Soviet-Japanese War. Soviet-Japanese War (1945)
The Soviet-Japanese War began in 1945. After the surrender of Nazi Germany, the military-political position of its partner Japan sharply worsened. Having superiority in naval forces, the USA and England reached the closest approaches to this state. However, the Japanese rejected the ultimatum of the United States, England and China to surrender.
The Soviets agreed to America and England to enter into hostilities against Japan - after Germany was completely defeated. The date for the Soviet Union's entry into the war was set 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 the military campaign on Far East.
"At war with Japan..."
Three fronts were to enter hostilities - Transbaikal, 1st and 2-1 Far Eastern. The Pacific Fleet, the Red Banner Amur Flotilla, and the border air defense troops were also supposed 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 units were put into service.
What forces did Japan oppose? 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. The weapons included 1,215 tanks, 6,640 guns and mortars, 26 ships and 1,907 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 Main Command of Soviet troops in the Far East. It was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. On August 8, 1945, a statement by the Soviet government was published. It stated that from August 9, the USSR would consider itself in a state of war with Japan.
Start of hostilities
On the night of August 9, all units and formations received a Statement from 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 Yuzhno-Sakhalin Offensive Operation and the Kuril Landing Operation.
The main component of the war - the Manchurian strategic offensive operation - was carried out by the forces of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla entered into close cooperation with them. The planned plan was grandiose in scale: the encirclement of the enemy was planned to cover an area of \u200b\u200bone and a half million square kilometers.
And so hostilities began. The enemy's communications connecting Korea and Manchuria with Japan were cut by the Pacific Fleet. Aviation carried out strikes on military installations, troop concentration areas, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border zone. The troops of the Transbaikal Front marched through waterless desert-steppe regions, overcame the Greater Khingan mountain range and defeated the enemy in the Kalgan, Solunsky and Hailar directions; on August 18 they reached the approaches to Manchuria.
The strip of border fortified troops was overcome by the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front (commander K.A. Meretskov). They not only repelled strong enemy counterattacks in the Mudanjiang area, but also liberated the territory of North Korea. The Amur and Ussuri rivers were crossed by troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (commander M.A. Purkaev). Then they broke through the enemy’s defenses in the Sakhalyan area and crossed the Lesser Khingan ridge. After Soviet troops entered the Central Manchurian Plain, they divided the Japanese forces into isolated groups and completed the maneuver to encircle them. On August 19, Japanese troops began to surrender.
Kuril landing and Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operations
As a result of successful military operations by 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 island's garrison outnumbered the Soviet forces, but on August 23 it capitulated. Next, on August 22-28, our troops landed on other islands in the northern part of the ridge up to the island of Urup (inclusive). Then the islands of the southern part of the ridge were occupied.
On August 11-25, troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front carried out an operation to liberate Southern 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 reservist detachments. On September 2, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed. This happened aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On the Japanese side it was signed by Foreign Minister Shigemitsu, Chief of the Japanese General Staff Umezu, on the USSR side by Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.
The million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated. Second world war 1939-1945 was completed. On the Japanese side, casualties amounted to 84 thousand people, and 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 had enormous political and military significance
The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Japanese Empire and making a significant contribution to its defeat, accelerated the end of the Second World War. Historians have repeatedly stated that without the USSR entering the war, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.
By decision of the Crimean Conference of 1945 (Yalta Conference), the USSR was able to return to its composition the territories that had been lost Russian Empire in 1905 following the results of the Portsmouth Peace (South Sakhalin), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands, which was ceded to Japan in 1875.
7 facts about the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945
On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. Perceived by many as part of the Great Patriotic War, this confrontation is often undeservedly underestimated, although the results of this war have not yet been summed up.
1. Difficult decision
The decision that the USSR would enter the war with Japan was made at Yalta Conference in February 1945. In exchange for participation in hostilities, the USSR was to receive Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which after 1905 belonged to Japan. In order to better organize the transfer of troops to concentration areas and further to deployment areas, the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Front sent special groups of officers to Irkutsk and Karymskaya station in advance. On the night of August 9, the 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.
2. Our advantages
At the start of the offensive, the grouping of Red Army troops had a serious numerical superiority over the enemy: in terms of the number of fighters alone, it reached 1.6 times. The Soviet troops outnumbered the Japanese by about 5 times in the number of tanks, by 10 times in artillery and mortars, and by more than three times in terms of aircraft. The Soviet Union's superiority was not only quantitative. The equipment in service with the Red Army was much more modern and powerful than that of Japan. The experience gained by our troops during the war with Nazi Germany also provided an advantage.
3. Heroic operation
The operation of Soviet troops to overcome the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range can be called outstanding and unique. The 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Guards Tank Army is still a demonstration operation. High mountain passes with slopes steep up to 50 degrees seriously complicated movement. The equipment moved in a traverse, that is, in zigzags. The weather conditions also left much to be desired: heavy rains made the soil impassable mud, and mountain rivers overflowed their banks. Nevertheless, Soviet tanks stubbornly moved forward. By August 11, they crossed the mountains and found themselves deep in the rear of the Kwantung Army, on the Central Manchurian Plain. The army experienced a shortage of fuel and ammunition, so the Soviet command had to arrange supplies by air. Transport aviation delivered more than 900 tons of tank fuel alone to our troops. As a result of this outstanding offensive, the Red Army managed to capture about 200 thousand Japanese prisoners alone. In addition, a lot of equipment and weapons were captured.
4. No negotiations!
The 1st Far Eastern Front of the Red Army encountered fierce resistance from the Japanese, who fortified themselves on the heights of “Ostraya” and “Camel”, which were part of the Khotou fortified area. The approaches to these heights were swampy, rugged a large number small rivers. Scarps were dug on the slopes and wire fences were installed. The Japanese carved out firing points in the granite rock mass. The concrete caps of the pillboxes were about one and a half meters thick. The defenders of the "Ostraya" height rejected all calls for surrender; the Japanese were famous for not agreeing to any negotiations. A peasant who wished to become a parliamentarian had his head publicly cut off. When Soviet troops finally took the height, they found all its defenders dead: men and women.
5. Kamikaze
In the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the Japanese actively used kamikaze saboteurs. Tied with grenades, these people rushed at Soviet tanks and soldiers. On one section of the front, about 200 “live mines” lay on the ground in front of the advancing equipment. However, the suicide attacks were only initially successful. Subsequently, the Red Army soldiers increased their vigilance and, as a rule, managed to shoot the saboteur before he could get closer and explode, causing damage to equipment or manpower.
6. Surrender
On August 15, Emperor Hirohito made a radio address in which he announced that Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Conference and capitulated. The Emperor called on the nation for courage, patience and the unification of all forces to build a new future. Three days later - August 18, 1945 - at 13:00 local time, an appeal from the command of the Kwantung Army to the troops was heard on the radio, which stated that for reasons of the pointlessness of further resistance decided to surrender. Over the next few days, Japanese units that did not have direct contact with headquarters were notified and the terms of surrender were agreed upon.
7. Results
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its territory the territories lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 following the Peace of Portsmouth.
Japan's loss of the Southern Kuril Islands has not yet been recognized. According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced its rights to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the main group of the Kuril Islands, but did not recognize them as having passed to the USSR. Surprisingly, this treaty had not yet been signed by the USSR, which, thus, until the end of its existence was legally at war with Japan. Currently, these territorial problems are preventing the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia as the successor to the USSR.
Soviet-Japanese War |
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Manchuria, Sakhalin, Kuril Islands, Korea |
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Victory for Russia |
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Territorial changes: |
The Japanese Empire capitulated. The USSR returned South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Manchukuo and Mengjiang ceased to exist. |
Opponents |
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Commanders |
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A. Vasilevsky |
Otsuzo Yamada (Surrendered) |
H. Choibalsan |
N. Demchigdonrov (Surrendered) |
Strengths of the parties |
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1,577,225 soldiers 26,137 artillery pieces 1,852 self-propelled guns 3,704 tanks 5,368 aircraft |
Total 1,217,000 6,700 guns 1,000 tanks 1,800 aircraft |
Military losses |
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12,031 irretrievable 24,425 ambulances 78 tanks and self-propelled guns 232 guns and mortars 62 aircraft |
84,000 killed 594,000 captured |
Soviet-Japanese War 1945, part of World War II and the Pacific War. Also known as battle for manchuria or Manchurian operation, and in the West - as Operation August Storm.
Chronology of the conflict
April 13, 1941 - a neutrality pact was concluded between the USSR and Japan. It was accompanied by an agreement on minor economic concessions from Japan, which were ignored by it.
December 1, 1943 - Tehran Conference. The Allies are outlining the contours of the post-war structure of the Asia-Pacific region.
February 1945 - Yalta Conference. The allies agree on the post-war structure of the world, including the Asia-Pacific region. The USSR takes upon itself an unofficial commitment to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Germany.
June 1945 - Japan begins preparations to repel the landing on the Japanese Islands.
July 12, 1945 - the Japanese Ambassador in Moscow appeals to the USSR with a request for mediation in peace negotiations. On July 13, he was informed that an answer could not be given due to the departure of Stalin and Molotov to Potsdam.
July 26, 1945 - At the Potsdam Conference, the United States formally formulates the terms of Japan's surrender. Japan refuses to accept them.
August 8 - The USSR announces to the Japanese ambassador about joining Potsdam Declaration and declares war on Japan.
August 10, 1945 - Japan officially declares its readiness to accept the Potsdam terms of surrender with the reservation regarding the preservation of the structure of imperial power in the country.
August 14 - Japan officially accepts the terms of unconditional surrender and informs the allies.
Preparing for war
The danger of war between the USSR and Japan existed since the second half of the 1930s; in 1938, clashes took place on Lake Khasan, and in 1939, the battle at Khalkhin Gol on the border of Mongolia and Manchukuo. In 1940, the Soviet Far Eastern Front was created, which indicated a real risk of war.
However, the aggravation of the situation on the western borders forced the USSR to seek a compromise in relations with Japan. The latter, in turn, choosing between the options of aggression to the north (against the USSR) and to the south (against the USA and Great Britain), was increasingly inclined to the latter option, and sought to protect itself from the USSR. The result of a temporary coincidence of interests of the two countries was the signing of the Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941, according to Art. 2 of which:
In 1941, the countries of Hitler's coalition, except Japan, declared war on the USSR (Great Patriotic War), and in the same year Japan attacked the United States, starting the war in the Pacific.
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin promised the allies to declare war on Japan 2-3 months after the end of hostilities in Europe (although the neutrality pact stipulated that it would expire only a year after the denunciation). At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies issued a declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan. That same summer, Japan tried to negotiate mediation with the USSR, but to no avail.
War was declared exactly 3 months after the victory in Europe, on August 8, 1945, two days after the first use of nuclear weapons by the United States against Japan (Hiroshima) and on the eve of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Strengths and plans of the parties
The commander-in-chief was Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky. There were 3 fronts: the Trans-Baikal Front, the 1st Far Eastern and the 2nd Far Eastern (commanders R. Ya. Malinovsky, K. A. Meretskov and M. A. Purkaev), with a total number of approximately 1.5 million people. The MPR troops were commanded by Marshal of the MPR Kh. Choibalsan. They were opposed by the Japanese Kwantung Army under the command of General Otsuzo Yamada.
The Soviet command's plan, described as “Strategic Pincers,” was simple in concept but grandiose in scale. It was planned to encircle the enemy over a total area of 1.5 million square kilometers.
Composition of the Kwantung Army: about 1 million people, 6260 guns and mortars, 1150 tanks, 1500 aircraft.
As noted in the “History of the Great Patriotic War” (vol. 5, pp. 548-549):
Despite the efforts of the Japanese to concentrate as many troops as possible on the islands of the empire itself, as well as in China south of Manchuria, the Japanese command also paid attention to the Manchurian direction, especially after the Soviet Union denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact on April 5, 1945. That is why, of the nine infantry divisions remaining in Manchuria at the end of 1944, the Japanese deployed 24 divisions and 10 brigades by August 1945. True, to organize new divisions and brigades, the Japanese could only use untrained conscripts of younger ages and limitedly fit older conscripts - 250 thousand of them were conscripted in the summer of 1945, who made up more than half of the personnel of the Kwantung Army. Also, in the newly created Japanese divisions and brigades in Manchuria, in addition to the small number of combat personnel, there was often a complete absence of artillery.
The most significant forces of the Kwantung Army - up to ten infantry divisions - were stationed in the east of Manchuria, bordering on Soviet Primorye, where the First Far Eastern Front was stationed, consisting of 31 rifle divisions, a cavalry division, a mechanized corps and 11 tank brigades. In northern Manchuria, the Japanese held one infantry division and two brigades - against the Second Far Eastern Front consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades. In the west of Manchuria, the Japanese stationed 6 infantry divisions and one brigade - against 33 Soviet divisions, including two tank, two mechanized corps, a tank corps and six tank brigades. In central and southern Manchuria, the Japanese held several more divisions and brigades, as well as both tank brigades and all combat aircraft.
It should be noted that the tanks and aircraft of the Japanese army in 1945, according to the criteria of that time, could not be called anything other than obsolete. They roughly corresponded to Soviet tank and aircraft equipment of 1939. This also applies to Japanese anti-tank guns, which had a caliber of 37 and 47 millimeters - that is, suitable only for fighting light Soviet tanks. What prompted the Japanese army to use suicide squads, strapped with grenades and explosives, as the main improvised anti-tank weapon.
However, the prospect of a quick surrender of the Japanese troops seemed far from obvious. Given the fanatical, and sometimes suicidal, resistance put up by Japanese forces in April-June 1945 on Okinawa, there was every reason to believe that a long, difficult campaign was expected to take over the last remaining Japanese fortified areas. In some sectors of the offensive, these expectations were fully justified.
Progress of the war
At dawn on August 9, 1945, Soviet troops began intensive artillery bombardment from the sea and from land. Then the ground operation began. Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, the fortified areas of the Japanese were treated with mobile units and blocked by infantry. The 6th Guards Tank Army of General Kravchenko was advancing from Mongolia to the center of Manchuria.
This was a risky decision, since the difficult Khingan Mountains were ahead. On August 11, army equipment stopped due to lack of fuel. But the experience of German tank units was used - delivering fuel to tanks by transport aircraft. As a result, 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 Xinjing. The First Far Eastern Front by this time had broken the Japanese resistance in the east of Manchuria, occupying the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas deep in the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was exerted with particular force in the Mudanjiang region. There were cases of stubborn enemy resistance in the zones of the Transbaikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also launched repeated counterattacks. On August 19, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo, Pu Yi (formerly the last Emperor of China).
On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But virtually military operations on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But it did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to orders.
On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, Commander-in-Chief Soviet troops In the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky gave the order for 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 was then postponed until instructions from Headquarters.
Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. The main fighting on the continent lasted 12 days, until August 20. However, individual clashes continued until September 10, which became the day the complete surrender and capture of the Kwantung Army ended. The fighting on the islands completely ended on September 5.
The Japanese surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely destroyed. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were captured. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.
Meaning
The Manchurian operation had enormous political and military significance. So on August 9, at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for War Management, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki said:
The Soviet Army defeated a strong Kwantung Army Japan. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Japanese Empire and making a significant contribution to its defeat, accelerated the end of World War II. American leaders and historians have repeatedly stated that without the USSR's entry into the war, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.
The commander-in-chief of the American armed forces in the Pacific, General MacArthur, believed that “Victory over Japan can be guaranteed only if the Japanese ground forces are defeated.” US Secretary of State E. Stettinius stated the following:
Dwight Eisenhower stated in his memoirs that he addressed President Truman: “I told him that since available information indicated the imminent collapse of Japan, I categorically objected to the entry of the Red Army into this war.”
Results
For distinction in battles as part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, 16 formations and units received the honorary name “Ussuri”, 19 - “Harbin”, 149 - were awarded various orders.
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its territory the territories lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 as a result of the Portsmouth Peace (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalny), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands previously ceded to Japan in 1875 and the southern part of the Kuril Islands assigned to Japan by the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.
Japan's latest territorial loss has not yet been recognized. According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuril Islands (Chishima Retto). But the agreement did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it. However, in 1956, the Moscow Declaration was signed, which ended the state of war and established diplomatic and consular relations between the USSR and Japan. Article 9 of the Declaration states, in particular:
Negotiations on the southern Kuril Islands continue to this day; the lack of a solution on this issue prevents the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia, as the successor of the USSR.
Japan is also involved in a territorial dispute with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China over ownership of the Senkaku Islands, despite the presence peace treaties between countries (the agreement was concluded with the Republic of China in 1952, with the PRC in 1978). In addition, despite the existence of the Basic Treaty on Japan-Korea Relations, Japan and the Republic of Korea are also involved in a territorial dispute over the ownership of the Liancourt Islands.
Despite Article 9 of the Potsdam Declaration, which prescribes the return home of military personnel at the end of hostilities, according to Stalin's order No. 9898, according to Japanese data, up to two million Japanese military personnel and civilians were deported to work in the USSR. As a result of hard work, frost and disease, according to Japanese data, 374,041 people died.
According to Soviet data, the number of prisoners of war was 640,276 people. Immediately after the end of hostilities, 65,176 wounded and sick were released. 62,069 prisoners of war died in captivity, 22,331 of them before entering the territory of the USSR. An average of 100,000 people were repatriated annually. By the beginning of 1950, there were about 3,000 people convicted of criminal and war crimes (of which 971 were transferred to China for crimes committed against the Chinese people), who, in accordance with the Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956, were released early and repatriated to their homeland.
The issue of the USSR entering 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 unconditionally surrender.
According to V. Davydov, on the evening of August 7, 1945 (two days before Moscow officially broke the neutrality pact with Japan), Soviet military aircraft suddenly began bombing 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 force in the port of Dalian (Dalny) and liberate Lushun (Port Arthur) together with units of the 6th Guards Tank Army from the Japanese occupiers on the Liaodong Peninsula of Northern China. The 117th Air Regiment of the Pacific Fleet Air Force, which was training in Sukhodol Bay near Vladivostok, was preparing for the operation.
On August 9, troops of the Transbaikal, 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. The commander of the 39th Army is 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 a breakthrough, a strike from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge, Halun-Arshan and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified areas. The 39th, 53rd General Arms and 6th Guards Tank Armies set out from the area of the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic and advanced to the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of 250-300 km.
In order to better organize the transfer of troops to concentration areas and further to deployment areas, the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Front sent special groups of officers to Irkutsk and Karymskaya station in advance. On the night of August 9, the advanced battalions and reconnaissance detachments of three fronts, in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, bringing 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 9th. 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 units. It 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 attacked the troops that were part of the 3rd Front of the Kwantung Army.
On August 9, the head patrol of the 262nd division reached the Khalun-Arshan-Solun railway. The Halun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262nd division found out, was occupied by units of the 107th Japanese Infantry Division.
By the end of the first day of the offensive, Soviet tank crews made a rush of 120-150 km. The advanced 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.
USSR-China Treaty
On August 14, 1945, a treaty of friendship and alliance was signed between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and Dalny. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years.
According to the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former Chinese Eastern Railway and its part - the South Manchurian Railway, running from Manchuria station to Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalniy and Port Arthur, became the common property of the USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the KChZD was subject to gratuitous transfer to the full ownership of China.
The Port Arthur Agreement provided for the port to be turned into a naval base open to warships and merchant ships only from China and the USSR. The duration of the agreement was determined to be 30 years. After this period, the Port Arthur naval base was to be transferred to Chinese ownership.
Dalny was declared a free port, open to trade and shipping from all countries. The Chinese government agreed to allocate piers and storage facilities in the port for lease to the USSR. In the event of a war with Japan, the regime of the Port Arthur naval base, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur, was to extend to Dalny. The term of the agreement was set at 30 years.
At the same time, 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 actions against Japan. After the arrival of Soviet troops on the territory of the Northeastern provinces of China, supreme power and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was vested in the commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces. The Chinese government appointed a representative who was supposed to establish and manage the administration in the territory cleared of the enemy, assist in establishing interaction between the Soviet and Chinese armed forces in the returned territories, and ensure active cooperation of the Chinese administration with the Soviet commander-in-chief.
Fighting
Soviet-Japanese War
On August 11, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army of General A.G. Kravchenko overcame 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, Vanemyao, and Buhedu. However, the troops of the Transbaikal Front attacked the counterattacking enemy strong blows and continued to move rapidly to the southeast.
On August 13, formations and units of the 39th Army captured the cities of Ulan-Hoto and Thessaloniki. After which she launched an attack on Changchun.
On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which consisted of 1019 tanks, broke through the Japanese defenses and entered 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 group of enemy cavalry. About a thousand cavalrymen, including two generals, were captured. 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 Dalny 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, Soviet troops would land on seaplanes.
During the Khingan-Mukden frontal offensive operation, troops of the 39th Army struck from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge against the troops of the 30th and 44th armies and the left flank of the 4th separate Japanese army. Having defeated the enemy troops covering the approaches to the passes of the Greater Khingan, the army captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified area. Developing the attack on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km in battles and by August 14 reached the central part of Manchuria.
Marshal Malinovsky set a new task for the 39th Army: to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria in an extremely short time, operating 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 Japanese resistance in the east of Manchuria and occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjian.
On August 17, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender. But it did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to orders. In a number of sectors they carried out strong counterattacks and carried out regroupings, trying to occupy advantageous operational positions on the Jinzhou - Changchun - Girin - Tumen line. In practice, military operations continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th Cavalry Division of General T.V. Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 northeast of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.
By August 18, along the entire length of the Transbaikal Front, Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Beiping-Changchun railway, and the striking 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 Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal A. Vasilevsky, gave the order for 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 was then postponed until instructions from Headquarters.
On August 19, Soviet troops took Mukden (airborne landing of the 6th Guards Tatars, 113 sk) and Changchun (airborne landing of the 6th Guards Tatars) - the largest cities in Manchuria. The emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested at the airfield in Mukden.
By August 20, Soviet troops occupied Southern Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea.
Landings 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. A total of 956 people took part 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. The sea state during landing was about two. Seaplanes landed one after another in the bay of the Dalniy port. The paratroopers transferred to inflatable boats, on which they floated to the pier. After landing, the landing force acted according to the combat mission: it occupied a shipbuilding plant, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), and warehouses. The coast guard was immediately removed and replaced by their own sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.
On the same day, August 22, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, planes with landing forces, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon, some of the planes turned to the Dalniy port. The landing in Port Arthur, consisting of 10 aircraft with 205 paratroopers, was commanded by the deputy commander of the Transbaikal Front, Colonel General V.D. Ivanov. The landing party included intelligence chief Boris Likhachev.
The planes landed on the airfield one after another. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several garrison units located nearby, capturing about 200 Japanese soldiers and marine officers. Having captured several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed to western part city, where another part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the overwhelming majority of the garrison capitulated. The head of the naval garrison of the fortress, Vice Admiral Kobayashi, surrendered along with his headquarters.
The next day, disarmament continued. In total, 10 thousand soldiers and officers of the Japanese army and navy were captured.
Soviet soldiers freed about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
On August 23, an airborne landing of sailors led by General E. N. Preobrazhensky landed in Port Arthur.
August 23 in the presence Soviet soldiers and officers, the Japanese flag was lowered and the Soviet flag soared 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 - marine paratroopers on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down at Dalny, landing an additional 265 marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here, consisting of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it, and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Dalny) and Lushun (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 occupy a strategically advantageous position. Soviet soldiers opened machine-gun fire in the air, and the Americans stopped the landing.
As expected, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was completely occupied by Soviet units. After standing in the outer roadstead of the port of Dalny for several days, the Americans were forced to leave this 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 also did not fulfill their obligations to share with the Red Army the burden of occupying the island of Hokkaido, as agreed upon by the leaders of the three powers. But General Douglas MacArthur, who had great influence over President Harry Truman, strongly opposed this. And 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 Kuril Islands.
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 Tank Division of the 39th Army in the city of Dashitsao captured the headquarters of the 17th Front of the Kwantung Army. In Mukden and Dalny, Soviet troops liberated large groups of American soldiers and officers from Japanese captivity.
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 peaceful life and interaction between the Chinese authorities and the Soviet military administration, 92 Soviet commandant’s offices were created in Manchuria. Major General Kovtun-Stankevich A.I. became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin became the commandant of Port Arthur.
In October 1945, ships of the US 7th Fleet with a Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to bring the ships into the port. Commandant of Dalny, 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 about the Soviet coastal defense: “She knows her task and will cope with it perfectly.” Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to leave. Later, an 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 group 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 Trans-Baikal Front No. 41/0368, the 61st Tank Division was withdrawn from the troops of the 39th Army to front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she should be prepared to move under her own power to winter quarters in Choibalsan. On the basis of the control of the 192nd Infantry Division, the 76th Orsha-Khingan Red Banner Division of NKVD convoy troops was formed to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.
In November 1945, the Soviet command presented the Kuomintang authorities with 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 late autumn 1945, Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.
However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops that had begun was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the organization of 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, Soviet troops of the Transbaikal Front, led by Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky, were evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Preparations immediately began for the evacuation of troops from Harbin. On April 19, 1946, a city public meeting was held dedicated to seeing off the Red Army units 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 sk (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
5th Guards sk (17 Guards SD, 19 Guards SD, 91 Guards SD);
7 mechanized division, 6 guards adp, 14 zenad, 139 apabr, 150 ur; as well as the 7th New Ukrainian-Khingan Corps transferred from the 6th Guards Tank Army, which was soon reorganized into the division of the same name.
7th Bombardment Corps; in joint use Port Arthur Naval Base. Their location was Port Arthur and the port of Dalniy, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guangdong 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 and artillery division. 262, 338, 358 infantry divisions were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel were transferred to the 25th Guards. pulad.
Troops of the 39th Army in the People's Republic of China
In April-May 1946, Kuomintang troops, during hostilities with the PLA, came close to the Guangdong Peninsula, almost 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 and a group of officers went to the headquarters of the Kuomintang army, advancing in the direction of Guangdong. The Kuomintang commander was told that the territory beyond the border indicated on the map in the zone 8-10 km north of Guandang was under our artillery fire. If the Kuomintang troops advance further, dangerous consequences may arise. The commander reluctantly promised not to cross the boundary line. This 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 Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (headquarters in Port Arthur). He was also the senior commander of the entire group of Soviet troops in China.
Chief of Staff - General Grigory Nikiforovich Perekrestov, who commanded the 65th Rifle Corps in the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, member of the Military Council - General I. P. Konnov, Head of the Political Department - Colonel Nikita Stepanovich Demin, Artillery Commander - General Yuri Pavlovich Bazhanov and Deputy for civil administration - Colonel V. A. Grekov.
There was a naval base in Port Arthur, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.
In 1948, an American military base operated on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from Dalny. Every day a reconnaissance plane appeared from there and, at low altitude, flew over the same route and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects and airfields. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Foreign Ministry with a statement about an attack by Soviet fighters on a “light passenger plane that had gone astray,” but they stopped reconnaissance flights over Liaodong.
In June 1948, large joint exercises of all types of troops were held in Port Arthur. The general management of the exercises was carried out by Malinovsky, S. A. Krasovsky, commander of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District, arrived from Khabarovsk. The exercises took place in two main stages. The first is the reflection of a naval landing of a mock enemy. On the second - an imitation of a massive bomb strike.
In January 1949, a Soviet government delegation headed by A. I. Mikoyan arrived in China. He inspected Soviet enterprises and military facilities 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 People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, arrived in Port Arthur, who met with the commander of the 39th Army, Beloborodov. At the proposal of the Chinese side, a general meeting of Soviet and Chinese military personnel was held. At the meeting, where more than a thousand Soviet and Chinese military personnel were present, 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 Soviet-Chinese negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train “Chinese personnel navy"in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of the Soviet ships to China, prepare a plan for the landing operation on Taiwan at the Soviet General Staff and send a group of air defense troops and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists to the PRC.
In 1949, the 7th BAC 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 battalion was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet aviation, but it was based in the same place. The 860th bap became the 1540th mtap. At the same time, shad were brought to the USSR. When the MiG-15 regiment was stationed in Sanshilipu, the mine and torpedo air regiment was transferred to Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on the La-9 and mixed on the Tu-2 and Il-10) were relocated to Shanghai in 1950 and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.
On February 14, 1950, a Soviet-Chinese treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance was concluded. At this time, Soviet bomber aviation was 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 (Trans-Baikal Military District). and a number of other specialists.
On February 20, Colonel General P. F. Batitsky and his deputies met with Mao Zedong, who had returned from Moscow the day before.
The Kuomintang regime, which has strengthened its foothold in Taiwan under US protection, is being intensively equipped with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, air units are being created to strike major cities PRC. By 1950, an immediate threat arose to the largest industrial and commercial center - Shanghai.
Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the PRC government, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution to create an air defense group and send it to the PRC to carry out the international combat mission of organizing the air defense of Shanghai and conducting combat operations; - appoint Lieutenant General P. F. Batitsky as commander of the air defense group, General S. A. Slyusarev as deputy, Colonel B. A. Vysotsky as chief of staff, Colonel P. A. Baksheev as deputy for political affairs, Colonel Yakushin as fighter aviation commander M.N., Chief of Logistics - Colonel Mironov M.V.
Air defense of Shanghai was carried out by the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel Spiridonov S.L., chief of staff Colonel Antonov, as well as fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlight, radio engineering and logistics units formed from the troops of the Moscow Military District.
The combat composition of the air defense group included:
three Chinese medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiments, armed with Soviet 85 mm cannons, PUAZO-3 and rangefinders.
small-caliber anti-aircraft regiment armed with Soviet 37 mm cannons.
fighter aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander Lieutenant Colonel Pashkevich).
The fighter aviation regiment was relocated on LAG-9 aircraft by flight from the Dalniy airfield.
anti-aircraft searchlight regiment (ZPr) - commander Colonel Lysenko.
radio technical battalion (RTB).
airfield battalions maintenance(ATO) one was relocated from the Moscow region, the second from the Far East.
During the deployment of troops, mainly wired communications were used, which minimized the enemy’s ability to listen to the operation of radio equipment and find direction to the group’s radio stations. To organize telephone communications for military formations, city cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used. Radio communications were only partially deployed. The control receivers, which worked to listen to the enemy, were mounted together with anti-aircraft artillery radio units. Radio networks were preparing for action in the event of a disruption in wired communications. The signalmen provided access from the group's communications center to the Shanghai international station and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.
Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese aircraft appeared in the airspace of Eastern China unhindered and with impunity. Since April, they began to act more cautiously, due to the presence of Soviet fighters who conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields.
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, Shanghai's air defense systems destroyed three bombers and shot down four. Two planes voluntarily flew to the PRC side. 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, his deputy, General S.V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, an order was received from Moscow to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese Air Force and Air Defense Command. By mid-November 1953, the training program was completed.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, by agreement between the government of the USSR and the PRC, large Soviet aviation units were stationed in Northeast China, protecting the industrial centers of the area from attacks by American bombers. The Soviet Union took the necessary measures to build up its armed forces in the Far East and to further strengthen and develop the Port Arthur naval base. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and especially Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government turned to the Soviet leadership with a request to delay the transfer of this base from joint management 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 reconnaissance aircraft of the Pacific Fleet, 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, Sukhaya Rechka. 8 Soviet aircraft were damaged. These incidents aggravated the already tense situation on the border with Korea, where additional units of the USSR Air Force, Air Defense and Ground Forces were transferred.
The entire group 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 USSR ground forces with the families of officers on Liaodong amounted to more than 100,000 people. There were 4 armored trains operating in the Port Arthur area.
By the beginning of hostilities, the Soviet aviation group in China consisted of the 83rd mixed air corps (2 air corps, 2 bad, 1 shad); 1 IAP Navy, 1tap Navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense infantry arrived (2 IAP, 1 SBSHAP). 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 Korean War and the subsequent Kaesong negotiations, the corps was replaced by twelve fighter divisions (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.
At different times, the corps 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 in the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained this way until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps consisted of 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAK was initially 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, Soviet fighters from November 1950 to July 1953 shot down 1,106 enemy aircraft in 1,872 air battles. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, the corps' anti-aircraft artillery fire destroyed 153 aircraft, and in total, the 64th Air Force shot down 1,259 enemy aircraft of various types. Aircraft losses in air battles carried out by pilots of the Soviet contingent amounted to 335 MiG-15s. Soviet air divisions that participated in repelling US air raids lost 120 pilots. Anti-aircraft artillery personnel losses amounted to 68 killed and 165 wounded. The total losses of the contingent of Soviet troops in Korea amounted to 299 people, of which 138 were officers, 161 sergeants and soldiers. As Aviation Major General A. Kalugin recalled, “even before the end of 1954 we were on combat duty, flying out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened every day and several times a day.”
In 1950, the main 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 of Aviation S. A. Krasovsky.
Senior advisers of various branches of the military, military districts and academies reported to the chief military adviser. 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 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 military operations 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 thousand Soviet-made mines were placed in coastal waters. The first US ship to hit a mine, on September 26, 1950, was the destroyer USS Brahm. The second to hit a contact mine was the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Megpay". In addition to them, a patrol ship and 7 minesweepers were blown up by mines and sank.
The participation of 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, with a total of about 40 thousand military personnel. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and military personnel of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (IAC). The total number of specialists was 4,293 people (including 4,020 military personnel and 273 civilians), most of whom were in the country until the start of the Korean War. Advisors were located under the commanders of the military branches and service chiefs of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and individual infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, individual 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 dummies.” Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families didn’t even know about it.”
A researcher of the combat operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China, I. A. Seidov, notes: “On the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also maintained camouflage, carrying out the task in the form of Chinese people’s volunteers.”
V. Smirnov testifies: “An old-timer in Dalyan, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and the name Zhora was given to him by Soviet soldiers), said that Soviet pilots, tank crews, and 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 DPRK government. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for their selfless work “to assist the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists” and “selfless dedication of their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples.” Due to the reluctance of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on Korean territory, their presence in active units was “officially” prohibited from September 15, 1951. And yet, it is known that the 52nd Zenad from September to December 1951 conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.
May 15, 1954 American government published documents that established the extent of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the data provided, there were about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers in the North Korean army. Two months before the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 people.
American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B. S. Abakumov, controlled the operation of Soviet air units. Every month they were sent to North Korea and China large number saboteurs with various tasks, including the capture of one of the Russians to prove their presence in the country. American intelligence officers were equipped with first-class technology for transmitting information and could disguise radio equipment under the water of rice fields. Thanks to the quality and operational work The enemy agents were often informed even about the flights of Soviet aircraft, right down 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 off, the enemy radio station immediately began to work. It was extremely difficult to catch the gunner. They knew the terrain well and skillfully camouflaged themselves.”
American and Kuomintang intelligence services were constantly active in China. The American intelligence center called the “Research Bureau for Far Eastern Issues” was located in Hong Kong, and in Taipei there was 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 attacks against Soviet specialists. It said in particular: “...to widely launch 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 of Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations involving staging attacks by Soviet military personnel on Chinese women. These scenes were photographed and presented in print as acts of violence against local residents. One of the sabotage groups was uncovered in a training aviation center for preparation for jet flights on the territory of the People's Republic of China.
According to the testimony of veterans of the 39th Army, “saboteurs from the nationalist gangs of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang attacked Soviet soldiers 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 increased combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training were continuously conducted. Joint exercises were conducted with PLA units.
Since July 1951, new divisions began to be created in the North China District and old divisions were reorganized, including Korean ones, withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions during their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of the self-propelled tank regiment. With their active help, combat training of all units and subunits began, was carried out and ended. Advisors 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. Advisors to the commanders of the tank-self-propelled regiments were Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Nikiforov, Colonel I. D. Ivlev and others.
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 all-out 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 off the face of the earth. This is the last chance for Soviet government decide whether it deserves to exist or not!”
Anticipating such a development of events, Soviet military personnel were given iodine preparations in case of an atomic bombing. Water was allowed to be drunk only from flasks filled in parts.
The facts of the use of bacteriological and chemical weapons. As 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, the Americans carried out 804 bacteriological raids over two months. These facts are confirmed by Soviet military personnel - veterans of the Korean War. Bersenev recalls: “The B-29 was bombed at night, and when you go out in the morning, there are insects everywhere: such big flies infected with various diseases. The whole earth was dotted with them. Because of the flies, we slept in gauze curtains. We were constantly given preventive injections, but many still got sick. And some of our people died during 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 carried out the largest raid on a complex of hydraulic structures on the Yalu River, in which over five hundred bombers took part. As a result, almost all of North Korea and part of North China were left without power supply. The British authorities disowned this act, committed under the UN flag, and protested.
On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a destructive raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the recollections of embassy employee V.A. Tarasov, the first bombs were dropped at two in the morning, subsequent attacks 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 the Ceasefire Treaty was signed (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), a Soviet military aircraft Il-12, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur heading for Vladivostok. Flying over the spurs of the Greater Khingan, it was suddenly attacked by 4 American fighters, as a result of which the 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 took part in hostilities in Korea and China
The following Soviet units are known to have participated in hostilities on the territory of Korea and China: 64th IAK, GVS inspection department, special communications department at the GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok - Port Arthur route; The Heijin reconnaissance point, the HF station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, the broadcast point in Ranan and the communications company that served 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 KND headquarters, 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 replaced 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 battalions on Korean territory. Several military hospitals operated on the railway and the 3rd Railway Operational Regiment operated. The combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, radar station operators, 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 aviation medicine laboratory.
Dislocations
The following were stationed in Port Arthur: the headquarters of the 113th Infantry Division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (338th Infantry Division - in the Port Arthur, Dalniy sector, 358th from Dalniy to the northern border of the zone, 262nd Infantry Division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st artillery corps, 150 UR, 139 apabr, communications regiment, artillery regiment, 48th guards infantry regiment, air defense regiment, IAP, ATO battalion. The editorial office of the newspaper of the 39th Army “Son of the Motherland” After the war, it became known as “Vo”. glory to the Motherland!”, editor - Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Krasovsky. USSR Navy Base Hospital 29 BCP.
The headquarters of the 5th Guards were stationed in the Jinzhou area. sk Lieutenant General L.N. Alekseev, 19th, 91st and 17th Guards. rifle division under the command of Major General Evgeniy 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 Artillery Breakthrough Division, Pacific Fleet Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment.
In Dalny - the 33rd cannon division, the headquarters of the 7th BAC, aviation units, the 14th Zenad, the 119th rifle regiment guarded the port. Units of the USSR Navy. In the 50s, Soviet specialists built a modern hospital for the PLA in a convenient coastal area. This hospital still exists today.
There are air units in Sanshilipu.
In the area of the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou - the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division, aviation units (at Jianwan and Dachan airfields), airborne forces posts (at Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Congjiaolu).
In the area of Andun - 19th Guards. rifle division, air units, 10th, 20th anti-aircraft searchlight regiments.
In the area of Yingchenzi - 7th fur. Division of Lieutenant General F. G. Katkov, part of the 6th Artillery Breakthrough Division.
There are air units in the Nanchang area.
There are air units in the Harbin area.
In the Beijing area there is the 300th Air Regiment.
Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.
There are air units in the Qiqihar area.
There are air units in the Myagou area.
Losses and losses
Soviet-Japanese War 1945. Dead - 12,031 people, medical - 24,425 people.
During the performance of international duty by Soviet military specialists in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died from wounds and illnesses. Of these, there are 155 officers, 216 sergeants, 521 soldiers and 44 people. - from among civilian specialists. The burial places of fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.
Korean War (1950-1953). The total irretrievable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which 168 were officers, 147 were sergeants and soldiers.
The figures for Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly according to different sources. Thus, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens were buried in cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 (the cities of Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou), and according to Chinese passport data from 1992 - 723 people. In total, during the period from 1945 to 1956 on the Liaodong Peninsula, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried (of which 104 were unknown), and according to Chinese passport data of 1992 - 2,572 people, including 15 unknown. As for Soviet losses, complete data on this is still missing. From many literary sources, including memoirs, it is known that during the Korean War, Soviet advisers, anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, medical workers, diplomats, and other specialists who provided assistance to North Korea died.
There are 58 burial sites of Soviet and Russian soldiers in China. More than 18 thousand died during the liberation of China from Japanese invaders and after WWII.
The ashes of more than 14.5 thousand Soviet soldiers rest on the territory of the PRC; at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers were built in 45 cities of China.
There is no detailed information regarding the accounting of losses of Soviet civilians in China. At the same time, about 100 women and children are buried in only one of the plots in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. Children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948, mostly one or two years old, are buried here.
My friends, before presenting you with a selection of photographs, I would like to introduce you to a wonderful publication that reveals little-known facts about that war and the main reasons for the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945.
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Alexey Polubota
Unconditional samurai surrender
Japan was forced to surrender its weapons not by American nuclear strikes, but by Soviet troops
September 2 is the day of the end of World War II. It was on this day in 1945 that Japan, Germany's last ally, was forced to sign unconditional surrender. In Russia, this date for a long time remained, as it were, in the shadow of the Great Patriotic War. Only in 2010, September 2 was declared the Day of Military Glory of Russia. Meanwhile, the defeat by Soviet troops of more than a million Kwantung Army in Manchuria is one of the brilliant successes of Russian weapons. As a result of the operation, the main part of which lasted only 10 days - from August 9 to 19, 1945, 84 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were killed. Almost 600 thousand were taken prisoner. The losses of the Soviet Army amounted to 12 thousand people. Quite a convincing statistic for those who like to repeat that Soviet marshals and generals won only because they overwhelmed their enemies with corpses.
Today, a very common version is that the Japanese were forced to lay down their arms by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that thanks to this the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were saved. However, a number of historians believe that it was the lightning defeat of the Kwantung Army that showed the Japanese emperor the futility of further resistance. Back in 1965 historian Gar Alperovitz stated that the atomic strikes on Japan had little military significance. English explorer Ward Wilson The recently published book Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons also concludes that it was not American bombs that influenced the Japanese resolve to fight.
It was the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan and the rapid defeat of the Kwantung Army by Soviet troops that served as the main factors in the accelerated end of the war and the unconditional surrender of Japan, agrees Head of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valery Kistanov.- The fact is that the Japanese were not going to give up quickly. They were preparing for a fierce struggle with the United States for their main islands. This is evidenced by the fierce fighting in Okinawa, where American troops landed. These battles showed the US leadership that bloody battles were ahead, which, according to military experts, could last until 1946.
An interesting fact was recently published: in the mountains near Kyoto, the Americans discovered a special device designed to launch military projectiles that would be controlled by suicide bombers. A kind of projectile aircraft. The Japanese simply did not have time to use them. That is, in addition to the kamikaze pilots, there were other soldiers who were ready to become suicide bombers.
The total strength of the Kwantung Army in China and Korea with allied units was more than a million people. The Japanese had a layered defense and all the necessary resources to wage a protracted, fierce war. Their soldiers were determined to fight to the end. But by that time the Soviet Army had enormous experience in warfare. The troops that survived fire and water very quickly defeated the Kwantung Army. In my opinion, this is what finally broke the will of the Japanese command to fight.
“SP”: - Why is it still believed that it was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that forced Japan to quickly capitulate?
To belittle the role of the USSR in World War II, emphasizing the importance of the United States is a general tendency. Look what's happening in Europe. The propaganda there is so successful that if you ask ordinary people, many will answer that the greatest contribution to the victory over the Hitler coalition was made by the United States and its Western allies.
Americans tend to exaggerate their own merits. Moreover, by claiming that it was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that persuaded Japan to surrender, they seem to justify this barbaric act. Like, we saved the lives of American soldiers.
Meanwhile, the use of atomic bombs did not really frighten the Japanese. They didn't even fully understand what it was. Yes, it became clear that powerful weapons were used. But no one knew about radiation then. In addition, the Americans dropped bombs not on armed forces, but to peaceful cities. Military factories and naval bases were damaged, but mostly civilians died, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was not greatly affected.
“SP”: - Japan has been considered an ally of the United States for several decades. Does the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki leave an imprint on the Japanese attitude towards the United States, or is this a long-turned page of history for them?
Such things, of course, are not forgotten. The attitude of many ordinary Japanese towards the United States is by no means the most welcoming. There is no justification for that barbaric bombing. I was in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and saw museums dedicated to this tragedy. Terrible experience. In Hiroshima, near the memorial, there is a special storage facility where plaques with the names of the victims of this bombing are placed. So, this list continues to grow to this day - people are dying from the effects of radiation.
The paradox of history is that yesterday's worst enemies are today's allies. This affects how Japanese officials and official media cover those events. It is very rare to find a mention in Japanese press publications of who dropped the atomic bombs. People usually talk about this in a very abstract way. So, they say, a tragedy happened, bombs fell. Not a word about the USA. You might think that atomic bombs fell from the moon. Moreover, I admit that as a result of such silence, some young Japanese are sure that this was done by the USSR, in relation to which the media broadcast a lot of negativity.
But, I repeat, for the most part, ordinary Japanese have not forgotten or forgiven that bombing. Particularly negative sentiments towards Americans are widespread in Okinawa, which until 1972 remained under direct US occupation. This small island still houses 75% of American military bases in Japan. These bases cause a lot of trouble for the local population, from the noise of airplanes to the antics of some American soldiers. From time to time, excesses occur. The Japanese are still reeling from the rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by several Marines 18 years ago.
All this leads to regular protests demanding the withdrawal of the main American base. The latest protests by Okinawa residents were associated with the transfer of new American aircraft to the island.
The Korean Peninsula and China were a very important logistical and resource base for Japan, says Konstantin Asmolov, orientalist, candidate of historical sciences, employee of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - There was even a plan to evacuate the Japanese imperial court to Korea in case fierce fighting broke out on the islands themselves in Japan. By the time the nuclear strike was used, many Japanese cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing. For example, when American aircraft burned Tokyo, about 100 thousand people died. From the way the Japanese initially reacted to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was clear that they were not very scared. For them, in general, it didn’t make much difference whether the city was destroyed by one bomb or a thousand. The defeat of the Kwantung Army by Soviet troops and the loss of the most important strategic platform on the mainland became much more important for them. a serious blow. That is why we can say that the USSR at the cost of 12 thousand dead soldiers significantly hastened the end of World War II.
The role of the USSR in the defeat of Japan can be judged by this fact, says Andrei Fursov, historian, director of the Center for Russian Studies at the Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research at Moscow University for the Humanities. - At the very end of the war, Churchill gave the order to develop Operation Unthinkable, which involved a strike by American and British troops with the participation of German divisions controlled by the Western allies on July 1, 1945. Anglo-American military experts put forward two counterarguments against this operation. First - the Soviet Army is too strong. Secondly, the USSR is very necessary in order to defeat Japan. Despite the fact that already in 1943 there was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and the Americans successfully pushed back the enemy, they understood perfectly well that without the Soviet Union it would be very difficult to “put the pressure on” Japan. The Kwantung Army held vast territories in China and Korea. And the Americans had no experience of a serious land war. Therefore, it was decided not to carry out Operation Unthinkable.
If the USSR had not defeated the Kwantung Army the way it did - quickly and effectively, then American losses in World War II (about 400 thousand people) would have been much higher. Not to mention the huge financial costs.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not play a military role. On the one hand, it was an unjustifiably cruel revenge from Japan for Pearl Harbor, and on the other hand, it was an act of intimidation of the USSR, which needed to show the full power of the United States.
Today, the USA and Great Britain really want to present everything in such a way that the role of the USSR in the victory over Japan was minimal. It must be admitted that they achieved great success in their propaganda. Young people in these countries know little about Russia's involvement in World War II. Some are even sure that the USSR fought on the side of Nazi Germany. Everything is being done to push Russia out of the ranks of winners.
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Victory over Japan. Photo album.
1. The movement of Soviet infantry across the steppes of Manchuria. Transbaikal front. 1945
48. An American B-29 bomber took off from the island of Tinian in the early morning of August 6 with "Baby" on board. At 8:15 the bomb was dropped from an altitude of 9400 meters, and after 45 seconds of falling it exploded at an altitude of 600 m above the city center. In the photo: a column of smoke and dust over Hiroshima reached a height of 7000 meters. The size of the dust cloud on the ground reached 3 km.
50. The Fat Man atomic bomb was dropped from a B-29 aircraft and exploded at 11:02 am at an altitude of 500 m above Nagasaki. The power of the explosion was about 21 kilotons.
54. Battleship of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, battleship Missouri, on which the Instrument of Surrender of Japan was signed. Tokyo Bay. 1945
56. Participants in the signing of the act of surrender of Japan: Hsu Yun-chan (China), B. Fraser (Great Britain), K.N. Derevianko (USSR), T. Blamey (Australia), L.M. Cosgrave (Canada), F .Leclerc (France). 02 September 1945
61. The moment of signing the act of surrender of Japan by General Y. Umezu. Tokyo Bay. 02 September 1945
67. The moment of signing the act of surrender of Japan on board the American battleship Missouri. From the USSR, the act is signed by Lieutenant General K.N. Derevianko. MacArthur is at the microphone. 02 September 1945
69. The act of surrender of Japan.Signatories to the act: Japan, USSR, USA, China, Great Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands.
70. Exhibition of Japanese captured military equipment. Park of Culture and Leisure named after. M. Gorky. Moscow. 1946
Photo by: Temin V.A. GARF, F.10140. Op.2. D. 125. L.2
All photos are clickable
