World War II was an unprecedented disaster for the Soviet Union. During the war years, which began in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and ended with the defeat of Japan in August 1945, more than 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died.
The Soviet Union, preoccupied and exhausted by the struggle for existence along its western borders, played a relatively minor role in the Pacific theater until the very end of the war. Nevertheless, Moscow's timely intervention in the war against Japan allowed it to expand its influence in the Pacific region.
With the disintegration of the anti-Hitler coalition soon marking the beginning of the Cold War, the successes achieved by the Soviet Union in Asia also led to confrontations and divisions, some of which still exist today.
By the early 1930s, both the Stalinist Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan saw themselves as rising powers seeking to expand their territorial holdings. In addition to the strategic rivalry that had been going on since the 19th century, they now harbored an enmity for each other based on the hostile ideologies generated, respectively, by the Bolshevik revolution and the ultra-conservative military that was increasingly influencing Japanese politics. In 1935 (so in the text - approx. per.) Japan signed the anti-Comintern pact with Nazi Germany, which laid the foundation for the creation of the "Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis" (fascist Italy joined the pact a year later).
In the late 1930s, the armies of both countries repeatedly engaged in armed clashes near the borders between Soviet Siberia and Manchuria (Manchukuo), occupied by Japan. During the largest of the conflicts - in the war on Khalkhin Gol in the summer of 1939 - more than 17 thousand people died. And yet Moscow and Tokyo, worried about growing tensions in Europe and Southeast Asia, realized that their own plans for Manchuria were not worth the ever-increasing costs and soon turned their attention to other theaters of war.
Just two days after the German Wehrmacht launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Moscow and Tokyo signed a non-aggression pact. (so in the text - approx. per.). Freed from the danger of fighting on two fronts, the Soviet Union was able to throw all its forces into containing the onslaught of Germany. Accordingly, the Red Army did not actually play any role in the operations in the Pacific theater of operations that soon began - at least until the last moment.
Realizing that Moscow did not have additional resources while its troops were involved in Europe, US President Franklin Roosevelt still tried to enlist the support of the USSR in the war with Japan after the defeat of Germany. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agreed to this, hoping to expand Soviet borders in Asia. Stalin began to build up military potential in the Far East as soon as the turning point occurred in the course of the war - after the battle of Stalingrad.
At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan three months after the defeat of Germany. According to the agreement signed in Yalta, Moscow received back South Sakhalin, which was lost in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, as well as the Kuril Islands, which Russia renounced in 1875. In addition, Mongolia was recognized as an independent state (it was already a Soviet satellite). Also, the interests of the USSR had to be observed in relation to the naval base in the Chinese port of Port Arthur (Dalian) and the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), which until 1905 belonged to the Russian Empire.
Then on August 8, 1945, Moscow declared war on Japan, two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the day before the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Western historiographers have long emphasized the role of the nuclear bombings in forcing Japan to capitulate. However, Japanese documents that have recently appeared in the public domain emphasize the significance of the fact that the USSR declared war on Japan and thereby hastened the defeat of Japan.
The day after the Soviet Union declared war, a massive military invasion of Manchuria began. In addition, the Soviet army carried out an amphibious landing on the territory of the Japanese colonies: the Japanese Northern Territories, Sakhalin Island and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. As a result of the USSR's invasion of Manchuria, armed detachments of Chinese communists rushed there, who fought both the Japanese and the nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek (Chiang Kai-shek), which ultimately led to the victory of the communists in 1948.
Washington and Moscow agreed in advance on the joint administration of Korea with the aim of turning that country, which had been under Japanese colonial rule since 1910, into an independent state. As in Europe, the US and the USSR created their own occupation zones there, the dividing line between which ran along the 38th parallel. Unable to reach an agreement on the formation of a government for both zones, representatives of the United States and the USSR led the process of creating governments for the two opposing parts of Korea - North (Pyongyang) and South (Seoul). This set the stage for the Korean War, which began in January 1950, when the North Korean army crossed the line of demarcation along the 38th parallel, where by that time the international border had already passed.
The landing of Soviet amphibious assault on Sakhalin provoked stubborn resistance from Japan, but gradually the Soviet Union managed to firmly gain a foothold throughout the island. Until 1945, Sakhalin was divided into two parts - the Russian zone in the north and the Japanese zone in the south. Russia and Japan fought over this large, sparsely populated island for more than a century, and under the terms of the Treaty of Shimoda signed in 1855, the Russians had the right to live in the northern part of the island, and the Japanese in the south. In 1875, Japan renounced its rights to the island, but then captured it during the Russo-Japanese War, and only in 1925 returned the northern half of the island to Moscow again. After the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which officially ended World War II, Japan renounced all of its claims to Sakhalin and placed the island at the disposal of the Soviet Union - even though Moscow refused to sign this treaty.
The Soviet refusal to sign a peace treaty created even more problems with respect to a group of small islands located northeast of Hokkaido and southwest of the Russian Kamchatka peninsula - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai. These islands were the subject of Russian-Japanese disputes as early as the 19th century. Moscow considered these islands the southern tip of the Kuril chain, which Japan abandoned in San Francisco. True, the agreement did not specify which islands belonged to the Kuriles, and the rights to these four islands were not assigned to the USSR. Japan, backed by the US, argued that the four islands were not part of the Kuril Islands and that the USSR had seized them illegally.
The dispute over these islands still serves as an obstacle to the signing of an agreement formally ending the state of war between Japan and Russia (as the assignee of the USSR). This issue is extremely painful for nationalist groups in both Moscow and Tokyo, despite periodic efforts by diplomats in both countries to reach an agreement.
Both Russia and Japan are increasingly afraid of Chinese power and influence in the Asia-Pacific region. However, four remote, sparsely populated stretches of land at the very edge of the Sea of Okhotsk remain in many respects the biggest obstacle to the resumption of friendly relations between Moscow and Tokyo that could change the geopolitical situation in Asia.
In the meantime, the division of Korea has already triggered one major war along with untold suffering for the people of totalitarian North Korea. With 30,000 U.S. troops still stationed in South Korea — in the demilitarized zone separating the country from the increasingly paranoid and nuclear-armed North Korea — the Korean Peninsula remains one of the world's most dangerous hotspots.
Stalin's entry into the war against Japan was somewhat belated, but even now, sixty years later, it still affects the security situation on the Asian continent.
It may seem strange, but for Russia today World War II is not yet completely over. The country does not have a peace treaty with one of the countries of the aggressive bloc. The reason is territorial issues.
This country is the Japanese Empire, the territory is the South Kuriles (they are now on everyone's lips). But is it really that they were not so divided by two great countries that they got involved in the world slaughter for the sake of these sea rocks?
No, naturally. The Soviet-Japanese War (it is correct to say that, since in 1945 Russia did not act as a separate subject of international politics, acting exclusively as the main, but still only a constituent part of the USSR) had deep reasons that appeared far from 1945. And no one then thought that the “Kuril issue” would drag on for so long. Briefly about the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 will be told to the reader in the article.
5 laps
The reasons for the militarization of the Japanese Empire at the beginning of the 20th century are understandable - rapid industrial development, coupled with territorial and resource limitations. The country needed food, coal, metal. All of this was in the neighborhood. But they did not want to share just like that, and at that time no one considered war to be an unacceptable way to resolve international issues.
The first attempt was made in 1904-1905. Russia then shamefully lost to a tiny, but disciplined and cohesive island state, having lost Port Arthur (everyone heard about it) and the southern part of Sakhalin in the Portsmouth Peace. And even then, such small losses became possible only thanks to the diplomatic talents of the future Prime Minister S. Yu. Witte (although he was nicknamed “Count Polusakhalinsky” for this, the fact remains).
In the 20s, in the Land of the Rising Sun, maps were printed, called "5 Circles of Japan's National Interests." There, in different colors in the form of stylized concentric rings, territories were designated that the ruling circles of the country considered it right to conquer and annex. These circles captured, including almost the entire Asian part of the USSR.
Three tankers
In the late 1930s, Japan, which had already successfully waged wars of conquest in Korea and China, "tested the strength" of the USSR as well. There were conflicts in the area of Khalkhin Gol and on Lake Khasan.
It turned out bad. The Far Eastern conflicts laid the foundation for the brilliant career of the future “Marshal of Victory” G.K. Zhukov, and the entire USSR sang a song about three tankers from the banks of the Amur, where there was a phrase about samurai under the pressure of steel and fire (later it was redone, but the original version is exactly that) .
Although Japan agreed with its allies on the distribution of future spheres of influence under the Anti-Comintern Pact (also called the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis, although it takes a lot of imagination to understand how the axis looks like in the understanding of the author of such a term), it did not specify when exactly each side must take its own.
The Japanese authorities did not consider themselves so bound by obligations, and the events in the Far East showed them that the USSR was a dangerous adversary. Therefore, in 1940, an agreement was concluded between the two countries on neutrality in the event of war, and in 1941, when Germany attacked the USSR, Japan chose to deal with Pacific issues.
Allied debt
But the USSR also did not have much respect for treaties, therefore, within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition, talk immediately began about its entry into the war with Japan (the United States was shocked by Pearl Harbor, and England was afraid for its colonies in South Asia). During the Tehran Conference (1943), a preliminary agreement was reached on the entry of the USSR into the war in the Far East after the defeat of Germany in Europe. The final decision was made during the Yalta Conference, when it was announced that the USSR would declare war on Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Hitler.
But the USSR was not led by philanthropists. The country's leadership had its own interest in this matter, and not only provided assistance to the allies. For participation in the war, they were promised the return of Port Arthur, Harbin, South Sakhalin and the Kuril ridge (transferred to Japan under an agreement by the tsarist government).
Atomic blackmail
There was another good reason for the Soviet-Japanese War. By the time the war in Europe ended, it was already clear that the Anti-Hitler coalition was fragile, so that soon the allies would turn into enemies. At the same time, the Red Army of “Comrade Mao” fought fearlessly in China. The relationship between him and Stalin is a complex issue, but there was no time for ambition, since it was about the possibility of grandly expanding the space controlled by the communists at the expense of China. It took a little for this - to defeat the almost one million Kwantung Japanese army stationed in Manchuria.
The United States, on the other hand, did not want to fight the Japanese face to face. Although their technical and numerical superiority allowed them to win at a low cost (for example, the landing on Okinawa in the spring of 1945), the spoiled Yankees were very frightened by military samurai morality. The Japanese equally cold-bloodedly cut off the heads of captured American officers with swords and made themselves hara-kiri. In Okinawa, there were almost 200 thousand Japanese dead, and a few prisoners - officers ripped their stomachs open, ordinary and local residents drowned themselves, but no one wanted to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Yes, and the famous kamikaze was taken, rather, by moral influence - they did not achieve their goals very often.
Therefore, the United States went the other way - atomic blackmail. There was not a single military in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atomic bombs destroyed 380 thousand (in total) of the civilian population. The atomic "scarecrow" was supposed to restrain Soviet ambitions.
Realizing that Japan would inevitably capitulate, many Western leaders were already regretting that they had embroiled the USSR in the Japanese issue.
forced march
But in the USSR at that time, blackmailers were categorically not loved. The country denounced the neutrality pact and declared war on Japan right on time - August 8, 1945 (exactly 3 months after the defeat of Germany). It was already known not only about the successful atomic tests, but also about the fate of Hiroshima.
Prior to that, serious preparatory work had been carried out. Since 1940, the Far Eastern Front existed, but it did not conduct hostilities. After the defeat of Hitler, the USSR carried out a unique maneuver - 39 brigades and divisions (tank and 3 combined arms armies) were transferred from Europe along the only railway line of the Trans-Siberian during May-July, which amounted to about half a million people, more than 7000 guns and more than 2000 tanks. It was an incredible indicator of moving so many people and equipment over such a distance in such a short time and in such adverse conditions.
The command also picked up a decent one. General management was carried out by Marshal A. M. Vasilevsky. And the main blow to the Kwantung Army was to be delivered by R. Ya. Malinovsky. Mongolian units fought in alliance with the USSR.
Excellence is different
As a result of the successful transfer of troops, the USSR achieved unequivocal superiority over the Japanese in the Far East. The Kwantung Army numbered about 1 million soldiers (rather, somewhat less, since the units were understaffed) and was provided with equipment and ammunition. But the equipment was outdated (compared to the Soviet one, then the pre-war model), and among the soldiers there were many recruits, as well as forcibly drafted representatives of the conquered nationalities.
The USSR, having combined the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front and the arriving units, could field up to 1.5 million people. And most of them were experienced, shelled front-line soldiers who went through the Crimea and Rome on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Suffice it to say that 3 departments and 3 divisions of the NKVD troops took part in the hostilities. And only the victims of the "revealing" articles of the 90s can believe that these units only knew how to shoot the wounded, trying to go to the rear or suspect honest people of betrayal. Anything happened, of course, but ... There were no detachments behind the NKVD - they themselves never retreated. These were very combat-ready, well-trained troops.
Take in pincers
This aviation term best describes the strategic plan called the Manchurian operation of R. Ya. Malinovsky to defeat the Kwantung Army. It was assumed that a simultaneous very powerful blow would be delivered in several directions, which would demoralize and split the enemy.
So it was. Japanese General Otsuzo Yamada was amazed when it turned out that the guardsmen of the 6th Panzer Army were able to overcome the Gobi and the Greater Khingan in 3 days, advancing from the territory of Mongolia. The mountains were steep, moreover, the rainy season spoiled the roads and brought mountain rivers out of their banks. But the Soviet tankers, who were almost able to carry their vehicles on their hands through the Belarusian swamps during Operation Bagration, could not be prevented by some streams and rain!
At the same time, strikes were launched from Primorye and from the Amur and Ussuri regions. This was how the Manchurian operation was carried out - the main one in the entire Japanese campaign.
8 days that shook the Far East
That is how much (from August 12 to August 20) the main hostilities of the Russo-Japanese War (1945) took. A terrible simultaneous blow from three fronts (in some areas the Soviet troops managed to advance more than 100 km in one day!) split the Kwantung Army at once, deprived it of some of its communications, and demoralized it. The Pacific Fleet interrupted the communication of the Kwantung Army with Japan, the opportunity to receive help was lost, and even contacts were limited in general (there was also a minus - many groups of soldiers of the defeated army were not at all aware for a long time that they had been ordered to surrender). A mass desertion of recruits and forcibly drafted began; officers committed suicide. The "emperor" of the puppet state of Manchukuo Pu Yi and General Otsuzo were captured.
In turn, the USSR perfectly organized the supply of its units. Although it was possible to carry out this practically only with the help of aviation (huge distances and the absence of normal roads interfered), heavy transport aircraft did an excellent job. Soviet troops occupied vast territories in China, as well as the north of Korea (now North Korea). On August 15, Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, announced over the radio the need for surrender. The Kwantung Army received orders only on the 20th. But even before September 10, individual detachments continued hopeless resistance, trying to die undefeated.
The events of the Soviet-Japanese war continued to develop at a rapid pace. Simultaneously with the actions on the continent, steps were taken to defeat the Japanese garrisons on the islands. On August 11, the 2nd Far Eastern Front began operations in the south of Sakhalin. The main task was the capture of the Koton fortified area. Although the Japanese blew up the bridge, trying to prevent the tanks from breaking through, this did not help - it took the Soviet soldiers only one night to build a temporary crossing from improvised means. The battalion of Captain L.V. Smirnykh especially distinguished himself in the battles for the fortified area. He died there, receiving the posthumous title of Hero of the Soviet Union. At the same time, ships of the North Pacific Flotilla landed troops in the largest ports in the south of the island.
The fortified area was captured on August 17. The surrender of Japan (1945) took place on the 25th, after the last successful landing in the port of Korsakov. From it they tried to take valuable things home. The whole of Sakhalin was controlled by the USSR.
However, the South Sakhalin operation of 1945 was somewhat slower than planned by Marshal Vasilevsky. As a result, the landing on the island of Hokkaido and its occupation did not take place, about which the marshal gave orders on August 18.
Kuril landing operation
The islands of the Kuril chain were also captured by amphibious landings. The Kuril landing operation lasted from August 18 to September 1. At the same time, in fact, battles were fought only for the northern islands, although military garrisons were located on all. But after fierce battles for the island of Shumshu, the commander of the Japanese troops in the Kuriles, Fusaki Tsutsumi, who was there, agreed to capitulate and surrendered himself. After that, the Soviet paratroopers no longer encountered any significant resistance on the islands.
On August 23-24, the Northern Kuriles were occupied, and on the 22nd, the occupation of the southern islands also began. In all cases, the Soviet command allocated landing units for this purpose, but more often the Japanese surrendered without a fight. The largest forces were allocated to occupy the island of Kunashir (this name is now well-known), since it was decided to create a military base there. But Kunashir also surrendered virtually without a fight. Several small garrisons managed to evacuate to their homeland.
Battleship Missouri
And on September 2, the final surrender of Japan (1945) was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri. This fact marked the end of World War II (not to be confused with the Great Patriotic War!). The USSR was represented at the ceremony by General K. Derevyanko.
Little blood
For such a large-scale event, the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 (you learned briefly about it from the article) cost the USSR inexpensively. In total, the number of victims is estimated at 36.5 thousand people, of which a little more than 21 thousand died.
Japanese losses in the Soviet-Japanese War were more extensive. They had more than 80 thousand dead, more than 600 thousand were taken prisoner. Approximately 60 thousand prisoners died, the rest were almost all repatriated even before the signing of the San Francisco peace. First of all, those soldiers of the Japanese army who were not Japanese by nationality were sent home. The exception was those participants in the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 who were convicted of war crimes. A significant part of them was handed over to China, and it was for that - the conquerors dealt with the participants of the Chinese Resistance, or at least those suspected of it, with medieval cruelty. Later in China, this topic was revealed in the legendary film "Red Kaoliang".
The disproportionate ratio of losses in the Russo-Japanese War (1945) is explained by the clear superiority of the USSR in technical equipment and the level of training of soldiers. Yes, the Japanese sometimes offered fierce resistance. At the height of Ostraya (Khotou fortified area), the garrison fought to the last bullet; the survivors committed suicide, not a single prisoner was taken. There were also suicide bombers who threw grenades under tanks or groups of Soviet soldiers.
But they did not take into account that they were not dealing with Americans who were very afraid of dying. Soviet fighters themselves knew how to close the loopholes with themselves, and it was not easy to scare them. Very soon they learned to detect and neutralize such kamikaze in time.
Down with the Portsmouth Shame
As a result of the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, the USSR got rid of the shame of the Peace of Portsmouth, which ended the hostilities of 1904-1905. He again owned the entire Kuril ridge and all of Sakhalin. The Kwantung Peninsula also passed to the USSR (this territory was then transferred to China by agreement after the proclamation of the PRC).
What else is the significance of the Soviet-Japanese War in our history? The victory in it also contributed to the spread of communist ideology, so successfully that the result outlived its creator. The USSR no longer exists, but the PRC and the DPRK do not exist, and they do not get tired of astonishing the world with their economic achievements and military power.
Unfinished war
But the most interesting thing is that the war with Japan is not actually over for Russia yet! A peace treaty between the two states does not exist to this day, and today's problems around the status of the Kuril Islands are a direct consequence of this.
The general peace treaty was signed in 1951 in San Francisco, but there was no sign of the USSR under it. The reason was just the Kuril Islands.
The fact is that the text of the treaty indicated that Japan was refusing them, but did not say to whom they should belong. This immediately created grounds for future conflicts, and for this reason the Soviet representatives did not sign the treaty.
However, it was impossible to be in a state of war forever, and in 1956 the two countries signed a declaration in Moscow to end this state. On the basis of this document, diplomatic and economic relations now exist between them. But a declaration to end the state of war is not a peace treaty. That is, the situation is half-hearted again!
The declaration stated that the USSR, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, agreed to transfer back to Japan several islands of the Kuril chain. But the Japanese government immediately began to demand the entire South Kuriles!
This story continues to this day. Russia continues it as the legal successor of the USSR.
In 2012, the head of one of the Japanese prefectures that was badly affected by the tsunami, in gratitude for Russian assistance in the aftermath of the disaster, presented President Vladimir Putin with a thoroughbred puppy. In response, the president gave the prefect a huge Siberian cat. The cat is now almost on the payroll of the prefect's office, and all the employees adore and respect him.
This cat's name is Mir. Maybe he can purr rapport between two great nations. Because wars must end, and after them it is necessary to make peace.
Soviet-Japanese War of 1945
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is part of World War II and the Pacific War. It consisted of the Manchurian and South Sakhalin land, Kuril and three Korean tactical landing operations.
The Potsdam Declaration is a joint declaration issued on July 26, 1945 as part of the Potsdam Conference on behalf of the governments of Great Britain, the United States and China. It demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan in World War II with the threat of subsequent devastation of the country in case of refusal, and formulated the basic principles of a peaceful settlement.
On July 28, the Japanese government rejected the demands of the Potsdam Declaration. On August 6 and 9, the US bombs the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 8, the USSR joined the Potsdam Declaration and declared war on Japan. On August 14, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration; On September 2, 1945, the act of surrender of Japan was signed.
Timeline of the conflict
April 13, 1941 - a neutrality pact was concluded between the USSR and Japan, in the declaration to which the USSR "de jure" recognized Manchukuo.
November 28 - December 1, 1943 - Tehran Conference. The Allies are charting the contours of the post-war structure of the Asia-Pacific region.
February 4 - February 11, 1945 - Yalta Conference. The Allies agree on the post-war structure of the world, including the Asia-Pacific region. The USSR undertakes to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Germany.
June 1945 - Japan begins preparations to repulse the landing on the Japanese islands.
July 12 - The Japanese ambassador in Moscow addresses the USSR with a request for mediation in peace negotiations. On July 13 he was informed that an answer could not be given in connection with the departure of Stalin and Molotov to Potsdam.
July 17 - August 2 - Potsdam Conference. The USSR confirms its commitment to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the surrender of Germany.
July 26 - The United States, Britain and China, at war with Japan, formally formulate the terms of Japan's surrender in the Potsdam Declaration. Japan refuses to accept them.
August 8 - The USSR announced to the Japanese ambassador that it had joined the Potsdam Declaration and declared war on Japan.
August 10 - Japan officially declares its readiness to accept the Potsdam terms of surrender with a reservation regarding the preservation of the structure of imperial power in the country.
August 14 - Japan formally accepts the terms of unconditional surrender and communicates this to the Allies.
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 Diplomat, Japan
From May to September 1939, the USSR and Japan waged an undeclared war against each other, in which more than 100,000 military personnel took part. Perhaps it was she who changed the course of world history.
In September 1939, Soviet and Japanese armies clashed on the Manchu-Mongolian border in a little-known but far-reaching conflict. It was not just a border conflict - the undeclared war lasted from May to September 1939, and more than 100,000 soldiers took part in it, as well as 1,000 tanks and aircraft. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people were killed or injured. In the decisive battle, which took place on August 20-31, 1939, the Japanese were defeated.
These events coincided with the conclusion of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (August 23, 1939), which gave the green light to Hitler's aggression against Poland, undertaken a week later and served as the beginning of World War II. These events are related to each other. The border conflict also influenced the key decisions taken in Tokyo and Moscow that determined the course of the war and ultimately its outcome.
The conflict itself (the Japanese call it the Nomongan Incident, and the Russians the Battle of Halkin Gol) was provoked by the notorious Japanese officer Tsuji Masanobu, head of the group in the Japanese Kwantung Army that occupied Manchuria. On the opposite side, the Soviet troops were commanded by Georgy Zhukov, who would later lead the Red Army to victory over Nazi Germany. In the first major battle in May 1939, the Japanese punitive operation failed, and the Soviet-Mongolian forces pushed back the Japanese detachment, which consisted of 200 people. The frustrated Kwantung Army intensified military operations in June-July and began to deliver forced bombing strikes deep into Mongolian territory. The Japanese also carried out operations along the entire border with the participation of entire divisions. Successive Japanese attacks were repelled by the Red Army, but the Japanese kept up the stakes in this game, hoping that they could force Moscow to retreat. However, Stalin tactically outplayed the Japanese and, unexpectedly for them, launched a military and diplomatic counteroffensive at the same time.
In August, when Stalin was secretly seeking an alliance with Hitler, Zhukov formed a powerful group near the front line. At the moment when German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop flew to Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet pact, Stalin threw Zhukov into battle. The future marshal demonstrated the tactics that he would later use with such a stunning result near Stalingrad, in the Battle of Kursk, and also in other places: a combined arms offensive, during which infantry units, with the active support of artillery, tied up enemy forces in the central sector of the front, in while powerful armored formations attacked the flanks, surrounded and eventually defeated the enemy in a battle of annihilation. Over 75% of the Japanese ground forces on this front died in action. At the same time, Stalin made a pact with Hitler, a nominal ally of Tokyo, and thus left Japan diplomatically isolated and militarily humiliated.
The coincidence in time of the Nomongan Incident and the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact was by no means accidental. While Stalin was openly negotiating with Britain and France for an anti-fascist alliance and secretly trying to negotiate with Hitler for a possible alliance, he was attacked by Japan, Germany's ally and partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact. By the summer of 1939, it became clear that Hitler intended to move east against Poland. Stalin's nightmare, which should have been prevented at all costs, was a war on two fronts against Germany and Japan. His ideal outcome would be one in which the fascist-militarist capitalists (Germany, Italy, and Japan) fought the bourgeois-democratic capitalists (Britain, France, and possibly the United States). In this scenario, the Soviet Union would have remained on the sidelines and would have become the arbiter of the fate of Europe, after the capitalists had exhausted their forces. The Nazi-Soviet pact was Stalin's attempt to achieve the optimum result. This treaty not only pitted Germany against Britain and France, but also left the Soviet Union out of the fray. He gave Stalin the opportunity to decisively deal with isolated Japan, which was done in the Nomongan area. And this is not just a hypothesis. The connection between the Nomongan Incident and the Nazi-Soviet Pact is even reflected in German diplomatic documents published in Washington and London in 1948. Recently released documents from the Soviet era contain supporting details.
Zhukov rose to prominence at Nomongan/Khalkin Gol, thus earning the trust of Stalin, who in late 1941 placed him in command of the troops, just at the right time to avert catastrophe. Zhukov managed to stop the German offensive and turn the tide on the outskirts of Moscow in early December 1941 (probably the most important week of World War II). This was partly facilitated by the transfer of troops from the Far East. Many of these soldiers already had combat experience - it was they who defeated the Japanese in the Nomongan area. The Soviet Far Eastern Reserve - 15 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 1,700 tanks and 1,500 aircraft were redeployed to the west in the autumn of 1941, when Moscow learned that Japan would not attack the Soviet Far East, since it had made the final decision regarding expansion in the southern direction, which eventually led her to war with the United States.
The story regarding Japan's route to Pearl Harbor is well known. But some of these events are not so well covered, and Japan's decision to go to war with the United States is connected with the Japanese memories of the defeat at the village of Nomongan. And the same Tsuji who played a central role in the Nomongan Incident became a powerful proponent of southern expansion and war with the United States.
In June 1941, Germany attacked Russia and inflicted crushing defeats on the Red Army in the first months of the war. Many at that moment believed that the Soviet Union was on the verge of defeat. Germany demanded that Japan invade the Soviet Far East, avenge the defeat at the village of Nomongan, and seize as much Soviet territory as it could swallow. However, in July 1941, the United States and Britain imposed an oil embargo on Japan that threatened to leave the Japanese war machine on a starvation diet. In order to avoid such a situation, the Japanese Imperial Navy intended to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. Holland itself had been occupied a year earlier. Britain also struggled to survive. Only the American Pacific Fleet blocked the way for the Japanese. However, many in the Japanese army wanted to attack the USSR, as Germany demanded. They expected to avenge Nomongan at the moment when the Red Army suffered heavy losses as a result of the German blitzkrieg. The leaders of the Japanese army and naval forces discussed this issue during a series of military conferences with the participation of the emperor.
In the summer of 1941, Colonel Tsuji was the senior officer of the headquarters for planning operations at the Imperial Headquarters. Tsuji was a charismatic man as well as a flamboyant speaker, and he was one of the army officers who supported the navy's position, which eventually led to Pearl Harbor. In 1941, Tanaka Ryukichi, head of the military service bureau of the army ministry, reported after the war that "Tsuji Masanobu was the most determined supporter of the war with the United States." Tsuji later wrote that what he saw of Soviet firepower at Nomongan made him give up attacking the Russians in 1941.
But what would have happened if there had been no Nomongan Incident? And what would have happened if it had ended differently, for example, if it hadn't revealed a winner or if it had ended with Japan's victory? In this case, Tokyo's decision to push south might look very different. Less impressed by the military capabilities of the Soviet armed forces and forced to choose between fighting against the Anglo-American forces and participating with Germany in the defeat of the USSR, the Japanese might have considered the northern direction the best choice.
If Japan had decided to move north in 1941, the course of the war and history itself might have been different. Many believe that the Soviet Union would not have survived a two-front war in 1941-1942. The victory in the battle near Moscow and a year later - near Stalingrad - were won with exceptionally great difficulty. A determined enemy in the east in the form of Japan at that moment could tip the scales in favor of Hitler. Moreover, if Japan had moved its troops against the Soviet Union, it would not have been able to attack the United States in the same year. The United States would have entered the war a year later, and would have done so under much less favorable circumstances than the grim reality of the winter of 1941. And how, then, could the domination of the Nazis in Europe be ended?
The shadow from Nomongan was very long.
Stuart Goldman is a Russia Specialist and Fellow at the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. This article is based on his book Nomonhan, 1939. The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II.
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.
________________________________________ _____________________________________
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 the Second World War ended. It was on this day in 1945 that Japan, Germany's last ally, was forced to sign an unconditional surrender. In Russia, this date remained for a long time, 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 the 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 destroyed. Nearly 600,000 were taken prisoner. The losses of the Soviet Army amounted to 12 thousand people. Pretty convincing statistics for those who like to repeat that Soviet marshals and generals won only because they filled up the enemies with corpses.
Today, the version is very common that the Japanese were forced to lay down their arms by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 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-fast defeat of the Kwantung Army that showed the Japanese emperor the futility of further resistance. Back in 1965 historian Gar Alperowitz declared that atomic strikes on Japan were of little military importance. English explorer Ward Wilson in his 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 the Soviet troops that served as the main factors for the accelerated end of the war and the unconditional surrender of Japan, agrees Head of the Center for Japanese Studies of the Institute of the Far East 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 battles in Okinawa, where the American troops landed. These battles showed the US leadership that bloody battles were ahead, which, according to the assumptions of military experts, could drag on until 1946.
An interesting fact was recently published: in the mountains near Kyoto, the Americans discovered a special device designed to launch live 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 the Soviet Army by that time had vast experience in warfare. The troops that went through 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 capitulate quickly?
To belittle the role of the USSR in World War II, sticking out the importance of the United States, is a general trend. See what's happening in Europe. Propaganda there is so successful that if you ask ordinary people, many will answer that the United States and its Western allies made the greatest contribution to the victory over the Nazi coalition.
Americans tend to exaggerate their own merits. In addition, arguing that it was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that persuaded Japan to capitulate, they, as it were, 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 a powerful weapon was used. But then no one knew about radiation. In addition, the Americans dropped bombs not on the armed forces, but on peaceful cities. Military factories and naval bases were damaged, but mostly civilians died, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army did not suffer much.
"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 attitude of the Japanese towards the United States, or is it a page of history that has long been turned over 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 cordial. There is no justification for that barbaric bombardment. I was in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, I saw museums dedicated to this tragedy. Terrible impression. In Hiroshima, near the memorial, there is a special storage where tablets with the names of the victims of this bombing are placed. So, until now, this list continues to grow - people die from the effects of radiation.
The paradox of history lies in the fact that yesterday's worst enemies are today's allies. This affects how Japanese officials and the official media cover those events. In publications of the Japanese press, it is very rare to find a mention of who dropped the atomic bombs. Usually they talk about it in a very abstract way. Here, 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 the USSR did it, in relation to which the media broadcast a lot of negativity.
But, I repeat, for the most part, ordinary Japanese did not forget and did not forgive that bombardment. Especially negative attitudes towards Americans are widespread in Okinawa, which until 1972 remained under direct US occupation. This small island is still home to 75% of US military bases in Japan. These bases cause a lot of trouble for the local population, from the noise of the planes to the antics of some American soldiers. Excesses happen from time to time. The Japanese still cannot calm down after several marines raped a Japanese schoolgirl 18 years ago.
All this leads to the fact that actions are regularly held with demands to withdraw the main American base. The latest protests from Okinawans were related to the transfer of new American aircraft to the island.
The Korean Peninsula and China were a very important logistics and resource base for Japan, - says Konstantin Asmolov, an orientalist, candidate of historical sciences, an employee of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - There was even a plan to evacuate the Japanese imperial court to Korea in case fierce battles broke out on the islands themselves in Japan. By the time the nuclear attack was used, many Japanese cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing. For example, when American aircraft burned Tokyo, about 100,000 people died. From the way the Japanese initially reacted to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was clear that they were not very scared. For them, in general, there was not much difference - the city was destroyed by one bomb or a thousand. The defeat of the Kwantung Army by the Soviet troops and the loss of the most important strategic platform on the mainland became a much more serious blow for them. That is why we can say that the USSR, at the cost of 12 thousand dead soldiers, significantly accelerated the end of World War II.
What was the role of the USSR in the defeat of Japan can be judged by this fact, - says Andrey Fursov, historian, director of the Center for Russian Studies at the Institute for Fundamental and Applied Research of the Moscow University for the Humanities. - At the very end of the war, Churchill gave the order to develop Operation Unthinkable, which implies a strike by American and British troops with the participation of German divisions controlled by the Western Allies on July 1, 1945. Two counter-arguments were raised against this operation by Anglo-American military experts. First, the Soviet Army is too strong. Second - the USSR is very necessary in order to defeat Japan. Despite the fact that already in 1943 a turning point occurred in the Pacific War, and the Americans successfully pushed the enemy back, they perfectly understood that it would be very difficult to “squeeze” Japan without the Soviet Union. The Kwantung Army held vast territories in China and Korea. And the Americans had no experience of a serious land war. Therefore, the operation "Unthinkable" was decided not to be carried out.
If the USSR had not defeated the Kwantung Army the way it did - quickly and effectively, then the losses of the Americans in World War II (about 400 thousand people) would have been an order of magnitude 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 Japan's unjustifiably cruel revenge for Pearl Harbor, and on the other hand, it was an act of intimidation for the USSR, which had to show the full power of the United States.
Today, the United States 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 have 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 the winners.
________________________________________ __________________________________
victory over Japan. Photo album.
1. The movement of Soviet infantry across the steppes of Manchuria. Transbaikal front. 1945
48. The American B-29 bomber took off from the island of Tinian in the early morning of August 6 with the "Baby" on board. At 08:15, the bomb was dropped from a height of 9400 meters, and after 45 seconds of falling, it exploded at an altitude of 600 meters 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 earth 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. The battleship of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, the battleship Missouri, on which the Japanese Surrender Act was signed. Tokyo bay. 1945
56. Participants in the signing of the act of surrender of Japan: Hsu Yong-chan (China), B. Fraser (Great Britain), K.N. Derevyanko (USSR), T. Blamey (Australia), L.M. Cosgrave (Canada), F .Leclerc (France). September 02, 1945
61. The moment of signing the act of surrender of Japan by General Y. Umezu. Tokyo bay. September 02, 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. Derevyanko. At the microphone - MacArthur. September 02, 1945
69. Japanese Surrender Act.Signatory parties: Japan, USSR, USA, China, Great Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands.
70. Exhibition of Japanese captured military equipment. Park of Culture and Leisure. M. Gorky. Moscow. 1946
Photographer: Temin V.A. GARF, F.10140. Op.2. D. 125. L.2
All photos are clickable
