War with Japan August September 1945 War with Japan: the last campaign of World War II

"The Diplomat, Japan

From May to September 1939, the USSR and Japan waged an undeclared war against each other, in which more than 100,000 military personnel took part. Perhaps it was she who changed the course of world history.

In September 1939, Soviet and Japanese armies clashed on the Manchu-Mongolian border in a little-known but far-reaching conflict. It was not just a border conflict - the undeclared war lasted from May to September 1939, and more than 100,000 soldiers took part in it, as well as 1,000 tanks and aircraft. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people were killed or injured. In the decisive battle, which took place on August 20-31, 1939, the Japanese were defeated.

These events coincided with the conclusion of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (August 23, 1939), which gave the green light to Hitler's aggression against Poland, undertaken a week later and served as the beginning of World War II. These events are related to each other. The border conflict also influenced the key decisions taken in Tokyo and Moscow that determined the course of the war and ultimately its outcome.

The conflict itself (the Japanese call it the Nomongan Incident, and the Russians the Battle of Halkin Gol) was provoked by the notorious Japanese officer Tsuji Masanobu, head of the group in the Japanese Kwantung Army that occupied Manchuria. On the opposite side, the Soviet troops were commanded by Georgy Zhukov, who would later lead the Red Army to victory over Nazi Germany. In the first major battle in May 1939, the Japanese punitive operation failed, and the Soviet-Mongolian forces pushed back the Japanese detachment, which consisted of 200 people. The frustrated Kwantung Army intensified military operations in June-July and began to deliver forced bombing strikes deep into Mongolian territory. The Japanese also carried out operations along the entire border with the participation of entire divisions. Successive Japanese attacks were repelled by the Red Army, but the Japanese kept up the stakes in this game, hoping that they could force Moscow to retreat. However, Stalin tactically outplayed the Japanese and, unexpectedly for them, launched a military and diplomatic counteroffensive at the same time.

In August, when Stalin was secretly seeking an alliance with Hitler, Zhukov formed a powerful group near the front line. At the moment when German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop flew to Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet pact, Stalin threw Zhukov into battle. The future marshal demonstrated the tactics that he would later use with such a stunning result near Stalingrad, in the Battle of Kursk, and also in other places: a combined arms offensive, during which infantry units, with the active support of artillery, tied up enemy forces in the central sector of the front, in while powerful armored formations attacked the flanks, surrounded and eventually defeated the enemy in a battle of annihilation. Over 75% Japanese ground forces died in battle on this front. At the same time, Stalin made a pact with Hitler, a nominal ally of Tokyo, and thus left Japan diplomatically isolated and militarily humiliated.

The coincidence in time of the Nomongan Incident and the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact was by no means accidental. While Stalin was openly negotiating with Britain and France for an anti-fascist alliance and secretly trying to negotiate with Hitler for a possible alliance, he was attacked by Japan, Germany's ally and partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact. By the summer of 1939, it became clear that Hitler intended to move east against Poland. Stalin's nightmare, which should have been prevented at all costs, was a war on two fronts against Germany and Japan. His ideal outcome would be one in which the fascist-militarist capitalists (Germany, Italy, and Japan) fought the bourgeois-democratic capitalists (Britain, France, and possibly the United States). In this scenario, the Soviet Union would have remained on the sidelines and would have become the arbiter of the fate of Europe, after the capitalists had exhausted their forces. The Nazi-Soviet pact was Stalin's attempt to achieve the optimum result. This treaty not only pitted Germany against Britain and France, but also left the Soviet Union out of the fray. He gave Stalin the opportunity to decisively deal with isolated Japan, which was done in the Nomongan area. And this is not just a hypothesis. The connection between the Nomongan Incident and the Nazi-Soviet Pact is even reflected in German diplomatic documents published in Washington and London in 1948. Recently released documents from the Soviet era contain supporting details.

Zhukov rose to prominence at Nomongan/Khalkin Gol, thus earning the trust of Stalin, who in late 1941 placed him in command of the troops, just at the right time to avert catastrophe. Zhukov managed to stop the German offensive and turn the tide on the outskirts of Moscow in early December 1941 (probably the most important week of World War II). This was partly facilitated by the transfer of troops from the Far East. Many of these soldiers already had combat experience - it was they who defeated the Japanese in the Nomongan area. The Soviet Far Eastern Reserve - 15 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 1700 tanks and 1500 aircraft were redeployed to the west in the autumn of 1941, when Moscow learned that Japan would not attack the Soviet Far East, because she made the final decision to expand southward, which eventually led her to war with the United States.

The story regarding Japan's route to Pearl Harbor is well known. But some of these events are not so well covered, and Japan's decision to go to war with the United States is connected with the Japanese memories of the defeat at the village of Nomongan. And the same Tsuji who played a central role in the Nomongan Incident became a powerful proponent of southern expansion and war with the United States.

In June 1941, Germany attacked Russia and inflicted crushing defeats on the Red Army in the first months of the war. Many at that moment believed that the Soviet Union was on the verge of defeat. Germany demanded that Japan invade the Soviet Far East, avenge the defeat at the village of Nomongan, and seize as much Soviet territory as it could swallow. However, in July 1941, the United States and Britain imposed an oil embargo on Japan that threatened to leave the Japanese war machine on a starvation diet. In order to avoid such a situation, imperial fleet Japan intended to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. Holland itself had been occupied a year earlier. Britain also struggled to survive. Only the American Pacific Fleet blocked the way for the Japanese. However, many in the Japanese army wanted to attack the USSR, as Germany demanded. They expected to avenge Nomongan at the moment when the Red Army suffered heavy losses as a result of the German blitzkrieg. The leaders of the Japanese army and naval forces discussed this issue during a series of military conferences with the participation of the emperor.

In the summer of 1941, Colonel Tsuji was the senior officer of the headquarters for planning operations at the Imperial Headquarters. Tsuji was a charismatic man as well as a flamboyant speaker, and he was one of the army officers who supported the navy's position, which eventually led to Pearl Harbor. In 1941, Tanaka Ryukichi, head of the military service bureau of the army ministry, reported after the war that "Tsuji Masanobu was the most determined supporter of the war with the United States." Tsuji later wrote that what he saw of Soviet firepower at Nomongan made him give up attacking the Russians in 1941.

But what would have happened if there had been no Nomongan Incident? And what would have happened if it had ended differently, for example, if it hadn't revealed a winner or if it had ended with Japan's victory? In this case, Tokyo's decision to push south might look very different. Less impressed by the military capabilities of the Soviet armed forces and forced to choose between fighting against the Anglo-American forces and participating with Germany in the defeat of the USSR, the Japanese might have considered the northern direction the best choice.

If Japan had decided to move north in 1941, the course of the war and history itself might have been different. Many believe that the Soviet Union would not have survived a two-front war in 1941-1942. The victory in the battle near Moscow and a year later - near Stalingrad - were won with exceptionally great difficulty. A determined enemy in the east in the form of Japan at that moment could tip the scales in favor of Hitler. Moreover, if Japan had moved its troops against the Soviet Union, it would not have been able to attack the United States in the same year. The United States would have entered the war a year later, and would have done so under much less favorable circumstances than the grim reality of the winter of 1941. And how, then, could the domination of the Nazis in Europe be ended?

The shadow from Nomongan was very long.

Stuart Goldman is a Russia Specialist and Fellow at the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. This article is based on his book Nomonhan, 1939. The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II.

On August 9, 1945, the Manchurian operation began (the battle for Manchuria). It was a strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops, which was carried out with the aim of defeating the Japanese Kwantung Army (its existence was a threat to the Soviet Far East and Siberia), liberating the Chinese northeastern and northern provinces (Manchuria and Inner Mongolia), the Liaodong and Korean Peninsulas, eliminating the largest military foothold and military-economic base of Japan in Asia. Having carried out this operation, Moscow fulfilled the agreements with the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. The operation ended with the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the surrender of the Japanese Empire, and was the end of the Second World War (September 2, 1945, the act of surrender of Japan was signed).

Fourth war with Japan

Throughout 1941-1945. The Red Empire was forced to keep at least 40 divisions on its eastern borders. Even during the most brutal battles and critical situations of 1941-1942. in the Far East there was a powerful Soviet grouping, in full readiness to repel the blow of the Japanese military machine. The existence of this group of troops became the main factor that held back the start of Japanese aggression against the USSR. Tokyo chose a southerly direction for its expansionist plans. However, as long as the second hotbed of war and aggression, imperial Japan, continued to exist in the Asia-Pacific region, Moscow could not consider security on the eastern borders assured. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the factor of "revenge". Stalin consistently pursued a global policy aimed at restoring Russia's position in the world, and the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. damaged our positions in the region. It was necessary to return the lost territories, the naval base in Port Arthur and restore their positions in the Pacific region.

The defeat of Nazi Germany and the unconditional surrender of its armed forces in May 1945, as well as the successes of the Western coalition troops in the Pacific theater of operations, forced the Japanese government to begin preparations for defense.

On July 26, the Soviet Union, the United States and China demanded that Tokyo sign an unconditional surrender. This claim was rejected. On August 8, Moscow announced that from the next day it would consider itself at war with the Empire of Japan. By that time, the Soviet high command deployed troops transferred from Europe on the border with Manchuria (there was a puppet state of Manchukuo there). The Soviet army was to defeat Japan's main strike force in the region, the Kwantung Army, and liberate Manchuria and Korea from the invaders. The destruction of the Kwantung Army and the loss of the northeastern provinces of China and the Korean Peninsula were to have a decisive effect on accelerating the surrender of Japan and hastening the defeat of Japanese forces in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

By the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops, the total number of the Japanese grouping, located on the territory of North China, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, was up to 1.2 million people, about 1.2 thousand tanks, 6.2 thousand guns and mortars and up to 1.9 thousand aircraft. In addition, the Japanese troops and the forces of their allies - the army of Manchukuo and the army of Mengjiang, relied on 17 fortified areas. The commander of the Kwantung Army was General Otozo Yamada. To destroy the Japanese army in May-June 1941, the Soviet command transferred 27 rifle divisions, 7 separate rifle and tank brigades, 1 tank and 2 mechanized corps to the 40 divisions that were in the Far East. As a result of these measures, the combat strength of the Soviet army in the Far East almost doubled, amounting to more than 1.5 million bayonets, over 5.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 26 thousand guns and mortars, about 3.8 thousand aircraft. In addition, more than 500 ships and vessels of the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla took part in the hostilities against the Japanese army.

By the decision of the GKO, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, which included three front-line formations - Transbaikal (under the command of Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky), 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts (commanded by Marshal Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov and Army General Maxim Alekseevich Purkaev) , Marshal Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was appointed. The fighting on the Eastern Front began on August 9, 1945 with a simultaneous attack by troops from all three Soviet fronts.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US Air Force dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although they did not have an important military significance. During these strikes, 114 thousand people died. First nuclear bomb dropped the city of Hiroshima. It was subjected to terrible destruction, out of 306 thousand inhabitants, more than 90 thousand died. In addition, tens of thousands of Japanese died later due to wounds, burns, and radiation exposure. The West carried out this attack not only to demoralize the Japanese military-political leadership, but also to demonstrate to the Soviet Union. The US wanted to show the terrible effect of weapons with which they wanted to blackmail the whole world.

The main forces of the Trans-Baikal Front under the command of Malinovsky struck from the direction of Transbaikalia from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic (Mongolia was our ally) in the general direction of Changchun and Mukden. The troops of the Trans-Baikal Front had to break into the central regions of Northeast China, overcome the waterless steppe, and then pass the Khingan Mountains. The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front under the command of Meretskov advanced from Primorye in the direction of Kirin. This front was supposed to reach the connection with the main grouping of the Trans-Baikal Front in the shortest direction. The 2nd Far Eastern Front, under the leadership of Purkaev, launched an offensive from the Amur region. His troops had the task of hitting in a number of directions to pin down the enemy forces opposing him, thereby contributing to units of the Trans-Baikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts (they were supposed to surround the main forces of the Kwantung Army). Air Force strikes and amphibious assaults from the ships of the Pacific Fleet were supposed to support the actions of strike groups of ground forces.

Thus, the Japanese and allied troops were attacked on land, from the sea and air along the entire huge 5,000-strong section of the border with Manchuria and up to the coast of North Korea. By the end of August 14, 1945, the Trans-Baikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts advanced 150-500 km deep into northeastern China and reached the main military-political and industrial centers of Manchuria. On the same day, in the face of imminent military defeat, the Japanese government signed the surrender. But, the Japanese troops continued to offer fierce resistance, because, despite the decision of the Japanese emperor to surrender, the order to the command of the Kwantung Army to cease hostilities was never given. Of particular danger were sabotage groups of suicide bombers who tried at the cost of their lives to destroy Soviet officers, blow themselves up in a group of soldiers or near armored vehicles, trucks. Only on August 19, the Japanese troops ceased resistance and began to lay down their arms.

At the same time, an operation was underway to liberate the Korean Peninsula, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (they fought until September 1). By the end of August 1945, Soviet troops had completed the disarmament of the Kwantung Army and the forces of the vassal state of Manchukuo, as well as the liberation of Northeast China, the Liaodong Peninsula and North Korea up to the 38th parallel. On September 2, the Empire of Japan surrendered unconditionally. This event took place aboard the American ship Missouri, in the waters of Tokyo Bay.

As a result of the fourth Russo-Japanese War, Japan returned South Sakhalin to the USSR. The Kuril Islands also went to the Soviet Union. Japan itself was occupied by American troops, who continue to be based in this state to this day. From May 3, 1946 to November 12, 1948, the Tokyo trial took place. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convicted the main Japanese war criminals (28 people in total). The International Tribunal sentenced 7 people to death, 16 defendants to life imprisonment, the rest received 7 years in prison.

Lieutenant General K.N. Derevianko, on behalf of the USSR, signs the Japanese Surrender Act aboard the American battleship Missouri.

The defeat of Japan led to the disappearance of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the restoration of Chinese power in Manchuria, and the liberation of the Korean people. Helped the USSR and the Chinese Communists. Units of the 8th Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Manchuria. The Soviet army handed over to the Chinese the weapons of the defeated Kwantung Army. In Manchuria, under the leadership of the Communists, authorities were created, military units were formed. As a result, Northeast China became the base of the Chinese Communist Party, and it played a decisive role in the Communists' victory over the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek's regime.

In addition, the news of the defeat and surrender of Japan led to the August Revolution in Vietnam, which broke out at the call of the Communist Party and the Viet Minh League. The leadership of the liberation uprising was carried out by the National Committee for the Liberation of Vietnam under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnamese Liberation Army, whose numbers increased by more than 10 times in a few days, disarmed the Japanese units, dispersed the occupation administration and established new authorities. On August 24, 1945, the Vietnamese emperor Bao Dai abdicated. The supreme power in the country passed to the National Liberation Committee, which began to carry out the functions of the Provisional Government. On September 2, 1945, the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the "Vietnam Declaration of Independence".

The defeat of the Japanese Empire caused a powerful anti-colonial movement in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, on August 17, 1945, the committee for the preparation of independence, headed by Sukarno, declared the independence of Indonesia. Ahmed Sukarno became the first president of the new independent state. Huge India was also moving towards independence, where the leaders of the people were Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru released from prison.

Soviet Marines in Port Arthur.

Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, part of World War II and the Pacific War. Also known as battle for Manchuria or Manchurian operation, and in the West - as Operation August Storm.

Timeline of the conflict

April 13, 1941 - a neutrality pact was signed between the USSR and Japan. Accompanied by an agreement on small economic concessions from Japan, which she ignored.

December 1, 1943 - Tehran conference. The Allies are charting the contours of the post-war structure of the Asia-Pacific region.

February 1945 - Yalta conference. The Allies agree on the post-war structure of the world, including the Asia-Pacific region. The USSR assumes an unofficial obligation to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Germany.

June 1945 - Japan begins preparations to repulse the landing on the Japanese islands.

July 12, 1945 - The Japanese ambassador in Moscow addresses the USSR with a request for mediation in peace negotiations. On July 13 he was informed that an answer could not be given in connection with the departure of Stalin and Molotov to Potsdam.

July 26, 1945 - At the Potsdam Conference, the United States formally formulates the terms of Japan's surrender. Japan refuses to accept them.

August 8 - The USSR declares to the Japanese ambassador that it has joined the Potsdam Declaration and declares war on Japan.

August 10, 1945 - Japan officially declares its readiness to accept the Potsdam terms of surrender with a reservation regarding the preservation of the structure of imperial power in the country.

August 14 - Japan formally accepts the terms of unconditional surrender and communicates this to the Allies.

War preparation

The danger of a war between the USSR and Japan existed from the second half of the 1930s, in 1938 there were clashes on Lake Khasan, and in 1939 there was a battle at Khalkhin Gol on the border of Mongolia and Manchukuo. In 1940, the Soviet Far Eastern Front was created, which indicated a real risk of starting a war.

However, the aggravation of the situation on the western borders forced the USSR to seek a compromise in relations with Japan. The latter, in turn, choosing between the options of aggression to the north (against the USSR) and to the south (against the USA and Great Britain), was increasingly inclined towards the latter option, and sought to protect itself from the USSR. The result of the temporary coincidence of interests of the two countries is the signing of the Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941, in accordance with Art. 2 of which:

In 1941, the countries of the Nazi coalition, except for Japan, declared war on the USSR (the Great Patriotic War), and in the same year Japan attacked the United States, starting a war in the Pacific.

In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin promised the Allies to declare war on Japan 2-3 months after the end of hostilities in Europe (although the neutrality pact stipulated that its effect ceased only a year after the denunciation). At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies issued a declaration demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. That same summer, Japan tried to negotiate mediation with the USSR, but to no avail.

War was declared exactly 3 months after the victory in Europe, on August 8, 1945, two days after the first use by the United States nuclear weapons against Japan (Hiroshima) and on the eve of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Forces and plans of the parties

The commander-in-chief was Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky. There were 3 fronts of the Trans-Baikal Front, the 1st Far East and 2nd Far East (commanders R. Ya. Malinovsky, K. A. Meretskov and M. A. Purkaev), with a total number of approximately 1.5 million people. The troops of the MPR were commanded by Marshal of the MPR H. Choibalsan. They were opposed by the Japanese Kwantung Army under the command of General Otsuzo Yamada.

The plan of the Soviet command, described as "Strategic pincers", was simple in concept but grandiose in scale. It was planned to encircle the enemy in a total area of ​​​​1.5 million square kilometers.

The composition of the Kwantung Army: about 1 million people, 6260 guns and mortars, 1150 tanks, 1500 aircraft.

As noted in the "History of the Great Patriotic War"(Vol. 5, p. 548-549):

Despite the efforts of the Japanese to concentrate as many troops as possible on the islands of the empire itself, as well as in China south of Manchuria, the Japanese command paid attention to the Manchurian direction, especially after the Soviet Union denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact on April 5, 1945. That is why, out of the nine infantry divisions remaining in Manchuria at the end of 1944, the Japanese deployed 24 divisions and 10 brigades by August 1945. True, to organize new divisions and brigades, the Japanese could only use untrained recruits of younger ages and limited fit older ages - in the summer of 1945, 250 thousand were called up, which amounted to more than half personnel Kwantung Army. Also, in the newly created Japanese divisions and brigades in Manchuria, in addition to the small number of combat personnel, artillery was often completely absent.

The most significant forces of the Kwantung Army - up to ten infantry divisions - were deployed in the east of Manchuria, bordering the Soviet Primorye, where the First Far Eastern Front was deployed, consisting of 31 rifle divisions, a cavalry division, a mechanized corps and 11 tank brigades. In the north of Manchuria, the Japanese held one infantry division and two brigades - against the Second Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades. In the west of Manchuria, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and one brigade against 33 Soviet divisions, including two tank divisions, two mechanized corps, a tank corps and six tank brigades. In central and southern Manchuria, the Japanese held several more divisions and brigades, as well as both tank brigades and all combat aircraft.

It should be noted that the tanks and aircraft of the Japanese army in 1945, according to the criteria of that time, can only be called obsolete. They roughly corresponded to the Soviet tank and aircraft equipment of 1939. This also applies to Japanese anti-tank guns, which had a caliber of 37 and 47 millimeters - that is, suitable for fighting only light Soviet tanks. What prompted the Japanese army to use suicide squads, strapped with grenades and explosives, as the main improvised anti-tank weapon.

However, the prospect of a quick surrender of the Japanese troops seemed far from obvious. Given the fanatical and sometimes suicidal resistance put up by the Japanese forces in April-June 1945 on Okinawa, there was every reason to believe that a long, difficult campaign was expected over the last remaining Japanese fortified areas. In some areas of the offensive, these expectations were fully justified.

The course of the war

At dawn on August 9, 1945, Soviet troops began intensive artillery preparation from the sea and from land. Then the ground operation began. Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, the fortified areas of the Japanese managed with moving parts and were blocked by infantry. The 6th Guards Tank Army of General Kravchenko was advancing from Mongolia to the center of Manchuria.

It was a risky decision, because the Khingan Mountains were difficult to pass. On August 11, army equipment stopped due to lack of fuel. But the experience of German tank units was used - the delivery of fuel to tanks by transport aircraft. As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, having occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas in the depth of defense Soviet troops had to overcome the fierce resistance of the enemy. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was carried out with special force in the Mudanjiang area. There were cases of stubborn resistance by the enemy in the zones of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also made repeated counterattacks. On August 19, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly the last emperor of China).

On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But in practice, hostilities on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order.

On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.

Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. The main fighting on the continent was carried out for 12 days, until August 20. However, separate clashes continued until September 10, which became the day of the end of the complete surrender and capture of the Kwantung Army. The fighting on the islands ended completely on 5 September.

Japan's surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

As a result, the millionth Kwantung Army was completely defeated. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were taken prisoner. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.

Meaning

The Manchurian operation had a huge political and military value. So on August 9, at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki said:

The Soviet Army defeated the strong Kwantung Army of Japan. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Empire of Japan and made a significant contribution to its defeat, hastened the end of World War II. American leaders and historians have repeatedly stated that without the entry of the USSR into the war, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.

Commander-in-Chief of the American Forces in the Pool Pacific Ocean General MacArthur believed that "Victory over Japan can only be guaranteed if the Japanese ground forces are defeated" US Secretary of State E. Stettinius stated the following:

Dwight Eisenhower, in his memoirs, indicated that he was addressing President Truman: "I told him that since the available information indicates the inevitability of the imminent collapse of Japan, I strongly object to the entry of the Red Army into this war."

Results

For differences in battles as part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, 16 formations and units received the honorary name "Ussuri", 19 - "Harbin", 149 - were awarded various orders.

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories lost Russian Empire in 1905, following the results of the Portsmouth Peace (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Far), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands previously ceded to Japan in 1875 and assigned to Japan by the Shimoda Treaty of 1855, the southern part of the Kuriles.

The last territorial loss by Japan has not yet been recognized. According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuriles (Tishima Retto). But the treaty did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it. However, in 1956, the Moscow Declaration was signed, which ended the state of war and established diplomatic and consular relations between the USSR and Japan. Article 9 of the Declaration, in particular, says:

Negotiations on the southern Kuril Islands continue to the present, the lack of a solution on this issue prevents the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia, as the successor to the USSR.

Japan is also involved in a territorial dispute with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands, despite the existence of peace treaties between the countries (an agreement was concluded with the Republic of China in 1952, with the PRC in 1978). In addition, despite the existence of the Basic Treaty on Relations between Japan and Korea, Japan and the Republic of Korea are also involved in a territorial dispute over the ownership of the Liancourt Islands.

Despite Article 9 of the Potsdam Declaration, which prescribes the return of military personnel at the end of hostilities, according to Stalin's order No. 9898, according to Japanese data, up to two million Japanese military personnel and civilians were deported to work in the USSR. As a result of hard work, frost and disease, according to Japanese data, 374,041 people died.

According to Soviet data, the number of prisoners of war was 640,276 people. Immediately after the end of hostilities, 65,176 wounded and sick were released. Died in captivity 62,069 prisoners of war, of which 22,331 before entering the territory of the USSR. An average of 100,000 people were repatriated annually. By the beginning of 1950, there were about 3,000 people convicted of criminal and war crimes (of which 971 were transferred to China for crimes committed against the Chinese people), who, in accordance with the Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956, were released early and repatriated to their homeland.

The question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was resolved at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 by a special agreement. It provided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allied Powers 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the July 26, 1945 demand from the United States, Great Britain and China to lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.

According to V. Davydov, on the evening of August 7, 1945 (two days before Moscow officially broke the neutrality pact with Japan), the Soviet military aviation unexpectedly began to bomb the roads of Manchuria.

On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order of the Supreme High Command, back in August 1945, preparations began for a military operation to land an amphibious assault in the port of Dalian (Far) and liberate Lushun (Port Arthur), together with units of the 6th Guards Tank Army from the Japanese invaders on the Liaodong Peninsula of Northern China. The 117th Air Regiment of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet was preparing for the operation, which was trained in Sukhodol Bay near Vladivostok.

On August 9, the troops of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, in cooperation with the Pacific Navy and the Amur River Flotilla, began military operations against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.

The 39th Combined Arms Army was part of the Transbaikal Front, commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. Commander of the 39th Army - Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, member of the Military Council, Major General Boyko V. R., Chief of Staff, Major General Siminovsky M. I.

The task of the 39th Army was to break through, strike from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge, Khalun-Arshan and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified regions. The 39th, 53rd combined-arms and 6th guards tank armies set out from the area of ​​the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the MPR and advanced to the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of up to 250-300 km.

In order to the best organization the transfer of troops to the areas of concentration and further to the areas of deployment, the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Front sent special groups of officers to Irkutsk and to the Karymskaya station in advance. On the night of August 9, advanced battalions and reconnaissance detachments of three fronts in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, which brings frequent and heavy rains, - moved into enemy territory.

In accordance with the order, the main forces of the 39th Army crossed the border of Manchuria at 4:30 am on August 9. Reconnaissance groups and detachments began to operate much earlier - at 00:05. The 39th Army had at its disposal 262 tanks and 133 self-propelled artillery mounts. She was supported by the 6th bomber air corps of Major General I.P. Skok, based at the airfields of the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge. The army struck at the troops that were part of the 3rd Front of the Kwantung Army.

On August 9, the head patrol of the 262nd division went to railway Khalun-Arshan - Thessalonica. The Khalun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262nd division found out, was occupied by parts of the 107th Japanese Infantry Division.

By the end of the first day of the offensive, Soviet tankers made a throw of 120-150 km. The forward detachments of the 17th and 39th armies advanced 60-70 km.

On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic joined the statement of the USSR government and declared war on Japan.

Treaty of the USSR - China

On August 14, 1945, an agreement on friendship and alliance between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and the Far East were signed. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and the agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The contract was concluded for 30 years.

Under the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former CER and its part, the South Manchurian Railway, running from the Manchuria station to the Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalny and Port Arthur, became the common property of the USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the CCRR was subject to free transfer to the full ownership of China.

The agreement on Port Arthur provided for the transformation of this port into a naval base, open to warships and merchant ships only from China and the USSR. The duration of the agreement was determined at 30 years. After this period, the naval base of Port Arthur was to be transferred to the ownership of China.

Dalniy was declared a free port, open to trade and navigation of all countries. The Chinese government agreed to allocate wharfs and warehouses in the port for leasing to the USSR. In the event of a war with Japan, the regime of the naval base of Port Arthur, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur, was to extend to Dalny. The term of the agreement was set at 30 years.

Then, on August 14, 1945, an agreement was signed on relations between the Soviet commander-in-chief and the Chinese administration after the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of the Northeastern provinces for joint military operations against Japan. After the arrival of Soviet troops in the territory of the Northeastern provinces of China, the supreme authority and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was assigned to the commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces. The Chinese government appointed a representative who was to establish an administration and lead it in the territory cleared of the enemy, assist in establishing interaction between the Soviet and Chinese armed forces in the returned territories, and ensure active cooperation between the Chinese administration and the Soviet commander in chief.

fighting

Soviet-Japanese War

On August 11, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army under General A. G. Kravchenko crossed the Greater Khingan.

The first of the rifle formations to reach the eastern slopes of the mountain range was the 17th Guards Rifle Division of General A.P. Kvashnin.

During August 12-14, the Japanese launched many counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Wanemyao, Buhedu. However, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front inflicted strong blows on the counterattacking enemy and continued to move rapidly to the southeast.
On August 13, formations and units of the 39th Army captured the cities of Ulan-Khoto and Thessalonica. Then launched an offensive against Changchun.

On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which included 1019 tanks, broke through the Japanese defenses and entered the strategic space. The Kwantung Army had no choice but to retreat across the Yalu River to North Korea, where its resistance continued until August 20.

In the Hailar direction, where the 94th Rifle Corps was advancing, it was possible to encircle and eliminate a large grouping of enemy cavalry. About a thousand cavalrymen, including two generals, were taken prisoner. One of them, Lieutenant General Goulin, commander of the 10th military district, was taken to the headquarters of the 39th Army.

On August 13, 1945, US President Harry Truman gave the order to occupy the port of Dalniy before the Russians landed there. The Americans were going to do this on ships. The Soviet command decided to get ahead of the United States: while the Americans sailed to the Liaodong Peninsula, the Soviet troops would land their troops on seaplanes.

During the Khingan-Mukden front-line offensive operation, the troops of the 39th Army attacked the troops of the 30th, 44th armies and the left flank of the 4th separate Japanese army from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge. Having defeated the enemy troops, covering the approaches to the Great Khingan passes, the army captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified region. Developing the offensive on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km with battles and by August 14 it entered the central part of Manchuria.

Marshal Malinovsky put in front of the 39th Army new task: in the shortest possible time to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria, acting with strong forward detachments in the direction of Mukden, Yingkou, Andong.

By August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Changchun.

On August 17, the First Far Eastern Front broke the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjian.

On August 17, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender. But he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order. In a number of sectors, they carried out strong counterattacks and regrouped, trying to occupy advantageous operational lines on the Jinzhou - Changchun - Jilin - Tumen line. In practice, hostilities continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th Cavalry Division of General T.V. Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 to the north-east of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.

By August 18, along the entire length of the Trans-Baikal Front, the Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Beiping-Changchun railway, and the strike force of the front's main grouping - the 6th Guards Tank Army - broke out on the approaches to Mukden and Changchun.

On August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal A. Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.

On August 19, Soviet troops took Mukden (airborne assault of the 6th guards that, 113 sk) and Changchun (airborne assault of the 6th guards that) - the largest cities of Manchuria. At the airfield in Mukden, the emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested.

By August 20, South Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea were occupied by Soviet troops.

Landing forces in Port Arthur and Dalniy

On August 22, 1945, 27 aircraft of the 117th Aviation Regiment took off and headed for the port of Dalniy. In total, 956 people participated in the landing. The landing force was commanded by General A. A. Yamanov. The route ran over the sea, then through the Korean Peninsula, along the coast of Northern China. Sea roughness during landing was about two points. Seaplanes landed one after another in the bay of the port of Dalniy. The paratroopers were transferred to inflatable boats, on which they sailed to the pier. After landing, the landing force acted according to the combat mission: they occupied a shipyard, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), and storage facilities. The Coast Guard was immediately withdrawn and replaced by its sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.

On the same day, August 22, at 3 p.m., planes with landing forces, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon part of the aircraft turned to the port of Dalniy. The landing in Port Arthur, consisting of 10 aircraft with 205 paratroopers, was commanded by the deputy commander of the Trans-Baikal Front, Colonel General V. D. Ivanov. As part of the landing was intelligence chief Boris Likhachev.

The planes landed on the airfield one by one. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several nearby parts of the garrison, capturing about 200 Japanese soldiers and officers of the Marine Corps. Having captured several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed for the western part of the city, where another part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the vast majority of the garrison capitulated. The head of the naval garrison of the fortress, Vice Admiral Kobayashi, surrendered along with his headquarters.

Disarmament continued the next day. In total, 10 thousand soldiers and officers of the Japanese army and navy were taken prisoner.

Soviet soldiers released about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

On August 23, an airborne assault force of sailors, led by General E. N. Preobrazhensky, landed in Port Arthur.

August 23 in the presence Soviet soldiers and officers, the Japanese flag was lowered and the Soviet flag flew over the fortress under a triple salute.

On August 24, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army arrived in Port Arthur. On August 25, new reinforcements arrived - marines on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down at Dalniy, landing an additional 265 Marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here as part of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Far) and Luishun (Port Arthur). General V. D. Ivanov was appointed commandant of the Port Arthur fortress and head of the garrison.

When units of the 39th Army of the Red Army reached Port Arthur, two detachments of American troops on high-speed landing craft tried to land on the coast and take a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped their landing.

As it was calculated, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was completely occupied by the Soviet units. After standing for several days on the outer roadstead of the port of Dalniy, the Americans were forced to leave the area.

On August 23, 1945, Soviet troops entered Port Arthur. The commander of the 39th Army, Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, became the first Soviet commandant of Port Arthur.

The Americans did not fulfill their obligations to share the burden of the occupation of the island of Hokkaido with the Red Army, as agreed by the leaders of the three powers. But General Douglas MacArthur, who had great influence with President Harry Truman, strongly opposed this. And the Soviet troops never set foot on Japanese territory. True, the USSR, in turn, did not allow the Pentagon to place its military bases in the Kuriles.

On August 22, 1945, the advanced units of the 6th Guards Tank Army liberated the city of Jinzhou

On August 24, 1945, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Akilov from the 61st Panzer Division of the 39th Army in the city of Dashicao captured the headquarters of the 17th Front of the Kwantung Army. In Mukden and Dalniy, large groups of American soldiers and officers were liberated from Japanese captivity by Soviet troops.

On September 8, 1945, a parade of Soviet troops took place in Harbin in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. The parade was commanded by Lieutenant-General K.P. Kazakov. The parade was hosted by the head of the Harbin garrison, Colonel-General A.P. Beloborodov.

To establish a peaceful life and the interaction of the Chinese authorities with the Soviet military administration in Manchuria, 92 Soviet commandant's offices were created. Major General A. I. Kovtun-Stankevich became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin became the commandant of Port Arthur.

In October 1945, the ships of the US 7th Fleet with the Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to enter the ships into the port. Commandant of the Far, Deputy. The commander of the 39th Army, Lieutenant General G.K. Kozlov, demanded that the squadron be withdrawn 20 miles from the coast in accordance with the sanctions of the mixed Soviet-Chinese commission. Settle continued to persist, and Kozlov had no choice but to remind the American admiral of the Soviet coastal defense: "She knows her task and will do it perfectly." Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to get out. Later, the American squadron, simulating an air raid on the city, also unsuccessfully tried to penetrate Port Arthur.

After the war, the commandant of Port Arthur and the commander of the grouping of Soviet troops in China on the Liaodong Peninsula (Kwantung) until 1947 was I. I. Lyudnikov.

On September 1, 1945, by order of the commander of the BTiMV of the Transbaikal Front No. 41/0368, the 61st Panzer Division was withdrawn from the troops of the 39th Army into front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she should be prepared to go under her own power to winter quarters in the city of Choibalsan. The 76th Orsha-Khinganskaya Red Banner Division of the NKVD escort troops was formed on the basis of the command and control of the 192nd Rifle Division to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.

In November 1945, the Soviet command submitted to the Kuomintang authorities a plan for the evacuation of troops by December 3 of that year. In accordance with this plan, Soviet units were withdrawn from Yingkou and Huludao and from the area south of Shenyang. In the late autumn of 1945, Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.

However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, which had begun, was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the organization of the civil administration in Manchuria was completed and the Chinese army was transferred there. On February 22 and 23, 1946, anti-Soviet demonstrations were held in Chongqing, Nanjing and Shanghai.

In March 1946, the Soviet leadership decided to immediately withdraw the Soviet Army from Manchuria.

On April 14, 1946, the Soviet troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, led by Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky, evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Immediately, preparations began for the evacuation of troops from Harbin. On April 19, 1946, a meeting of the city's public was held, dedicated to seeing off the units of the Red Army leaving Manchuria. On April 28, Soviet troops left Harbin.

On May 3, 1946, the last Soviet soldier left the territory of Manchuria [source not specified 458 days].

In accordance with the 1945 treaty, the 39th Army remained on the Liaodong Peninsula, consisting of:

• 113 sc (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
• 5 Guards sk (17 Guards Rifle Division, 19 Guards Rifle Division, 91 Guards Rifle Division);
• 7 mech.d, 6 guards adp, 14 zenads, 139 apabr, 150 UR; as well as the 7th Novoukrainian-Khingan Corps transferred from the 6th Guards Tank Army, which was soon reorganized into the division of the same name.

7th Bomber Aviation Corps; in joint use Naval base Port Arthur. The place of their deployment was Port Arthur and the port of Dalniy, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guandong Peninsula, located on the southwestern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Small Soviet garrisons remained along the CER line.

In the summer of 1946, the 91st Guards. SD was reorganized into the 25th Guards. machine gun artillery division. 262, 338, 358 sd were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel transferred to the 25th guards. pulad.

Troops of the 39th Army in China

In April-May 1946, in the course of hostilities with the PLA, the Kuomintang troops came close to the Guandong Peninsula, practically to the Soviet naval base of Port Arthur. In this difficult situation the command of the 39th army was forced to take countermeasures. Colonel M. A. Voloshin with a group of officers left for the headquarters of the Kuomintang army advancing in the direction of Guangdong. The Kuomintang commander was told that the territory beyond the border marked on the map in the zone 8-10 km north of Guandang was under fire from our artillery. In the event of further advancement of the Kuomintang troops, there may be dangerous consequences. The commander reluctantly promised not to cross the dividing line. This most managed to calm the local population and the Chinese administration.

In 1947-1953, the Soviet 39th Army on the Liaodong Peninsula was commanded by Colonel General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov (headquarters in Port Arthur). He was also the senior commander of the entire grouping of Soviet troops in China.

Chief of Staff - General Grigory Nikiforovich Perekrestov, who commanded the 65th in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation rifle corps, a member of the Military Council - General I.P. Konnov, the head of the political department - Colonel Nikita Stepanovich Demin, the commander of artillery - General Yuri Pavlovich Bazhanov and the deputy for civil administration - Colonel V.A. Grekov.

In Port Arthur there was a naval base, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.

In 1948, an American military base operated on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from the Far East. Every day, a reconnaissance aircraft appeared from there and flew around and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects, airfields at low altitude along the same route. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Foreign Ministry with a statement about the attack of Soviet fighters on a "light passenger aircraft that had gone off course", but reconnaissance flights over Liaodong were stopped.

In June 1948, a major joint exercise of all military branches was held in Port Arthur. The general leadership of the exercises was carried out by Malinovsky, S.A. Krasovsky, the commander of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District, arrived from Khabarovsk. The exercises took place in two main stages. On the first - a reflection of the amphibious assault of a mock enemy. On the second - an imitation of a massive bombing strike.

In January 1949, a Soviet government delegation headed by A.I. Mikoyan arrived in China. He inspected Soviet enterprises, military installations in Port Arthur, and also met with Mao Zedong.

At the end of 1949, a large delegation headed by the premier of the State Administrative Council of the PRC, Zhou Enlai, arrived in Port Arthur, who met with the commander of the 39th Army, Beloborodov. At the suggestion of the Chinese side, a general meeting of the Soviet and Chinese military was held. At a meeting attended by more than a thousand Soviet and Chinese military personnel, Zhou Enlai made a big speech. On behalf of the Chinese people, he presented the banner to the Soviet military. Words of gratitude to the Soviet people and their army were embroidered on it.

In December 1949 and February 1950, at the Sino-Soviet talks in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of Chinese navy"in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of the Soviet ships to China, prepare a plan for a landing operation on Taiwan at the Soviet General Staff and send an air defense grouping and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists to the PRC.

In 1949, the 7th BAK was reorganized into the 83rd mixed air corps.

In January 1950, Hero of the Soviet Union General Yu. B. Rykachev was appointed commander of the corps.

The further fate of the corps was as follows: in 1950, the 179th infantry regiment was reassigned to the aviation of the Pacific Fleet, but it was based in the same place. The 860th bap became the 1540th mtap. Then the shad was brought to the USSR. When the MiG-15 regiment was deployed in Sanshilipu, the mine-torpedo regiment was transferred to the Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on La-9 and mixed on Tu-2 and Il-10) moved to Shanghai in 1950 and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.

On February 14, 1950, the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance was signed. At that time, Soviet bomber aircraft were already based in Harbin.

On February 17, 1950, a task force of the Soviet military arrived in China, consisting of: Colonel General Batitsky P.F., Vysotsky B.A., Yakushin M.N., Spiridonov S.L., General Slyusarev (Transbaikal Military District). and a number of other specialists.

On February 20, Colonel General Batitsky P.F. with his deputies met with Mao Zedong, who had returned from Moscow the day before.

The Kuomintang regime, which has entrenched itself in Taiwan under the protection of the United States, is being intensively equipped with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to deliver strikes against major cities of the PRC. By 1950, there was a direct threat to the largest industrial and shopping center- Shanghai.

Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the government of the PRC, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decides to create an air defense group and send it to the PRC to carry out an international combat mission of organizing air defense in Shanghai and conducting combat operations; - appoint Lieutenant General Batitsky P.F. as commander of the air defense group, General Slyusarev S.A. as deputy, Colonel Vysotsky B.A. as chief of staff, Colonel Baksheev P.A. as deputy for political affairs, Colonel Yakushin as commander of fighter aircraft M.N., head of logistics - Colonel Mironov M.V.

The air defense of Shanghai was carried out by the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel S. L. Spiridonov, the chief of staff, Colonel Antonov, as well as units of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlight, radio engineering and rear formed from the troops of the Moscow Military District.

The combat strength of the air defense group included: [source not specified 445 days]

• three Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments of medium caliber, armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, POISO-3 and rangefinders.
• anti-aircraft regiment of small caliber, armed with Soviet 37-mm guns.
• fighter aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander lieutenant colonel Pashkevich).
• the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft relocated by flight from the Dalniy airfield.
• anti-aircraft searchlight regiment (ZPr) ​​- commander Colonel Lysenko.
• radio engineering battalion (RTB).
• airfield battalions Maintenance(ATO) relocated one from the Moscow region, the second from the Far.

During the period of deployment of troops, mainly wired communications were used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding radio stations of the group. The urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used to organize telephone communications in combat formations. Radio communication was deployed only partially. The control receivers, which worked to listen to the enemy, were mounted together with the anti-aircraft artillery radio units. The radio networks were preparing to act in the event of a wire communication failure. Signalers provided access from the group's communications center to the international station of Shanghai and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.

Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese planes appeared freely and with impunity in airspace Eastern China. From April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.

During the period from April to October 1950, Shanghai's air defense was put on alert a total of about fifty times, when anti-aircraft artillery opened fire and fighters rose to intercept. In total, during this time, three bombers were destroyed and four bombers were shot down by Shanghai air defense systems. Two aircraft voluntarily flew to the side of the PRC. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another Kuomintang B-24 aircraft.

In September 1950, General P.F. Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead of him, his deputy, General S. V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, Moscow received an order to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese command of the Air Force and Air Defense. By mid-November 1953, the training program was completed.

With the outbreak of the war in Korea, by agreement between the government of the USSR and the PRC, large Soviet aviation units were deployed in the Northeast of China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from attacks by American bombers. the Soviet Union accepted necessary measures to build up its armed forces in the Far East, to further strengthen and develop the naval base of Port Arthur. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and in particular Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government turned to the Soviet leadership with a request to postpone the transfer of this base from joint control with the USSR to the full disposal of the PRC. The request was granted.

On October 4, 1950, 11 American aircraft shot down a Soviet A-20 Pacific Fleet reconnaissance aircraft, which was performing a scheduled flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American planes attacked the Soviet airfield in Primorye Dry River. 8 Soviet aircraft were damaged. These incidents exacerbated the already tense situation on the border with Korea, where additional units of the Air Force, Air Defense and Ground Forces of the USSR were deployed.

The entire grouping of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the warring North Korea, but also as a powerful potential "shock fist" against American troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the ground forces of the USSR with the families of officers on Liaodong amounted to more than 100,000 people. 4 armored trains ran in the Port Arthur area.

By the beginning of hostilities, the Soviet aviation group in China consisted of 83 mixed air corps (2 iad, 2 bad, 1 shad); 1 IAP of the Navy, 1 tap of the Navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense squadrons (2 IAP, 1 sbshap) arrived. From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.

In total, during the period of the war in Korea and the ensuing Kaesong negotiations, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.

The corps in different periods was commanded by major generals of aviation I. V. Belov, G. A. Lobov and lieutenant general of aviation S. V. Slyusarev.

The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel of the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps included 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.

According to Soviet data, from November 1950 to July 1953, Soviet fighters shot down 1,106 enemy aircraft in 1,872 air battles. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and 1259 enemy aircraft were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC various types. Losses of aircraft in air battles conducted by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. Soviet aviation divisions that participated in repelling US air raids lost 120 pilots. Losses of anti-aircraft artillery in personnel 68 people were killed and 165 wounded. The total losses of the contingent of Soviet troops in Korea amounted to 299 people, of which 138 officers, sergeants and soldiers - 161. As Major General of Aviation A. Kalugin recalled, “until the end of 1954 we were on combat duty, flew out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened daily and several times a day.

In 1950, the chief military adviser and at the same time the military attache in China was Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A. V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel General Aviation S. A. Krasovsky.

The chief military adviser was subordinate to the senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - major general of artillery M. A. Nikolsky, in armored forces - major general of tank troops G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - major general of artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in air force forces - Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in the Navy - Rear Admiral A. V. Kuzmin.

Soviet military assistance had a significant impact on the course of hostilities in Korea. For example, the assistance provided by Soviet sailors to the Korean Navy (senior naval adviser in the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists in coastal waters more than 3 thousand Soviet-made mines were delivered. The first US ship to hit a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Brahm. The second to hit a contact mine was the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Megpay". In addition to them, the mines blew up and sank a patrol ship and 7 minesweepers.

The participation of the Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And yet, throughout the war, Soviet troops were stationed in North Korea, a total of about 40,000 servicemen. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and servicemen of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (IAK). The total number of specialists was 4293 people (including 4020 military personnel and 273 civilians), most of whom were in the country until the start of the Korean War. The advisers were attached to the commanders of the armed forces and the chiefs of services of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and separate infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, separate combat and training units, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.

Veniamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese doodles". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families didn’t even know about it.”

The researcher of the combat operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China, I. A. Seidov, notes: “In the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers.”

V. Smirnov testifies: "An old-timer of Dalyan, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and Soviet soldiers gave him the name Zhora), said that Soviet pilots, tankers, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in the cemetery in Port Arthur.

The work of Soviet military advisers was highly appreciated by the government of the DPRK. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for their selfless work "in assisting the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selflessly devoting their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples." Due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was “officially” prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that from September to December 1951, the 52nd Zenad conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.

On May 15, 1954, the US government published documents that set the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the given data, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were in the North Korean army. Two months before the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 men.

American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B. S. Abakumov, controlled the operation of Soviet air units. Every month, North Korea and China were bombarded with big number saboteurs with various tasks, including the capture of one of the Russians to prove their presence in the country. The American scouts were equipped with first-class technology for transmitting information and could mask radio equipment under the water of the rice fields. Thanks to the high-quality and efficient work of the agents, the enemy side was often informed even about the departures of Soviet aircraft, up to the designation of their tail numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army Samochelyaev F.E., commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took to the air, the enemy radio station immediately began to work. It was extremely difficult to catch the gunner. They knew the area well and skillfully disguised themselves.

American and Kuomintang intelligence agencies were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the "Research Bureau for Far Eastern Issues" was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek gave a secret order to create special units in Southeast China to carry out terrorist acts against Soviet specialists. In particular, it said: "... to widely deploy terrorist actions against Soviet military and technical specialists and important military and political communist workers in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents from Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet soldiers on Chinese women. These scenes were photographed and presented in print as acts of violence against local residents. One of the sabotage groups was uncovered in the aviation training center for preparing for flights on jet technology in the territory of the PRC.

According to veterans of the 39th Army, "saboteurs from the nationalist gangs of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang attacked Soviet servicemen while on guard duty at distant sites." Constant direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation required constant high combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was continuously conducted. Conducted joint exercises with units of the PLA.

Since July 1951, new divisions began to be created in the North China District and old divisions were reorganized, including the Korean divisions withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions for the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a self-propelled tank regiment. With their active help, the combat training all parts and departments. The advisers to the commanders of these infantry divisions in the North China Military District (in 1950-1953) were: Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Pomazkov; Colonel N. P. Katkov, V. T. Yaglenko. N. S. Loboda. Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Nikiforov, Colonel I. D. Ivlev and others were advisers to the commanders of the tank-self-propelled regiments.

On January 27, 1952, US President Truman wrote in his personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution now would be a ten-day ultimatum informing Moscow that we intend to blockade the Chinese coast from the Korean border to Indochina and that we intend to destroy all military bases in Manchuria ... We will destroy all ports or cities in order to achieve our peaceful goals ... This means a general war. This means that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Dairen, Odessa and Stalingrad and all industrial enterprises in China and the Soviet Union will be wiped out. This is the last chance for the Soviet government to decide whether it deserves to exist or not!

Anticipating such a development of events, iodine preparations were issued to Soviet servicemen in case of an atomic bombing. Water was allowed to drink only from flasks filled in parts.

The facts of the use of bacteriological and chemical weapons by the UN coalition forces received a wide response in the world. As the publications of those years reported, both the positions of the Korean-Chinese troops and areas remote from the front line. In total, according to Chinese scientists, 804 bacteriological raids were carried out by the Americans in two months. These facts are also confirmed by Soviet servicemen - veterans of the Korean War. Bersenev recalls: “B-29s were bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies infected with various diseases. The whole earth was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze curtains. We were constantly given prophylactic injections, but many still fell ill. And some of our people died in the bombings.”

On the afternoon of August 5, 1952, a raid was made on command post Kim Il Sung. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans made the largest raid on the complex of hydraulic structures on the Yalu River, in which more than five hundred bombers participated. As a result, almost all of North Korea and parts of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities denied this act, carried out under the flag of the United Nations, by protesting.

On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of an employee of the embassy V. A. Tarasov, the first bombs were dropped at two in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs of two hundred kilograms each were dropped.

On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Treaty (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), the Soviet Il-12 military aircraft, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur heading for Vladivostok. Flying over the spurs of the Great Khingan, he was suddenly attacked by 4 American fighters, as a result of which an unarmed Il-12 with 21 people on board, including crew members, was shot down.

In October 1953, Lieutenant General V.I. Shevtsov was appointed commander of the 39th Army. He commanded the army until May 1955.

Soviet units that participated in the hostilities in Korea and China

The following Soviet units are known to have taken part in hostilities on the territory of Korea and China: the 64th IAK, the GVS Inspection Department, the Special Communications Department under the GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok - Port Arthur route; Heijin reconnaissance point, the HF station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, the broadcasting point in Ranan and the communications company that served the communication lines with the USSR embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communications with the General Staff of the Soviet Army. Until January 1951, North Korea was also separate company connections. 06/13/1951 the 10th anti-aircraft searchlight regiment arrived in the combat area. He was in Korea (Andun) until the end of November 1952 and was relieved by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals ran on the railway and the 3rd railway operational regiment operated. Combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, and Soviet medical institutions.

As well as parts and connections Pacific Fleet: ships of the Seisin naval base, 781st IAP, 593rd separate transport aviation regiment, 1744th long-range reconnaissance aviation squadron, 36th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, 1534th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, cable ship "Plastun", 27 - Laboratory of Aviation Medicine.

Locations

In Port Arthur, the headquarters of the 113th Rifle Division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (338th Rifle Division - in the Port Arthur, Dalniy sector, 358th Rifle Division from Dalniy to the northern border of the zone, 262nd Rifle Division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st Artillery Corps, 150 UR, 139 April, Communications Regiment, Artillery Regiment, 48th Guards SME, Air Defense Regiment, IAP, ATO battalion The editorial office of the newspaper of the 39th Army "Son of the Motherland" After the war, it became known as "Vo Glory to the Motherland!", editor - Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Krasovsky. Base of the USSR Navy. Hospital 29 BCP.

In the area of ​​​​the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards were stationed. sk Lieutenant General L. N. Alekseev, 19, 91 and 17th Guards. rifle division under the command of Major General Yevgeny Leonidovich Korkuts. Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Strashnenko. The division included the 21st separate communications battalion, on the basis of which Chinese volunteers were trained. 26th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, 46th Guards Mortar Regiment, units of the 6th Breakthrough Artillery Division, Pacific Fleet Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment.

In Far - the 33rd cannon division, the headquarters of the 7th BAC, aviation units, the 14th zenad, the 119th rifle regiment guarded the port. Parts of the Soviet Navy. In the 50s, Soviet specialists built a modern hospital for the PLA in a convenient coastal zone. This hospital still exists today.

In Sanshilipu - air units.

In the area of ​​the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou - the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division, aviation units (at the airfields of Jianwan and Dachang), VNOS posts (at the points of Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Congjiaolu).

In the area of ​​​​the city of Andun - the 19th Guards. rifle division, air units, 10th, 20th anti-aircraft searchlight regiments.

In the area of ​​​​the city of Yingchenzi - the 7th fur. division of Lieutenant General F. G. Katkov, part of the 6th breakthrough artillery division.

In the area of ​​​​the city of Nanchan - air units.

In the area of ​​​​the city of Harbin - air units.

In the Beijing area - the 300th air regiment.

Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.

In the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city of Qiqihar - air units.

In the area of ​​​​the city of Myagou - air units.

Losses and losses

The Soviet-Japanese war of 1945. The dead - 12,031 people, sanitary - 24,425 people.

During the period of fulfillment by Soviet military specialists of international duty in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died, died from wounds and diseases. Of these, officers - 155, sergeants - 216, soldiers - 521 and 44 people. - from the number civilian specialists. The graves of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.

War in Korea (1950-1953). The total irretrievable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which 168 officers, 147 sergeants and soldiers.

The figures for Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly from different sources. Thus, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens were buried in the cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 (the cities of Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992 - 723 people. In total, for the period from 1945 to 1956, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried on the Liaodong Peninsula (of which 104 were unknown), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992 - 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for Soviet losses, complete data on this is still not available. From many literary sources, including memoirs, it is known that Soviet advisers, anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, medical workers, diplomats, and other specialists who provided assistance to North Korea died during the Korean War.

There are 58 burial sites of Soviet and Russian soldiers in China. More than 18 thousand died during the liberation of China from the Japanese invaders and after WWII.

The ashes of more than 14,500 Soviet soldiers rest on the territory of the PRC; at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.

With regard to accounting for the loss of Soviet civilians in China, detailed information is not available. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. The children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948 are buried here, mostly one or two years old.

Many believe that the participation of the USSR in the war of 1941-1945 ended in May 1945. But this is not so, because after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan in August 1945 and the victorious campaign in the Far East were of the most important military and political significance.
The USSR was returned to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands; in a short time, the millionth Kwantung Army was defeated, which hastened the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II.

In August 1945, the Japanese armed forces numbered about 7 million people. and 10 thousand aircraft, while the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific zone had about 1.8 million people. and 5 thousand aircraft. If the USSR had not entered the war, the main forces of the Kwantung Army could have been concentrated against the Americans, and then the fighting would have continued for another two years and, accordingly, losses would have increased, especially since the Japanese command intended to fight to the end (and was already preparing to use bacteriological weapons). War Minister Tojo declared: “If the white devils dare to land on our islands, then the Japanese spirit will go to the great citadel - Manchuria. In Manchuria, the valiant Kwantung Army is untouched, an indestructible military foothold. In Manchuria we will resist for at least a hundred years.” In early August 1945, the United States even went so far as to use atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But despite this, Japan was still not going to capitulate. It was clear that without the entry of the USSR, the war would drag on.
The Allies recognized the decisive importance of the USSR's entry into the war against Japan. They claimed that only the Red Army was capable of defeating Japan's ground forces. But in order to enter the war with Japan, the USSR also had its own vital interests. Japan has been hatching plans for the capture of the Soviet Far East for many years. They almost constantly staged military provocations on our borders. On their strategic bridgeheads in Manchuria, they kept large military forces ready to attack the Land of the Soviets.


The situation became especially aggravated when fascist Germany unleashed a war against our Motherland. In 1941, after the start of World War II, the Kwantung Army (about 40 divisions, which is significantly more than in the entire Pacific zone), in accordance with the Kantokuen plan approved by the Japanese command, deployed on the Manchurian border and in Korea, waiting for the right moment to start combat operations against the USSR, depending on the situation on the Soviet-German front. On April 5, 1945, the USSR denounced the neutrality pact between the USSR and Japan. July 26, 1945 at the Potsdam Conference, the United States formally formulates the terms of Japan's surrender. Japan refuses to accept them. On August 8, the USSR announced to the Japanese ambassador that it had joined the Potsdam Declaration and declared war on Japan.


By the beginning of the Manchurian operation, a large strategic grouping of Japanese, Manchurian and Mengjiang troops was concentrated on the territory of Manchukuo and North Korea. Its basis was the Kwantung Army (General Yamada), which doubled its strength during the summer of 1945. The Japanese command kept in Manchuria and Korea two-thirds of its tanks, half of the artillery and selected imperial divisions, it also had bacteriological weapons, prepared for use against Soviet troops. In total, the enemy troops numbered over 1 million 300 thousand people, 6260 guns and mortars, 1155 tanks, 1900 aircraft, 25 ships.


The USSR began military operations against Japan exactly 3 months after the surrender of Germany. But between the defeat of Germany and the beginning of hostilities against Japan, the gap in time was only for non-military people. All these three months, a lot of work has been going on in planning the operation, regrouping troops and preparing them for combat operations. 400 thousand people, 7 thousand guns and mortars, 2 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 1100 aircraft. In the order of operational camouflage, first of all, those divisions were transferred, which in 1941-1942. were removed from the Far East. The preparation of the strategic operation was carried out in advance.


August 3, 1945 Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky, appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces in the Far East, and Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army A.I. Antonov reported to Stalin the final plan of the Manchurian strategic operation. Vasilevsky proposed to launch an offensive only with the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front, and in the zones of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, only reconnaissance in force should be carried out so that the main forces of these fronts would go on the offensive in 5-7 days. Stalin did not agree with such a proposal and ordered to launch an offensive simultaneously on all fronts. As subsequent events showed, such a decision by the Stavka was more expedient, since the transition of the fronts to the offensive at different times deprived the Far Eastern Fronts of surprise actions and allowed the command of the Kwantung Army to maneuver forces and means for successive strikes in the Mongolian and coastal directions.

On the night of August 9, advanced battalions and reconnaissance detachments of three fronts, in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, which brings frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory. The forward battalions, accompanied by border guards, silently crossed the border without opening fire and in a number of places captured the enemy's long-term defensive structures even before the Japanese crews had time to occupy them and open fire. At dawn, the main forces of the Trans-Baikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts went on the offensive and crossed the state border.


This created the conditions for the rapid advance of the main forces of the first-echelon divisions into the depths of the enemy's defenses. In some places, for example, in the Grodekovo region, where the Japanese managed to timely detect the advance of our forward battalions and take up defenses, the fighting dragged on. But such knots of resistance were skillfully handled by our troops.
From some pillboxes, the Japanese continued to fire for 7-8 days.
On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic entered the war. The joint offensive with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army developed successfully from the very first hours. The suddenness and strength of the initial strikes allowed the Soviet troops to immediately seize the initiative. In the government of Japan, the beginning of military operations by the Soviet Union caused a panic. “The entry into the war of the Soviet Union this morning,” Prime Minister Suzuki declared on August 9, “puts us in a final stalemate and makes it impossible to continue the war.”


Such a high rate of offensive by Soviet troops operating in separate, disparate operational axes became possible only thanks to a carefully thought-out grouping of troops, knowledge of the natural features of the terrain and the nature of the enemy’s defense system in each operational axe, the wide and bold use of tank, mechanized and cavalry formations, surprise attacks, high offensive impulse, resolute to the point of insolence and exceptionally skillful actions, courage and mass heroism of the soldiers of the Red Army and sailors.
In the face of imminent military defeat, on August 14, the Japanese government decided to capitulate. The next day, Prime Minister Suzuki's cabinet fell. However, the troops of the Kwantung Army continued to stubbornly resist. In this regard, on August 16, an explanation of the General Staff of the Red Army was published in the Soviet press, which stated:
"I. The Japanese Emperor's announcement of the surrender of Japan on August 14 is only a general declaration of unconditional surrender.
The order to the armed forces to cease hostilities has not yet been issued, and the Japanese armed forces are still continuing to resist.
Consequently, there is no real surrender of the Japanese armed forces yet.
2. The surrender of the armed forces of Japan can be considered only from the moment when the Japanese emperor gives an order to his armed forces to stop hostilities and lay down their arms, and when this order is practically carried out.
3. In view of the foregoing, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in the Far East will continue their offensive operations against Japan.
In the following days, the Soviet troops, developing the offensive, rapidly increased its pace. Military operations for the liberation of Korea, which were part of the campaign of Soviet troops in the Far East, were successfully developing.
On August 17, having finally lost control of scattered troops and realizing the futility of further resistance, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, General Otozo Yamada, gave the order to begin negotiations with the Soviet High Command in the Far East.

At 5 p.m. on August 17, a radiogram was received from the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army stating that he had ordered the Japanese troops to immediately cease hostilities and hand over their weapons to the Soviet troops, and at 7 p.m. two pennants were dropped from a Japanese aircraft into the location of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front with the appeal of the headquarters of the 1st Front of the Kwantung Army on the cessation of hostilities. However, in most sectors, the Japanese troops not only continued to resist, but in places went over to counterattacks.
To speed up the disarmament of the surrendered Japanese troops and the liberation of the territories they had captured, on August 18, Marshal Vasilevsky gave the following order to the troops of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts:
“Due to the fact that the resistance of the Japanese is broken, and the difficult condition of the roads greatly hinders the rapid advance of the main forces of our troops in carrying out the assigned tasks, it is necessary to immediately capture the cities of Changchun, Mukden, Jilin and Harbin to go over to the actions of specially formed, fast-moving and well-equipped detachments . The same detachments or similar ones should also be used to solve subsequent tasks, without fear of a sharp separation from their main forces.


On August 19, Japanese troops almost everywhere began to capitulate. 148 Japanese generals, 594 thousand officers and soldiers were captured. By the end of August, the disarmament of the Kwantung Army and other enemy forces stationed in Manchuria and North Korea was completely completed. Operations to liberate South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were successfully completed.


During the operation, many difficult military-political moments arose not only for the high command, but also for the commanders, headquarters and political agencies of formations and units due to the constantly emerging confrontational situations and clashes between the People's Liberation Army of China and the Kuomintang troops, various political groups in Korea , between the Chinese, Korean and Japanese populations. It required constant, hard work at all levels in order to resolve all these issues in a timely manner.


On the whole, careful and comprehensive preparation, precise and skillful command and control of troops during the offensive ensured the successful conduct of this major strategic operation. As a result, the millionth Kwantung Army was completely defeated. Its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, more than 15 thousand died from wounds and diseases on the territory of Manchuria, about 600 thousand were taken prisoner. The irretrievable losses of our troops amounted to 12 thousand people.

The enemy strike forces were utterly defeated. The Japanese militarists lost their springboards for aggression and their main bases for supplying raw materials and weapons in China, Korea and South Sakhalin. The collapse of the Kwantung Army hastened the surrender of Japan as a whole. The end of the war in the Far East prevented further extermination and plunder by the Japanese invaders of the peoples of East and Southeast Asia, accelerated the surrender of Japan and led to the complete end of World War II.