Questions:
1. The situation in the Far East. General course of hostilities.
2. Results, lessons and significance of the war.
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is one of the most important milestones on the path to victory in World War II. In terms of its scale, scope, forces and means involved, tension, results, military-political and strategic consequences, it belongs to the most important stages of the Second World War.
The surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe. But in the Far East and the Pacific, militaristic Japan continued to fight against the USA, Great Britain and other allies of the USSR in the Asia-Pacific region.
Introduction Soviet Union in the war against Japan was determined by the allied obligations accepted by the USSR at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, as well as by the policy pursued by Japan towards the USSR. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, Japan provided all possible assistance fascist Germany. She continuously strengthened her armed forces on the Soviet-Japanese border, thereby forcing the Soviet Union to maintain a large number of troops there, which were very necessary for use on the Soviet-German front; Japanese ships interfered with normal Soviet shipping in every possible way, attacking ships and detaining them. All this negated the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact concluded in April 1941. In this regard, the Soviet government denounced this pact in April 1945. On August 8, 1945, it made a statement that from August 9, the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan.
The political goals of the Soviet Union's military campaign in the Far East boiled down to eliminating the last hotbed of World War II as quickly as possible, eliminating the threat of a Japanese attack on the USSR, liberating countries occupied by Japan together with the allies, and restoring world peace. The government of the USSR also pursued its own geopolitical goals (return to the Soviet Union Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, seized by the Japanese during the Russian-Japanese War (1904-1905), open free access for Soviet ships and vessels to the Pacific Ocean, etc., previously formulated at the Yalta Conference For the Japanese government, the USSR's entry into the war meant the loss of its last hope and its defeat by both military and diplomatic means.
The main military-strategic chain of the war was the defeat of the Kwantung Army and the liberation of Northeast China (Manchuria) and North Korea from the Japanese invaders. The solution to this problem was supposed to have an impact on accelerating the surrender of Japan and ensure success in the defeat of Japanese troops in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The general plan of the war was to defeat the Kwantung Army and capture the most important military-political and economic centers of Manchuria with the forces of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla. The main attacks were supposed to be delivered from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) by the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front to the east and from the territory of Soviet Primorye by the forces of the 1st Far Eastern Front to the west. In addition, it was planned to carry out two auxiliary strikes each by the forces of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern fronts. The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the Amur military flotilla, striking in the Sungari and Zhaohei directions, were supposed to pin down the enemy forces opposing it and thereby ensure the success of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern fronts.
The Pacific Fleet was supposed to disrupt enemy communications at sea, support the coastal flanks of troops and prevent enemy landings. Later, he was entrusted with the task, together with the 1st Far Eastern Front, to capture the ports of North Korea. Air Force The fleet was supposed to, by striking enemy ships and transports, prevent the supply of material resources for the Kwantung Army, provide fighting landings to seize North Korean ports.
The theater of upcoming military operations covered the territory of Northeast China, part of Inner Mongolia, North Korea, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. Most of the territory of the Manchurian-Korean region is occupied by mountains (Great and Lesser Khingan, East Manchurian, North Korean, etc.) with a height of 1000-1900 m. The mountains of Northern and Western Manchuria are largely covered with forest, most of Inner Mongolia is occupied by semi-deserts and waterless steppes.
The grouping of Japanese troops in Manchuria, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands included the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 17th fronts, the 4th and 34th separate armies. The most powerful was the Kwantung Army, located in Manchuria. It included the 1st and 3rd fronts, the 4th and 34th separate and 2nd air armies, the Sungari river flotilla (24 infantry divisions, 9 separate infantry and mixed brigades, a special purpose brigade - suicide bombers, 2 tank brigades and air army). With the outbreak of hostilities, the 34th Separate Army was reassigned to the commander of the 17th (Korean) Front, which on August 10 became part of the Kwantung Army; on August 10, the 5th Air Army was also included in it. In total, the group of Japanese troops concentrated near the Soviet borders consisted of four fronts and two separate armies, a military river flotilla and two air armies. It consisted of 817 thousand soldiers and officers (including puppet troops - more than 1 million people), over 1,200 tanks, 6,600 guns and mortars, 1,900 combat aircraft and 26 ships.
Japanese troops were located in positions prepared in advance. The most important directions were covered by 17 fortified areas. The coastal direction was most strongly fortified, and especially between the lake. Khanka and Posiet Bay. To reach the central regions of Manchuria and Korea, Soviet troops had to overcome mountainous, forested, semi-desert and wooded-swampy terrain to a depth of 300 to 600 km.
Preparation for military operations included a number of activities carried out in advance and immediately before their start. The main ones were the transfer of troops from the western regions and the creation of offensive groups, the study and equipment of the theater of upcoming operations, the training of troops and the creation of reserves of material resources necessary for carrying out a strategic operation. Much attention was paid to carrying out measures aimed at ensuring the surprise of the offensive (maintaining the secrecy of the preparation of the operation, concentration, regrouping and deployment of troops in the starting position, involving a limited circle of people in planning, etc.).
To conduct the Far Eastern campaign, the Trans-Baikal (commander Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya Malinovsky), 1st Far Eastern (commander Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov) and 2nd Far Eastern (commander Army General M.L. Purkaea) fronts were involved, as well as the Pacific Fleet (commander Admiral I.S. Yumashev), the Amur Military Flotilla (commander Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov) and units of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army (commander-in-chief Marshal X. Choibalsan). This group consisted of more than 1.7 million people, about 30 thousand guns and mortars (without anti-aircraft artillery), 5.25 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 5.2 thousand aircraft. 93 warships of the main classes. The general leadership of the troops was carried out by the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East, specially created by the Supreme Command Headquarters (Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky).
On the eve of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan, on August 6 and 9, the United States used nuclear weapons for the first time in human history, dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although there was no military need for these bombings. The exact number of victims of the atomic bombings is still unknown, but it has been established that in total at least 500 thousand people suffered from them, including those killed, wounded, affected by radiation and subsequently died from radiation sickness. This barbaric act was intended to demonstrate the power of the United States, not so much to achieve a military victory over Japan, but to put pressure on the USSR in order to extract concessions from it in matters of the post-war world order.
Soviet military operations in the Far East include the Manchurian, Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operations and the Kuril landing operation. As part of the Manchurian offensive operation, the following front-line offensive operations were carried out: Khingan-Mukden (Trans-Baikal Front), Harbino-Girin (1st Far Eastern Front) and Sungari (2nd Far Eastern Front).
The Manchurian strategic offensive operation (August 9 - September 2, 1945), according to the nature of the tasks being solved and the methods of action of the troops, was divided into two stages:
- the first stage - August 9-14 - the defeat of the Japanese covering troops and the entry of Soviet troops into the Central Manchurian Plain;
- second stage - August 15 - September 2 - development of the offensive and surrender of the Kwantung Army.
The plan of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation envisaged the delivery of powerful attacks on the flanks of the Kwantung Army from the west and east and several auxiliary attacks on directions converging in the center of Manchuria, which ensured deep coverage of the main forces of the Japanese, their dissection and rapid defeat in parts. Operations to liberate Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were made dependent on the completion of this main task.
On August 9, strike groups of the Soviet fronts attacked the enemy from land, air and sea. The fighting took place on a front stretching over 5 thousand km. The Pacific Fleet went out into the open, cut off the sea communications used by the troops of the Kwantung Army to communicate with Japan, and the forces of aviation and torpedo boats launched powerful attacks on Japanese naval bases in North Korea. The troops of the Transbaikal Front crossed the waterless beds by August 18-19, the Gobi Desert and the Greater Khingan mountain ranges, defeat the Kalgan, Thessaloniki and Hailar enemy groups and rush to the central regions of Northeast China. On August 20, the main forces of the 6th Guards Tank Army entered the cities of Shenyang (Mukden) and Changchun and began to move south to the cities of Dalian (Dalny) and Lushun (Port Arthur). A cavalry-mechanized group of Soviet-Mongolian troops, reaching the cities of Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) and Chengde on August 18, cut off the Japanese group in Manchuria from the Japanese expeditionary forces in China.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front, advancing towards the Trans-Baikal Front, broke through the enemy’s border fortifications, repelled his strong counterattacks in the Mudanjiang area, entered the city of Girin on August 20 and, together with formations of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, entered Harbin. The 25th Army, in cooperation with amphibious assault forces of the Pacific Fleet, liberated the territory of North Korea, cutting off Japanese troops from the mother country.
The 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the Amur Flotilla, successfully crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers, broke through the enemy’s long-term defenses in the areas of Heihe, Sunwu, Hegai, Dunnan and Fujin, crossed the taiga-covered Lesser Khingan mountain range and launched an offensive in the Harbin and Qiqihar directions. On August 20, together with the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front, he captured Harbin.
Thus, by August 20, Soviet troops advanced into Manchuria from the west by 400-800 km, from the east and north by 200-300 km. They entered the Manchurian Plain, divided the Japanese troops into a number of isolated groups and completed their encirclement. On August 19, the commander of the Kwantung Army gave the troops an order to stop resistance. On August 19, a ceasefire agreement was signed. Only then did the organized surrender of Japanese troops in Manchuria begin. It continued until the end of the month. However, even this did not mean that hostilities were completely stopped. Only on August 22, after powerful artillery and air preparation, was it possible to storm the Khutou resistance center. In order to prevent the enemy from evacuating or destroying material assets, from August 18 to 27, airborne assault forces were landed in Harbin, Shenyang (Mukden), Changchun, Girin, Lushun (Port Arthur), Pyongyang and other cities. The rapid offensive of Soviet and Mongolian troops put Japan in a hopeless situation; its command’s plans for a stubborn defense and subsequent offensive were thwarted. The million-strong Kwantung Army was defeated.
The major success of Soviet troops in Manchuria, achieved in the first days of the war, allowed the Soviet command to launch an offensive on South Sakhalin on August 11. The Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation (August 11-25, 1945) was entrusted to the troops of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (commander Lieutenant General L.G. Cheremisov) and the Northern Pacific Flotilla (commander Admiral V.A. Andreev ).
The defense of Sakhalin Island was carried out by the 88th Japanese Infantry Division, border guards and reservist units. The strongest group (5,400 people) was concentrated in the valley of the Poronai River, not far from the state border, covering the only road from the Soviet part of Sakhalin to the south. In this direction, the Koton (Kharamitog) fortified area was located - up to 12 km along the front and up to 16 km in depth, which included a forefield strip, the main and second defense lines (17 pillboxes, 139 bunkers and other structures).
The fighting on Sakhalin began with the breakthrough of this fortified area. The offensive was carried out in extreme difficult conditions terrain with fierce enemy resistance. On August 16, an amphibious assault was landed behind enemy lines in the port of Toro (Shakhtersk). On August 18, counter strikes from the front and rear broke through the enemy’s defenses. Soviet troops launched a rapid offensive towards the southern coast of the island. On August 20, an amphibious assault was landed in the port of Maoka (Kholmsk), and on the morning of August 25 - in the port of Otomari (Korsakov). On the same day, Soviet troops entered the administrative center of South Sakhalin, the city of Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), completely completing the liquidation of the Japanese group on the island.
The successful course of military operations in Manchuria, Korea and South Sakhalin allowed Soviet troops to begin the Kuril landing operation (August 18 - September 1, 1945). Its goal was the liberation of the northern group of the Kuril Islands - Shumshu, Paramushir, Onekotan. To carry out the operation, troops of the Kamchatka defensive region, ships and units of the Petropavlovsk naval base were allocated. The landing force included the 101st Infantry Division (minus one regiment), units of sailors and border guards. He was supported from the air by the 128th Aviation Division and the Naval Aviation Regiment. On the Kuril Islands, the 5th Japanese Front had over 50 thousand soldiers and officers. The most fortified against landings was the island of Shumshu, the closest to Kamchatka. On August 18, under the cover of ship fire, troops began landing on this island. The fog made it possible to achieve surprise in the start of the landing. Having discovered it, the enemy made a desperate attempt to push the landed units back to sea, but his attacks were unsuccessful. During August 18-20, Japanese troops suffered heavy losses and began to retreat deeper into the island. On August 21-23, the enemy laid down his arms. More than 12 thousand. people were captured. Having landed on other islands during August 22-23, Soviet troops captured the entire northern part of the ridge up to the island of Urup. More than 30 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were captured. The Kuril operation was completed by the landing on the morning of September 1 on the island of Kunashir.
The operation on the Kuril Islands is characterized primarily by the skillful organization of the passage by sea to long distance(up to 800 km) and landing troops on an unequipped coast. The personnel were unloaded from transports in the roadstead and delivered ashore on various landing craft. Landing operations are characterized by secretive movement by sea and sudden decisive actions by forward detachments that ensure the landing of the main forces.
On the evening of August 23, 1945, a fireworks display was fired in Moscow in honor of the victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East. On September 2, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Japan was signed on the battleship Missouri, which dropped anchor in Tokyo Bay. This historic day marked the end of World War II.
The Soviet-Japanese War, representing an independent part of the Second World War, was a logical continuation Patriotic War of the Soviet people for the independence, security and sovereignty of their country.
What is the military-political, strategic and world-historical significance of the war?
Firstly, the main military-political result of the war is the complete defeat of Japanese troops in Manchuria, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Enemy losses amounted to over 677 thousand people, of which about 84 thousand were killed. Soviet troops captured many weapons and equipment. By the end of August 1945, the entire territory of Northeast China, part of Inner Mongolia and North Korea were liberated from the Japanese invaders. This accelerated the defeat of Japan and its unconditional surrender. The main source of aggression in the Far East was eliminated and favorable conditions were created for the development of the national liberation struggle of the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese peoples.
Secondly, the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 occupies a special place in the history of Soviet military art.
The peculiarity of the Soviet-Japanese war was that it was carried out at a rapid pace, in a short time and was indicative of the achievement of strategic goals at the very beginning. The Soviet Armed Forces in this war were enriched by the practice of conducting military operations designed to seize strategic initiative, the experience of maneuvering part of the country's Armed Forces to a new theater of war, and methods of organizing interaction ground forces with the Navy. Combat operations involving three fronts, aviation, navy and the country's Air Defense Forces represent the first example of a strategic offensive operation in desert-steppe and mountain-wooded terrain.
The organizational composition of the fronts was characteristic. He proceeded from the characteristics of each strategic direction and the task that the front had to solve (a large number of tank troops in Transbaikal, a significant amount of RVGK artillery in the 1st Far Eastern Front).
The desert-steppe nature of the area allowed the troops of the Transbaikal Front to organize an offensive in directions with deep bypasses of fortified areas. The mountainous taiga terrain in the zone of the 1st Far Eastern Front determined the organization of an offensive with a breakthrough of fortified areas. Hence the sharp difference in the implementation of operations on these fronts. However, their common characteristic was a wide maneuver using envelopments, detours and encirclement of enemy groups. Offensive actions were carried out to great depth and at a high pace. At the same time, on the Transbaikal Front, the depth of army operations ranged from 400 to 800 km, and the pace of advance of both the tank and combined arms armies turned out to be significantly greater than in the conditions of the Western theater of military operations. In the 6th Guards Tank Army they averaged 82 km per day.
The Manchurian operation was the largest strategic offensive operation carried out in desert-steppe and mountain taiga areas by the forces of three fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla. The operation is characterized by such features of military art as a large spatial scope, secrecy in the concentration and deployment of groupings of troops, well-organized interaction between the Fronts, the fleet and the river flotilla, the surprise of going on the offensive at night simultaneously on all fronts, delivering a strong blow by troops of the first echelons, seizing the strategic initiative, maneuver of forces and means, high rates of attack to great depths.
Headquarters' plan for the operation took into account the configuration of the Soviet-Manchurian border. The enveloping position of the Soviet troops in relation to the enemy at the beginning of the offensive made it possible to direct attacks on the flanks of the Kwantung Army, quickly carry out a deep envelopment of its main forces, cut them up and defeat them in parts. The directions of the main attacks of the fronts were directed to the flanks and rear of the main enemy group, which deprived it of contact with the metropolises and strategic reserves located in Northern China. The main forces of the fronts advanced in a sector of 2720 km. Auxiliary strikes were carried out in such a way as to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to transfer troops to the main directions. By massing up to 70-90% of forces and means in the directions of the main attacks, superiority over the enemy was ensured: in people - by 1.5-1.7 times, in guns - by 4-4.5, in tanks and self-propelled guns - by 5 -8, in airplanes - 2.6 times.
Most characteristic features front-line and army operations were: great depth (from 200 to 800 km); wide offensive zones, reaching 700-2300 km on fronts, and 200-250 km in most armies; the use of maneuver for the purpose of enveloping, bypassing and encircling enemy groups; high rates of advance (up to 40-50 km per day, and on some days more than 100 km). In most cases, the combined arms and tank armies advanced until the completion of the frontal operation to its entire depth.
In the tactics of rifle troops, the most instructive are the transition to the offensive at night under unfavorable conditions. meteorological conditions and in difficult terrain, breaking through fortified areas. When breaking through fortified areas, divisions and corps had deep battle formations and created large densities of forces and assets - up to 200-240 guns and mortars, 30-40 tanks and self-propelled guns per 1 km of front.
The breakthrough of fortified areas at night, without artillery and air preparation, is noteworthy. In developing the offensive in depth important role played by forward detachments allocated from divisions and corps of the first echelon of armies, consisting of a battalion-regiment of infantry in vehicles, reinforced with tanks (up to a brigade), artillery (up to a regiment), sappers, chemists and signalmen. The separation of the advanced detachments from the main forces was 10-50 km. These detachments destroyed centers of resistance, captured road junctions and passes. The detachments bypassed the strongest hotbeds and resistance without getting involved in protracted battles. Their sudden inflows and decisive advance into the depths of the enemy’s position did not give the enemy the opportunity to organize defense with covering detachments.
The experience of using tank formations and formations in the Far East has shown that these areas (including the Greater Khingan ridge) are accessible to large masses of troops equipped with modern military equipment. The increased capabilities of armored vehicles ensured the massive use of tank troops in hard-to-reach areas. At the same time, the widespread operational use of tank formations and formations was skillfully combined with the use of tanks for direct infantry support. Particularly instructive were the actions of the 6th Guards Tank Army, which, advancing in the first echelon of the front in a zone of about 200 km, advanced to a depth of over 800 km in 10 days. This created favorable conditions for the actions of combined arms armies.
Characteristic of the actions of our aviation was its dominance in the air. In total, more than 14 thousand combat aircraft were flown. Aviation carried out bombing attacks on targets in the rear, destroyed strongholds and centers of resistance, supported ground troops in pursuit of the enemy, carried out landing operations, and also supplied troops with fuel and ammunition.
Thirdly, for the Soviet people, the war against Japan was fair, and for the victims of Japanese aggression and the Japanese themselves, it was humane in nature, which ensured a sufficient level of patriotic enthusiasm of the Soviet people who sought to restore historical justice, gave rise to mass heroism of the soldiers of the Red Army and Navy in the fight against the Japanese aggressors and provided moral support for the USSR's entry into the war from world public opinion.
One of the decisive factors that ensured victory was the high moral and political state of the personnel of our troops. In the fierce battle, such powerful sources of victory for the Soviet people and their army as patriotism and friendship of peoples emerged with all their might. Soviet soldiers and commanders showed miracles of mass heroism, exceptional courage, perseverance and military skill.
In the few days, but hot battles in the Far East, the immortal exploits of the heroes of the war against the Nazi invaders were repeated, perseverance and courage, skill and valor, and a willingness to sacrifice life in the name of victory were demonstrated. A striking example of heroism are the exploits of Soviet soldiers who covered the embrasures and loopholes of Japanese pillboxes and bunkers, and enemy firing points. Such feats were performed by the border guard of the 3rd outpost of the Red Banner Khasan border detachment, Sergeant P.I. Ovchinnikov, rifleman of the 1034th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division of the Trans-Baikal Front, Corporal V.G. Bulba, party organizer of the battalion of the 205th Tank Brigade of the 2nd Far Eastern Front I.V. Batorov, machine gunner of the 254th Infantry Regiment of the 39th Infantry division of the same front, corporal M.Ya. Patrashkov.
A number of feats of self-sacrifice were associated with fighters protecting their commanders. Thus, Corporal Samarin of the 97th artillery division of the 109th fortified area, at a time when the battery commander was in danger, covered him with his body.
A heroic feat was performed by the Komsomol organizer of the 390th battalion of the 13th Marine Brigade, Sergeant A. Mishatkin. A mine crushed his arm, but after bandaging it, he again entered the battle. Finding himself surrounded, the sergeant waited until the enemy soldiers came closer and blew himself up with an anti-tank grenade, killing 6 Japanese.
The pilot of the 22nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant V.G., proved himself to be fearless and skillful. Cherepnin, who shot down a Japanese plane with a ram attack. In the skies of Korea, a fiery ram was carried out by the flight commander of the 37th assault aviation regiment, junior lieutenant Mikhail Yanko, who sent his burning plane into the enemy’s port facilities.
Soviet soldiers fought heroically for the liberation of the largest and fortified island of the Kuril ridge - Shumshu, where a strong defense was created, a developed system of pillboxes and bunkers, trenches and anti-tank ditches, enemy infantry units were supported by a significant amount of artillery and tanks. A group feat in a battle with 25 Japanese tanks, which were accompanied by infantry, was performed by senior sergeant I.I. Kobzar, foreman 2nd article P.V. Babich, Sergeant N.M. Rynda, sailor N.K. Vlasenko, led by demolition platoon commander Lieutenant A.M. Vodynin. In an effort not to let tanks pass through combat positions, to save their comrades, Soviet soldiers, having exhausted all means of fighting and unable to stop the enemy in any other way, threw themselves under enemy vehicles with bunches of grenades and, sacrificing themselves, destroyed seven of them, thereby delaying the advance of the enemy’s armored column before the main forces of our landing force arrive. Of the entire group, only Pyotr Babich survived, and he told the details about the hero’s feat.
In the same battle, junior sergeant Georgy Balandin set fire to 2 enemy tanks, and when the anti-tank rifle failed, he rushed under the third with a grenade.
More than 308 thousand people were awarded orders and medals for military exploits and distinctions. 86 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and 6 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal. The formations and units that most distinguished themselves in battles in the Far East were given the names Khingan, Amur, Ussuri, Harbin, Mukden, Sakhalin, Kuril, and Port Arthur. On September 30, 1945, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the medal “For Victory over Japan” was established.
Guidelines.
When preparing for the lesson, you need to familiarize yourself with the recommended literature and prepare operation diagrams for demonstration.
It is advisable to conduct the lesson in the museum of a formation or unit; during it, it is advisable to organize viewing of documentaries and feature films about the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.
When covering the first question, using diagrams of operations, it is necessary to show the location and balance of forces warring parties on different stages war, emphasizing that it is an outstanding example of Soviet military art. In addition, it is necessary to talk in detail about the exploits and give examples of the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers.
In the course of considering the second question, it is necessary to objectively show the significance, role and place of the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 in domestic historiography, to consider in more detail the contribution of the type of troops in which the students are serving to the course and outcome of the war.
At the end of the lesson, it is necessary to draw brief conclusions and answer questions from students.
Recommended reading:
1. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-1945 In 12 volumes. T.1. Main events of the war. - M.: Voenizdat, 2011.
2. Military-historical atlas of Russia. - M.. 2006.
3. The World History wars. - Minsk: “Harvest”, 2004.
4. History of the Second World War 1939 -1945. - M., 1976.
Dmitry SAMOSVAT
On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, fulfilling its agreements with its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II, entered the war against Japan. This war matured throughout the Great Patriotic War and was inevitable, in particular, because only one victory over Germany did not provide a complete guarantee of the security of the USSR. Its Far Eastern borders continued to be threatened by the almost million-strong Kwantung group of the Japanese army. All this and a number of other circumstances allow us to state that the Soviet-Japanese War, representing an independent part of the Second World War, was at the same time a logical continuation of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people for their independence, security and sovereignty of the USSR.
The surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe. But in the Far East and Pacific, Japan continued to fight against the United States, Great Britain and other Soviet allies in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the allies, despite the US having atomic weapons, the war in the East could have dragged on for another year and a half to two years and would have claimed the lives of at least 1.5 million soldiers and officers of their armies, as well as 10 million Japanese.
The Soviet Union could not consider its security ensured in the Far East, where the Soviet government during 1941 - 1945. was forced to keep about 30% of the combat strength of its troops and naval forces while the fire of war burned there and Japan continued to pursue its aggressive policy. In this situation, on April 5, 1945, the USSR announced the denunciation of the Neutrality Pact with Japan, i.e., its intention to terminate its validity in unilaterally with all the ensuing consequences. However, the Japanese government did not heed this serious warning and continued to support Germany until the end of the war in Europe, and then rejected the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies, published on July 26, 1945, which contained a demand for the unconditional surrender of Japan. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet government announced that the USSR would enter the war with Japan the next day.
Entry of Soviet troops into Harbin. September 1945
Plans and strengths of the parties
The political goal of the Soviet Union's military campaign in the Far East was to eliminate the last hotbed of World War II as quickly as possible, eliminate the constant threat of an attack by Japanese invaders on the USSR, together with the allies, expel them from countries occupied by Japan, and help restore world peace. The speedy end of the war saved humanity, including the Japanese people, from further millions of victims and suffering, and contributed to the development of the national liberation movement in Asian countries.
The military-strategic goal of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in the war against Japan was the defeat of the Kwantung group of troops and the liberation of Northeast China (Manchuria) and North Korea from the Japanese invaders. Operations to liberate Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which were transferred to Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, as well as the occupation of the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, were made dependent on the completion of this main task.
To conduct the Far Eastern campaign, three fronts were involved - Transbaikal (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky), 1st Far Eastern (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov) and 2nd Far Eastern (commanded by Army General M.A. Purkaev), the Pacific Fleet (commander Admiral I.S. Yumashev), the Amur Military Flotilla (commander Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov), three air defense armies, as well as units of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army (commander-in-chief Marshal X Choibalsan). Soviet and Mongolian troops and naval forces numbered more than 1.7 million people, about 30 thousand guns and mortars (without anti-aircraft artillery), 5.25 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns artillery installations, 5.2 thousand aircraft, 93 warships of the main classes. The leadership of the troops was carried out by the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East, specially created by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky).
The Kwantung group of Japanese forces included the 1st and 3rd fronts, the 4th separate and 2nd air armies and the Sungari river flotilla. On August 10, the 17th Front and the 5th Air Army stationed in Korea were quickly subordinated to it. The total number of enemy troops concentrated near the Soviet borders exceeded 1 million people. They were armed with 1,215 tanks, 6,640 guns, 1,907 aircraft, and over 30 warships and boats. In addition, on the territory of Manchuria and Korea there was a significant number of Japanese gendarmerie, police, railway and other units, as well as troops from Manchukuo and Inner Mongolia. On the border with the USSR and the Mongolia, the Japanese had 17 fortified areas with a total length of over 800 km, in which there were 4.5 thousand long-term fire installations.
The Japanese command expected that “against Soviet troops superior in strength and training,” Japanese troops in Manchuria would hold out for a year. At the first stage (about three months), it planned to provide stubborn resistance to the enemy in the border fortified areas, and then on the mountain ranges blocking the routes from Mongolia and from the USSR border to the central regions of Manchuria, where the main forces of the Japanese were concentrated. In the event of a breakthrough of this line, it was planned to occupy the defense on the line railway Tuman - Changchun - Dalian and the transition to a decisive counteroffensive.
Progress of hostilities
From the first hours of August 9, 1945, strike groups of the Soviet fronts attacked Japanese troops from land, air and sea. The fighting took place on a front with a total length of more than 5 thousand km. A powerful air strike was carried out on enemy command posts, headquarters and communications centers. As a result of this blow, communication between the headquarters and formations of the Japanese troops and their control in the very first hours of the war were disrupted, which made it easier for the Soviet troops to solve the tasks assigned to them.
The Pacific Fleet entered the open sea, cut off the sea communications used by the troops of the Kwantung Group to communicate with Japan, and with aviation and torpedo boats launched powerful attacks on Japanese naval bases in North Korea.
With the assistance of the Amur Flotilla and the Air Force, Soviet troops crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers on a wide front and, having broken the fierce resistance of the Japanese in the fortified border areas in stubborn battles, began to develop a successful offensive into the depths of Manchuria. The armored and mechanized formations of the Trans-Baikal Front, which included divisions that had gone through the war with Nazi Germany, and cavalry formations of Mongolia, advanced especially rapidly. Lightning-fast actions by all branches of the military, air force and navy thwarted Japanese plans to use bacteriological weapons.
Already in the first five or six days of the offensive, Soviet and Mongolian troops defeated the fanatically resisting enemy in 16 fortified areas and advanced 450 km. On August 12, formations of the 6th Guards Tank Army under Colonel General A.G. Kravchenko overcame the “impregnable” Greater Khingan and wedged deep into the rear of the Kwantung group of forces, forestalling the exit of its main forces to this mountain range.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front were advancing in the coastal direction. They were supported from the sea by the Pacific Fleet, which, with the help of landing troops, captured the Japanese bases and ports of Yuki, Racine, Seishin, Odejin, Gyonzan in Korea and the Port Arthur fortress, depriving the enemy of the opportunity to evacuate their troops by sea.
The main forces of the Amur flotilla operated in the Sungari and Sakhalin directions, ensuring the crossing of troops of the 15th and 2nd Red Banner Armies of the 2nd Far Eastern Front across the water lines, artillery support for their offensive and landing of troops.
The offensive developed so rapidly that the enemy was unable to hold back the onslaught of Soviet troops. Within ten days, Red Army troops, with the active support of aviation and navy, were able to dismember and actually defeat the strategic grouping of Japanese troops in Manchuria and North Korea. Since August 19, the Japanese began to surrender almost everywhere. In order to prevent the enemy from evacuating or destroying material assets, from August 18 to 27, airborne assault forces were landed in Harbin, Mukden, Changchun, Girin, Lushun, Dalian, Pyongyang, Hamhung and other cities, and army mobile forward detachments were actively operating.
On August 11, the Soviet command launched the Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation. The operation was entrusted to the troops of the 56th Rifle Corps of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Northern Pacific Flotilla. Southern Sakhalin was defended by the reinforced 88th Japanese Infantry Division, which was part of the 5th Front with headquarters on the island of Hokkaido, relying on the powerful Koton fortified area. The fighting on Sakhalin began with the breakthrough of this fortified area. The offensive was carried out along the only dirt road connecting Northern Sakhalin with Southern Sakhalin and passing between inaccessible mountain spurs and the swampy valley of the Poronai River. On August 16, an amphibious assault was landed behind enemy lines in the port of Toro (Shakhtersk). On August 18, counter strikes by Soviet troops broke through the enemy's defenses. On August 20, an amphibious assault landed at the port of Maoka (Kholmsk), and on the morning of August 25 - at the port of Otomari (Korsakov). On the same day, Soviet troops entered the administrative center of Southern Sakhalin, Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), where the headquarters of the 88th Infantry Division was located. The organized resistance of the Japanese garrison on South Sakhalin, numbering about 30 thousand soldiers and officers, ceased.
Japanese prisoners of war under the supervision of a Soviet soldier. August 1945
On August 18, Soviet troops began an operation to liberate the Kuril Islands, where the 5th Japanese Front had over 50 thousand soldiers and officers, and at the same time preparing a major landing operation on Hokkaido, the need for which, however, soon disappeared. To carry out the Kuril landing operation, troops of the Kamchatka Defense Region (KOR) and ships of the Pacific Fleet were involved. The operation began with the landing of troops on the most fortified anti-landing island, Shumshu; the fighting for him became fierce and ended on August 23 with his release. By the beginning of September, the troops of the KOR and the Petropavlovsk naval base occupied the entire northern ridge of islands, including the island of Urup, and the forces of the Northern Pacific Flotilla occupied the remaining islands to the south.
The crushing blow to the Japanese Kwantung group of forces led to the largest defeat of the Japanese Armed Forces in World War II and to the most severe losses for them, exceeding 720 thousand soldiers and officers, including 84 thousand killed and wounded and more than 640 thousand prisoners . The major victory achieved in a short period of time was not easy: the Armed Forces of the USSR lost 36,456 people killed, wounded and missing in the war with Japan, including 12,031 dead.
Japan, having lost the largest military-industrial base on the Asian subcontinent and the most powerful group of ground forces, was unable to continue the armed struggle. This greatly shortened the end of World War II and the number of its victims. Destruction Armed forces The USSR of Japanese troops in Manchuria and Korea, as well as in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, deprived Japan of all the bridgeheads and bases that it had been creating for many years in preparation for aggression against the USSR. The security of the Soviet Union in the East was ensured.
The Soviet-Japanese War lasted less than four weeks, but in its scope, skill of operations and results it ranks among the outstanding campaigns of the Second World War. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 2, 1945, September 3 was declared Victory Day over Japan.
Second World War, which lasted 6 years and 1 day, ended. 61 states took part in it, in which about 80% of the world's population lived at that time. It claimed more than 60 million human lives. The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest losses, which it put on the altar common victory over Nazism and militarism 26.6 million human lives. The fires of World War II also killed 10 million Chinese, 9.4 million Germans, 6 million Jews, 4 million Poles, 2.5 million Japanese, 1.7 million Yugoslavs, 600 thousand French, 405 thousand Americans, millions of people of other nationalities .
On June 26, 1945, the United Nations was created, designed to become a guarantor of peace and security on our planet.
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 key in the history of the Far East and the entire Asia-Pacific region, ending and, conversely, initiating many historical processes lasting decades.
Background
The preconditions for the Soviet-Japanese War arose exactly on the day when the Russian-Japanese War ended - on the day the Portsmouth Peace was signed on September 5, 1905. Russia's territorial losses were insignificant - the Liaodong Peninsula leased 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 the 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 practically uncontrollably, including in Russian territorial waters, where it carried out predatory fishing, crab fishing, sea animals, 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 position 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 - quite quickly led to the development of 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 of this period between the USSR and Japan - the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.
Fragile neutrality
Having suffered quite serious losses and being convinced of the power of the Red Army, Japan chose on April 13, 1941 to conclude a neutrality pact with the USSR and give itself a free hand for the war in the Pacific Ocean.
The Soviet Union also needed this pact. At that time, it became obvious that the “naval lobby,” which was pushing the southern direction of the war, was playing an increasingly important role in Japanese policy. The army's position, on the other hand, was weakened by disappointing defeats. The likelihood of war with Japan was not assessed very highly, 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 its 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 that there was a similar neutrality pact between Moscow and Berlin.
The two main aggressors of World War II could not agree, and each waged their own 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, as the Germans 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 on Soviet military and civilian ships, violating the border on land, etc.
It was obvious that for neither party the signed document was of any value. long term, and war is only a matter of time. However, since 1942, the situation gradually began to change: the 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 more and more carefully consider plans for the return of territories lost during the Russo-Japanese War.
By 1945, when the situation became critical, Japan tried to start negotiations with the Western allies, using the USSR as a mediator, but this did not bring success.
During the Yalta Conference, the USSR announced a commitment 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 by the allies as necessary: the defeat of Japan required the defeat of its ground forces, which for the most part had not yet been affected by the war, and the allies feared that a landing on the Japanese islands would cost them great casualties.
Japan, with the neutrality of the USSR, could count on the continuation of the war and the reinforcement of the forces of the metropolis at the expense of resources and troops stationed in Manchuria and Korea, communications 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 War Direction, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki stated:
“The entry of the Soviet Union into the war this morning puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war further.”
It should be noted that nuclear bombing in this case was 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 resulted in approximately the same number of casualties 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 nuclear bombings- forced the leadership of the Empire to admit the pointlessness of continuing the war.
"August Storm"
The war itself, which in the West was nicknamed the “August Storm,” was swift. Having extensive experience in combat against the Germans, Soviet troops broke through the Japanese defenses with a series of quick and decisive strikes and began 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, fine-tuned over four years of war with the most formidable enemy, practically did not fail.
As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the Japanese resistance in eastern Manchuria, occupying The largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas deep in the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was exerted with particular force in the Mudanjiang region. There were cases of stubborn enemy resistance in the zones of the Transbaikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also launched repeated counterattacks. On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly the last Emperor China).
On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But virtually military operations on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But it did not reach everyone right away, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to orders.
On August 18, the Kurilskaya landing operation, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, gave the order to occupy the Japanese island of Hokkaido with the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and was then postponed until instructions from Headquarters.
Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. The main fighting on the continent lasted 12 days, until August 20. However, individual battles continued until September 10, which became the day the complete surrender and capture of the Kwantung Army ended. The fighting on the islands completely ended on September 5.
The Japanese surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely destroyed. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were captured. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its territory the territories lost by Russia earlier (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalny, later transferred to China), as well as the Kuril Islands, the ownership of 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 Kuril Islands (Chishima Retto). But the agreement 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.
In August–September 1945, the Far Eastern Front in its entirety took part in the military campaign of the Soviet Armed Forces to defeat the most powerful group of Japanese ground forces in Manchuria, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Prerequisites and preparation for war
The surrender of Nazi Germany sharply worsened the military-political situation of Hitler's eastern partner. In addition, the USA and England had superiority in forces at sea, and reached the closest approaches to the Japanese metropolis. And yet, Japan was not going to lay down its arms and rejected the ultimatum of the United States, England and China to surrender.
Meeting the persistent proposals of the American-British side, the Soviet delegation agreed to enter the war against militaristic Japan after the defeat of Nazi Germany was completed. At the Crimean Conference of the Three Allied Powers in February 1945, the date for the USSR's entry into the war was clarified - three months after the surrender of Nazi Germany. After which preparations began for a military campaign in the Far East.
To fulfill the strategic plan, the Soviet Supreme High Command deployed three fronts: Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern. The Pacific Fleet, the Red Banner Amur Military Flotilla, border troops and air defense troops were also involved in the operation. Over three months, the number of personnel of the entire group increased from 1,185 thousand to 1,747 thousand people. The arriving troops were armed with over 600 rocket launchers, 900 heavy and medium tanks and self-propelled guns.
The grouping of Japanese and puppet troops consisted of three fronts, a separate army, part of the forces of the 5th Front, as well as several separate regiments, a military river flotilla and two air armies. Its basis was the Kwantung Army, which consisted of 24 infantry divisions, 9 mixed brigades, 2 tank brigades and a suicide brigade. The total number of enemy troops exceeded 1 million people, they were armed with 1215 tanks, 6640 guns and mortars, 26 ships and 1907 combat aircraft.
State Committee The Defense Department created the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East for strategic management of military operations. Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky was appointed commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General I. V. Shikin was appointed a member of the Military Council, and Colonel General S. P. Ivanov was appointed chief of staff.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet government published a Statement stating that as of August 9, the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan.
Beginning of the war
On the night of August 9, all units and formations received a Statement from the Soviet Government, appeals from the military councils of the fronts and armies, and combat orders to go on the offensive.
The military campaign included the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Offensive Operation and the Kuril Landing Operation.
Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation - Main component war - was carried out by the forces of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla. The plan, described as a "strategic pincer", was simple in concept but grandiose in scope. It was planned to encircle the enemy on common territory with an area of 1.5 million square kilometers.
Aviation carried out strikes on military installations, troop concentration areas, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border zone. The Pacific Fleet cut communications connecting Korea and Manchuria with Japan. The troops of the Transbaikal Front overcame the waterless desert-steppe regions and the Greater Khingan mountain range and defeated the enemy in the Kalgan, Solunsky and Hailar directions and on August 18–19 reached the approaches to the most important industrial and administrative centers Manchuria.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union K. A. Meretskov broke through the enemy’s border fortified areas, repelled strong counterattacks in the Mudanjiang area, and then liberated the territory of North Korea. Troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front under the command of Army General M.A. Purkaev crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers, broke through the long-term enemy defenses in the Sakhalyan region, and crossed the M. Khingan mountain range. Soviet troops entered the Central Manchurian Plain, divided the Japanese troops into isolated groups and completed a maneuver to encircle them. On August 19, Japanese troops almost everywhere began to surrender.
Kuril landing operation
The successful military operations of Soviet troops in Manchuria and South Sakhalin created the conditions for the liberation of the Kuril Islands. And in the period from August 18 to September 1, the Kuril landing operation was carried out, which began with a landing on the island. I make noise. On August 23, the island's garrison, despite its superiority in forces and means, capitulated. On August 22–28, Soviet troops landed on other islands in the northern part of the ridge to about. Urup inclusive. From August 23 to September 1, the islands of the southern part of the ridge were occupied.
Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation
The South Sakhalin operation of Soviet troops on August 11–25 to liberate South Sakhalin was carried out by troops of the 56th Rifle Corps of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front.
By the end of August 18, Soviet troops captured all the heavily fortified strongholds in the border zone, defended by troops of the 88th Japanese Infantry Division, units of the border gendarmerie and reservist detachments. As a result of the operation, 18,320 Japanese soldiers and officers surrendered.
The act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed on September 2, 1945 on board the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay by Foreign Minister Shigemitsu, Chief of the Japanese General Staff Umezu and Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.
As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated, which led to the end of the Second World War of 1939–1945. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were captured. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.
The Soviet-Japanese War had enormous political and military significance. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Japanese Empire and making a significant contribution to its defeat, accelerated the end of the Second World War. Historians have repeatedly stated that without the USSR entering the war, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is one of the historical events that arouse enduring interest. At first glance, nothing special happened: less than three weeks of fighting at the final stage of the virtually completed Second World War. Neither in terms of brutality nor in the scale of losses can it be compared not only with other wars of the twentieth century, but even with such operations of the Second World War as Moscow, Stalingrad, Battle of Kursk, Normandy operation, etc.
However, this war left an extremely deep mark on history, remains virtually the only untied knot Second World War. Its consequences continue to have a strong influence on modern Russian-Japanese relations.
A group of Soviet troops in the Far East, deployed by August 1945 on the borders with Manchukuo and in coastal areas The USSR included the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Red Banner Amur Flotilla.
By the beginning of hostilities, Soviet troops had complete superiority over the enemy in manpower, weapons and military equipment. The quantitative superiority of the Soviet troops was supported by qualitative characteristics: Soviet units and formations had extensive experience in conducting combat operations against a strong and well-armed enemy, and the tactical and technical data of the domestic and foreign military equipment in service were significantly superior to the Japanese.
By August 8, the group of Soviet troops in the Far East numbered 1,669,500 people, and 16,000 people were in the formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army. Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy forces in different directions: in tanks by 5-8 times, in artillery by 4-5 times, in mortars by 10 times or more, in combat aircraft by 3 times or more.
The opposing group of Japanese and puppet troops of Manchukuo numbered up to 1 million people. It was based on the Japanese Kwantung Army, which included the 1st, 3rd and 17th fronts, the 4th and 34th separate armies, the 2nd air army and the Sungari military flotilla. Troops of the 5th Front were stationed on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Along the borders of the USSR and the Mongolian People's Republic, the Japanese built 17 fortified areas, numbering more than 4.5 thousand long-term structures. There were powerful defensive structures on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The defense of the Japanese troops was built taking into account all the benefits of the natural and climatic conditions of the Far Eastern theater of military operations. The presence of large mountain systems and rivers with swampy floodplains along the Soviet-Manchurian border created a kind of natural, insurmountable defensive line. On the Mongolia side, the area was a vast arid semi-desert, uninhabited and almost devoid of roads. The specificity of the Far Eastern theater of operations was also that a large part of it consisted of sea basins. Southern Sakhalin was distinguished by its complex mountainous and swampy terrain, and most of the Kuril Islands were natural fortresses.
On August 3, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky reported to J.V. Stalin on the situation in the Far East and the condition of the troops. Referring to data from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief noted that the Japanese were actively building up the ground and air force grouping of their troops in Manchuria. According to the commander-in-chief, the most acceptable date for crossing the state border was August 9-10, 1945.
The headquarters determined the deadline - 18.00 August 10, 1945, Moscow time. However, in the afternoon of August 7, new instructions were received from the Supreme High Command Headquarters - to begin hostilities exactly two days earlier - at 18.00 on August 8, 1945, Moscow time, that is, at midnight from August 8 to 9, Transbaikal time.
How can one explain the postponement of the start of the war with Japan? First of all, this shows the desire to achieve maximum surprise. The Soviet command proceeded from the fact that even if the enemy knew the established date for the start of hostilities, its postponement two days earlier would have a paralyzing effect on the Japanese troops. For the Soviet troops, ready to conduct hostilities as early as August 5, changing the start date was not of fundamental importance. The fact that August 8 marked exactly three months from the date of signing the act of unconditional surrender of the troops of Nazi Germany could also have played a role. Thus, Stalin, with unprecedented punctuality, kept his promise to the allies to start a war with Japan.
But another interpretation of this decision of the Headquarters is possible, since it was made immediately after atomic bombing Americans of Hiroshima. It is likely that Stalin had information about the impending bombing of Japanese cities, and the first information about the scale of losses and destruction in Hiroshima forced him to accelerate the USSR’s entry into the war due to fears that Japan might “prematurely” capitulate.
Initial plans also provided for a landing operation on the island. Hokkaido, but for some military-political reasons and motives it was cancelled. An important role here was played by the fact that US President G. Truman “denied us this,” that is, the creation of a Soviet zone of occupation on the island of Hokkaido.
Military operations began, as planned, at exactly midnight Transbaikal time from August 8 to 9, 1945 on land, in the air and at sea simultaneously on a front with a total length of 5130 km. The offensive unfolded in extremely unfavorable meteorological conditions: on August 8, heavy rains began, which hampered aviation operations. Overflowing rivers, swamps and washed out roads made it extremely difficult for vehicles, mobile units and front formations to operate. In order to ensure secrecy, air and artillery preparation for the offensive was not carried out. August 9 at 4:30 a.m. local time, the main forces of the fronts were brought into battle. The blow to the enemy was so powerful and unexpected that the Soviet troops encountered almost no organized resistance anywhere. After just a few hours of fighting, Soviet troops advanced in different directions from 2 to 35 km.
The actions of the Transbaikal Front and formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army developed most successfully. During the first five days of the war, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced 450 km, immediately overcame the Greater Khingan ridge and reached the Central Manchurian Plain a day earlier than planned. The entry of Soviet troops into the deep rear of the Kwantung Army in the Khingan-Mukden direction created opportunities for developing an offensive in the direction of the most important military, administrative and industrial centers of Manchuria. All enemy attempts to stop Soviet troops with counterattacks were thwarted.
The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front at the first stage of the Manchurian operation met stubborn resistance from Japanese troops on the borders of fortified areas. The most fierce fighting took place in the area of the city of Mudanjiang, an important transport center of Manchuria. Only by the end of August 16, the troops of the 1st Red Banner and 5th armies finally captured this well-fortified communications center. The successful actions of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front created favorable conditions for an offensive in the Harbin-Girin direction.
The Pacific Fleet operated in close cooperation with the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front. In a change from the original plan, the capture of the most important ports on the Korean coast was entrusted to naval forces. On August 11, the port of Yuki was occupied by amphibious assault forces, on August 13 - Racine, and on August 16 - Seishin.
At the first stage of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the 2nd Far Eastern Front had the task of assisting the troops of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts in the defeat of the Kwantung Army and the capture of Harbin. In cooperation with the ships and vessels of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla and the troops of the Khabarovsk Red Banner Border District, units and formations of the front captured the main large islands and several important bridgeheads on the right bank of the river. Amur. The enemy's Sungari military flotilla was locked, and the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front were able to successfully develop an offensive along the river. Songhua to Harbin.
Simultaneously with participation in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front launched an offensive operation in southern Sakhalin from August 11, actively cooperating with the northern Pacific military flotilla. The offensive on Sakhalin was carried out in extremely difficult conditions of mountainous, forested and swampy terrain against a strong enemy, relying on a powerful and extensive system of defensive structures. The fighting on Sakhalin became fierce from the very beginning and continued until August 25.
On August 19, airborne assault forces were landed in the cities of Girin, Mukden and Changchun. At the airfield in Mukden, Soviet paratroopers captured a plane with the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi and his entourage heading to Japan. Soviet airborne assault forces were also landed on August 23 in the cities of Port Arthur and Dairen (Dalniy).
The rapid advance of mobile formations of ground forces, combined with the airborne landings in Hamhung and Pyongyang on August 24 and the actions of the Pacific Fleet, led to the fact that by the end of August the entire territory of North Korea up to the 38th parallel was liberated.
On August 18, troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the fleet, launched the Kuril landing operation. The islands of the Kuril ridge were turned into a chain of impregnable natural fortresses, the central link of which was Shumshu Island. Bloody battles continued on this island for several days, and only on August 23 did the Japanese garrison capitulate. By August 30, all the islands of the northern and central parts of the Kuril ridge were occupied by Soviet troops.
On August 28, units of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Northern Pacific Flotilla began to capture the islands of the southern part of the Kuril Islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. The Japanese border zones did not offer resistance, and by September 5, all the Kuril Islands were occupied by Soviet troops.
Power and surprise Soviet strikes, the unpreparedness of the Kwantung Army for war and its doom predetermined the transience of the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. Military actions were focal in nature and, as a rule, were insignificant in scale and intensity. The Japanese army did not fully demonstrate all its strengths. However, at the tactical level, in battles with Soviet troops, who had absolute superiority over the enemy, Japanese units were distinguished by fanatical adherence to orders and their military duty, a spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, discipline and organization. Documents testify to numerous facts of fierce resistance by Japanese soldiers and small units, even in desperate situations. An example of this is the tragic fate of the Japanese garrison of the stronghold on the town of Ostray, Khutou fortified area. The Soviet command's ultimatum to surrender was categorically rejected, the Japanese fought to the end, with the courage of the doomed. After the fighting, the corpses of 500 Japanese soldiers and officers were discovered in the underground casemates, and next to them were the corpses of 160 women and children, family members of Japanese military personnel. Some of the women were armed with daggers, grenades and rifles. Fully devoted to the emperor and their military duty, they deliberately chose death, refusing surrender and captivity.
Contempt for death was demonstrated by 40 Japanese soldiers who, on one of the sections of the Trans-Baikal Front, launched a desperate counterattack against Soviet tanks, without having any anti-tank weapons.
At the same time, Japanese sabotage groups, suicide squads, lone fanatics, whose victims were Soviet military personnel, and above all commanders and political workers, were actively operating in the rear of the Soviet troops. The terrorist acts they carried out were characterized by extreme cruelty and sadism, accompanied by inhuman torture and abuse, and desecration of the bodies of the dead.
The role of the Soviet Union in liberation from Japanese enslavement was highly appreciated by the population of Manchuria and Korea, who sent messages to the Soviet military leaders Thanksgiving letters and congratulations.
By September 1, 1945, virtually all the tasks assigned by the Supreme Command Headquarters to the fronts and Pacific Fleet were completed.
On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender, which marked the end of the Soviet-Japanese War and the end of World War II. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, September 3 was declared “a day of national celebration - a holiday of victory over Japan.”
The defeat of the Kwantung Army by Soviet troops and the liberation of Northeast China decisively changed the balance in favor of the CPC forces, which on August 11 went on an offensive that lasted until October 10, 1945. During this time, before the approach of the Kuomintang troops, they straddled the main lines of communication, occupied a number of cities and vast rural areas in Northern China. By the end of the year, almost a quarter of China's territory with a population of about 150 million people came under the control of the CCP. Immediately after the surrender of Japan, a sharp political struggle broke out in China over the ways of further development of the country.
With the end of the war in the Far East, the problem arose of summing up its results, identifying and accounting for losses, trophies, and material damage.
According to the Sovinformburo report dated September 12, 1945, during the period from August 9 to September 9, Japanese casualties amounted to over 80 thousand soldiers and officers. In accordance with the views established in Russian historiography, during the Far Eastern campaign of the Soviet troops, the Japanese army lost 83.7 thousand people killed. However, this figure, like all the others, is very conditional. It is almost impossible to provide exact data on Japan's losses in the war against the USSR in August-September 1945 for a number of objective reasons. In Soviet combat and reporting documents of that time, Japanese losses were estimated; At present, it is impossible to categorize the losses of the Japanese army - killed in battle, killed accidentally (non-combat losses), died for various reasons, died from the influence of Soviet aviation and navy, missing, etc.; It is difficult to identify the exact percentage of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and Mongols among the dead. In addition, strict accounting of combat losses was not established in the Japanese army itself; the bulk of Japanese combat documents were either destroyed during the surrender, or for one reason or another have not survived to this day.
It is also not possible to establish the exact number of Japanese prisoners of war taken by Soviet troops in the Far East. Documents available in the archives of the Main Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR for Prisoners of War and Internees show that (according to various sources) from 608,360 to 643,501 people were registered. Of these, 64,888 people were released directly from the fronts in accordance with the order General Staff KA on the release of all prisoners of war of non-Japanese nationality, as well as sick, wounded and long-term disabled Japanese. 15,986 people died in front-line prisoner of war concentration points. 12,318 Japanese prisoners of war were handed over to the authorities of the Mongolian People's Republic, some were sent to work for the rear needs of the fronts, and were registered erroneously (teenagers, disabled people, colonists, etc.); a number were transferred to Smersh, escaped or were killed while escaping. Overall figure Japanese prisoners who left the register before they were transported to the USSR range (according to various sources) from 83,561 to 105,675 people.
The victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East in September 1945 came at the cost of the lives of many thousands of Soviet military personnel. The total losses of Soviet troops, including medical ones, amounted to 36,456 people. The formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army lost 197 people, 72 of them permanently.
Victor Gavrilov, military historian, candidate of psychological sciences