to Khabarovsk. It is currently the principle unit of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in the Far East. It's believed that their primary wartime purpose would either be to conduct airborne landings in China to pursue operational-strategic objectives in support of the People's Republic of China or participate in the seizure of population centers in Alaska alongside the Naval Infantry. Its presence is also a considered threat to Japan, which the United States balances with the Japan contingent of its Exercise Reforc forces.
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