When the war between the USSR and Japan ended. Soviet-Japanese War: fighting in the Far East

The article describes the causes of the Soviet-Japanese armed conflict, the preparation of the parties for war, the course of hostilities. The characteristic of international relations before the beginning of the Second World War in the east is given.

Introduction

Active hostilities in the Far East and in the Pacific Ocean were the result of the contradictions that had arisen in the pre-war years between the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and China, on the one hand, and Japan, on the other. The Japanese government sought to seize new territories rich in natural resources and establish political hegemony in the Far East.

Since the end of the 19th century, Japan has waged many wars, as a result of which it acquired new colonies. It included the Kuril Islands, southern Sakhalin, Korea, Manchuria. In 1927, General Giichi Tanaka became the prime minister of the country, whose government continued its aggressive policy. In the early 1930s, Japan increased the size of its army and created a powerful navy that was one of the strongest in the world.

In 1940, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe developed a new foreign policy doctrine. The Japanese government planned to create a colossal empire stretching from Transbaikalia to Australia. Western countries pursued a dual policy towards Japan: on the one hand, they sought to limit the ambitions of the Japanese government, but on the other hand, they did not interfere with the intervention of northern China. To implement its plans, the Japanese government entered into an alliance with Germany and Italy.

Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union deteriorated markedly in the prewar period. In 1935, the Kwantung Army entered the border regions of Mongolia. Mongolia hastily concluded an agreement with the USSR, units of the Red Army were introduced into its territory. In 1938, Japanese troops crossed the state border of the USSR in the region of Lake Khasan, but the invasion attempt was successfully repelled by Soviet troops. Japanese sabotage groups were also repeatedly thrown into Soviet territory. The confrontation escalated even more in 1939, when Japan launched a war against Mongolia. The USSR, observing the agreement with the Mongolian Republic, intervened in the conflict.

After these events, Japan's policy towards the USSR changed: the Japanese government was afraid of a collision with a strong western neighbor and decided to temporarily abandon the seizure of territories in the north. Nevertheless, for Japan, the USSR was actually the main enemy in the Far East.

Non-aggression pact with Japan

In the spring of 1941, the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Japan. In the event of an armed conflict of one of the states with any third countries, the second power undertook to remain neutral. But the Japanese Foreign Minister made it clear to the German ambassador in Moscow that the concluded neutrality pact would not prevent Japan from fulfilling the terms of the Tripartite Pact during the war with the USSR.

Before the outbreak of World War II in the east, Japan was negotiating with American leaders seeking recognition of the annexation of Chinese territories and the conclusion of new trade treaties. The ruling elite of Japan could not decide against whom to direct the blow in a future war. Some politicians considered it necessary to support Germany, while another part called for an attack on the Pacific colonies of Great Britain and the United States.

As early as 1941, it became obvious that Japan's actions would depend on the situation on the Soviet-German front. The Japanese government planned to attack the USSR from the east if Germany and Italy succeeded, after the capture of Moscow by German troops. Also of great importance was the fact that the country needed raw materials for its industry. The Japanese were interested in capturing areas rich in oil, tin, zinc, nickel and rubber. Therefore, on July 2, 1941, at the imperial conference, it was decided to start a war against the USA and Great Britain. But The Japanese government did not completely abandon plans to attack the USSR until the Battle of Kursk, when it became obvious that Germany would not win the Second World War. Along with this factor, the active military operations of the allies in the Pacific forced Japan to repeatedly postpone and then completely abandon its aggressive intentions against the USSR.

The situation in the Far East during the Second World War

Despite the fact that hostilities in the Far East never began, the USSR was forced to maintain a large military grouping in this region throughout the war, the size of which varied in different periods. Until 1945, the Kwantung Army was located on the border, which included up to 1 million servicemen. The local population also prepared for defense: men were mobilized into the army, women and teenagers studied air defense methods. Fortifications were built around strategically important objects.

The Japanese leadership believed that the Germans would be able to capture Moscow before the end of 1941. In this regard, it was planned to launch an offensive against the Soviet Union in the winter. On December 3, the Japanese command ordered the troops in China to prepare for the transfer to the north. The Japanese were going to invade the USSR in the Ussuri region, and then launch an offensive in the north. To implement the approved plan, it was necessary to strengthen the Kwantung Army. Troops liberated after the fighting in the Pacific were sent to the Northern Front.

However, the hopes of the Japanese government for a quick German victory did not come true. The failure of the blitzkrieg tactics and the defeat of the Wehrmacht armies near Moscow testified that the Soviet Union was a strong enough adversary whose power should not be underestimated.

The threat of a Japanese invasion intensified in the fall of 1942. Nazi German troops advanced into the Caucasus and the Volga. The Soviet command hastily transferred 14 rifle divisions and more than 1,500 guns from the Far East to the front. Just at this time, Japan did not conduct active battles in the Pacific. However, the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief foresaw the possibility of a Japanese attack. The Far Eastern troops received replenishment from local reserves. This fact became known to Japanese intelligence. The Japanese government again delayed entry into the war.

The Japanese attacked merchant ships in neutral waters, preventing the delivery of goods to the Far Eastern ports, repeatedly violated state borders, committed sabotage on Soviet territory, and threw propaganda literature across the border. Japanese intelligence collected information about the movements of the Soviet troops and transmitted them to the headquarters of the Wehrmacht. Among the reasons for the USSR's entry into the Japanese War in 1945 were not only obligations to the allies, but also concern for the security of its borders.

Already in the second half of 1943, when the turning point in the course of World War II ended, it became clear that, following Italy, which had already withdrawn from the war, Germany and Japan would also be defeated. The Soviet command, foreseeing a future war in the Far East, from that time almost did not use the Far Eastern troops on the Western Front. Gradually, these units of the Red Army were replenished with military equipment and manpower. In August 1943, the Primorsky Group of Forces was created as part of the Far Eastern Front, which indicated preparations for a future war.

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union confirmed that the agreement between Moscow and the Allies on participation in the war with Japan remained in force. The Red Army was to begin military operations against Japan no later than 3 months after the end of the war in Europe. In return, I. V. Stalin demanded territorial concessions for the USSR: the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Russia and the part of Sakhalin Island assigned to Japan as a result of the war of 1905, the transfer of the Chinese port of Port Arthur (on modern maps - Luishun ). The Dalniy commercial port was to become an open port, with the interests of the USSR being predominantly observed.

By this time, the US and British Armed Forces had inflicted a number of defeats on Japan. However, her resistance was not broken. The US, Chinese and British demand for unconditional surrender on 26 July was rejected by Japan. This decision was not unfounded. The United States and Great Britain did not have sufficient forces to carry out a landing operation in the Far East. According to the plans of the American and British leaders, the final defeat of Japan was envisaged no earlier than 1946. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with Japan, significantly brought the end of World War II closer.

Forces and plans of the parties

The Soviet-Japanese war or the Manchurian operation began on August 9, 1945. The Red Army was faced with the task of defeating the Japanese troops in China and North Korea.

Back in May 1945, the USSR began the transfer of troops to the Far East. 3 fronts were formed: the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Transbaikal. The Soviet Union used border troops, the Amur military flotilla and ships of the Pacific Fleet in the offensive.

The Kwantung Army included 11 infantry and 2 tank brigades, more than 30 infantry divisions, cavalry and mechanized units, a suicide brigade, and the Sungari River Flotilla. The most significant forces were deployed in the eastern regions of Manchuria, bordering on the Soviet Primorye. In the western regions, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and 1 brigade. The number of enemy soldiers exceeded 1 million people, but more than half of the fighters were recruits of younger ages and limited fit. Many Japanese units were understaffed. Also, the newly created units lacked weapons, ammunition, artillery and other military equipment. Outdated tanks and aircraft were used in Japanese units and formations.

On the side of Japan, the troops of Manchukuo, the army of Inner Mongolia and the Suiyuan army group fought. In the border areas, the enemy built 17 fortified areas. The command of the Kwantung Army was carried out by General Otsuzo Yamada.

The plan of the Soviet command provided for two main strikes by the forces of the 1st Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, as a result of which the main enemy forces in the center of Manchuria would be pincered, divided into parts and defeated. The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades, in cooperation with the Amur military flotilla, were supposed to strike in the direction of Harbin. Then the Red Army was to occupy large settlements - Shenyang, Harbin, Changchun. The fighting took place on a stretch of more than 2.5 thousand km. on the map of the area.

Start of hostilities

Simultaneously with the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops, aviation carried out bombing of areas of large concentrations of troops, strategically significant objects and communication centers. Pacific Fleet ships attacked Japanese naval bases in North Korea. The offensive was led by the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, A. M. Vasilevsky.

As a result of the military operations of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which, having crossed the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Mountains on the first day of the offensive, advanced 50 km, significant groups of enemy troops were defeated. The offensive was hampered by the natural conditions of the area. There was not enough fuel for the tanks, but the units of the Red Army used the experience of the Germans - the supply of fuel by transport aircraft was organized. On August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army reached the approaches to the capital of Manchuria. Soviet troops isolated the Kwantung Army from the Japanese units in Northern China and occupied important administrative centers.

The Soviet group of troops advancing from Primorye broke through the border fortifications. In the Mudanjiang area, the Japanese launched a series of counterattacks, which were repulsed. Soviet units occupied Kirin and Harbin, and, with the assistance of the Pacific Fleet, liberated the coast, capturing strategically important ports.

Then the Red Army liberated North Korea, and from mid-August, hostilities took place in China. On August 14, the Japanese command initiated surrender negotiations. On August 19, enemy troops began to surrender en masse. However, the hostilities of World War II continued until early September.

Simultaneously with the defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Soviet troops carried out the South Sakhalin offensive operation and landed troops on the Kuril Islands. During the operation in the Kuril Islands on August 18-23, Soviet troops, with the support of the ships of the Peter and Paul Naval Base, captured Samusya Island and occupied all the islands of the Kuril chain by September 1.

Results

As a result of the defeat of the Kwantung Army on the continent, Japan could no longer continue the war. The enemy lost important economic regions in Manchuria and Korea. The Americans carried out atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and captured the island of Okinawa. On September 2, an act of surrender was signed.

The USSR included territories lost by the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century: South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. In 1956, the USSR restored relations with Japan and agreed to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, subject to the conclusion of a Peace Treaty between the countries. But Japan has not come to terms with territorial losses and negotiations on the ownership of the disputed regions still do not stop.

For military merit, more than 200 units received the titles of Amur, Ussuri, Khingan, Harbin, etc. 92 servicemen became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

As a result of the operation, the losses of the warring countries amounted to:

• from the USSR - about 36.5 thousand military personnel,
• from Japan - more than 1 million soldiers and officers.

Also, during the fighting, all the ships of the Sungaria flotilla were sunk - more than 50 ships.

Medal "For the victory over Japan"

The question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was decided at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 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.

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.

Marshal of the Soviet Union O.M. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops for the invasion of Manchuria. Vasilevsky. A grouping was involved, consisting of 3 fronts (commanders R.Ya. Malinovsky, K.P. Meretskov and M.O. Purkaev), with a total number of 1.5 million people.

They were opposed by the Kwantung Army under the command of General Yamada Otozo.

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.

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 great attention to the Manchurian direction. That is why, in addition to the nine infantry divisions that remained in Manchuria at the end of 1944, the Japanese deployed an additional 24 divisions and 10 brigades until August 1945.

True, the Japanese were able to use only untrained young conscripts to organize new divisions and brigades, 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, artillery was often absent.

The most significant forces of the Kwantung Army - up to ten divisions - were stationed in the east of Manchuria, which bordered on the Soviet Primorye, where the first Far Eastern Front was stationed as part of 31 infantry divisions, a cavalry division, a mechanized corps and 11 tank brigades.

In the north of Manchuria, the Japanese concentrated one infantry division and two brigades - while they were opposed by the 2nd Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 infantry divisions, 4 infantry and 9 tank brigades.

In the west of Manchuria, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and one brigade against 33 Soviet divisions, including two tank, two mechanized corps, a tank corps and six tank brigades.

In central and southern Manchuria, the Japanese had several more divisions and brigades, as well as two tank brigades and all combat aviation.

Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, the Soviet troops bypassed the fortified areas of the Japanese with mobile units and blocked the infantry.

The 6th Guards Tank Army of General Kravchenko was advancing from Mongolia to the center of Manchuria. On August 11, the army’s equipment stopped due to lack of fuel, but the experience of German tank units was used - the delivery of fuel to tanks by transport aircraft. As a result, until August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Chanchun.

The First Far Eastern Front at that time broke the Japanese defenses in eastern Manchuria, occupying the largest city in this region, Mudanjian.

In a number of areas, Soviet troops had to overcome the stubborn resistance of the enemy. In the zone of the 5th Army, the Japanese defenses in the Mudanjiang area held out with particular ferocity. There were cases of stubborn resistance by Japanese troops in the lines of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also launched numerous counterattacks.

On August 14, the Japanese command requested a truce. But military operations on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later, the Kwantung Army received an order from the command to surrender, which came into force on August 20.

On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the emperor of Manchukuo, the last emperor of China, Pu Yi.

On August 18, a landing was launched on the northernmost of the Kuril Islands. On the same day, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two infantry divisions. However, this landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops on South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the orders of the Headquarters.

Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea, capturing Seoul. The main fighting on the continent continued for another 12 days, until 20 August. But separate battles continued until September 10, which became the day of the complete surrender of the Kwantung Army. The fighting on the islands completely ended on September 1.

Japan's surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. From the Soviet Union, the act was signed by Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.

Participants in the signing of the act of surrender of Japan: Hsu Yong-chan (China), B. Fraser (Great Britain), K.N. Derevianko (USSR), T. Blamey (Australia), L. M. Cosgrave (Canada), J. Leclerc (France).

As a result of the war, the territories of South Sakhalin, temporarily Kwantung with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalian, as well as the Kuril Islands, went to the USSR.

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

Fourth war with Japan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Japanese soldiers surrender their weapons to a Soviet officer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soviet Marines in Port Arthur.

Ilya Kramnik, military observer for RIA Novosti.

The war between the USSR and Japan in 1945, which became the last major campaign of the Second World War, lasted less than a month - from August 9 to September 2, 1945, but this month became a key one in the history of the Far East and the entire Asia-Pacific region, ending and, conversely, initiating many historical processes lasting decades.

background

The prerequisites for the Soviet-Japanese war arose exactly on the day when the Russo-Japanese war ended - on the day the Portsmouth Peace was signed on September 5, 1905. Russia's territorial losses were insignificant - the Liaodong Peninsula rented from China and the southern part of Sakhalin Island. Much more significant was the loss of influence in the world as a whole and in the Far East, in particular, caused by an unsuccessful war on land and the death of most of the fleet at sea. The feeling of national humiliation was also very strong.
Japan became the dominant Far Eastern power; it exploited marine resources almost uncontrollably, including in Russian territorial waters, where it carried out predatory fishing, crab fishing, sea animal hunting, etc.

This situation intensified during the revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War, when Japan actually occupied the Russian Far East for several years, and left the region with great reluctance under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, who feared the excessive strengthening of yesterday's ally in the First World War.

At the same time, there was a process of strengthening Japan's positions in China, which was also weakened and fragmented. The reverse process that began in the 1920s - the strengthening of the USSR, which was recovering from military and revolutionary upheavals - rather quickly led to relations between Tokyo and Moscow that could easily be described as a "cold war". The Far East has long become an arena of military confrontation and local conflicts. By the end of the 1930s, tensions reached a peak, and this period was marked by the two largest clashes between the USSR and Japan in this period - the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.

Fragile Neutrality

Having suffered quite serious losses and convinced of the power of the Red Army, Japan chose to conclude a neutrality pact with the USSR on April 13, 1941, and free its hands for the war in the Pacific Ocean.

This pact was also needed by the Soviet Union. At that time, it became obvious that the "naval lobby", pushing the southern direction of the war, was playing an increasing role in Japanese politics. The position of the army, on the other hand, was weakened by offensive defeats. The probability of war with Japan was not very high, while the conflict with Germany was getting closer every day.

For Germany itself, Japan's partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which saw Japan as the main ally and future partner in the New World Order, the agreement between Moscow and Tokyo was a serious slap in the face and caused complications in relations between Berlin and Tokyo. Tokyo, however, pointed out to the Germans the existence of a similar neutrality pact between Moscow and Berlin.

The two main aggressors of World War II could not agree, and each waged his main war - Germany against the USSR in Europe, Japan - against the USA and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, Germany declared war on the United States on the day of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, but Japan did not declare war on the USSR, which the Germans had hoped for.

However, relations between the USSR and Japan could hardly be called good - Japan constantly violated the signed pact, detaining Soviet ships at sea, periodically allowing attacks by Soviet military and civilian ships, violating the border on land, etc.

It was obvious that the signed document was not valuable for any of the parties for any long period, and the war was only a matter of time. However, since 1942, the situation gradually began to change: the marked turning point in the war forced Japan to abandon long-term plans for a war against the USSR, and at the same time, the Soviet Union began to consider plans for the return of territories lost during the Russo-Japanese War more and more carefully.

By 1945, when the situation became critical, Japan tried to start negotiations with the Western allies, using the USSR as an intermediary, but this did not bring success.

During the Yalta Conference, the USSR announced an obligation to start a war against Japan within 2-3 months after the end of the war against Germany. The intervention of the USSR was seen as necessary by the allies: to defeat Japan, it was necessary to defeat its ground forces, which for the most part had not yet been affected by the war, and the allies feared that landing on the Japanese islands would cost them great sacrifices.

Japan, with the neutrality of the USSR, could count on the continuation of the war and the reinforcement of the forces of the mother country at the expense of resources and troops stationed in Manchuria and Korea, communication with which continued, despite all attempts to interrupt it.

The declaration of war by the Soviet Union finally destroyed these hopes. On August 9, 1945, speaking at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for the Direction of War, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki stated:

"The entry into the war of the Soviet Union this morning puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war."

It should be noted that the nuclear bombings in this case were only an additional reason for an early exit from the war, but not the main reason. Suffice it to say that the massive bombing of Tokyo in the spring of 1945, which caused about the same number of victims as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, did not lead Japan to thoughts of surrender. And only the entry into the war of the USSR against the backdrop of nuclear bombings forced the leadership of the Empire to recognize the futility of continuing the war.

"August Storm"

The war itself, nicknamed in the West "August Storm", was swift. Possessing rich experience in military operations against the Germans, the Soviet troops broke through the Japanese defenses in a series of quick and decisive blows and launched an offensive deep into Manchuria. Tank units successfully advanced in seemingly unsuitable conditions - through the sands of the Gobi and the Khingan ridges, but the military machine, debugged over the four years of the war with the most formidable enemy, practically did not fail.

As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, having occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas in the depths of the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was carried out with special force in the Mudanjiang area. There were cases of stubborn resistance by the enemy in the zones of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also made repeated counterattacks. On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly the last emperor of China).

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

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

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

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

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

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories previously lost by Russia (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and the Far East, subsequently transferred to China), as well as the Kuril Islands, the southern part of which is still disputed by Japan.

According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuriles (Chishima Retto). But the treaty did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it.
Negotiations on the southern part of the Kuril Islands are still ongoing, and there are no prospects for a quick resolution of the issue.

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

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

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

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

fighting

Soviet-Japanese War

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

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

During August 12-14, the Japanese launched many counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Wanemyao, Buhedu. However, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front inflicted strong blows on the counterattacking enemy and continued to move rapidly to the southeast.

On August 13, formations and units of the 39th Army captured the cities of Ulan-Khoto and Thessalonica. Then launched an offensive against Changchun.

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

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

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

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

Marshal Malinovsky 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 coast and take a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped their landing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Yuri 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 troops G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - major general of artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in air force forces - Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in the Navy - Rear Admiral A. V. Kuzmin.

Soviet military assistance had a significant impact on the course of hostilities in Korea. For example, the assistance provided by Soviet sailors to the Korean Navy (senior naval adviser in the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, 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. The advisers were attached to 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 their selfless work "in assisting the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selflessly devoting their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples." Due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was “officially” prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that from September to December 1951, the 52nd Zenad conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.

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

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

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

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

In Sanshilipu - air units.

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

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

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

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

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

In the Beijing area - the 300th air regiment.

Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.

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

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

Losses and losses

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

During the period of fulfillment by Soviet military specialists of international duty in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died, died from wounds and diseases. Of these, officers - 155, sergeants - 216, soldiers - 521 and 44 people. - from 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.