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Originally Posted by RN7
Probably the reason that nobody knew about the Japanese Army's defeat in Mongolia and Manchuria, was because Germany had invaded Poland at the very same time that the Russians were booting the Japanese out of Mongolia. In fact most of the Japanese military were probably unaware of it as well outside of the top brass and the troops directly involved in the fighting, as it wouldn't have done much for its wider reputation and morale considering the mauling the Red Army gave them.
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And the Soviets, ever paranoid, weren't going to say anything
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The bulk of Japan's Army was in China and Manchuria at this time along with much of its armoured forces and heavy artillery, and remained so even when they were fighting the Western Allies in the Pacific.
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The major contribution of China to the war was tying down a significant portion of the IJA, which could have been better employed elsewhere.
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When the Japanese Army came up against well organised and supplied American and British Commonwealth forces in the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Burma, they increasingly came off second best.
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Also, fighting in China in the 1930's taught the Japanese the absolutely wrong lessons about armored warfare and tank design.
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Had the Japanese Army taken on fully mechanised American or British forces which were based elsewhere at the time, on an equal footing in an inland campaign the result would probably have been the same as it was when they tried to take on the Red Army in 1939.
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Fortunately for the IJA, most of their Pacific possessions were poor tank country. Parts of the Philippines were an exception and where most of the few significant tank battles of the Pacific were fought, which ended up rather one-sided. Worth noting that Allied tanks that had become obsolete in North Africa and Europe (like the Matilda II and M-3 Stuart) were quite effective against Japanese armor.