The Soviet-Japanese War began in 1945. After the capitulation of fascist Germany, the military-political situation of its partner Japan deteriorated sharply. Having superiority in naval forces, the United States and England reached the near approaches to this state. However, the Japanese rejected the ultimatum from the United States, Britain and China to surrender.
The Soviets gave their consent to America and England to enter into hostilities against Japan - after Germany was completely defeated. The date for the entry of the Soviet Union into the war was named at the Crimean Conference of the Three Allied Powers in February 1945. This was supposed to happen three months after the victory over Germany. Preparations began for a military campaign in the Far East.
"At war with Japan..."
Three fronts were to enter into hostilities - the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2-1 Far Eastern. The Pacific Fleet, the Red Banner Amur Flotilla, and the border air defense troops were also to participate in the war. During the period of preparation for the operation, the number of the entire group increased and amounted to 1.747 thousand people. These were serious forces. 600 rocket launchers, 900 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were put into service.
What forces opposed Japan? The basis of the grouping of Japanese and puppet forces was the Kwantung Army. It consisted of 24 infantry divisions, 9 mixed brigades, 2 tank brigades and a suicide brigade. From weapons there were 1215 tanks, 6640 guns and mortars, 26 ships and 1907 combat aircraft. The total number of troops was more than a million people.
To direct military operations, the State Defense Committee of the USSR decided to create the High Command of the Soviet troops in the Far East. It was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. On August 8, 1945, a statement of the Soviet government was published. It stated that from August 9, the USSR would consider itself at war with Japan.
Start of hostilities
On the night of August 9, all units and formations received the Statement of the Soviet government, appeals from the military councils of the fronts and armies, and combat orders to go on the offensive. The military campaign included the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the South Sakhalin offensive and the Kuril landing operation.
The main component of the war - the Manchurian strategic offensive operation - was carried out by the forces of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla entered into close cooperation with them. The outlined plan was grandiose in scale: the encirclement of the enemy was planned on a territory of one and a half million square kilometers.
And so the hostilities began. The enemy communications linking Korea and Manchuria with Japan were cut by the Pacific Fleet. Aviation also delivered strikes against military installations, areas of concentration of troops, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border zone. The troops of the Trans-Baikal Front marched through the waterless desert-steppe regions, overcame the Great Khingan mountain range and defeated the enemy in the Kalgan, Solun and Hailar directions, on August 18 they reached the approaches to Manchuria.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front (commander K.A. Meretskov) overcame the strip of border fortified troops. They not only repulsed strong enemy counterattacks in the Mudanjiang region, but also liberated the territory of North Korea. The Amur and Ussuri rivers were forced by the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (commander M.A. Purkaev). Then they broke through the enemy defenses in the Sakhalyan region and overcame the Lesser Khingan ridge. After the Soviet troops reached the Central Manchurian Plain, they divided the Japanese forces into isolated groups and completed the maneuver around them. On August 19, Japanese troops began to surrender.
Kuril landing and South Sakhalin offensive operations
As a result of the successful military operations of the Soviet troops in Manchuria and South Sakhalin, conditions were created for the liberation of the Kuril Islands. The Kuril landing operation lasted from August 18 to September 1. It began with a landing on the island of Shumshu. The garrison of the island outnumbered the Soviet forces, but on August 23 he capitulated. Following on August 22-28, our troops landed on other islands in the northern part of the ridge up to Urup Island (inclusive). Then the islands of the southern part of the ridge were occupied.
On August 11-25, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front carried out an operation to liberate South Sakhalin. 18,320 Japanese soldiers and officers surrendered to the Soviet army after it captured all the heavily fortified strongholds in the border zone, defended by the forces of the 88th Japanese Infantry Division, units of the border gendarmerie and detachments of reservists. On September 2, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed. This happened aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On behalf of Japan, it was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Shigemitsu, Chief of the General Staff of Japan Umezu, and on behalf of the USSR by Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.
The million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated. The Second World War of 1939-1945 was over. On the Japanese side, the loss of the dead amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand people were taken prisoner. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people (according to Soviet data).
The Soviet-Japanese War was of great political and military importance.
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. Historians have repeatedly stated that without the entry into the war of the USSR, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.
It may seem strange, but for Russia today World War II is not yet completely over. The country does not have a peace treaty with one of the countries of the aggressive bloc. The reason is territorial issues.
This country is the Japanese Empire, the territory is the South Kuriles (they are now on everyone's lips). But is it really that they were not so divided by two great countries that they got involved in the world slaughter for the sake of these sea rocks?
No, naturally. The Soviet-Japanese War (it is correct to say that, since in 1945 Russia did not act as a separate subject of international politics, acting exclusively as the main, but still only a constituent part of the USSR) had deep reasons that appeared far from 1945. And no one then thought that the “Kuril issue” would drag on for so long. Briefly about the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 will be told to the reader in the article.
5 laps
The reasons for the militarization of the Japanese Empire at the beginning of the 20th century are understandable - rapid industrial development, coupled with territorial and resource limitations. The country needed food, coal, metal. All of this was in the neighborhood. But they did not want to share just like that, and at that time no one considered war to be an unacceptable way to resolve international issues.
The first attempt was made in 1904-1905. Russia then shamefully lost to a tiny, but disciplined and cohesive island state, having lost Port Arthur (everyone heard about it) and the southern part of Sakhalin in the Portsmouth Peace. And even then, such small losses became possible only thanks to the diplomatic talents of the future Prime Minister S. Yu. Witte (although he was nicknamed “Count Polusakhalinsky” for this, the fact remains).
In the 20s, in the Land of the Rising Sun, maps were printed, called "5 Circles of Japan's National Interests." There, in different colors in the form of stylized concentric rings, territories were designated that the ruling circles of the country considered it right to conquer and annex. These circles captured, including almost the entire Asian part of the USSR.
Three tankers
In the late 1930s, Japan, which had already successfully waged wars of conquest in Korea and China, "tested the strength" of the USSR as well. There were conflicts in the area of Khalkhin Gol and on Lake Khasan.
It turned out bad. The Far Eastern conflicts laid the foundation for the brilliant career of the future “Marshal of Victory” G.K. Zhukov, and the entire USSR sang a song about three tankmen from the banks of the Amur, where there was a phrase about samurai under the pressure of steel and fire (later it was redone, but the original version is exactly that) .
Although Japan agreed with its allies on the distribution of future spheres of influence under the Anti-Comintern Pact (also called the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis, although it takes a lot of imagination to understand how the axis looks like in the understanding of the author of such a term), it did not specify when exactly each side must take its own.
The Japanese authorities did not consider themselves so bound by obligations, and the events in the Far East showed them that the USSR was a dangerous adversary. Therefore, in 1940, an agreement was concluded between the two countries on neutrality in the event of war, and in 1941, when Germany attacked the USSR, Japan chose to deal with Pacific issues.
Allied debt
But the USSR also did not have much respect for treaties, therefore, within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition, talk immediately began about its entry into the war with Japan (the United States was shocked by Pearl Harbor, and England was afraid for its colonies in South Asia). During the Tehran Conference (1943), a preliminary agreement was reached on the entry of the USSR into the war in the Far East after the defeat of Germany in Europe. The final decision was made during the Yalta Conference, when it was announced that the USSR would declare war on Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Hitler.
But the USSR was not led by philanthropists. The country's leadership had its own interest in this matter, and not only provided assistance to the allies. For participation in the war, they were promised the return of Port Arthur, Harbin, South Sakhalin and the Kuril ridge (transferred to Japan under an agreement by the tsarist government).
Atomic blackmail
There was another good reason for the Soviet-Japanese War. By the time the war in Europe ended, it was already clear that the Anti-Hitler coalition was fragile, so that soon the allies would turn into enemies. At the same time, the Red Army of “Comrade Mao” fought fearlessly in China. The relationship between him and Stalin is a complex issue, but there was no time for ambition, since it was about the possibility of grandly expanding the space controlled by the communists at the expense of China. It took a little for this - to defeat the almost one million Kwantung Japanese army stationed in Manchuria.
The United States, on the other hand, did not want to fight the Japanese face to face. Although their technical and numerical superiority allowed them to win at a low cost (for example, the landing on Okinawa in the spring of 1945), the spoiled Yankees were very frightened by military samurai morality. The Japanese equally cold-bloodedly cut off the heads of captured American officers with swords and made themselves hara-kiri. In Okinawa, there were almost 200 thousand Japanese dead, and a few prisoners - officers ripped their stomachs open, ordinary and local residents drowned themselves, but no one wanted to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Yes, and the famous kamikaze was taken, rather, by moral influence - they did not achieve their goals very often.
Therefore, the United States went the other way - atomic blackmail. There was not a single military in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atomic bombs destroyed 380 thousand (in total) of the civilian population. The atomic "scarecrow" was supposed to restrain Soviet ambitions.
Realizing that Japan would inevitably capitulate, many Western leaders were already regretting that they had embroiled the USSR in the Japanese question.
forced march
But in the USSR at that time, blackmailers were categorically not loved. The country denounced the neutrality pact and declared war on Japan right on time - August 8, 1945 (exactly 3 months after the defeat of Germany). It was already known not only about the successful atomic tests, but also about the fate of Hiroshima.
Prior to that, serious preparatory work had been carried out. Since 1940, the Far Eastern Front existed, but it did not conduct hostilities. After the defeat of Hitler, the USSR carried out a unique maneuver - 39 brigades and divisions (tank and 3 combined arms armies) were transferred from Europe along the only railway line of the Trans-Siberian during May-July, which amounted to about half a million people, more than 7000 guns and more than 2000 tanks. It was an incredible indicator of moving so many people and equipment over such a distance in such a short time and in such adverse conditions.
The command also picked up a decent one. General management was carried out by Marshal A. M. Vasilevsky. And the main blow to the Kwantung Army was to be delivered by R. Ya. Malinovsky. Mongolian units fought in alliance with the USSR.
Excellence is different
As a result of the successful transfer of troops, the USSR achieved unequivocal superiority over the Japanese in the Far East. The Kwantung Army numbered about 1 million soldiers (rather, somewhat less, since the units were understaffed) and was provided with equipment and ammunition. But the equipment was outdated (compared to the Soviet one, then the pre-war model), and among the soldiers there were many recruits, as well as forcibly drafted representatives of the conquered nationalities.
The USSR, having combined the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front and the arriving units, could field up to 1.5 million people. And most of them were experienced, shelled front-line soldiers who went through the Crimea and Rome on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Suffice it to say that 3 departments and 3 divisions of the NKVD troops took part in the hostilities. And only the victims of the "revealing" articles of the 90s can believe that these units only knew how to shoot the wounded, trying to go to the rear or suspect honest people of betrayal. Anything happened, of course, but ... There were no detachments behind the NKVD - they themselves never retreated. These were very combat-ready, well-trained troops.
Take in pincers
This aviation term best describes the strategic plan called the Manchurian operation of R. Ya. Malinovsky to defeat the Kwantung Army. It was assumed that a simultaneous very powerful blow would be delivered in several directions, which would demoralize and split the enemy.
So it was. Japanese General Otsuzo Yamada was amazed when it turned out that the guardsmen of the 6th Panzer Army were able to overcome the Gobi and the Greater Khingan in 3 days, advancing from the territory of Mongolia. The mountains were steep, moreover, the rainy season spoiled the roads and brought mountain rivers out of their banks. But the Soviet tankers, who were almost able to carry their vehicles on their hands through the Belarusian swamps during Operation Bagration, could not be prevented by some streams and rain!
At the same time, strikes were launched from Primorye and from the Amur and Ussuri regions. This was how the Manchurian operation was carried out - the main one in the entire Japanese campaign.
8 days that shook the Far East
That is how much (from August 12 to August 20) the main hostilities of the Russo-Japanese War (1945) took. A terrible simultaneous blow from three fronts (in some areas the Soviet troops managed to advance more than 100 km in one day!) split the Kwantung Army at once, deprived it of some of its communications, and demoralized it. The Pacific Fleet interrupted the communication of the Kwantung Army with Japan, the opportunity to receive help was lost, and even contacts were limited in general (there was also a minus - many groups of soldiers of the defeated army were not at all aware for a long time that they had been ordered to surrender). A mass desertion of recruits and forcibly drafted began; officers committed suicide. The "emperor" of the puppet state of Manchukuo Pu Yi and General Otsuzo were captured.
In turn, the USSR perfectly organized the supply of its units. Although it was possible to carry out this practically only with the help of aviation (huge distances and the absence of normal roads interfered), heavy transport aircraft did an excellent job. Soviet troops occupied vast territories in China, as well as the north of Korea (now North Korea). On August 15, Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, announced over the radio the need for surrender. The Kwantung Army received orders only on the 20th. But even before September 10, individual detachments continued hopeless resistance, trying to die undefeated.
The events of the Soviet-Japanese war continued to develop at a rapid pace. Simultaneously with the actions on the continent, steps were taken to defeat the Japanese garrisons on the islands. On August 11, the 2nd Far Eastern Front began operations in the south of Sakhalin. The main task was the capture of the Koton fortified area. Although the Japanese blew up the bridge, trying to prevent the tanks from breaking through, this did not help - it took the Soviet soldiers only one night to build a temporary crossing from improvised means. The battalion of Captain L.V. Smirnykh especially distinguished himself in the battles for the fortified area. He died there, receiving the posthumous title of Hero of the Soviet Union. At the same time, ships of the North Pacific Flotilla landed troops in the largest ports in the south of the island.
The fortified area was captured on August 17. The surrender of Japan (1945) took place on the 25th, after the last successful landing in the port of Korsakov. From it they tried to take valuable things home. The whole of Sakhalin was controlled by the USSR.
However, the South Sakhalin operation of 1945 was somewhat slower than planned by Marshal Vasilevsky. As a result, the landing on the island of Hokkaido and its occupation did not take place, about which the marshal gave orders on August 18.
Kuril landing operation
The islands of the Kuril chain were also captured by amphibious landings. The Kuril landing operation lasted from August 18 to September 1. At the same time, in fact, battles were fought only for the northern islands, although military garrisons were located on all. But after fierce battles for the island of Shumshu, the commander of the Japanese troops in the Kuriles, Fusaki Tsutsumi, who was there, agreed to capitulate and surrendered himself. After that, the Soviet paratroopers no longer encountered any significant resistance on the islands.
On August 23-24, the Northern Kuriles were occupied, and on the 22nd, the occupation of the southern islands also began. In all cases, the Soviet command allocated landing units for this purpose, but more often the Japanese surrendered without a fight. The largest forces were allocated to occupy the island of Kunashir (this name is now well-known), since it was decided to create a military base there. But Kunashir also surrendered virtually without a fight. Several small garrisons managed to evacuate to their homeland.
Battleship Missouri
And on September 2, the final surrender of Japan (1945) was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri. This fact marked the end of World War II (not to be confused with the Great Patriotic War!). The USSR was represented at the ceremony by General K. Derevyanko.
Little blood
For such a large-scale event, the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 (you learned briefly about it from the article) cost the USSR inexpensively. In total, the number of victims is estimated at 36.5 thousand people, of which a little more than 21 thousand died.
Japanese losses in the Soviet-Japanese War were more extensive. They had more than 80 thousand dead, more than 600 thousand were taken prisoner. Approximately 60 thousand prisoners died, the rest were almost all repatriated even before the signing of the San Francisco peace. First of all, those soldiers of the Japanese army who were not Japanese by nationality were sent home. The exception was those participants in the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 who were convicted of war crimes. A significant part of them was handed over to China, and it was for that - the conquerors dealt with the participants of the Chinese Resistance, or at least those suspected of it, with medieval cruelty. Later in China, this topic was revealed in the legendary film "Red Kaoliang".
The disproportionate ratio of losses in the Russo-Japanese War (1945) is explained by the clear superiority of the USSR in technical equipment and the level of training of soldiers. Yes, the Japanese sometimes offered fierce resistance. At the height of Ostraya (Khotou fortified area), the garrison fought to the last bullet; the survivors committed suicide, not a single prisoner was taken. There were also suicide bombers who threw grenades under tanks or groups of Soviet soldiers.
But they did not take into account that they were not dealing with Americans who were very afraid of dying. Soviet fighters themselves knew how to close the loopholes with themselves, and it was not easy to scare them. Very soon they learned to detect and neutralize such kamikaze in time.
Down with the Portsmouth Shame
As a result of the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, the USSR got rid of the shame of the Peace of Portsmouth, which ended the hostilities of 1904-1905. He again owned the entire Kuril ridge and all of Sakhalin. The Kwantung Peninsula also passed to the USSR (this territory was then transferred to China by agreement after the proclamation of the PRC).
What else is the significance of the Soviet-Japanese War in our history? The victory in it also contributed to the spread of communist ideology, so successfully that the result outlived its creator. The USSR no longer exists, but the PRC and the DPRK do not exist, and they do not get tired of astonishing the world with their economic achievements and military power.
Unfinished War
But the most interesting thing is that the war with Japan is not actually over for Russia yet! A peace treaty between the two states does not exist to this day, and today's problems around the status of the Kuril Islands are a direct consequence of this.
The general peace treaty was signed in 1951 in San Francisco, but there was no sign of the USSR under it. The reason was just the Kuril Islands.
The fact is that the text of the treaty indicated that Japan was refusing them, but did not say to whom they should belong. This immediately created grounds for future conflicts, and for this reason the Soviet representatives did not sign the treaty.
However, it was impossible to be in a state of war forever, and in 1956 the two countries signed a declaration in Moscow to end this state. On the basis of this document, diplomatic and economic relations now exist between them. But a declaration to end the state of war is not a peace treaty. That is, the situation is half-hearted again!
The declaration stated that the USSR, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, agreed to transfer back to Japan several islands of the Kuril chain. But the Japanese government immediately began to demand the entire South Kuriles!
This story continues to this day. Russia continues it as the legal successor of the USSR.
In 2012, the head of one of the Japanese prefectures that was badly affected by the tsunami, in gratitude for Russian assistance in the aftermath of the disaster, presented President Vladimir Putin with a thoroughbred puppy. In response, the president gave the prefect a huge Siberian cat. The cat is now almost on the payroll of the prefect's office, and all the employees adore and respect him.
This cat's name is Mir. Maybe he can purr rapport between two great nations. Because wars must end, and after them it is necessary to make peace.
Questions:
1. The situation in the Far East. The general course of hostilities.
2. Results, lessons and significance of the war.
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is one of the most important milestones on the way to victory in World War II. In terms of its scale, scope, attracted forces and means, tension, results, military-political and strategic consequences, it belongs to the most important stages of the Second World War.
The surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe. But in the Far East and the Pacific Ocean, militaristic Japan continued to fight against the USA, Great Britain and other allies of the USSR in the Asia-Pacific region.
The entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan was conditioned by the allied obligations assumed by the USSR at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, as well as by the policy pursued by Japan towards the USSR. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, Japan provided all possible assistance to fascist Germany. She continuously reinforced her armed forces on the Soviet-Japanese border, thereby forcing the Soviet Union to keep there a large number of troops, much needed for use on the Soviet-German front; Japanese ships interfered in every possible way with normal Soviet shipping, attacking ships and detaining them. All this nullified the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact, concluded in April 1941. In this regard, the Soviet government in April 1945 denounced the said pact. On August 8, 1945, it made a statement that from August 9, the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan.
The political goals of the military campaign of the Soviet Union in the Far East were to eliminate the last hotbed of World War II as quickly as possible, to eliminate the threat of a Japanese attack on the USSR, to liberate the countries occupied by Japan together with the allies, and to restore world peace. The government of the USSR also pursued its own geopolitical goals (to return to the Soviet Union South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which had been torn away by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), to open a free exit for Soviet ships and vessels to the Pacific Ocean, etc., previously formulated For the Japanese government, the entry of the USSR into the war meant the loss of their last hope and their defeat both by military and diplomatic means.
The main military-strategic chain of the war was the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the liberation of Northeast China (Manchuria) and North Korea from the Japanese invaders. The solution of this problem was supposed to have an impact on the acceleration of the surrender of Japan and ensure success in the defeat of Japanese troops in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The general plan of the war was to defeat the Kwantung Army and capture the most important military-political and economic centers of Manchuria with the forces of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla. The main blows were supposed to be delivered from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) by the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front to the east and from the territory of the Soviet Primorye by the forces of the 1st Far Eastern Front to the west. In addition, it was planned to deliver two auxiliary strikes by the forces of the Trans-Baikal and the 1st Far Eastern fronts. The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the Amur military flotilla, striking in the Sungarian and Zhaohei directions, were supposed to pin down the enemy forces opposing him and thereby ensure the success of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern fronts.
The Pacific Fleet was supposed to disrupt enemy communications at sea, support the coastal flanks of troops and prevent enemy landings. Later, he was entrusted with the task, together with the 1st Far Eastern Front, to seize the ports of North Korea. The air forces of the fleet were supposed to strike at enemy ships and transports to prevent the supply of materiel for the Kwantung Army, to support combat operations of landing forces to seize the ports of North Korea.
The theater of the upcoming military operations covered the territory of Northeast China, part of Inner Mongolia, North Korea, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. The great honor of the territory of the Manchurian-Korean region is occupied by mountains (Great and Lesser Khingan, East Manchurian, North Korean, etc.) with a height of 1000-1900 m. The mountains of Northern and Western Manchuria are largely covered with forest, most of Inner Mongolia is occupied by semi-deserts and waterless steppes.
The grouping of Japanese troops in Manchuria, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands included the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 17th fronts, the 4th and 34th separate armies. The strongest was the Kwantung Army, located in Manchuria. It included the 1st and 3rd fronts, the 4th and 34th separate and 2nd air armies, the Sungari river flotilla (24 infantry divisions, 9 separate infantry and mixed brigades, a special forces brigade - suicide bombers, 2 tank brigades and air force). With the outbreak of hostilities, the 34th Separate Army was reassigned to the commander of the 17th (Korean) Front, which became part of the Kwantung Army on August 10, and the 5th Air Army was also included in it on August 10. In total, the grouping of Japanese troops concentrated near the Soviet borders consisted of four fronts and two separate armies, a military river flotilla and two air armies. It consisted of 817 thousand soldiers and officers (including puppet troops - more than 1 million people), over 1200 tanks, 6600 guns and mortars, 1900 combat aircraft and 26 ships.
Japanese troops were located in advance prepared positions. The most important areas were covered by 17 fortified areas. The coastal direction was most strongly fortified, and especially between the lake. Khanka and Posyet Bay. To reach the central regions of Manchuria and Korea, Soviet troops had to overcome mountainous-wooded, semi-desert and wooded-marshy terrain to a depth of 300 to 600 km.
The preparation of hostilities included a number of activities carried out in advance and immediately before their start. The main ones were the transfer of troops from the western regions and the creation of offensive groupings, the study and equipment of the theater of upcoming actions, the training of troops and the creation of stocks of materiel necessary for a strategic operation. Much attention was paid to the implementation of measures aimed at ensuring the surprise of the offensive (observance of secrecy in the preparation of the operation, concentration, regrouping and deployment of troops in the initial position, involvement of a limited circle of people in planning, etc.).
The Trans-Baikal (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya Malinovsky), the 1st Far Eastern (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov) and the 2nd Far Eastern (commanded by General of the Army M.L. Purkaea) fronts were involved in the Far Eastern campaign, as well as the Pacific Fleet (commander Admiral I.S. Yumashev), the Amur Military Flotilla (commander Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov) and units of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army (commander-in-chief Marshal X. Choibalsan). This grouping consisted of more than 1.7 million people, about 30 thousand guns and mortars (without anti-aircraft artillery), 5.25 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 5.2 thousand aircraft. 93 warships of the main classes. The general command of the troops was carried out by the High Command of the Soviet Forces in the Far East, specially created by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky).
On the eve of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan, on August 6 and 9, the United States used nuclear weapons for the first time in the history of mankind, dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although there was no military need for these bombings. The exact number of victims of the atomic bombings is still unknown, but it has been established that in total at least 500 thousand people suffered from them, including those killed, wounded, affected by radiation and subsequently died from radiation sickness. This barbaric act was intended to demonstrate the power of the United States, and not so much to achieve a military victory over Japan, but to put pressure on the USSR in order to obtain concessions from it in matters of the post-war world order.
The combat operations of the Soviet troops in the Far East include the Manchurian, South Sakhalin offensive operations and the Kuril landing operation. As part of the Manchurian offensive operation, the Khingan-Mukden (Trans-Baikal Front), Harbino-Girinskaya (1st Far Eastern Front) and Sungaria (2nd Far Eastern Front) front-line offensive operations were carried out.
The Manchurian strategic offensive operation (August 9 - September 2, 1945), according to the nature of the tasks to be solved and the methods of action of the troops, was divided into two stages:
- the first stage - August 9-14 - the defeat of the Japanese cover troops and the exit of Soviet troops to the Central Manchurian Plain;
- the second stage - August 15 - September 2 - the development of the offensive and the surrender of the Kwantung Army.
The idea of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation provided for delivering powerful blows to the flanks of the Kwantung Army from the west and east and several auxiliary blows to the directions converging in the center of Manchuria, which ensured a deep coverage of the main forces of the Japanese, dissecting them and quickly defeating them in parts. Operations to liberate South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were made dependent on the fulfillment of this main task.
On August 9, strike groups of the Soviet fronts attacked the enemy from land, air and sea. The fighting unfolded on the front with a length of more than 5 thousand km. The Pacific Fleet went out into the open, cut off the sea communications used by the troops of the Kwantung Army to communicate with Japan, and the forces of aviation and torpedo boats inflicted powerful blows on Japanese naval bases in North Korea. the Gobi Desert and the mountain ranges of the Greater Khingan, defeat the Kalgan, Solunskhui and Hailar enemy groups and rushed to the central regions of Northeast China. On August 20, the main forces of the 6th Guards Tank Army would enter the cities of Shenyang (Mukden) and Changchun and began to move south to the cities of Dalian (Far) and Luishun (Port Arthur). The cavalry-mechanized group of Soviet-Mongolian troops, leaving on August 18 to the cities of Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) and Chengde, cut off the Japanese grouping in Manchuria from the Japanese expeditionary forces in China.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front, advancing towards the Trans-Baikal Front, broke through the enemy's border fortifications, repulsed his strong counterattacks in the Mudanjiang region, entered the city of Jilin on August 20 and, together with formations of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, into Harbin. The 25th Army, in cooperation with the amphibious assault forces of the Pacific Fleet, liberated the territory of North Korea, cutting off Japanese troops from the mother country.
The 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the Amur Flotilla, successfully crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers, broke through the long-term enemy defenses in the Heihe, Sunyu, Hegai, Dunan and Fujin regions, overcame the Lesser Khingan mountain range covered with taiga and launched an offensive not in the Harbin and Qiqihar directions. On August 20, together with the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front, he captured Harbin.
Thus, by August 20, Soviet troops advanced into the depths of Manchuria from the west to 400-800 km, from the east and north to 200-300 km. They reached the Manchurian Plain, dismembered the Japanese troops into a number of isolated groupings and completed their encirclement. On August 19, the commander of the Kwantung Army gave the troops an order to stop resistance. On August 19, a ceasefire agreement was signed. Only then did the organized surrender of Japanese troops in Manchuria begin. It continued until the end of the month. However, even this did not mean that the hostilities were completely stopped. Only on August 22, after powerful artillery and aviation preparation, was it possible to storm the Khutous resistance center by storm. In order to prevent the enemy from evacuating or destroying material assets, airborne assaults were landed in Harbin, Shenyang (Mukden), Changchun, Girin, Luishun (Port Arthur), Pyongyang and other cities from August 18 to 27. The rapid offensive of the Soviet and Mongolian troops put Japan in a hopeless situation, the calculations of her command for a stubborn defense and the subsequent offensive were thwarted. The million-strong Kwantung Army was defeated.
The major success of the Soviet troops in Manchuria, achieved in the first days of the war, allowed the Soviet command on August 11 to launch an offensive in South Sakhalin. The South Sakhalin offensive operation (August 11-25, 1945) was entrusted to the troops of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (commanded by Lieutenant General L.G. Cheremisov) and the Northern Pacific Flotilla (commanded by Admiral V.A. Andreev ).
The defense of Sakhalin Island was carried out by the Japanese 88th Infantry Division, the Border Guard and reservist units. The strongest grouping (yes, 5400 people) was concentrated in the valley of the Poronai River, not far from the state border, covering the only road from the Soviet part of Sakhalin to the south. The Kotonsky (Kharamitogsky) fortified area was located in this direction - up to 12 km along the front and up to 16 km in depth, which included the foredfield strip, the main and second defense lines (17 pillboxes, 139 pillboxes and other structures).
The fighting on Sakhalin began with a breakthrough in this fortified area. The offensive was carried out in extremely difficult terrain with fierce resistance from the enemy. On August 16, an amphibious assault was landed behind enemy lines in the port of Toro (Shakhtersk). Counter strikes from the front and rear on August 18 broke through the enemy defenses. Soviet troops launched a swift offensive towards the southern coast of the island. On August 20, an amphibious assault was landed in the port of Maoka (Kholmsk), and in the morning of August 25 - in the port of Otomari (Korsakov). On the same day, Soviet troops entered the administrative center of South Sakhalin, the city of Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), having completely completed the liquidation of the Japanese group on the island.
The successful course of hostilities in Manchuria, Korea and South Sakhalin allowed the Soviet troops to begin the Kuril landing operation (August 18 - September 1, 1945). Its goal was the liberation of the northern group of the Kuril Islands - Shumshu, Paramushir, Onekotan. The troops of the Kamchatka defensive region, ships and units of the Petropavlovsk naval base were assigned to carry out the operation. The landing force included the 101st Infantry Division (without one regiment), units of sailors and border guards. He was supported from the air by the 128th Aviation Division and the Naval Aviation Regiment. On the Kuril Islands, the 5th Japanese Front had over 50 thousand soldiers and officers. The most fortified in antiamphibious relation was the island of Shumshu - the closest to Kamchatka. On August 18, under cover of ship fire, the landing of troops on this island began. The fog made it possible to achieve the surprise of the beginning of the landing. Having discovered it, the enemy made a desperate attempt to push the landing units into the sea, but his attacks were not successful. During August 18-20, Japanese troops suffered heavy losses and began to withdraw deep into the island. On August 21-23, the enemy laid down their arms. More than 12 thousand. man was taken prisoner. Having landed during August 22-23 on other islands, Soviet troops captured the entire northern part of the ridge up to the island of Urup. More than 30 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. The Kuril operation was completed by the landing, landed on the morning of September 1 on the island of Kunashir.
The operation on the Kuril Islands is characterized primarily by the skillful organization of a sea crossing over a long distance (up to 800 km) and the landing of troops on an unequipped coast. The personnel were unloaded from the transports in the roadstead and delivered to the shore on various landing craft. Landing operations are characterized by covert movement by sea, sudden decisive actions by forward detachments that ensured the landing of the main forces.
On the evening of August 23, 1945, a salute was fired in Moscow in honor of the victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East. On September 2, on the battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Japan took place. This historic day marked the end of World War II.
The Soviet-Japanese War, representing an independent part of the Second World War, was a logical continuation of the Patriotic War of the Soviet people for the independence, security and sovereignty of their country.
What is the military-political, strategic and world-historical significance of the war?
First, the main military-political outcome of the war is the complete defeat of the Japanese troops in Manchuria, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Enemy losses amounted to over 677 thousand people, of which about 84 thousand were killed. Soviet troops captured a lot of weapons and equipment. By the end of August 1945, the entire territory of Northeast China, part of Inner Mongolia and North Korea were liberated from the Japanese invaders. This hastened the defeat of Japan and its unconditional surrender. The main center of aggression in the Far East was liquidated and favorable conditions were created for the development of the national liberation struggle of the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese peoples.
Secondly, the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945 occupies a special place in the history of Soviet military art.
The peculiarity of the Soviet-Japanese war was that it was carried out at a rapid pace, in a short time and was indicative of the achievement of strategic goals at its very beginning. The Soviet Armed Forces in this war were enriched by the practice of conducting military operations designed to seize the strategic initiative, the experience of maneuvering part of the country's Armed Forces into a new theater of war, and methods of organizing interaction between ground forces and the Navy. Combat operations with the participation of three fronts, aviation, fleet and Air Defense Forces of the country represent the first example of the implementation of a strategic offensive operation in the conditions of a desert-steppe and mountainous-wooded area.
The organizational composition of the fronts was characteristic. He proceeded from the characteristics of each strategic direction and the task that the front had to solve (a large number of tank troops in the Trans-Baikal, a significant amount of RVGK artillery in the 1st Far Eastern Front).
The desert-steppe nature of the terrain allowed the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front to organize an offensive in directions with deep detours of fortified areas. The mountainous taiga terrain in the zone of the 1st Far Eastern Front led to the organization of an offensive with a breakthrough in fortified areas. Hence the sharp difference in the conduct of operations by these fronts. However, their common characteristic was a wide maneuver with the use of coverage, detours and encirclement of enemy groupings. Offensive operations were carried out at a great depth and at a high pace. At the same time, in the Trans-Baikal Front, the depth of army operations ranged from 400 to 800 km, and the pace of advancement of both tank and combined arms armies turned out to be much greater than in the conditions of the Western theater of operations. In the 6th Guards Tank Army, they reached an average of 82 km per day.
The Manchurian operation was the largest strategic offensive operation carried out in the desert-steppe and mountain-taiga areas by the forces of three fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Amur military flotilla. The operation is characterized by such features of military art as a large spatial scope, secrecy in the concentration and deployment of groupings of troops, well-organized interaction between the Fronts, the fleet and the river flotilla, the suddenness of the transition to the offensive at night by all fronts simultaneously, the delivery of a strong blow by the troops of the first echelons, the seizure of the strategic initiative, maneuver by forces and means, high rates of advance to great depths.
The idea of the Headquarters for the operation took into account the configuration of the Soviet-Manchurian border. The enveloping position of the Soviet troops in relation to the enemy at the beginning of the offensive made it possible to direct attacks on the flanks of the Kwantung Army, quickly carry out a deep envelopment of its main forces, cut them up and defeat them in parts. The directions of the main attacks of the fronts were directed to the flanks and to the rear of the main enemy grouping, which deprived it of communication with the mother countries and strategic reserves located in North China. The main forces of the fronts were advancing on a sector of 2720 km. Auxiliary strikes were delivered in such a way as to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to transfer troops to the main directions. By massing up to 70-90% of the forces and means in the directions of the main attacks, superiority over the enemy was ensured: in people - by 1.5-1.7 times, in guns - by 4-4.5, in tanks and self-propelled guns - by 5 -8, in airplanes - 2.6 times.
The most characteristic features of front-line and army operations were: great depth (from 200 to 800 km); wide offensive zones, reaching 700-2300 km in fronts, and 200-250 km in most armies; the use of maneuver for the purpose of enveloping, bypassing and encircling enemy groupings; high advance rates (up to 40-50 km per day, and on some days more than 100 km). Combined-arms and tank armies in most cases advanced before the end of the front-line operation to its entire depth.
In the tactics of rifle troops, the most instructive are going over to the offensive at night under unfavorable meteorological conditions and in difficult terrain, and breaking through fortified areas. When breaking through fortified areas, divisions and corps had deep battle formations and created high density of forces and means - up to 200-240 guns and mortars, 30-40 tanks and self-propelled guns per 1 km of the front.
The breakthrough of fortified areas at night, without artillery and aviation preparation, deserves attention. In the development of the offensive in depth, an important role was played by forward detachments detached from divisions and corps of the first echelon of the armies, consisting of a battalion-regiment of infantry in vehicles, reinforced with tanks (up to a brigade), artillery (up to a regiment), sappers, chemists and signalmen. The separation of forward detachments from the main forces was 10-50 km. These detachments destroyed pockets of resistance, captured road junctions and passes. The detachments bypassed the strongest hearth and resistance without getting involved in protracted battles. Their sudden inflows, decisive advance into the depths of the enemy's location did not give the enemy the opportunity to organize defense by covering detachments.
The experience of using tank formations and formations in the conditions of the Far East showed that these areas (including the Greater Khingan Range) are accessible to large masses of troops equipped with modern military equipment. The increased capabilities of armored vehicles ensured the massive use of tank troops in hard-to-reach areas. At the same time, the wide operational use of tank formations and formations was skillfully combined with the use of tanks for direct support of the infantry. Particularly instructive were the actions of the 6th Guards Tank Army, which, advancing in the first echelon of the front in a strip of about 200 km, advanced to a depth of over 800 km in 10 days. This created favorable conditions for the actions of combined arms armies.
Characteristic of the actions of our aviation was its air supremacy. In total, more than 14 thousand combat sorties were made. Aviation bombed objects in the rear, destroyed strongholds and centers of resistance, supported ground forces in pursuing the enemy, carried out landing operations, as well as supplying troops with fuel and ammunition.
Thirdly, for the Soviet people, the war against Japan was fair, and for the victims of Japanese aggression and the Japanese themselves, it was humane, which ensured a sufficient level of patriotic enthusiasm for the Soviet people who sought to restore historical justice, gave rise to mass heroism of the soldiers of the Red Army and the Naval fleet in the fight against the Japanese aggressors and provided moral support for the entry of the USSR into the war from world public opinion.
One of the decisive factors that ensured the victory was the high moral and political state of the personnel of our troops. In a fierce battle, such powerful sources of victories for the Soviet people and their army as patriotism and friendship of peoples were manifested with all their might. Soviet fighters and commanders showed miracles of mass heroism, exceptional courage, steadfastness and military skill.
In a few days, but hot battles in the Far East, the immortal feats of the heroes of the war against the Nazi invaders were repeated, stubbornness and courage, skill and valor, readiness to sacrifice life for the sake of victory were shown. A vivid example of heroism is the exploits of Soviet soldiers who covered the embrasures and loopholes of Japanese pillboxes and bunkers, enemy firing points. Such feats were accomplished by the border guard of the 3rd outpost of the Red Banner Khasan border detachment, sergeant P.I. Ovchinnikov, shooter of the 1034th rifle regiment of the 29th rifle division of the Trans-Baikal Front, corporal V. G. Bulba, party organizer of the battalion of the 205th tank brigade of the 2nd Far Eastern Front I.V. division of the same front, corporal M.Ya. Patrashkov.
A number of feats of self-sacrifice were associated with the protection of the fighters of their commanders. So, corporal Samarin of the 97th artillery battalion of the 109th fortified area, at the moment when the battery commander was in danger, covered him with his body.
The heroic feat was accomplished by the Komsomol organizer of the 390th battalion of the 13th Marine Brigade, Sergeant A. Mishatkin. A mine crushed his hand, but after bandaging he again joined the battle. Once surrounded, the sergeant waited for the enemy soldiers to come closer, and blew himself up with an anti-tank grenade, destroying 6 Japanese in the process.
The pilot of the 22nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant V.G., proved to be fearless and skillful. Tcherepnin, who shot down a Japanese plane with a ramming blow. In the sky of Korea, a fire ram was made by the commander of the 37th Assault Aviation Regiment, Junior Lieutenant Mikhail Yanko, who sent his burning aircraft into the port facilities of the enemy.
Soviet soldiers fought heroically for the liberation of the largest and fortified island of the Kuril ridge - Shumshu, where a strong defense was created, a developed system of pillboxes and bunkers, trenches and anti-tank ditches, enemy infantry units were supported by a significant amount of artillery and tanks. A group feat in battle with 25 Japanese tanks, which was accompanied by infantry, was performed by senior sergeant I.I. Kobzar, foreman of the 2nd article P.V. Babich, Sergeant N.M. Rynda, sailor N.K. Vlasenko, led by the commander of the demolition platoon, Lieutenant A.M. Vodynin. In an effort not to let tanks through combat positions, to save their comrades, the Soviet soldiers, having exhausted all means of fighting and not being able to stop the enemy in any other way, with bundles of grenades rushed under enemy vehicles and, sacrificing themselves, destroyed seven of them, which delayed the advance of the enemy armored column before the approach of the main forces of our landing. Of the entire group, only Pyotr Babich survived, who told the details about the feat of the heroes.
In the same battle, junior sergeant Georgy Balandin set fire to 2 enemy tanks, and when the anti-tank gun failed, he rushed under the third with a grenade.
Over 308,000 people were awarded orders and medals for military exploits and distinctions. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 86 soldiers, the second medal "Gold Star" was awarded to 6 people. The formations and units that distinguished themselves most in battles in the Far East were given the names Khingan, Amur, Ussuri, Harbin, Mukden, Sakhalin, Kuril, Port Arthur. On September 30, 1945, the medal "For the Victory over Japan" was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Guidelines.
In preparation for the lesson, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the recommended literature, prepare for the demonstration of the scheme of operations.
It is advisable to conduct the lesson in the museum of a formation or unit, during which it is advisable to organize a viewing of documentary and feature films about the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945.
When covering the first issue, using the schemes of operations, it is necessary to show the location and balance of forces of the opposing sides at different stages of the war, while emphasizing that it is an outstanding example of Soviet military art. In addition, it is necessary to tell in detail about the exploits, give examples of the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers.
In the course of considering the second question, it is necessary to objectively show the significance, role and place of the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945 in Russian historiography, to consider in more detail the contribution of the type of troops in which students serve to the course and outcome of the war.
At the end of the lesson, it is necessary to draw brief conclusions and answer questions from the audience.
Recommended literature:
1. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-1945 In 12 volumes. T.1. Major events of the war. - M.: Military Publishing House, 2011.
2. Military-historical atlas of Russia. - M.. 2006.
3. World history of wars. - Minsk: Harvest, 2004.
4. History of the Second World War 1939 -1945. - M., 1976.
Dmitry SAMOSVAT
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), 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 better organize 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 the Khalun-Arshan - Solun railway. 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 part of it - 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 on the territory cleared of the enemy, assist in establishing interaction between the Soviet and Chinese armed forces on 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 set a new task for the 39th Army: to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria in the shortest possible time, 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.
On August 23, in the presence of Soviet soldiers and officers, the Japanese flag was lowered and the Soviet flag was raised 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 shore 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.
Withdrawal of Soviet troops from China
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.
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. If the Kuomintang troops advance further, dangerous consequences may arise. 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 Rifle Corps in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, a member of the Military Council - General I.P. Konnov, head of the political department - Colonel Nikita Stepanovich Demin, commander of artillery - General Yury Pavlovich Bazhanov and 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 Soviet-Chinese talks in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of the 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 in the Soviet General Staff and send to PRC grouping of air defense forces and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists.
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 intensively equipping itself with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at major cities in the PRC. By 1950, a direct threat arose to the largest industrial and commercial center - the city of 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:
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 maintenance battalions (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 the airspace of East 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 took the 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 in total, 1259 enemy aircraft of various types were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC. 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. The loss of anti-aircraft artillery in personnel amounted to 68 people 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 Forces G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - Major General of Artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in the 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, more than 3,000 Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. 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. Advisers were with the commanders of the military branches and 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 Dalian, 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 selfless work "to assist 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. A large number of saboteurs are thrown into North Korea and China every month on various missions, including capturing 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 the press 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, combat training of all units and subunits began, was carried out and ended. 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, Kim Il Sung's command post was raided. 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, there was also a separate communications company in North Korea. 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 units and formations of the 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", 27th laboratory of aviation medicine.
Locations
In Port Arthur, the headquarters of the 113th Rifle Corps 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 39th Army's newspaper "Son Rodina". 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 among 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.
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is one of the historical events that arouse enduring interest. At first glance, nothing special happened: less than three weeks of fighting in the final stage of the virtually completed World War II. Neither in terms of fierceness, nor in terms of the scale of losses, it can be compared not only with other wars of the 20th century, but even with such operations of the Second World War as the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, the Normandy operation, etc.
However, this war left an extremely deep mark in history, remains virtually the only undecoupled node Second World War. Its consequences continue to have a strong influence on modern Russian-Japanese relations.
The grouping of Soviet troops in the Far East, deployed by August 1945 on the borders with Manchukuo and in the coastal regions of the USSR, included the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Red Banner Amur Flotilla.
By the beginning of hostilities, Soviet troops had complete superiority over the enemy in manpower, weapons and military equipment. The quantitative superiority of the Soviet troops was reinforced by qualitative characteristics: Soviet units and formations had extensive experience in combat operations against a strong and well-armed enemy, and the tactical and technical data of the domestic and foreign military equipment in service were significantly superior to Japanese ones.
By August 8, the grouping of Soviet troops in the Far East totaled 1,669,500 people, and 16,000 people were in the formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army. Soviet troops outnumbered the grouping of enemy troops in different directions: tanks 5-8 times, artillery 4-5 times, mortars 10 or more times, combat aircraft 3 or more times.
The opposing grouping of Japanese and puppet troops of Manchukuo numbered up to 1 million people. Its basis was the Japanese Kwantung Army, which included the 1st, 3rd and 17th fronts, the 4th and 34th separate armies, the 2nd air army and the Sungarian military flotilla. Troops of the 5th Front were stationed on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Along the borders of the USSR and the MPR, the Japanese built 17 fortified areas, numbering more than 4.5 thousand permanent structures. Powerful defensive structures were on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The defense of the Japanese troops was built taking into account all the benefits of the natural and climatic conditions of the Far Eastern theater of operations. The presence of large mountain systems and rivers with swampy floodplains along the Soviet-Manchurian border created a kind of natural defensive line that was difficult to overcome. On the Mongolian side, the area was a vast waterless semi-desert, uninhabited and almost devoid of roads. The specifics of the Far Eastern theater of operations also consisted in the fact that its vast part was made up of sea basins. Southern Sakhalin was characterized by a complex mountainous and swampy terrain, and most of the Kuril Islands were natural fortresses.
On August 3, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky reported to I.V. Stalin on the situation in the Far East and the state of the troops. Referring to the data of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief noted that the Japanese were actively building up the ground and air force grouping of their troops in Manchuria. According to the commander-in-chief, the most acceptable time for crossing the state border was August 9-10, 1945.
The rate determined the date - 18.00 August 10, 1945 Moscow time. However, on the afternoon of August 7, new instructions were received from the Supreme Command Headquarters - to start hostilities exactly two days earlier - at 18.00 on August 8, 1945 Moscow time, that is, at midnight from August 8 to 9, Transbaikal time.
How can you explain the postponement of the start of the war with Japan? First of all, this is seen as the desire to achieve maximum surprise. The Soviet command proceeded from the premise that even if the enemy knows the set date for the start of hostilities, then moving it two days earlier would have a paralyzing effect on the Japanese troops. For the Soviet troops, ready to conduct combat operations as early as August 5, changing the timing of their start was of no fundamental importance. The fact that on August 8 it was exactly three months from the date of signing the act of unconditional surrender of the troops of Nazi Germany could also play a role. Thus, with unprecedented punctuality, Stalin kept his promise to the Allies to start a war with Japan.
But another interpretation of this decision of the Headquarters is also possible, since it was taken immediately after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the Americans. It is likely that Stalin had information about the upcoming bombing of Japanese cities, and the first information about the scale of losses and destruction in Hiroshima forced him to accelerate the entry of the USSR into the war because of fears that Japan might capitulate "prematurely".
The original plans also provided for a landing operation on about. Hokkaido, but for some military-political reasons and motives, it was canceled. Not the last role here was played by the fact that US President G. Truman "refused us to do this", that is, to create a Soviet zone of occupation on the island of Hokkaido.
Military operations began, as planned, exactly at midnight Trans-Baikal time from August 8 to 9, 1945 on the ground, in the air and at sea simultaneously on a front with a total length of 5130 km. The offensive unfolded in extremely unfavorable meteorological conditions: on August 8, heavy rains began, which fettered aviation operations. Overflowing rivers, swamps and washed-out roads made it extremely difficult for vehicles, moving parts and formations of the fronts to operate. In order to ensure secrecy, air and artillery preparation for the offensive was not carried out. August 9 at 4:30 a.m. according to local time, the main forces of the fronts were brought into battle. The blow to the enemy was so powerful and unexpected that the Soviet troops almost never met organized resistance. After a few hours of fighting, Soviet troops advanced in different directions from 2 to 35 km.
The actions of the Trans-Baikal Front and the formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army developed most successfully. During the first five days of the war, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced 450 km, overcame the Greater Khingan Range on the move and entered the Central Manchurian Plain a day ahead of schedule. The withdrawal of Soviet troops into the rear of the Kwantung Army in the Khingan-Mukden direction created opportunities for developing the offensive in the direction of the most important military, administrative and industrial centers of Manchuria. All attempts by the enemy to stop the Soviet troops with counterattacks were thwarted.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front at the first stage of the Manchurian operation met stubborn resistance from the Japanese troops on the lines of fortified areas. The most fierce battles were fought in the area of the city of Mudanjiang, an important transport center in Manchuria. Only by the end of August 16, the troops of the 1st Red Banner and 5th armies finally took possession of this well-fortified communications junction. The successful actions of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front created favorable conditions for an offensive in the Harbino-Girinsky direction.
The Pacific Fleet operated in close cooperation with the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front. In a change to the original plan, the capture of the most important ports on the coast of Korea was entrusted to the forces of the fleet. On August 11, the port of Yuki was occupied by amphibious assault forces, on August 13 - Rasin, on August 16 - Seishin.
At the first stage of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the 2nd Far Eastern Front had the task of assisting the troops of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts in defeating the Kwantung Army and capturing Harbin. In cooperation with the ships and vessels of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla and the troops of the Khabarovsk Red Banner Border District, units and formations of the front captured the main large islands and several important bridgeheads on the right bank of the river. Amur. The Sungari military flotilla of the enemy was locked up, and the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front were able to successfully develop the offensive along the river. Sungari to Harbin.
Simultaneously with participation in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front launched an offensive operation in southern Sakhalin on August 11, while actively interacting with the northern Pacific military flotilla. The offensive on Sakhalin was carried out in extremely difficult conditions of mountainous, wooded and swampy terrain against a strong enemy, relying on a powerful and extensive system of defensive structures. The fighting on Sakhalin took on a fierce character from the very beginning and continued until August 25th.
On August 19, airborne assault forces landed in the cities of Jilin, Mukden and Changchun. At the airfield in Mukden, Soviet paratroopers captured a plane with the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi and his entourage, who were heading to Japan. Soviet airborne assault forces were also landed on August 23 in the cities of Port Arthur and Dairen (Far).
The rapid advance of mobile units of the ground forces, combined with the landing of airborne assault forces in Hamhung and Pyongyang on August 24 and the actions of the Pacific Fleet, led to the fact that by the end of August the entire territory of North Korea up to the 38th parallel was liberated.
On August 18, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the fleet, launched the Kuril landing operation. The islands of the Kuril chain were turned into a chain of impregnable natural fortresses, the central link of which was the island of Shumshu. Bloody battles continued on this island for several days, and only on August 23 the Japanese garrison capitulated. By August 30, all the islands of the northern and central parts of the Kuril chain were occupied by Soviet troops.
On August 28, units of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Northern Pacific Flotilla began to seize the islands of the southern part of the Kurils - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai. The Japanese granisons offered no resistance, and by September 5, all the Kuriles were occupied by Soviet troops.
The power and suddenness of Soviet strikes, the unpreparedness for war of the Kwantung Army and its doom predetermined the transience of the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945. Military operations were of a focal nature and, as a rule, were insignificant in scale and intensity. The Japanese army did not fully show all its strengths. However, at the tactical level, in battles with the Soviet troops, who had absolute superiority over the enemy, the Japanese units were distinguished by fanatical adherence to orders and their military duty, the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, discipline and organization. Documents testify to numerous facts of fierce resistance by Japanese soldiers and small units, even in hopeless situations. An example of this is the tragic fate of the Japanese garrison of the stronghold on the town of Ostraya in the Khutous fortified area. The ultimatum of the Soviet command to surrender was categorically rejected, the Japanese fought to the end, with the courage of the doomed. After the fighting, the corpses of 500 Japanese soldiers and officers were found in the underground casemates, and next to them were the corpses of 160 women and children, members of the families of Japanese military personnel. Some of the women were armed with daggers, grenades and rifles. Completely devoted to the emperor and their military duty, they deliberately chose death, refusing to surrender and captivity.
Contempt for death was demonstrated by 40 Japanese soldiers who, in one of the sectors of the Trans-Baikal Front, launched a desperate counterattack against Soviet tanks, having no anti-tank weapons.
At the same time, Japanese sabotage groups, suicide squads, lone fanatics were actively operating in the rear of the Soviet troops, the victims of which were Soviet military personnel, and above all commanders and political workers. The terrorist acts carried out by them were distinguished by extreme cruelty and sadism, accompanied by inhuman torture and abuse, desecration of the bodies of the dead.
The role of the Soviet Union in liberation from Japanese enslavement was highly appreciated by the population of Manchuria and Korea, who sent letters of thanks and congratulations to the Soviet military leaders.
By September 1, 1945, virtually all the tasks assigned by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command to the fronts and the Pacific Fleet were completed.
On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender, which marked the end of the Soviet-Japanese War and the end of World War II. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, September 3 was declared "the day of national celebration - the holiday of victory over Japan."
The defeat of the Kwantung Army by the Soviet troops and the liberation of Northeast China decisively changed the balance in favor of the CCP forces, which on August 11 went on the offensive, which lasted until October 10, 1945. During this time, before the arrival of the Kuomintang troops, they saddled the main lines of communication, occupied a number of cities and vast rural areas in northern China. By the end of the year, almost a quarter of China's territory with a population of about 150 million people had passed under the control of the CCP. Immediately after the capitulation of Japan, a sharp political struggle flared up in China over the question of how to further develop the country.
With the end of the war in the Far East, the problem arose of summing up its results, identifying and accounting for losses, trophies, and material damage.
According to the Soviet Information Bureau of September 12, 1945, during the period from August 9 to September 9, the loss of the Japanese in killed amounted to over 80 thousand soldiers and officers. In accordance with the views established in Russian historiography, during the Far Eastern campaign of the Soviet troops, the Japanese army lost 83.7 thousand people killed. However, this figure, like all others, is very conditional. It is practically impossible to indicate the exact data of Japan's losses in the war against the USSR in August-September 1945 for a number of objective reasons. In Soviet combat and reporting documents of that time, Japanese losses were estimated; at present, it is impossible to separate the losses of the Japanese army into categories - those killed in battle, those killed by accident (non-combat losses), those who died for various reasons, those who died from the impact of Soviet aviation and navy, missing, etc.; it is difficult to identify among the dead the exact percentage of the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Mongols. In addition, a strict accounting of combat losses was not established in the Japanese army itself, the bulk of Japanese military documents were either destroyed during surrender, or for one reason or another have not survived to this day.
It is also not possible to establish the exact number of Japanese prisoners of war taken by Soviet troops in the Far East. Documents available in the archives of the Main Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR for prisoners of war and internees show that from 608,360 to 643,501 people were registered (according to various sources). Of these, 64,888 people were released directly from the fronts in accordance with the order of the General Staff of the spacecraft to release all prisoners of war of non-Japanese nationality, as well as sick, wounded and long-term disabled Japanese. 15,986 people died in the front-line concentration of prisoners of war. 12,318 Japanese prisoners of war were handed over to the authorities of the MPR; a certain number were transferred to Smersh, fled or were killed during the escapes. The total number of Japanese prisoners who left the register before being taken to the USSR is (according to various sources) from 83,561 to 105,675 people.
The victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East in September 1945 came at the cost of the lives of many thousands of Soviet servicemen. The total losses of the Soviet troops, taking into account the sanitary ones, amounted to 36,456 people. The formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army lost 197 people, of which 72 people were irretrievably lost.
Viktor Gavrilov, military historian, candidate of psychological sciences
Loading...