Ilya Kramnik, military observer for RIA Novosti.
The war between the USSR and Japan in 1945, which became the last major campaign of the Second World War, lasted less than a month - from August 9 to September 2, 1945, but this month became a key one in the history of the Far East and the entire Asia-Pacific region, ending and, conversely, by initiating a multitude historical processes duration of tens of years.
background
Prerequisites Soviet-Japanese War arose exactly on the day when the Russo-Japanese war ended - on the day the Portsmouth Peace was signed on September 5, 1905. Russia's territorial losses were insignificant - the Liaodong Peninsula rented from China and the southern part of Sakhalin Island. Much more significant was the loss of influence in the world as a whole and on Far East, in particular caused by an unsuccessful war on land and the death of most of the fleet at sea. The feeling of national humiliation was also very strong.
Japan became the dominant Far Eastern power; it exploited marine resources almost uncontrollably, including in Russian territorial waters, where it carried out predatory fishing, crab fishing, sea animal hunting, etc.
This situation was strengthened during the revolution of 1917 and the ensuing civil war, when Japan actually occupied the Russian Far East for several years, and left the region with great reluctance under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, who feared the excessive strengthening of yesterday's ally in the First World War.
At the same time, there was a process of strengthening Japan's positions in China, which was also weakened and fragmented. Started in the 1920s reverse process- Strengthening the USSR, which was recovering after the war and revolutionary upheavals, - rather quickly led to the fact that between Tokyo and Moscow there were relations that could easily be described as a "cold war". The Far East has long become an arena of military confrontation and local conflicts. By the end of the 1930s, tensions reached a peak, and this period was marked by the two largest clashes between the USSR and Japan in this period - the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.
Fragile Neutrality
Having suffered quite serious losses and convinced of the power of the Red Army, Japan chose to conclude a neutrality pact with the USSR on April 13, 1941, and free its hands for the war in the Pacific Ocean.
This pact was also needed by the Soviet Union. At that time, it became obvious that the "naval lobby", pushing south direction war, plays an increasing role in the politics of Japan. The position of the army, on the other hand, was weakened by offensive defeats. The probability of war with Japan was not very high, while the conflict with Germany was getting closer every day.
For Germany itself, Japan's partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which saw Japan as the main ally and future partner in the New World Order, the agreement between Moscow and Tokyo was a serious slap in the face and caused complications in relations between Berlin and Tokyo. Tokyo, however, pointed out to the Germans the existence of a similar neutrality pact between Moscow and Berlin.
The two main aggressors of World War II could not agree, and each waged his main war - Germany against the USSR in Europe, Japan - against the USA and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, Germany declared war on the United States on the day of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, but Japan did not declare war on the USSR, which the Germans had hoped for.
However, relations between the USSR and Japan could hardly be called good - Japan constantly violated the signed pact, detaining Soviet ships at sea, periodically allowing attacks by Soviet military and civilian ships, violating the border on land, etc.
It was obvious that the signed document was not valuable for any of the parties for any long period, and the war was only a matter of time. However, since 1942, the situation gradually began to change: the marked turning point in the war forced Japan to abandon long-term plans for a war against the USSR, and at the same time, the Soviet Union began to consider plans for the return of territories lost during the Russo-Japanese War more and more carefully.
By 1945, when the situation became critical, Japan was trying to start negotiations with Western allies, using the USSR as an intermediary, but this did not bring success.
During the Yalta Conference, the USSR announced an obligation to start a war against Japan within 2-3 months after the end of the war against Germany. The intervention of the USSR was seen as necessary by the allies: to defeat Japan, it was necessary to defeat her 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 sacrifices.
Japan, with the neutrality of the USSR, could count on the continuation of the war and the reinforcement of the forces of the mother country at the expense of resources and troops stationed in Manchuria and Korea, communication with which continued, despite all attempts to interrupt it.
The declaration of war by the Soviet Union finally destroyed these hopes. On August 9, 1945, speaking at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for the Direction of War, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki stated:
"This morning's entry into the war Soviet Union puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war.”
It should be noted that the nuclear bombings in this case were only an additional reason for an early exit from the war, but not the main reason. Suffice it to say that the massive bombing of Tokyo in the spring of 1945, which caused about the same number of victims as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, did not lead Japan to thoughts of surrender. And only the entry into the war of the USSR against the backdrop of nuclear bombings forced the leadership of the Empire to recognize the futility of continuing the war.
"August Storm"
The war itself, nicknamed in the West "August Storm", was swift. With rich experience in military operations against the Germans, Soviet troops a series of quick and decisive blows broke through the Japanese defenses and launched an offensive deep into Manchuria. Tank units successfully advanced in seemingly unsuitable conditions - through the sands of the Gobi and the Khingan ridges, but the military machine, debugged over the four years of the war with the most formidable enemy, practically did not fail.
As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, having occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas in the depths of the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was carried out with special force in the Mudanjiang area. There were cases of stubborn resistance by the enemy in the zones of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also made repeated counterattacks. On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly - the last Emperor China).
On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But in practice, hostilities on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But even he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order.
On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.
Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. Main fighting 12 days were fought on the continent, until 20 August. However, individual battles continued until September 10, which became the day the complete surrender and captivity ended. Kwantung Army. The fighting on the islands ended completely on 5 September.
Japan's surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
As a result, the millionth Kwantung Army was completely defeated. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were taken prisoner. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories previously lost by Russia (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and the Far East, subsequently transferred to China), as well as the Kuril Islands, the southern part of which is still disputed by Japan.
According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuriles (Chishima Retto). But the treaty did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it.
Negotiations on the southern part of the Kuril Islands are still ongoing, and there are no prospects for a quick resolution of the issue.
The question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was resolved at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 by a special agreement. It provided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allied Powers 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the July 26, 1945 demand from the United States, Great Britain and China to lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.
According to V. Davydov, on the evening of August 7, 1945 (two days before Moscow officially broke the neutrality pact with Japan), Soviet military aviation unexpectedly began to bomb the roads of Manchuria.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order 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 was preparing for the operation Pacific Fleet, who 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 state border 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 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 power 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 offensive operation troops of the 39th army struck from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge against the troops of the 30th, 44th armies and the left flank of the 4th separate Japanese army. 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
August 22, 1945 27 aircraft of the 117th aviation regiment took to the air 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 seized several trucks and cars, the paratroopers went to western part the city where the other 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 in 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. Large groups were liberated from Japanese captivity in Mukden and Dalny by Soviet troops american soldiers and officers.
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.
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.
On May 3, 1946, the last Soviet soldier left the territory of Manchuria [source not specified 458 days].
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, on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from the Far East, an American military base. 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, to prepare a plan landing operation to Taiwan in the Soviet General Staff and send to the PRC a 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 being intensively equipped with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the guidance of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at big cities China. By 1950, there was a direct threat 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 PRC government, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution to create a group air defense and send it to the People's Republic of China to carry out the combat international task of organizing the air defense of the city of 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: [source not specified 445 days]
- three Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments of medium caliber, armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, POISO-3 and rangefinders.
- anti-aircraft regiment of small caliber, armed with Soviet 37-mm guns.
- fighter aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander lieutenant colonel Pashkevich).
- the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft relocated by flight from the Dalniy airfield.
- anti-aircraft searchlight regiment (ZPr) - commander Colonel Lysenko.
- radio engineering battalion (RTB).
- airfield maintenance battalions (ATO) relocated one from the Moscow region, the second from the Far.
During the period of deployment of troops, mainly wired communications were used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding radio stations of the group. The urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used to organize telephone communications in combat formations. Radio communication was deployed only partially. The control receivers, which worked to listen to the enemy, were mounted together with the anti-aircraft artillery radio units. The radio networks were preparing to act in the event of a wire communication failure. The signalmen provided an exit from the communication center of the command post of the group to international station Shanghai and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.
Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese planes appeared freely and with impunity in the airspace of East China. From April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.
During the period from April to October 1950, Shanghai's air defense was put on alert a total of about fifty times, when anti-aircraft artillery opened fire and fighters rose to intercept. In total, during this time, three bombers were destroyed and four bombers were shot down by Shanghai air defense systems. Two aircraft voluntarily flew to the side of the PRC. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another Kuomintang B-24 aircraft.
In September 1950, General P.F. Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead of him, his deputy, General S. V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, Moscow received an order to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese command of the Air Force and Air Defense. By mid-November 1953, the training program was completed.
With the outbreak of the war in Korea, by agreement between the government of the USSR and the PRC, large Soviet aviation units were deployed in the Northeast of China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from attacks by American bombers. The Soviet Union took the necessary measures to build up its armed forces in the Far East, to further strengthen and develop the naval base of Port Arthur. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and in particular Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government turned to the Soviet leadership with a request to postpone the transfer of this base from joint control with the USSR to the full disposal of the PRC. The request was granted.
On October 4, 1950, 11 American aircraft shot down a Soviet A-20 Pacific Fleet reconnaissance aircraft, which was performing a scheduled flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American planes attacked the Soviet airfield in Primorye Dry River. 8 Soviet aircraft were damaged. These incidents exacerbated the already tense situation on the border with Korea, where additional units of the Air Force, Air Defense and Ground Forces of the USSR were deployed.
The entire grouping of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the warring North Korea, but also a powerful potential "strike fist" against US troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the ground forces of the USSR with the families of officers on Liaodong amounted to more than 100,000 people. 4 armored trains ran in the Port Arthur area.
By the beginning of hostilities, the Soviet aviation group in China consisted of 83 mixed air corps (2 iad, 2 bad, 1 shad); 1 IAP of the Navy, 1 tap of the Navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense squadrons (2 IAP, 1 sbshap) arrived. From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.
In total, during the period of the war in Korea and the ensuing Kaesong negotiations, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.
Corps in different periods commanded by major generals of aviation I. V. Belov, G. A. Lobov and lieutenant general of aviation S. V. Slyusarev.
The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel of the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps included 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.
According to Soviet data, from November 1950 to July 1953, Soviet fighters shot down 1,106 enemy aircraft in 1,872 air battles. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and in total, 1259 enemy aircraft of various types were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC. Losses of aircraft in air battles conducted by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. Soviet aviation divisions that participated in repelling US air raids lost 120 pilots. The loss of anti-aircraft artillery in personnel amounted to 68 people killed and 165 wounded. The total losses of the contingent of Soviet troops in Korea amounted to 299 people, of which 138 officers, sergeants and soldiers - 161. As Major General of Aviation A. Kalugin recalled, “until the end of 1954 we were on combat duty, flew out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened daily and several times a day.
In 1950, the chief military adviser and at the same time the military attache in China was Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A. V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel General Aviation S. A. Krasovsky.
The chief military adviser was subordinate to the senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - Major General of Artillery M. A. Nikolsky, in armor tank troops ah - major general of tank troops G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - major general of artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in air force- Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in navy- Rear Admiral A. V. Kuzmin.
Soviet military assistance had a significant impact on the course of hostilities in Korea. For example, the assistance provided by Soviet sailors to the Korean Navy (senior naval adviser in the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, more than 3,000 Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. The first US ship to hit a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Brahm. The second to hit a contact mine was the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Megpay". In addition to them, the mines blew up and sank a patrol ship and 7 minesweepers.
The participation of the Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And yet, throughout the war, Soviet troops were stationed in North Korea, a total of about 40,000 servicemen. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and servicemen of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (IAK). The total number of specialists was 4293 people (including 4020 military personnel and 273 civilians), most of whom were in the country until the start of the Korean War. The advisers were attached to the commanders of the military branches and chiefs of services of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and separate infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, separate combat and training units, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.
Veniamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese doodles". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families didn’t even know about it.”
The researcher of the combat operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China, I. A. Seidov, notes: “In the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers.”
V. Smirnov testifies: "An old-timer of Dalian, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and Soviet soldiers gave him the name Zhora), said that Soviet pilots, tankers, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in the cemetery in Port Arthur."
The work of Soviet military advisers was highly appreciated by the government of the DPRK. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for their selfless work "in assisting the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selflessly devoting their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples." Due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was “officially” prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that from September to December 1951, the 52nd Zenad conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.
On May 15, 1954, the US government published documents that set the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the given data, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were in the North Korean army. Two months before the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 men.
American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B. S. Abakumov, controlled the operation of Soviet air units. A large number of saboteurs are thrown into North Korea and China every month on various missions, including capturing one of the Russians to prove their presence in the country. The American scouts were equipped with first-class technology for transmitting information and could mask radio equipment under the water of the rice fields. Thanks to the high-quality and efficient work of the agents, the enemy side was often informed even about the departures of Soviet aircraft, up to the designation of their tail numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army Samochelyaev F.E., commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took to the air, the enemy radio station immediately began to work. It was extremely difficult to catch the gunner. They knew the area well and skillfully disguised themselves.
American and Kuomintang intelligence agencies were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the "Research Bureau for Far Eastern Issues" was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek gave a secret order to create special units in Southeast China to carry out terrorist acts against Soviet specialists. In particular, it said: "... to widely deploy terrorist actions against Soviet military and technical specialists and important military and political communist workers in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents from Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet soldiers on Chinese women. These scenes were photographed and presented in the press as acts of violence against local residents. One of the sabotage groups was uncovered in the aviation training center for preparing for flights on jet technology in the territory of the PRC.
According to veterans of the 39th Army, "saboteurs from the nationalist gangs of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang attacked Soviet servicemen while on guard duty at distant sites." Constant direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation required constant high combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was continuously conducted. Conducted joint exercises with units of the PLA.
Since July 1951, new divisions began to be created in the North China District and old divisions were reorganized, including the Korean divisions withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions for the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a self-propelled tank regiment. With their active help, combat training of all units and subunits began, was carried out and ended. The advisers to the commanders of these infantry divisions in the North China Military District (in 1950-1953) were: Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Pomazkov; Colonel N. P. Katkov, V. T. Yaglenko. N. S. Loboda. Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Nikiforov, Colonel I. D. Ivlev and others were advisers to the commanders of the tank-self-propelled regiments.
On January 27, 1952, US President Truman wrote in his personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution now would be a ten-day ultimatum informing Moscow that we intend to blockade the Chinese coast from the Korean border to Indochina and that we intend to destroy all military bases in Manchuria ... We will destroy all ports or cities in order to achieve our peaceful goals ... This means a general war. This means that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Dairen, Odessa and Stalingrad and all industrial enterprises in China and the Soviet Union will be wiped off the face of the earth. This is the last chance for the Soviet government to decide whether it deserves to exist or not!
Anticipating such a development of events, iodine preparations were issued to Soviet servicemen in case of an atomic bombing. Water was allowed to drink only from flasks filled in parts.
The facts of the use of bacteriological and chemical weapons by the UN coalition forces received a wide response in the world. As the publications of those years reported, both the positions of the Korean-Chinese troops and areas remote from the front line. In total, according to Chinese scientists, 804 bacteriological raids were carried out by the Americans in two months. These facts are also confirmed by Soviet servicemen - veterans of the Korean War. Bersenev recalls: “B-29s were bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies infected with various diseases. The whole earth was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze curtains. We were constantly given prophylactic injections, but many still fell ill. And some of our people died in the bombings.”
On the afternoon of August 5, 1952, a raid was made on command post Kim Il Sung. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans made the largest raid on the complex of hydraulic structures on the Yalu River, in which more than five hundred bombers participated. As a result, almost all of North Korea and parts of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities denied this act, carried out under the flag of the United Nations, by protesting.
On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of an employee of the embassy V. A. Tarasov, the first bombs were dropped at two in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs of two hundred kilograms each were dropped.
On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Treaty (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), the Soviet Il-12 military aircraft, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur heading for Vladivostok. Flying over the spurs of the Great Khingan, he was suddenly attacked by 4 American fighters, as a result of which an unarmed Il-12 with 21 people on board, including crew members, was shot down.
In October 1953, Lieutenant General V.I. Shevtsov was appointed commander of the 39th Army. He commanded the army until May 1955.
Soviet units that participated in the hostilities in Korea and China
The following Soviet units are known to have taken part in hostilities on the territory of Korea and China: the 64th IAK, the GVS Inspection Department, the Special Communications Department under the GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok - Port Arthur route; Heijin reconnaissance point, the HF station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, the broadcasting point in Ranan and the communications company that served the communication lines with the USSR embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communication with General Staff Soviet army. Until January 1951, there was also a separate communications company in North Korea. 06/13/1951 the 10th anti-aircraft searchlight regiment arrived in the combat area. He was in Korea (Andun) until the end of November 1952 and was relieved by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals ran on the railway and the 3rd railway operational regiment operated. Combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, and Soviet medical institutions.
As well as units and formations of the Pacific Fleet: ships of the Seisin naval base, 781st IAP, 593rd separate transport aviation regiment, 1744th long-range reconnaissance aviation squadron, 36th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, 1534th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, cable ship "Plastun", 27th laboratory of aviation medicine.
Locations
In Port Arthur, the headquarters of the 113th Rifle Division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (338th Rifle Division - in the Port Arthur, Dalniy sector, 358th Rifle Division from Dalniy to the northern border of the zone, 262nd Rifle Division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st Artillery Corps, 150 UR, 139 April, Communications Regiment, Artillery Regiment, 48th Guards SME, Air Defense Regiment, IAP, ATO battalion The editorial office of the newspaper of the 39th Army "Son of the Motherland" After the war, it became known as "Vo Glory to the Motherland!", editor - Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Krasovsky. Base of the USSR Navy. Hospital 29 BCP.
In the area of the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards were stationed. sk Lieutenant General L. N. Alekseev, 19, 91 and 17th Guards. rifle division under the command of Major General Yevgeny Leonidovich Korkuts. Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Strashnenko. The division included the 21st separate communications battalion, on the basis of which Chinese volunteers were trained. 26th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, 46th Guards Mortar Regiment, units of the 6th Breakthrough Artillery Division, Pacific Fleet Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment.
In Far - the 33rd cannon division, the headquarters of the 7th BAC, aviation units, the 14th zenad, the 119th rifle regiment guarded the port. Parts of the Soviet Navy. In the 50s Soviet specialists in a convenient coastal zone, a modern hospital for the PLA was built. This hospital still exists today.
In Sanshilipu - air units.
In the area of the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou - the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division, aviation units (at the airfields of Jianwan and Dachang), VNOS posts (at the points of Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Congjiaolu).
In the area of the city of Andun - the 19th Guards. rifle division, air units, 10th, 20th anti-aircraft searchlight regiments.
In the area of the city of Yingchenzi - the 7th fur. division of Lieutenant General F. G. Katkov, part of the 6th breakthrough artillery division.
In the area of the city of Nanchan - air units.
In the area of the city of Harbin - air units.
In the Beijing area - the 300th air regiment.
Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.
In the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Qiqihar - air units.
In the area of the city of Myagou - air units.
Losses and losses
The Soviet-Japanese war of 1945. The dead - 12,031 people, sanitary - 24,425 people.
During the period of fulfillment by Soviet military specialists of international duty in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died, died from wounds and diseases. Of these, officers - 155, sergeants - 216, soldiers - 521 and 44 people. - from among civilian specialists. The graves of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.
War in Korea (1950-1953). The total irretrievable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which 168 officers, 147 sergeants and soldiers.
Numbers Soviet losses in China, including during the period of the Korean War, differ significantly from different sources. Thus, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens were buried in the cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 (the cities of Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992 - 723 people. In total, for the period from 1945 to 1956, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried on the Liaodong Peninsula (of which 104 were unknown), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992 - 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for Soviet losses, complete data on this is still not available. From many literary sources, including memoirs, it is known that Soviet advisers, anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, medical workers, diplomats, and other specialists who provided assistance to North Korea died during the Korean War.
There are 58 burial sites of Soviet and Russian soldiers in China. More than 18 thousand died during the liberation of China from the Japanese invaders and after WWII.
The ashes of more than 14,500 Soviet soldiers rest on the territory of the PRC; at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.
With regard to accounting for the loss of Soviet civilians in China, detailed information is not available. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. The children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948 are buried here, mostly one or two years old.
Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 - part of World War II and the War on pacific ocean. It consisted of the Manchurian and South Sakhalin land, Kuril and three Korean tactical landing operations.
At the Yalta Conference, the USSR assumed the obligation to start a war against Japan no later than three months after the end of the war in Europe. The chronology of events developed as follows:
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 6 - US nuclear strike on Japan.
August 8 - The USSR announced to the Japanese ambassador that it had joined the Potsdam Declaration and declared war on Japan.
August 9 - at dawn, the USSR began hostilities in Manchuria.
August 9 - In the morning, the second US nuclear strike on Japan was carried out.
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 11 - The US rejects the Japanese amendment, insisting on the formula of the Potsdam Declaration.
August 14 - Japan formally accepts the terms of unconditional surrender and communicates this to the Allies.
September 2 - Signing of the Act of Surrender of Japan.
The search for water by engineering intelligence of the 52nd Infantry Division during a foot march through the Gobi desert.
Taking under guard the units of the Red Army of Japanese military depots and property after the surrender of the Kwantung Army.
The surrender of the Japanese garrison of the island of Matua to the Soviet troops.
The crew of the Soviet 76-mm ZiS-3 gun changes its position on Sakhalin near the T-34-85 tank.
Units of the 165th Infantry Regiment occupy the border stronghold of the Japanese in South Sakhalin - the Khandasa police post.
Senior Lieutenant Postrigon assisting a wounded soldier during the Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation.
Soviet orderlies put a wounded soldier on a horse-drawn cart on Sakhalin.
Soviet soldiers at the pillbox of the Haramitog fortified area, blown up by sappers of the 165th Infantry Regiment.
Soldiers of the 165th Infantry Regiment, wounded during the fighting on Sakhalin.
White flags of surrender on the building of the central post office in the city of Toyohara (modern Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk).
The crew of the SB bomber Senior Lieutenant M.G. Dodonov at his plane on Sakhalin.
Japanese merchants prepared for the arrival of Soviet soldiers in South Sakhalin by preparing posters with inscriptions in Russian and Soviet paraphernalia.
The commander of the cavalry squadron of the 79th Infantry Division, Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Tarasovich Litvitsky (born 1911), was wounded during reconnaissance of the Japanese police post of Khandas on Sakhalin.
Soviet soldiers resting at a campfire on Sakhalin during the South Sakhalin offensive.
Partially dismantled Ha-Go light tanks and medium Chi-Ha tanks of the 11th Japanese tank regiment on the outskirts of the Kataoka naval base on Shumshu Island during the surrender.
Japanese 105-mm gun type 38, captured by Soviet troops on the island of Shumshu.
American-made Soviet landing ship DS-5 (formerly USS LCI-525), hit by Japanese coastal artillery fire and sunk at the landing site.
The Khandasa police post, a Japanese border stronghold in South Sakhalin, after being stormed by Soviet troops.
A group of Soviet marines against the background of a lined Japanese tank"Ha-ho."
Captured on the island of Shumshu Japanese amphibious tanks Type 2 "Ka-Mi".
Soviet soldiers at the captured Khandas police post. South Sakhalin.
The beach on the island of Shumshu, where the landing took place. To the left, the Soviet tanker Mariupol is sitting aground.
Negotiations for the surrender of the Japanese Kwantung Army.
The landing of the Soviet troops on the coast of Manchuria.
Monitor of the Amur Flotilla landing troops on the Songhua River. This is one of the Shkval-type monitors built before the revolution and for three decades formed the basis of the combat power of the Amur Flotilla.
The crew of the MBR-2 aircraft of the Pacific Fleet is preparing to fly on the first day of the Soviet-Japanese war.
Collection of captured Japanese weapons at the military airfield Kataoka Shumshu Island.
Killed Japanese soldiers in positions on the outskirts of Hill 171 of Shumshu Island.
Group Soviet officers and party workers in the Kuril Islands.
Soviet soldiers with trophies captured from the Japanese on Sakhalin.
Soviet troops on the streets of Harbin (Manchuria).
Soviet soldiers on the deck of a transport during the transition to the island of Shumshu.
Exploded Japanese bunker at Cape Kokutan, Shumshu Island. Inside view.
Company of armor-piercers senior lieutenant L.I. Derbyshev on Shumshu Island.
A dead Japanese soldier next to a truck that came under fire from Soviet artillery on Sakhalin.
Soldiers of the 355th Marine Battalion of the Pacific Fleet before landing in Seishin.
Soviet flying boat of American production PBN-1 "Catalina" in flight to the port of Dalniy for landing.
One of the Japanese coastal pillboxes that covered the Kataoka naval base on Shumshu Island.
Soviet servicemen inspect a Japanese 150-mm Type 96 fortress gun captured at a height of 171 on Shumshu Island.
Captured at height 171 of Shumshu Island, a Japanese fortress 150-mm gun Type 96.
Residents of the city in Manchuria welcome the sailors of the Amur military flotilla, sitting in trucks.
Soviet officers at the burned-out Japanese lighthouse on Cape Kokutan (Kubatogo) of Shumshu Island (Kuril Islands).
Raising the Soviet naval flag over the Japanese base of Kataoka on Shumshu Island.
Captain III rank Denisov interrogates captured Japanese officers. Naval Base Kataoka, Shumshu Island.
Soviet T-26 tank, shot down during the assault on the Khandas police post in South Sakhalin.
Mooring to each other of two small river armored boats type 1125 of the Amur military flotilla.
The population of Manchuria meets Soviet soldiers. The appearance of Soviet troops meant the end of the state of Manchukuo that existed here, formed and controlled by Japan.
Residents of the city in Manchuria and the sailors of the Amur military flotilla on the street.
The commander of the T-34 tank, junior lieutenant Pavel Kachanov.
Soviet guardsmen near the railway station in Harbin.
Destroyed Japanese Type 45 150 mm gun mounted in a special armored turret with armor up to 100 mm thick. Khutoussky fortified area.
Captured Japanese Type 90 75 mm field gun mounted in a special armored turret.
Captured Japanese in Manchuria.
Soviet soldiers on the embankment of the Songhua River in Harbin.
Soldiers of the 5th Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front cross the border from Manchuria.
Pe-2 dive bombers of the 1st Far Eastern Front go on a combat mission.
Pe-2 bomber on the 1st Far Eastern Front.
Marines of the Pacific Fleet on their way to Port Arthur. In the foreground, participant in the defense of Sevastopol, Pacific Fleet paratrooper Anna Yurchenko.
The population of the Chinese city of Dalian (Dalniy) joyfully greets the tankers of the 7th Mechanized Corps of the 6th Guards Tank Army.
Soviet armor-piercers on the island of Shumshu.
Soviet officers inspect a captured Japanese 150 mm Type 96 fortress gun on Shumshu Island.
Soviet officer on a T-26 light tank. A rally in one of the tank units before the start of the war with Japan.
Tankers overcome the Greater Khingan Range. Manchuria, August 1945.
A column of T-34-85 tanks of the 7th mechanized corps on the streets of the Chinese city of Dalian.
Loading a torpedo with the inscription "Death to the Samurai!" on the Soviet submarine of the Pacific Fleet of the "Pike" type.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. Perceived by many as part of the Great Patriotic War, this confrontation is often undeservedly underestimated, although the results of this war have not yet been summed up.
Tough decision
The decision that the USSR would go to war with Japan was made at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. In exchange for participation in hostilities, the USSR was to receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which after 1905 belonged to Japan. 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.
Our advantages
The grouping of Red Army troops at the time of the start of the offensive had a serious numerical superiority over the enemy: in terms of the number of fighters alone, it reached 1.6 times. In terms of the number of tanks, the Soviet troops outnumbered the Japanese by about 5 times, in artillery and mortars - 10 times, in aircraft - more than three times. The superiority of the Soviet Union was not only quantitative. The equipment that was in service with the Red Army was much more modern and powerful than that of its Japan. The experience gained by our troops during the war with fascist Germany also gave an advantage.
heroic operation
The operation of the Soviet troops to overcome the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range can be called outstanding and unique. The 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Guards Tank Army is still a demonstration operation. High mountain passes with slopes up to 50 degrees seriously complicated the movement. The technique moved in a traverse, that is, in zigzags. The weather conditions also left much to be desired: heavy rains made the soil impassable with mud, and mountain rivers overflowed their banks. Nevertheless, Soviet tanks stubbornly moved forward. By August 11, they had crossed the mountains and found themselves in the rear of the Kwantung Army, on the Central Manchurian Plain. The army was short of fuel and ammunition, so Soviet command air supply had to be established. Transport aviation delivered more than 900 tons of tank fuel alone to our troops. As a result of this outstanding offensive, the Red Army managed to capture only about 200,000 Japanese prisoners. In addition, a lot of equipment and weapons were captured.
No negotiations!
The 1st Far Eastern Front of the Red Army faced fierce resistance from the Japanese, who fortified on the heights of "Acute" and "Camel", which were part of the Khotous fortified area. The approaches to these heights were swampy, rugged big amount small streams. Scarps were excavated on the slopes and wire fences were installed. The Japanese cut down firing points in a granite rock massif. Concrete caps of pillboxes had a thickness of about one and a half meters. The defenders of the height "Acute" rejected all calls for surrender, the Japanese were famous for the fact that they did not go to any negotiations. A peasant who wished to become a truce was publicly cut off his head. When the Soviet troops nevertheless took the height, they found all its defenders dead: men and women.
Kamikaze
In the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the Japanese actively used kamikaze saboteurs. Strapped with grenades, these people rushed at Soviet tanks and soldiers. On one of the sectors of the front, about 200 "live mines" lay on the ground in front of the advancing equipment. However, the suicide attacks were only initially successful. In the future, the Red Army increased their vigilance and, as a rule, managed to shoot the saboteur before he had time to approach and explode, causing damage to equipment or manpower.
Surrender
On August 15, Emperor Hirohito made a radio address announcing that Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Conference and capitulated. The emperor called on the nation to courage, patience and to unite all forces to build a new future. Three days later - on August 18, 1945 - at 13 o'clock local time, an appeal was made by the Kwantung Army command to the troops, which said that due to the senselessness of further resistance decided to surrender. Over the next few days, the Japanese units that did not have direct contact with the headquarters were notified and the terms of surrender were agreed.
Results
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories lost Russian Empire in 1905 following the Peace of Portsmouth.
Japan's loss of the South Kuriles has not yet been recognized by Japan. According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced the rights to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the main group of the Kuriles, but did not recognize them as having passed to the USSR. Surprisingly, this treaty was not yet signed by the USSR, which, thus, was legally at war with Japan until the end of its existence. At present, these territorial problems prevent the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia as the successor to the USSR.
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, which was busy and exhausted by the struggle for its existence that unfolded in 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 breakup anti-Hitler coalition, which soon marked the beginning cold war, the successes achieved by the Soviet Union in Asia also led to confrontations and divisions, some of which still exist.
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 in relation to the naval base in the Chinese port of Port Arthur (Dalian) and China-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 to jointly administer Korea with the aim of transforming that country, which had been under Japanese colonial rule since 1910, into a 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 formally ended the Second world war, Japan renounced all 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 Habomai. 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 United States, argued that the four islands were not Kuril Islands, and that the USSR 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. Whereas in South Korea- in the area of the demilitarized zone, which separates the country from the increasingly paranoid and nuclear weapons North Korea - with 30,000 US troops still stationed, 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.
