Who did Japan fight with? Soviet-Japanese war: fighting in the Far East

In February 1945, a conference was held in Yalta, which was attended by representatives of the countries that were part of Great Britain and the United States managed to get the Soviet Union to agree to take a direct part in the war with Japan. In exchange, they promised him to return the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, lost during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.

Termination of a peace treaty

At the time when the decision was made in Yalta, the so-called Neutrality Pact was in force between Japan and the Soviet Union, which was signed back in 1941 and was to be valid for 5 years. But already in April 1945, the USSR announced that it was breaking the treaty unilaterally. The Russo-Japanese War (1945), the reasons for which were that the Country rising sun in recent years, she sided with Germany, and also fought against the allies of the USSR, became almost inevitable.

Such a sudden announcement literally threw the Japanese leadership into complete confusion. And this is understandable, because its position was very critical - the forces of the allies inflicted significant damage on it in the Pacific Ocean, and industrial centers and cities were subjected to almost continuous bombing. The government of this country was well aware that it was almost impossible to achieve victory in such conditions. But nevertheless, it still hoped that it would somehow be able to wear it down and achieve more favorable conditions for the surrender of its troops.

The United States, in turn, did not expect that victory would come easily to them. An example of this is the battles that unfolded over the island of Okinawa. From the Japanese side, about 77 thousand people fought here, and from the United States about 470 thousand soldiers. In the end, the island was taken by the Americans, but their losses were simply amazing - almost 50 thousand killed. According to the words, if the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 had not begun, which will be briefly described in this article, the losses would have been much more serious and could have amounted to 1 million soldiers killed and wounded.

Announcement of the outbreak of hostilities

On August 8, in Moscow, the Japanese Ambassador to the USSR was handed a document at exactly 17 o'clock. It said that the Russo-Japanese War (1945) begins, in fact, the very next day. But since there is a significant time difference between the Far East and Moscow, it turned out that there was only 1 hour left before the start of the Soviet Army's offensive.

In the USSR, a plan was developed, consisting of three military operations: Kuril, Manchurian and Yuzhno-Sakhalin. They were all very important. But still the most large-scale and significant was precisely the Manchurian operation.

Forces of the parties

On the territory of Manchuria, the Kwantung Army, commanded by General Otozo Yamada, was opposed. It consisted of about 1 million people, more than 1,000 tanks, about 6,000 guns and 1,600 aircraft.

At the time when the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 began, the forces of the USSR had a significant numerical superiority in manpower: there were only one and a half times more soldiers. As for the equipment, the number of mortars and artillery was 10 times higher than that of the enemy. Our army had 5 and 3 times more tanks and aircraft, respectively, than the corresponding weapons from the Japanese. It should be noted that the superiority of the USSR over Japan in military equipment was not only in its numbers. The equipment at the disposal of Russia was modern and more powerful than that of its enemy.

Enemy fortified areas

All participants in the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 understood perfectly well that sooner or later, but it had to begin. That is why the Japanese created a significant number of well-fortified areas in advance. For example, we can take at least the Hailar region, where the left flank of the Trans-Baikal Front of the Soviet Army was located. Barrier structures on this site have been built for more than 10 years. By the time the Russo-Japanese War began (1945, August), there were already 116 pillboxes, which were interconnected by underground tunnels made of concrete, a well-developed system of trenches and a significant number.This area was covered by Japanese soldiers, whose numbers exceeded divisional ones.

In order to suppress the resistance of the Hailar fortified area, the Soviet Army had to spend several days. Under war conditions, this is a short time, but during the same time the rest of the Trans-Baikal Front has advanced about 150 km forward. Given the scale of the Russo-Japanese War (1945), the obstacle in the form of this fortified area turned out to be quite serious. Even when his garrison surrendered, the Japanese warriors continued to fight with fanatical bravery.

In the reports of Soviet military leaders, you can very often see references to the soldiers of the Kwantung Army. The documents said that the Japanese military specifically chained themselves to machine gun frames so as not to have the slightest opportunity to retreat.

Bypass maneuver

The Russo-Japanese War of 1945 and the actions of the Soviet Army were very successful from the very beginning. I would like to note one outstanding operation, which consisted in a 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Panzer Army across the Khingan Range and the Gobi Desert. If you glance at the mountains, they seem to be an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of technology. The passes that the Soviet tanks had to pass were located at an altitude of about 2 thousand meters above sea level, and the slopes sometimes reached a steepness of 50⁰. That is why cars often had to go in a zigzag pattern.

In addition, the advancement of technology was further complicated by frequent torrential rains, accompanied by flooding of rivers and impassable mud. But, despite this, the tanks nevertheless moved forward, and already on August 11 they overcame the mountains and entered the Central Manchurian Plain, in the rear of the Kwantung Army. After such a large-scale transition, Soviet troops began to experience an acute shortage of fuel, so they had to arrange additional delivery by air. With the help of transport aircraft, it was possible to transport about 900 tons of tank fuel. As a result of this operation, more than 200 thousand Japanese soldiers were captured, as well as a huge amount of equipment, weapons and ammunition.

Defenders of Heights Sharp

The Japanese War of 1945 continued. In the sector of the 1st Far Eastern Front, Soviet troops encountered unprecedentedly fierce enemy resistance. The Japanese were well entrenched on the heights of Camel and Ostraya, which were among the fortifications of the Khotou fortified area. It must be said that the approaches to these heights were cut by many small rivulets and were very swampy. In addition, wire fences and dug out scarps were located on their slopes. The Japanese soldiers cut down the firing points in advance right in the rock granite, and the concrete caps protecting the bunkers reached a thickness of one and a half meters.

During the fighting, the Soviet command suggested that the defenders of Ostra surrender. A man from among the local residents was sent to the Japanese as envoy, but they treated him extremely cruelly - the commander of the fortified area himself cut off his head. However, there was nothing surprising in this act. From the moment the Russo-Japanese War began (1945), the enemy, in principle, did not agree to any negotiations. When the Soviet troops finally entered the fortification, they found only dead soldiers. It is worth noting that the defenders of the height were not only men, but also women, who were armed with daggers and grenades.

Features of military operations

The Russo-Japanese War of 1945 had its own specific features. For example, in the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the enemy used kamikaze saboteurs against units of the Soviet Army. These suicide bombers tied themselves with grenades and threw themselves under tanks or at soldiers. There was also a case when in one sector of the front about two hundred "living mines" lay on the ground next to each other. But such suicidal actions did not last long. Soon, Soviet soldiers became more vigilant and managed to destroy the saboteur in advance before he came close and exploded next to equipment or people.

Surrender

The 1945 Russo-Japanese War ended on August 15, when the country's Emperor Hirohito addressed his people on the radio. He stated that the country had decided to accept the terms of the Potsdam Conference and surrender. At the same time, the emperor urged his nation to be patient and unite all forces to build a new future for the country.

Three days after Hirohito's address, the call of the command of the Kwantung Army to their soldiers sounded on the air. It said that further resistance was pointless and there was already a decision to surrender. Since many Japanese units did not have communication with the main headquarters, their notification continued for several more days. But there were also cases when fanatical servicemen did not want to obey the order and lay down their arms. Therefore, their war continued until they died.

Effects

It must be said that the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 had a truly enormous not only military, but also political significance. managed to completely defeat the strongest Kwantung Army and complete the Second world war... By the way, its official end is considered September 2, when the act of surrender of Japan was finally signed on board the US-owned battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

As a result, the Soviet Union regained the territories that had been lost back in 1905 - a group of islands and part of the South Kuriles. Also, according to the peace treaty signed in San Francisco, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin.

The question of the USSR's entry 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 Germany's surrender and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the demand of the United States, Great Britain and China on July 26, 1945, 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 pact of neutrality with Japan), Soviet military aviation suddenly began bombing the roads of Manchuria.

On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order of the Supreme High Command, in August 1945, preparations began for a combat operation to land amphibious assault forces in the port of Dalian (Dalniy) 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 Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet was preparing for the operation, which was trained in the 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 fighting against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.

The 39th Combined Arms Army was part of the Trans-Baikal 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 a breakthrough, a blow from the Tamtsag-Bulag salient, Khalun-Arshansk and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified areas. The 39th, 53rd General and 6th Guards Tank Armies set out from the area of ​​the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic and advanced to the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of up to 250-300 km.

In order to better organization For the transfer of troops to the concentration areas and further to the deployment areas, 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, the forward battalions and reconnaissance detachments of the three fronts in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, bringing frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory.

In accordance with the order, the main forces of the 39th Army crossed the border of Manchuria at 4:30 in the morning on August 9. Reconnaissance groups and detachments began to operate much earlier - at 00 hours 05 minutes. The 39th Army had 262 tanks and 133 self-propelled artillery units at its disposal. It was supported by the 6th Bomber Corps of Major General I.P. Skok, based at the airfields of the Tamtsag-Bulag salient. The army struck at the troops included in the 3rd front of the Kwantung Army.

On August 9, the 262nd division's lead patrol went to railroad Halun-Arshan - Solun. The Khalun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262 divisions found out, was occupied by parts of the 107th Japanese infantry division.

By the end of the first day of the offensive, Soviet tank crews made a 120-150 km dash. The forward detachments of the 17th and 39th armies advanced 60-70 km.

On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic joined the statement of the USSR government and declared war on Japan.

USSR Treaty - China

On August 14, 1945, a treaty of friendship and alliance between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and Dalny were signed. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The contract was concluded for 30 years.

Under the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former CER and its part - the South Manchurian Railway, going from Manchuria station to Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalniy and Port Arthur, were transferred to common property USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the KChR was subject to gratuitous 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 term of the agreement was determined at 30 years. After this period, the Port Arthur naval base was subject to transfer to the ownership of China.

Dalny was declared a free port, open for trade and shipping of all countries. The Chinese government agreed to set aside in the port for the lease of the USSR a pier and warehouses... In the event of a war with Japan, Dalny was supposed to be subject to the regime of the Port Arthur naval base, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur. 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 on the territory of the northeastern provinces of China, the supreme power and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was vested in the commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces... The Chinese government appointed a representative who was supposed to establish an administration and lead it on the territory cleared of the enemy, help establish interaction between the Soviet and Chinese armed forces on 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 of General A.G. Kravchenko overcame the Big Khingan.

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

During August 12-14, the Japanese launched many counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Vanemyao, and 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 Solun. Then she launched an offensive on Changchun.

On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which had 1,019 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 group 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 Dalny before the Russians disembark there. The Americans were going to do this on ships. The Soviet command decided to get ahead of the United States: while the Americans reach the Liaodong Peninsula, Soviet troops will land their landing on seaplanes.

In the course of the Khingano-Mukden front-line offensive operation, the troops of the 39th Army struck from the Tamtsag-Bulag salient at 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 passes of the Big Khingan, the army took possession of the Khalun-Arshan fortified area. Developing an offensive on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km with battles and by August 14 reached the central part of Manchuria.

Marshal Malinovsky set a new task for the 39th Army: to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria in the shortest possible time, acting with strong forward detachments in the direction of Mukden, Yingkou, and Antong.

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, 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 carried out regroupings, seeking to occupy advantageous operational lines on the Jinzhou-Changchun-Jirin-Tumyn line. In practice, hostilities continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th Cavalry Division of General TV Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 northeast of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.

By August 18, along the entire length of the Trans-Baikal Front, Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Peiping-Changchun railway line, and the striking force of the main grouping of the front - the 6th Guards Tank Army - escaped to 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 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 (6th Guards Airborne Assault Force, 113th Army Corps) and Changchun (6th Guards Airborne Assault Force), the largest cities of Manchuria. At the airport in Mukden, the emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested.

By August 20, Soviet troops occupied South Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea.

Landings in Port Arthur and Dalny

On August 22, 1945, 27 aircraft of the 117th Aviation Regiment took off and headed for the port of Dalniy. A total of 956 people participated in the landing. General A. A. Yamanov commanded the landing. The route ran over the sea, then through the Korean Peninsula, along the coast of North China. The sea swell 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 party acted in accordance with the combat mission: they occupied a shipyard, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), storage facilities. The Coast Guard was immediately removed and replaced by their sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.

On the same day, August 22, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, planes with a landing party, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon, some of the aircraft turned to the Dalny port. 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 the chief of intelligence Boris Likhachev.

Aircraft one after another landed on the airfield. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several units of the garrison located nearby, taking prisoners about 200 Japanese soldiers and officers. marines... Capturing several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed to the western part of the city, where the other part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the overwhelming majority of the garrison had surrendered. 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 freed about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

On August 23, an airborne assault of sailors, headed 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 hoisted over the fortress under a threefold salute.

On August 24, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army arrived in Port Arthur. On August 25, new reinforcements arrived - naval paratroopers on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down at Dalny, additionally landing 265 marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here, consisting of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it, and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Dalny) and Lushun (Port Arthur). General V.D. Ivanov was appointed commandant of the Port Arthur fortress and the head of the garrison.

When parts of the 39th Army of the Red Army reached Port Arthur, two detachments of American troops on high-speed amphibious ships tried to land ashore and occupy a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped the landing.

As calculated, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was all occupied by Soviet units. Having stood for several days in the outer roadstead of the Dalny port, 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 occupying 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 over 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 on the Kuril Islands.

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

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

On September 8, 1945, a parade of Soviet troops took place in Harbin in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. The parade was commanded by Lieutenant General K.P. Kazakov. The parade was received 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, 92 Soviet commandant's offices were created in Manchuria. Major General Kovtun-Stankevich A.I. became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin of Port Arthur.

In October 1945, ships of the US 7th Fleet with a Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to bring the ships into port. Dalny commandant, deputy. Commander of the 39th Army, Lieutenant General G.K. Kozlov demanded to withdraw the squadron 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 cope with it perfectly." Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to go home. Later, an American squadron, simulating an air raid on the city, also tried unsuccessfully to penetrate Port Arthur.

After the war, II Lyudnikov was the commandant of Port Arthur and the commander of the group of Soviet troops in China on the Liaodong Peninsula (Kwantung) until 1947.

On September 1, 1945, by order of the commander of the military and military equipment of the Trans-Baikal Front No. 41/0368, the 61st tank division was withdrawn from the forces of the 39th army into front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she must be prepared to perform on her own. winter quarters in Choibalsan. On the basis of the command of the 192nd Infantry Division, the 76th Orsha-Khingan Red Banner Division of the NKVD convoy troops was formed to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.

In November 1945, the Soviet command presented to the Kuomintang authorities a plan for the evacuation of troops by December 3 of the same year. In accordance with this plan, Soviet units were withdrawn from Yingkou and Huludao and from the area south of Shenyang. Late autumn 1945 Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.

However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops that had begun was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the completion of the organization of the civil administration in Manchuria and the transfer of the Chinese army 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, were evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Preparations for the evacuation of troops from Harbin began immediately. On April 19, 1946, a meeting of the city's public was held, dedicated to seeing off the Red Army units 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 the Liaodong Peninsula, in accordance with the 1945 treaty, the 39th Army remained, consisting of:

• 113 sc (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
• 5th Guards SC (17th Guards Rifle Division, 19 Guards Rifle Division, 91 Guards Rifle Division);
• 7 mech.d, 6 guards rifle regiment, 14 zenad, 139 apabr, 150 UR; as well as the 7th Novoukrainsko-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 shared use Naval base Port Arthur. The places of their deployment were Port Arthur and Dalniy port, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guangdong Peninsula, located at the southwestern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Small Soviet garrisons remained along the CER line.

In the summer of 1946, the 91st Guards. SD was reorganized into the 25th Guards. machine gun and artillery division. 262, 338, 358 SD were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel transferred to the 25th Guards. pulad.

Troops of the 39th Army in the PRC

In April-May 1946, the Kuomintang troops, in the course of hostilities with the PLA, came close to the Guangdong Peninsula, practically to the Soviet naval base Port Arthur. In this difficult situation, the command of the 39th Army was forced to take countermeasures. Colonel MA 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 behind the line 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 made a promise not to cross the dividing line. This helped to calm down 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 chief 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. civil administration - Colonel V.A.Grekov.

In Port Arthur there was a naval base, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.

In 1948, an American military base operated on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from Dalniy. Every day, a reconnaissance aircraft appeared from there and at low altitude along the same route flew around and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects, airfields. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a statement about the attack by Soviet fighters on "a light passenger plane that had gone astray," but they stopped reconnaissance flights over Liaodong.

In June 1948, large joint exercises of all branches of the military were held in Port Arthur. The general management 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 one is a reflection of a conventional enemy's amphibious assault. 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 conducted an inspection of Soviet enterprises, military facilities in Port Arthur, and also met with Mao Zedong.

At the end of 1949, a large delegation headed by the Premier of the State Administrative Council of the 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 the meeting, attended by over 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. On it were embroidered words of gratitude to the Soviet people and their army.

In December 1949 and February 1950, at the Soviet-Chinese negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of the Chinese navy" in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of Soviet ships to China, to prepare a plan for an amphibious operation on Taiwan in the Soviet General Staff and send to The PRC grouping of air defense forces and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists.

In 1949, the 7th BAC was reorganized into the 83rd mixed air corps.

In January 1950, General Yu.B. Rykachev, Hero of the Soviet Union, was appointed the corps commander.

The further fate of the corps was as follows: in 1950, the 179th bad 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 placed in Sanshilipu, the mine-torpedo aviation regiment was transferred to the Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on La-9 and mixed on Tu-2 and Il-10) in 1950 moved to Shanghai and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.

On February 14, 1950, a Soviet-Chinese treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance was concluded. At this time, Soviet bomber aviation was already based in Harbin.

On February 17, 1950, an operational group 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 PF Batitsky 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 US protection, is being heavily equipped with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at large cities in the PRC. By 1950, an immediate threat arose for the largest industrial and commercial center - Shanghai.

The Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the government of the PRC, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution to create a group air defense and send it to the PRC to carry out a combat international mission of organizing the air defense of the city of Shanghai and conducting hostilities; - to appoint Lieutenant General P.F.Batitsky as the commander of the air defense group, General S.A. Slyusarev as deputy, B.A. M.N., the head of the rear - Colonel Mironov M.V.

Air defense of Shanghai was carried out by 52 anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel S. Spiridonov, Chief of Staff Colonel Antonov, as well as units of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlights, radio engineering and rear services 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 medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiments armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, PUAZO-3 and rangefinders.
• a small caliber anti-aircraft regiment armed with Soviet 37-mm cannons.
• fighter-aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander Lt. Col. Pashkevich).
• the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft was redeployed by flight from the Dalny 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 Dalny.

During the deployment of troops, mainly wire communication was used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding of the group's radio stations. To organize telephone communication of battle formations, urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used. Radio communications were only partially deployed. Control receivers, working to listen to the enemy, were mounted in conjunction with anti-aircraft artillery radio nodes. Radio networks prepared for action in the event of a wire connection failure. Signalers provided an exit from the communication center of the KP group to the Shanghai international station and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.

Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese aircraft entered the airspace of Eastern China without hindrance and with impunity. Since April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.

From April to October 1950, the Shanghai 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, three bombers were destroyed and four were destroyed by Shanghai air defense systems. Two planes voluntarily flew over to the PRC side. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another B-24 Kuomintang aircraft.

In September 1950, General PF Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead, his deputy, General S.V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, an order was received from Moscow to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese 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 northeast China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from raids 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 Port Arthur naval base. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and especially of Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government asked the Soviet leadership 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 reconnaissance aircraft A-20 of the Pacific Fleet, which was performing a planned flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American aircraft attacked a Soviet airfield in Primorye, Sukhaya Rechka. 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 THE USSR.

The entire group of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the belligerent North Korea, but also as a powerful potential "strike fist" against American troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the USSR ground forces with the families of officers on Liaodong numbered more than 100,000 people. In the area of ​​Port Arthur, 4 armored trains ply.

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, 1tap of the navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense IADs arrived (2 iap, 1 sbshap). From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.

In total, during the period of the Korean War and the Kaesong negotiations that followed, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.

The corps was commanded at different times by Major Generals of Aviation IV Belov, GA Lobov and Lieutenant General of Aviation SV Slyusarev.

The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel in the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps consisted of 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with the MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by the MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.

According to Soviet data, Soviet fighters from November 1950 to July 1953 in 1872 air battles shot down 1106 enemy aircraft. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and a total of 1259 enemy aircraft were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC. different types... The losses of aircraft in air battles carried out by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. The Soviet air divisions that took part in repelling the 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 officers - 138, sergeants and soldiers - 161. As Major General of Aviation A. Kalugin recalled, “until the end of 1954 we were on alert, flew out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened every day and several times a day. "

In 1950, Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A.V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of Aviation S.A. Krasovsky was the main military adviser and at the same time the military attaché in China.

The chief military adviser was subordinate to senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - Major General of Artillery M.A.Nikolsky, in armored forces - Major General of Tank Forces G.E. Cherkassky, in air defense - Major General of Artillery V.M. Forces - Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in the Navy - Rear Admiral A. V. Kuzmin.

Soviet military assistance had a significant impact on the course of hostilities in Korea. For example, the assistance provided by Soviet sailors to the Korean Navy (senior naval adviser to the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, more than 3 thousand Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. The first US ship to be hit by a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Bram. The second to run into a contact mine is the destroyer Manchfield. The third - minesweeper "Magpie". In addition to them, a guard ship and 7 minesweepers were blown up and sank by mines.

The participation of Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And, nevertheless, throughout the war, Soviet troops were stationed in North Korea, a total of about 40 thousand servicemen. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and members 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 beginning of the Korean War. Advisers were attached to the commanders of the military branches and chiefs of services of the Korean people's army, in infantry divisions and individual infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, individual combat and training units, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.

Benjamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese dummies". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families did not even know about it. "

Researcher of the military operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China I. A. Seidov notes: "On the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers."

V. Smirnov testifies: "An old resident of Dalian, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and the name Zhora was given to him by Soviet soldiers), said that Soviet pilots, tank crews, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in a cemetery in Port Arthur. "

The work of Soviet military advisers was highly praised by the DPRK government. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for their selfless work "to assist the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selfless devotion of their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples". Due to the reluctance of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet servicemen on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was "officially" prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that the 52nd Zenad from September to December 1951 conducted 1,093 battery firing and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.

On May 15, 1954, the American government published documents that established the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the cited data, the North Korean army included about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers. Two months before the conclusion of the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 people.

American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B.S.Abakumov, controlled the operation of the Soviet air units. Every month, a large number of saboteurs were dropped into North Korea and China on various missions, including capturing a Russian to prove their presence in the country. American intelligence officers were equipped with first-class communications technology and could camouflage radios under the water of rice paddies. 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 side numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army F.E.Samochelyaev, commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took off, an 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 services were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the "Research Bureau for Far Eastern Affairs" was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek issued 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 workers-communists in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents of Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet servicemen 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 revealed at the training aviation center for training for flights on jet technology in the PRC.

According to the testimony of 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 objects." Constant radio direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation demanded constant heightened combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was conducted continuously. Joint exercises with PLA units were conducted.

From July 1951, new divisions began to be created and old divisions, including Korean ones, withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria, began to be created in the North China District. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions during the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a tank-self-propelled regiment. With their active help, the 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 IF 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 tank-self-propelled regiments.

On January 27, 1952, US President Truman wrote in his personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution would now 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 an all-out war. This means that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Dairen, Odessa and Stalingrad and all industrial enterprises in China and the Soviet Union will be wiped off the face of the earth. This is the last chance for the Soviet government to decide whether it deserves to exist or not! "

Anticipating such a development of events, Soviet servicemen were issued in case atomic bombing iodine preparations. 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-29 was bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies, infected with various diseases. The whole land was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze canopies. We were constantly given preventive injections, but many still fell ill. And some of ours died in the bombing. "

In the afternoon of August 5, 1952, a raid was made on the command post of Kim Il Sung. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans carried out 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 part of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities disowned this act, carried out under the UN flag, by protesting.

On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of V.A.Tarasov, an employee of the embassy, ​​the first bombs were dropped at two o'clock in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs, two hundred kilograms each, were dropped.

On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), a Soviet military aircraft Il-12, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur on a course to 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 the crew, 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 hostilities in Korea and China

The following Soviet units are known that participated in hostilities in Korea and China: 64th IAK, GVS inspection department, special communications department at GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok-Port Arthur highway; Heijinsky reconnaissance point, "VCh" station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, a broadcasting point in Ranan and a communications company serving communication lines with the USSR Embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, at the headquarters of the CPV, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communication with the General Staff of the Soviet Army. Until January 1951, there was also a separate communications company in North Korea. 06/13/1951 the 10th anti-aircraft searchlight regiment arrived in the combat area. He was in Korea (Andun) until the end of November 1952 and was replaced by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals cruised on the railway and the 3rd Railway Operational Regiment was operating. Combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, 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.

Dislocations

In Port Arthur, the following were stationed: the headquarters of the 113th rifle division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (the 338th rifle division - in the Port Arthur, Dalny sector, the 358th from the Dalny to the northern border of the zone, the 262nd rifle division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st artillery corps, 150 UR, 139 apabr, communications regiment, artillery regiment, 48th guards rifle regiment, air defense regiment, iap, anti-terrorist operation battalion. Glory to the Motherland! ", Editor - Lieutenant Colonel BL Krasovsky. Soviet Navy Base. Hospital 29 BCP.

In the area of ​​the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards was stationed. sk of 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 Artillery Breakthrough Division, Mine Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.

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

In Sanshilipu - air units.

In the area of ​​the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou, there are 52 anti-aircraft artillery divisions, air units (at the Jianwan and Dachan airfields), VNOS posts (at Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Tsunjiaolu points).

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

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

In the area of ​​Nanchang - air units.

In the area of ​​Harbin - air units.

In the area of ​​Beijing - the 300th air regiment.

Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.

In the area of ​​Qiqihar there are air units.

In the area of ​​the city of Myagou there are air units.

Losses and losses

The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. Fatalities - 12,031 people, ambulances - 24,425 people.

During the time the Soviet military specialists performed their 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 burial places of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.

War in Korea (1950-1953). The total irrecoverable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which officers - 168, sergeants and soldiers - 147.

The figures of Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly from various sources. So, according to the Russian Consulate General in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens (Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou) were buried in cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953, and according to the Chinese passportisation of 1992 - 723 people. In total, during the period from 1945 to 1956 on the Liaodong Peninsula, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried (of which 104 were unknown), and according to the data of the Chinese passportisation in 1992 - 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for the Soviet losses, there is still no complete data on this. 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 were killed during the Korean War.

There are 58 burial places 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 14.5 thousand Soviet soldiers are buried on the territory of the PRC, at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.

Regarding the registration of the loss of Soviet civilians in China detailed information absent. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. Here are buried the children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948, mostly one or two years old.

7 facts about the 1945 Soviet-Japanese war

On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. Considered by many as part of the Great Patriotic War, this confrontation is often underestimated, although the results of this war have not yet been summed up.

1. Difficult decision

The decision that the USSR would enter the war with Japan was made at 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 concentration areas and further to the deployment areas, 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, the forward battalions and reconnaissance detachments of the three fronts in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, bringing frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory.

2. Our advantages

At the start of the offensive, the Red Army grouping had a serious numerical superiority over the enemy: only in terms of the number of fighters, 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 used by the Red Army was much more modern and powerful than that of its Japan. The experience gained by our troops during the war with Nazi Germany also gave an advantage.

3. 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. Alpine passes with a steep slope of up to 50 degrees seriously complicated the movement. The technique moved in a traverse, that is, in zigzags. Weather conditions also left much to be desired: torrential rains made the soil impassable mud, and mountain rivers overflowed the banks. Nevertheless, Soviet tanks stubbornly moved forward. By August 11, they crossed the mountains and found themselves deep in the rear of the Kwantung Army, on the Central Manchurian Plain. The army experienced a shortage of fuel and ammunition, so the Soviet command had to establish air supplies. Transport aircraft delivered to our troops more than 900 tons of tank fuel alone. As a result of this outstanding offensive, the Red Army was able to capture only about 200 thousand Japanese prisoners. In addition, a lot of equipment and weapons were captured.

4. No negotiations!

The 1st Far Eastern Front of the Red Army faced fierce resistance from the Japanese, entrenched on the heights "Sharp" and "Camel", which were part of the Khotou fortified region. The approaches to these heights were swampy, cut by a large number of small rivulets. Scarps were dug on the slopes and wire fences were installed. The Japanese cut down the firing points in the granite rock mass. The concrete caps of the pillboxes were about one and a half meters thick. The defenders of the "Sharp" hill rejected all calls for surrender, the Japanese were famous for not going to any negotiations. A peasant who wanted to become a parliamentarian was publicly cut off his head. When the Soviet troops nevertheless took the height, they found all its defenders dead: men and women.

5. Kamikaze

In the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the Japanese actively used kamikaze saboteurs. Tied with grenades, these people rushed at Soviet tanks and soldiers. On one of the sectors of the front, about 200 "live mines" lay on the ground in front of the advancing equipment. However, 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 could approach and explode, causing damage to equipment or manpower.

6. Surrender

On August 15, Emperor Hirohito made a radio address in which he announced that Japan accepts the terms of the Potsdam Conference and surrenders. The emperor called on the nation for courage, patience and the unification of all forces to build a new future. Three days later - on August 18, 1945 - at 13:00 local time, an appeal by the command of the Kwantung Army to the troops was heard on the radio, in which it was said that, due to the senselessness of further resistance decided to surrender. Over the next few days, the Japanese units, which had no direct connection with the headquarters, were notified and the terms of surrender were agreed.

7. Results

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 as a result of the Portsmouth Peace.
The loss of the Southern Kuriles by Japan has not been acknowledged to this day. 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 transferred to the USSR. Surprisingly, this treaty has not yet been signed by the USSR, which, thus, until the end of its existence, was legally at war with Japan. At present, these territorial problems prevent the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia as the successor to the USSR.

The question of the USSR's entry 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 Germany's surrender and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the demand of the United States, Great Britain and China on July 26, 1945, 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 pact of neutrality with Japan), Soviet military aviation suddenly began bombing the roads of Manchuria.

On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order of the Supreme High Command, in August 1945, preparations began for a combat operation to land amphibious assault forces in the port of Dalian (Dalniy) 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 Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet was preparing for the operation, which was trained in the 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 hostilities against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.

The 39th Combined Arms Army was part of the Trans-Baikal 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 a breakthrough, a blow from the Tamtsag-Bulag salient, Khalun-Arshansk and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified areas. The 39th, 53rd General and 6th Guards Tank Armies set out from the area of ​​the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic and advanced to the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of up to 250-300 km.

In order to better organize the transfer of troops to the concentration areas and further to the deployment areas, 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, the forward battalions and reconnaissance detachments of the three fronts in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, bringing frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory.

In accordance with the order, the main forces of the 39th Army crossed the border of Manchuria at 4:30 in the morning on August 9. Reconnaissance groups and detachments began to operate much earlier - at 00 hours 05 minutes. The 39th Army had 262 tanks and 133 self-propelled artillery units at its disposal. It was supported by the 6th Bomber Corps of Major General I.P. Skok, based at the airfields of the Tamtsag-Bulag salient. The army struck at the troops included in the 3rd front of the Kwantung Army.

On August 9, the lead patrol of the 262nd division went to the Khalun-Arshan-Solun railway. The Khalun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262 divisions 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 120-150 km dash. The forward detachments of the 17th and 39th armies advanced 60-70 km.

On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic joined the statement of the USSR government and declared war on Japan.

USSR Treaty - China

On August 14, 1945, a treaty of friendship and alliance between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and Dalny were signed. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The contract was concluded for 30 years.

Under the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former CER and its part - the South Manchurian Railway, going from Manchuria station to Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalniy and Port Arthur, became the common property of the USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the KChR was subject to gratuitous 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 term of the agreement was determined at 30 years. After this period, the Port Arthur naval base was subject to transfer to the ownership of China.

Dalny was declared a free port, open for trade and shipping of all countries. The Chinese government agreed to allocate docks and warehouses in the port for leasing to the USSR. In the event of a war with Japan, Dalny was supposed to be subject to the regime of the Port Arthur naval base, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur. 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 on the territory of the northeastern provinces of China, the supreme power and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was vested in the commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces. The Chinese government appointed a representative who was supposed to establish an administration and lead it on the territory cleared of the enemy, help establish interaction between the Soviet and Chinese armed forces on 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 of General A.G. Kravchenko overcame the Big Khingan.

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

During August 12-14, the Japanese launched many counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Vanemyao, 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 Solun. Then she launched an offensive on Changchun.

On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which had 1,019 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 group 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 Dalny before the Russians disembark there. The Americans were going to do this on ships. The Soviet command decided to get ahead of the United States: while the Americans reach the Liaodong Peninsula, Soviet troops will land their landing on seaplanes.

In the course of the Khingano-Mukden front-line offensive operation, the troops of the 39th Army struck from the Tamtsag-Bulag salient at 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 passes of the Big Khingan, the army took possession of the Khalun-Arshan fortified area. Developing an offensive on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km with battles and by August 14 reached the central part of Manchuria.

Marshal Malinovsky set a new task for the 39th Army: to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria in the shortest possible time, acting with strong forward detachments in the direction of Mukden, Yingkou, and Antong.

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, Changchun.

On August 17, the First Far Eastern Front broke the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, and occupied the largest city in that region, Mudanjian.

On August 17, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender. But 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 carried out regroupings, seeking to occupy advantageous operational lines on the Jinzhou-Changchun-Jirin-Tumyn line. In practice, hostilities continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th Cavalry Division of General TV Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 northeast of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.

By August 18, along the entire length of the Trans-Baikal Front, Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Peiping-Changchun railway line, and the striking force of the main grouping of the front - the 6th Guards Tank Army - escaped to 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 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 (6th Guards Airborne Assault Force, 113th Army Corps) and Changchun (6th Guards Airborne Assault Force), the largest cities of Manchuria. At the airport in Mukden, the emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested.

By August 20, Soviet troops occupied South Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea.

Landings in Port Arthur and Dalny

On August 22, 1945, 27 aircraft of the 117th Aviation Regiment took off and headed for the port of Dalniy. A total of 956 people participated in the landing. General A. A. Yamanov commanded the landing. The route ran over the sea, then through the Korean Peninsula, along the coast of North China. The sea swell 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 party acted in accordance with the combat mission: they occupied a shipyard, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), storage facilities. The Coast Guard was immediately removed and replaced by their sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.

On the same day, August 22, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, planes with a landing party, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon, some of the aircraft turned to the Dalny port. 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 the chief of intelligence Boris Likhachev.

Aircraft one after another landed on the airfield. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several nearby garrison units, capturing about 200 Japanese soldiers and officers of the Marine Corps. Capturing several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed to the western part of the city, where the other part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the overwhelming majority of the garrison had surrendered. 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 freed about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

On August 23, an airborne assault of sailors, headed 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 hoisted over the fortress under a threefold salute.

On August 24, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army arrived in Port Arthur. On August 25, new reinforcements arrived - naval paratroopers on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down at Dalny, additionally landing 265 marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here, consisting of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it, and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Dalny) and Lushun (Port Arthur). General V.D. Ivanov was appointed commandant of the Port Arthur fortress and the head of the garrison.

When parts of the 39th Army of the Red Army reached Port Arthur, two detachments of American troops on high-speed amphibious ships tried to land ashore and occupy a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped the landing.

As calculated, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was all occupied by Soviet units. Having stood for several days in the outer roadstead of the Dalny port, 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 occupying 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 over 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 on the Kuril Islands.

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

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

On September 8, 1945, a parade of Soviet troops took place in Harbin in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. The parade was commanded by Lieutenant General K.P. Kazakov. The parade was received 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, 92 Soviet commandant's offices were created in Manchuria. Major General Kovtun-Stankevich A.I. became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin of Port Arthur.

In October 1945, ships of the US 7th Fleet with a Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to bring the ships into port. Dalny commandant, deputy. Commander of the 39th Army, Lieutenant General G.K. Kozlov demanded to withdraw the squadron 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 cope with it perfectly." Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to go home. Later, an American squadron, simulating an air raid on the city, also tried unsuccessfully to penetrate Port Arthur.

After the war, II Lyudnikov was the commandant of Port Arthur and the commander of the group of Soviet troops in China on the Liaodong Peninsula (Kwantung) until 1947.

On September 1, 1945, by order of the commander of the military and military equipment of the Trans-Baikal Front No. 41/0368, the 61st tank division was withdrawn from the forces of the 39th army into front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she should be prepared to perform on her own in winter apartments in Choibalsan. On the basis of the command of the 192nd Infantry Division, the 76th Orsha-Khingan Red Banner Division of the NKVD convoy troops was formed to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.

In November 1945, the Soviet command presented to the Kuomintang authorities a plan for the evacuation of troops by December 3 of the same year. In accordance with this plan, Soviet units were withdrawn from Yingkou and Huludao and from the area south of Shenyang. In late autumn 1945, Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.

However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops that had begun was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the completion of the organization of the civil administration in Manchuria and the transfer of the Chinese army 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, were evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Preparations for the evacuation of troops from Harbin began immediately. On April 19, 1946, a meeting of the city's public was held, dedicated to seeing off the Red Army units 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 the Liaodong Peninsula, in accordance with the 1945 treaty, the 39th Army remained, consisting of:

• 113 sc (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
• 5th Guards SC (17th Guards Rifle Division, 19 Guards Rifle Division, 91 Guards Rifle Division);
• 7 mech.d, 6 guards rifle regiment, 14 zenad, 139 apabr, 150 UR; as well as the 7th Novoukrainsko-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 shared use Naval base Port Arthur. The places of their deployment were Port Arthur and Dalniy port, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guangdong Peninsula, located at the southwestern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Small Soviet garrisons remained along the CER line.

In the summer of 1946, the 91st Guards. SD was reorganized into the 25th Guards. machine gun and artillery division. 262, 338, 358 SD were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel transferred to the 25th Guards. pulad.

Troops of the 39th Army in the PRC

In April-May 1946, the Kuomintang troops, in the course of hostilities with the PLA, came close to the Guangdong Peninsula, practically to the Soviet naval base Port Arthur. In this difficult situation, the command of the 39th Army was forced to take countermeasures. Colonel MA 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 behind the line 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 made a promise not to cross the dividing line. This helped to calm down 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 chief 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. civil administration - Colonel V.A.Grekov.

In Port Arthur there was a naval base, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.

In 1948, an American military base operated on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from Dalniy. Every day, a reconnaissance aircraft appeared from there and at low altitude along the same route flew around and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects, airfields. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a statement about the attack by Soviet fighters on "a light passenger plane that had gone astray," but they stopped reconnaissance flights over Liaodong.

In June 1948, large joint exercises of all branches of the military were held in Port Arthur. The general management 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 - the reflection of a conventional enemy amphibious assault. 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 conducted an inspection of Soviet enterprises, military facilities in Port Arthur, and also met with Mao Zedong.

At the end of 1949, a large delegation headed by the Premier of the State Administrative Council of the 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 the meeting, attended by over 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. On it were embroidered words of gratitude to the Soviet people and their army.

In December 1949 and February 1950, at the Soviet-Chinese negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of the Chinese navy" in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of Soviet ships to China, to prepare a plan for an amphibious operation on Taiwan in the Soviet General Staff and send to The PRC grouping of air defense forces and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists.

In 1949, the 7th BAC was reorganized into the 83rd mixed air corps.

In January 1950, General Yu.B. Rykachev, Hero of the Soviet Union, was appointed the corps commander.

The further fate of the corps was as follows: in 1950, the 179th bad 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 placed in Sanshilipu, the mine-torpedo aviation regiment was transferred to the Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on La-9 and mixed on Tu-2 and Il-10) in 1950 moved to Shanghai and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.

On February 14, 1950, a Soviet-Chinese treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance was concluded. At this time, Soviet bomber aviation was already based in Harbin.

On February 17, 1950, an operational group 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 PF Batitsky 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 US protection, is being intensively equipped with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at large cities in the PRC. By 1950, an immediate threat arose for the largest industrial and commercial center - Shanghai.

The Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the government of the PRC, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution to create an air defense group and send it to the PRC to carry out an international combat mission to organize the air defense of Shanghai and conduct hostilities; - to appoint Lieutenant General P.F.Batitsky as the commander of the air defense group, General S.A. Slyusarev as deputy, B.A.Vysotsky, chief of staff, P.A. M.N., the head of the rear - Colonel Mironov M.V.

Air defense of Shanghai was carried out by 52 anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel S. Spiridonov, Chief of Staff Colonel Antonov, as well as units of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlights, radio engineering and rear services 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 medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiments armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, PUAZO-3 and rangefinders.
• a small caliber anti-aircraft regiment armed with Soviet 37-mm cannons.
• fighter-aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander Lt. Col. Pashkevich).
• the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft was redeployed by flight from the Dalny 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 Dalny.

During the deployment of troops, mainly wire communication was used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding of the group's radio stations. To organize telephone communication of battle formations, urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used. Radio communications were only partially deployed. Control receivers, working to listen to the enemy, were mounted in conjunction with anti-aircraft artillery radio nodes. Radio networks prepared for action in the event of a wire connection failure. Signalers provided an exit from the communication center of the KP group to the Shanghai international station and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.

Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese aircraft entered the airspace of Eastern China without hindrance and with impunity. Since April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.

From April to October 1950, the Shanghai 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, three bombers were destroyed and four were destroyed by Shanghai air defense systems. Two planes voluntarily flew over to the PRC side. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another B-24 Kuomintang aircraft.

In September 1950, General PF Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead, his deputy, General S.V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, an order was received from Moscow to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese 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 northeast China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from raids 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 Port Arthur naval base. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and especially of Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government asked the Soviet leadership 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 reconnaissance aircraft A-20 of the Pacific Fleet, which was performing a planned flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American aircraft attacked a Soviet airfield in Primorye, Sukhaya Rechka. 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 transferred.

The entire group of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the belligerent North Korea, but also as a powerful potential "strike fist" against American troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the USSR ground forces with the families of officers on Liaodong numbered more than 100,000 people. In the area of ​​Port Arthur, 4 armored trains ply.

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, 1tap of the navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense IADs arrived (2 iap, 1 sbshap). From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.

In total, during the period of the Korean War and the Kaesong negotiations that followed, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.

The corps was commanded at different times by Major Generals of Aviation IV Belov, GA Lobov and Lieutenant General of Aviation SV Slyusarev.

The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel in the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps consisted of 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with the MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by the MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.

According to Soviet data, Soviet fighters from November 1950 to July 1953 in 1872 air battles shot down 1106 enemy aircraft. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and a total of 1259 enemy aircraft of various types were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC. The losses of aircraft in air battles carried out by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. The Soviet air divisions that took part in repelling the 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 officers - 138, sergeants and soldiers - 161. As Major General of Aviation A. Kalugin recalled, “until the end of 1954 we were on alert, flew out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened every day and several times a day. "

In 1950, Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A.V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of Aviation S.A. Krasovsky was the main military adviser and at the same time the military attaché in China.

The chief military adviser was subordinate to senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - Major General of Artillery M.A.Nikolsky, in armored forces - Major General of Tank Forces G.E. Cherkassky, in air defense - Major General of Artillery V.M. Forces - Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in the Navy - Rear Admiral A. V. Kuzmin.

Soviet military assistance had a significant impact on the course of hostilities in Korea. For example, the assistance provided by Soviet sailors to the Korean Navy (senior naval adviser to the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, more than 3 thousand Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. The first US ship to be hit by a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Bram. The second to run into a contact mine is the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Magpie". In addition to them, a guard ship and 7 minesweepers were blown up and sank by mines.

The participation of Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And, nevertheless, throughout the war, Soviet troops were stationed in North Korea, a total of about 40 thousand servicemen. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and members 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 beginning of the Korean War. Advisers were with the commanders of the branches of the military and the chiefs of services of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and individual infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, individual combat and training units, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.

Benjamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese dummies". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families did not even know about it. "

Researcher of the military operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China I. A. Seidov notes: "On the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers."

V. Smirnov testifies: "An old resident of Dalian, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and the name Zhora was given to him by Soviet soldiers), said that Soviet pilots, tank crews, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in a cemetery in Port Arthur. "

The work of Soviet military advisers was highly praised by the DPRK government. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for their selfless work "to assist the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selfless devotion of their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples". Due to the reluctance of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet servicemen on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was "officially" prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that the 52nd Zenad from September to December 1951 conducted 1,093 battery firing and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.

On May 15, 1954, the American government published documents that established the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the cited data, the North Korean army included about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers. Two months before the conclusion of the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 people.

American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B.S.Abakumov, controlled the operation of the Soviet air units. Every month, a large number of saboteurs were dropped into North Korea and China on various missions, including capturing a Russian to prove their presence in the country. American intelligence officers were equipped with first-class communications technology and could camouflage radios under the water of rice paddies. 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 side numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army F.E.Samochelyaev, commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took off, an 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 services were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the "Research Bureau for Far Eastern Affairs" was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek issued 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 workers-communists in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents of Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet servicemen 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 revealed at the training aviation center for training for flights on jet technology in the PRC.

According to the testimony of 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 objects." Constant radio direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation demanded constant heightened combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was conducted continuously. Joint exercises with PLA units were conducted.

From July 1951, new divisions began to be created and old divisions, including Korean ones, withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria, began to be created in the North China District. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions during the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a tank-self-propelled regiment. With their active help, the 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 (1950-1953) were: Lieutenant Colonel IF 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 tank-self-propelled regiments.

On January 27, 1952, US President Truman wrote in his personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution would now 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 an all-out war. This means that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Dairen, Odessa and Stalingrad and all industrial enterprises in China and the Soviet Union will be wiped off the face of the earth. This is the last chance for the Soviet government to decide whether it deserves to exist or not! "

Anticipating such a development of events, the Soviet servicemen were given iodine preparations 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. Bersenyev recalls: “B-29 was bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies, infected with various diseases. The whole land was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze canopies. We were constantly given preventive injections, but many still fell ill. And some of ours died in the bombing. "

In the afternoon of August 5, 1952, a raid was made on the command post of Kim Il Sung. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans carried out 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 part of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities disowned this act, carried out under the UN flag, by protesting.

On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of V.A.Tarasov, an employee of the embassy, ​​the first bombs were dropped at two o'clock in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs, two hundred kilograms each, were dropped.

On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), a Soviet military aircraft Il-12, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur on a course to 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 the crew, 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 hostilities in Korea and China

The following Soviet units are known that participated in hostilities in Korea and China: 64th IAK, GVS inspection department, special communications department at GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok-Port Arthur highway; Heijinsky reconnaissance point, "VCh" station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, a broadcasting point in Ranan and a communications company serving communication lines with the USSR Embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, at the headquarters of the CPV, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communication with the General Staff of the Soviet Army. Until January 1951, there was also a separate communications company in North Korea. 06/13/1951 the 10th anti-aircraft searchlight regiment arrived in the combat area. He was in Korea (Andun) until the end of November 1952 and was replaced by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals cruised on the railway and the 3rd Railway Operational Regiment was operating. Combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, 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.

Dislocations

In Port Arthur, the following were stationed: the headquarters of the 113th rifle division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (the 338th rifle division - in the Port Arthur, Dalny sector, the 358th from the Dalny to the northern border of the zone, the 262nd rifle division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st artillery corps, 150 UR, 139 apabr, communications regiment, artillery regiment, 48th guards rifle regiment, air defense regiment, iap, anti-terrorist operation battalion. Glory to the Motherland! ", Editor - Lieutenant Colonel BL Krasovsky. Soviet Navy Base. Hospital 29 BCP.

In the area of ​​the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards was stationed. sk of 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 Artillery Breakthrough Division, Mine Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.

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

In Sanshilipu - air units.

In the area of ​​the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou, there are 52 anti-aircraft artillery divisions, air units (at the Jianwan and Dachan airfields), VNOS posts (at Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Tsunjiaolu points).

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

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

In the area of ​​Nanchang - air units.

In the area of ​​Harbin - air units.

In the area of ​​Beijing - the 300th air regiment.

Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.

In the area of ​​Qiqihar there are air units.

In the area of ​​the town of Myagou there are air units.

Losses and losses

The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. Fatalities - 12,031 people, ambulances - 24,425 people.

During the time the Soviet military specialists performed their 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 burial places of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.

Korean War (1950-1953). The total irrecoverable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which officers - 168, sergeants and soldiers - 147.

The figures of Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly from various sources. So, according to the Russian Consulate General in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens (Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou) were buried in cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953, and according to the Chinese passportisation data of 1992 - 723 people. In total, during the period from 1945 to 1956 on the Liaodong Peninsula, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried (of which 104 were unknown), and according to the data of the Chinese passportisation in 1992 - 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for the Soviet losses, there is still no complete data on this. 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 were killed during the Korean War.

There are 58 burial places 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 14.5 thousand Soviet soldiers are buried on the territory of the PRC, at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.

No detailed information is available regarding the accounting for the loss of Soviet civilians in China. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. Here are buried the children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948, mostly one or two years old.

1945 Soviet-Japanese war, part of World War II and the Pacific War. Also known as battle for Manchuria or Manchu operation, and in the West - like Operation August Storm.

Chronology of the conflict

April 13, 1941 - A pact of neutrality is signed between the USSR and Japan. It was accompanied by an agreement on minor economic concessions from Japan, which it ignored.

December 1, 1943 - Tehran Conference. The allies outline the contours of the post-war structure of the Asia-Pacific region.

February 1945 - Yalta conference. The allies agree on a post-war world order, including the Asia-Pacific region. The USSR undertakes an unofficial obligation to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the defeat of Germany.

June 1945 - Japan begins preparations to repel the landing on the Japanese Islands.

July 12, 1945 - Japanese Ambassador to Moscow appeals to the USSR for mediation in peace negotiations. On July 13, he was informed that no answer could be given in connection with the departure of Stalin and Molotov to Potsdam.

July 26, 1945 - At the Potsdam Conference, the United States formally formulates the terms of Japan's surrender. Japan refuses to accept them.

August 8 - The USSR announces to the Japanese ambassador about joining the Potsdam Declaration and declares war on Japan.

August 10, 1945 - Japan officially declares its readiness to accept the Potsdam terms of surrender with a reservation regarding the preservation of the structure of the imperial power in the country.

August 14 - Japan officially accepts the terms of unconditional surrender and informs the Allies about it.

Preparing for war

The danger of war between the USSR and Japan existed since the second half of the 1930s, in 1938 there were clashes on Lake Khasan, and in 1939 the battle on Khalkhin Gol on the border of Mongolia and Manchukuo. In 1940, the Soviet Far Eastern Front was created, which indicated a real risk of the outbreak of war.

However, the aggravation of the situation on the western borders forced the USSR to seek a compromise in relations with Japan. The latter, in turn, choosing between the options of aggression to the north (against the USSR) and to the south (against the USA and Great Britain), more and more inclined towards the latter option, and sought to protect itself from the USSR. The result of the temporary coincidence of interests of the two countries is the signing of the Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941, in accordance with Art. 2 of which:

In 1941, the countries of the Hitlerite coalition, except Japan, declared war on the USSR (the Great Patriotic War), and in the same year Japan attacked the United States, starting a war in the Pacific Ocean.

In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin made a promise to the allies to declare war on Japan 2-3 months after the end of hostilities in Europe (although the neutrality pact provided that it would end only a year after denunciation). At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies issued a declaration demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. That summer, Japan tried to negotiate mediation with the USSR, but to no avail.

War was declared exactly 3 months after the victory in Europe, on August 8, 1945, two days after the first use by the United States. nuclear weapons against Japan (Hiroshima) and on the eve of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Forces and plans of the parties

The commander-in-chief was Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. There were 3 fronts, the Trans-Baikal Front, the 1st Far Eastern and the 2nd Far Eastern (commanded by R. Ya. Malinovsky, K.A. Meretskov and M.A.Purkaev), with a total strength of about 1.5 million people. The Mongolian People's Republic troops were commanded by Marshal of the Mongolian People's Republic H. Choibalsan. They were opposed by the Japanese Kwantung Army under the command of General Otsudzo Yamada.

The plan of the Soviet command, described as "Strategic pincers", was simple in design but grandiose in scale. It was planned to encircle the enemy on a total area of ​​1.5 million square kilometers.

The composition of the Kwantung Army: about 1 million people, 6260 guns and mortars, 1150 tanks, 1500 aircraft.

As noted in the "History of the Great Patriotic War" (v. 5, pp. 548-549):

Despite the efforts of the Japanese to concentrate as many troops as possible on the islands of the empire itself, as well as in China south of Manchuria, the Japanese command also paid attention to the Manchurian direction, especially after the Soviet Union denounced the Soviet-Japanese pact of neutrality on April 5, 1945. That is why of the nine infantry divisions remaining in Manchuria at the end of 1944, the Japanese deployed 24 divisions and 10 brigades by August 1945. True, the Japanese could use only untrained conscripts to organize new divisions and brigades. younger ages and limitedly fit older ages - those in the summer of 1945 were drafted 250 thousand, which made up more than half of the personnel of the Kwantung Army. Also, in the Japanese divisions and brigades newly created in Manchuria, in addition to the small number of combat personnel, artillery was often completely absent.

The most significant forces of the Kwantung Army - up to ten infantry divisions - were stationed in the east of Manchuria, bordering on Soviet Primorye, where the First Far Eastern Front was deployed, consisting of 31 rifle divisions, a cavalry division, a mechanized corps and 11 tank brigades. In northern Manchuria, the Japanese held one infantry division and two brigades against the Second Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades. In the west of Manchuria, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and one brigade against 33 Soviet divisions, including two tank divisions, two mechanized corps, a tank corps and six tank brigades. In central and southern Manchuria, the Japanese held several more divisions and brigades, as well as both tank brigades and all combat aircraft.

It should be noted that the tanks and aircraft of the Japanese army in 1945, according to the criteria of that time, cannot be called outdated. They roughly corresponded to the Soviet tank and aircraft equipment of 1939. This also applies to Japanese anti-tank guns, which had a caliber of 37 and 47 millimeters - that is, they were suitable for fighting only with light Soviet tanks. What prompted the Japanese army to use suicide squads, tied with grenades and explosives, as the main makeshift anti-tank weapon.

However, the prospect of a quick surrender of Japanese troops seemed far from obvious. Given the fanatical and sometimes suicidal resistance offered by Japanese forces in April-June 1945 in Okinawa, there was every reason to believe that a long, difficult campaign was expected in the last remaining Japanese fortified areas. In some areas of the offensive, these expectations were fully justified.

The course of the war

At dawn on August 9, 1945, Soviet troops began intensive artillery barrage from sea and land. Then the ground operation began. Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, the fortified areas of the Japanese were bypassed by mobile units and blocked by infantry. General Kravchenko's 6th Guards Tank Army advanced from Mongolia to the center of Manchuria.

It was a risky decision, since the Khingan Mountains were rugged ahead. On August 11, army equipment stopped due to lack of fuel. But the experience of German tank units was used - the delivery of fuel to tanks by transport aircraft. As a result, 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 resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, occupying 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 rendered with special force in the Mudanjiang region. There were cases of stubborn enemy resistance in the zones of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also made repeated counterattacks. On August 19, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly the last emperor of China).

On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude an armistice. But in practice, hostilities from 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 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 Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.

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

The Japan Surrender Act was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated. According to Soviet data, its casualties amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were taken prisoner. Irrecoverable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.

Meaning

The Manchu operation was of enormous political and military significance. So on August 9, at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for War Leadership, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki said:

The Soviet Army defeated the powerful Kwantung Army of Japan. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Japanese Empire and making a significant contribution to its defeat, hastened the end of World War II. American leaders and 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.

General MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the American armed forces in the Pacific Ocean, believed that "Victory over Japan can only be guaranteed if the Japanese ground forces are defeated" US Secretary of State E. Stettinius stated the following:

Dwight D. Eisenhower in his memoirs indicated that he addressed President Truman: "I told him that since the available information indicates the inevitability of the imminent collapse of Japan, I strongly object to the entry of the Red Army into this war."

Outcomes

For distinctions in battles as part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, 16 formations and units received the honorary name "Ussuriysk", 19 - "Harbin", 149 - were awarded various orders.

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 as a result of the Portsmouth Peace (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalny), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands previously ceded to Japan in 1875 and the southern part of the Kuriles, assigned to Japan by the Shimoda Treaty of 1855.

The last territorial loss by Japan has not been recognized to this day. According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuriles (Tishima Ratto). But the treaty did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it. However, in 1956, the Moscow Declaration was signed, which ended the state of war and established diplomatic and consular relations between the USSR and Japan. Article 9 of the Declaration, in particular, says:

Negotiations on the southern Kuril Islands continue to the present moment, the absence of a decision on this issue prevents the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia, as the successor to the USSR.

Also, Japan is involved in a territorial dispute with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands, despite the existence of peace treaties between the countries (the treaty was concluded with the Republic of China in 1952, with the PRC in 1978). In addition, despite the existence of the Basic Treaty on relations between Japan and Korea, Japan and the Republic of Korea are also involved in a territorial dispute over the ownership of the Liancourt Islands.

Despite Article 9 of the Potsdam Declaration, which prescribes the return home of servicemen at the end of hostilities, according to Stalin's order No. 9898, according to Japanese data, up to two million Japanese servicemen and civilians were deported to work in the USSR. As a result of hard work, frost and disease, according to Japanese data, 374,041 people died.

According to Soviet data, the number of prisoners of war was 640,276 people. Immediately after the end of hostilities, 65,176 wounded and sick were released. Died in captivity 62,069 prisoners of war, of which 22,331 before entering the territory of the USSR. An average of 100,000 people were repatriated annually. By the beginning of 1950, about 3,000 people remained convicted of criminal and war crimes (of which 971 were transferred to China for crimes committed against the Chinese people), who, in accordance with the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration, were released ahead of schedule and repatriated to their homeland.