In February 1945, a conference was held in Y alta, which was attended by representatives of the countries that were part of the anti-Hitler coalition. Great Britain and the United States were able 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 the peace treaty
At the time when the decision was made in Y alta, the so-called Neutrality Pact was in force between Japan and the Soviet Union, which was concluded back in 1941 and was supposed 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 Land of the Rising Sun had sided with Germany in recent years, and also fought against the allies of the USSR, became almost inevitable.
Thisthe sudden announcement literally plunged the leadership of Japan into complete disarray. And this is understandable, because her position was very critical - the forces of the Allies inflicted significant damage on her in the Pacific Ocean, and industrial centers and cities were subjected to almost continuous bombardment. The government of this country was well aware that it was almost impossible to achieve victory in such conditions. But still, it still hoped that it would somehow be able to wear down the American army and achieve more favorable conditions for the surrender of its troops.
US, in turn, did not count on the fact that they will get the victory easily. An example of this is the battles that unfolded for the island of Okinawa. About 77 thousand people fought here from Japan, and about 470 thousand soldiers from the United States. In the end, the island was taken by the Americans, but their losses were simply amazing - almost 50 thousand killed. According to the US Secretary of Defense, 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 the 8th of August in Moscow, the document was handed over to the Japanese Ambassador to the USSR at exactly 17:00. It said that the Russo-Japanese War (1945) was actually starting the very next day. But since there is a significant time difference between the Far East and Moscow, it turned out that only 1hour.
The USSR developed a plan consisting of three military operations: the Kuril, Manchurian and South Sakhalin. All of them were very important. But still, the Manchurian operation was the most large-scale and significant.
Side Forces
On the territory of Manchuria, the Soviet Union was opposed by the Kwantung Army, commanded by General Otozo Yamada. It consisted of about 1 million people, more than 1 thousand tanks, about 6 thousand guns and 1.6 thousand 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 equipment, the number of mortars and artillery exceeded the similar enemy forces by 10 times. Our army had 5 and 3 times more tanks and aircraft, respectively, than the corresponding weapons of the Japanese. It should be noted that the superiority of the USSR over Japan in military equipment consisted not only in its numbers. The equipment at the disposal of Russia was modern and more powerful than that of its opponent.
Enemy Strongholds
All participants in the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 understood perfectly well that sooner or later, but it had to start. 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 in this area were built for more than 10 years.years. By the time the Russo-Japanese War began (1945, August), there were already 116 pillboxes, which were interconnected by underground passages made of concrete, a well-developed system of trenches and a significant number of fortifications. The area was covered by more than divisional Japanese soldiers.
In order to suppress the resistance of the Hailar fortified area, the Soviet Army had to spend several days. In the conditions of war, this is a short period, but during the same time the rest of the Trans-Baikal Front moved forward by about 150 km. Taking into account 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 courage.
In the reports of Soviet military leaders, one can often see references to the soldiers of the Kwantung Army. The documents said that the Japanese military specially chained themselves to the beds of machine guns so as not to have the slightest opportunity to retreat.
Flanking 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 mention one outstanding operation, which consisted in a 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Panzer Army through the Khingan Range and the Gobi Desert. If you take a look at the mountains, they seem to be an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of technology. The passes that the Soviet tanks had to go through were located at an altitude of about2 thousand meters above sea level, and the slopes sometimes reached a steepness of 50⁰. That is why cars often had to zigzag.
In addition, the advancement of equipment was also complicated by frequent heavy rains, accompanied by flooding of rivers and impassable mud. But, despite this, the tanks still moved forward, and already on August 11 they overcame the mountains and reached the Central Manchurian Plain, in the rear of the Kwantung Army. After such a large-scale transition, the Soviet troops began to experience an acute shortage of fuel, so they had to arrange for additional delivery by air. With the help of transport aviation, 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.
Height Defenders Sharp
The Japanese War of 1945 continued. On 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 Khotous fortified area. It must be said that the approaches to these heights were indented by many small rivers and were very swampy. In addition, wire fences and excavated scarps were located on their slopes. The firing points were cut down by Japanese soldiers in advance right in the rocky granite rock, and the concrete caps protecting the bunkers reached a thickness of one and a half meters.
During the fighting, the Soviet commandinvited the defenders of Ostroy to surrender. A man from among the local residents was sent to the Japanese as a truce, but they treated him extremely cruelly - the commander of the fortified area cut off his head. However, there was nothing surprising in this act. From the moment the Russo-Japanese War began (1945), the enemy basically did not go 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 hostilities
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 such a case when about two hundred "live mines" lay on the ground next to each other in one sector of the front. But such suicidal actions did not last long. Soon, the 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 Russo-Japanese War of 1945 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 capitulate. At the same time, the emperor urged his nation to be patient and unite all forces to build a new future for the country.
3 days after Hirohito's appeal, the call of the Kwantung Army command to its soldiers was heard on the radio. It said that further resistance is pointless and there is already a decision to surrender. Since many Japanese units did not have contact with the main headquarters, their notification continued for several more days. But there were also cases when fanatical military personnel did not want to obey the order and lay down their arms. Therefore, their war continued until they died.
Consequences
It must be said that the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 was truly of great not only military, but also political significance. The Soviet Army was able to completely defeat the strongest Kwantung Army and end the Second World War. By the way, its official end is considered to be September 2, when the act of surrender of Japan was finally signed in Tokyo Bay right on board the battleship Missouri, which belongs to the US armed forces.
As a result, the Soviet Union regained the territories that were 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.
