Invasion of China

From its slow cyclic rate, the Type 92 MG was called "the woodpecker"

The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (ノモンハン事件 Nomonhan jiken) after Nomonhan, a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army.

Japanese infantrymen near wrecked Soviet armoured vehicles, July 1939
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol

This forgotten battle is one of the most important ones in WW2.
Japanese troops got such a bad beating by soviet troops under Zhukov that they never dared again to look for trouble against the Soviets or their Mongolian protegees.
In fact, a few years ago I remember reading somewhere, that Japanese Kwantung Army Command originally thought that it would be much easier to beat the soviets in a border conflict and gain some territory from Stalin than to try to conquer Chinese territory.