The article describes the causes of the Soviet-Japanese armed conflict, the preparation of the parties for war, the course of hostilities. The characteristic of international relations before the beginning of the Second World War in the east is given.
Introduction
Active fighting in the Far East and in the Pacific Ocean were the result of the contradictions that had arisen in the pre-war years between the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and China, on the one hand, and Japan, on the other. The Japanese government sought to capture new territories rich in natural resources and the establishment of political hegemony in the Far East.
Since more since late XIX century Japan spent many wars, as a result of which it acquired new colonies. It included the Kuril Islands, southern Sakhalin, Korea, Manchuria. In 1927, General Giichi Tanaka became the prime minister of the country, whose government continued its aggressive policy. In the early 1930s, Japan increased the size of its army and created a powerful navy that was one of the strongest in the world.
In 1940, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe developed a new foreign policy doctrine. The Japanese government planned to create a colossal empire stretching from Transbaikalia to Australia. Western countries pursued a dual policy towards Japan: on the one hand, they sought to limit the ambitions of the Japanese government, but on the other hand, they did not interfere with the intervention of northern China. To implement its plans, the Japanese government entered into an alliance with Germany and Italy.
Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union deteriorated markedly in the prewar period. In 1935, the Kwantung Army entered the border regions of Mongolia. Mongolia hastily concluded an agreement with the USSR, units of the Red Army were introduced into its territory. In 1938, Japanese troops crossed the state border of the USSR in the region of Lake Khasan, but the invasion attempt was successfully repelled by Soviet troops. Japanese sabotage groups were also repeatedly thrown into Soviet territory. The confrontation escalated even more in 1939, when Japan launched a war against Mongolia. The USSR, observing the agreement with the Mongolian Republic, intervened in the conflict.
After these events, Japan's policy towards the USSR changed: the Japanese government was afraid of a collision with a strong western neighbor and decided to temporarily abandon the seizure of territories in the north. Nevertheless, for Japan, the USSR was actually the main enemy in the Far East.
Non-aggression pact with Japan
In the spring of 1941, the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Japan. In the event of an armed conflict of one of the states with any third countries, the second power undertook to remain neutral. But the Japanese Foreign Minister made it clear to the German ambassador in Moscow that the concluded neutrality pact would not prevent Japan from fulfilling the terms of the Tripartite Pact during the war with the USSR.
Before the outbreak of World War II in the east, Japan was negotiating with American leaders seeking recognition of the annexation of Chinese territories and the conclusion of new trade treaties. The ruling elite of Japan could not decide against whom to direct the blow in a future war. Some politicians considered it necessary to support Germany, while another part called for an attack on the Pacific colonies of Great Britain and the United States.
As early as 1941, it became obvious that Japan's actions would depend on the situation on the Soviet-German front. The Japanese government planned to attack the USSR from the east if Germany and Italy succeeded, after the capture of Moscow by German troops. Also of great importance was the fact that the country needed raw materials for its industry. The Japanese were interested in capturing areas rich in oil, tin, zinc, nickel and rubber. Therefore, on July 2, 1941, at the imperial conference, it was decided to start a war against the USA and Great Britain. But The Japanese government did not completely abandon plans to attack the USSR until the Battle of Kursk, when it became obvious that Germany would not win the Second World War. Along with this factor, the active combat operations of the allies in pacific ocean forced Japan to repeatedly postpone, and then completely abandon its aggressive intentions against the USSR.
The situation in the Far East during the Second World War
Despite the fact that hostilities in the Far East never began, the USSR was forced to keep a large military grouping in this region throughout the war, the size of which was different periods varied. Until 1945, the Kwantung Army was located on the border, which included up to 1 million servicemen. The local population also prepared for defense: men were mobilized into the army, women and teenagers studied air defense methods. Fortifications were built around strategically important objects.
The Japanese leadership believed that the Germans would be able to capture Moscow before the end of 1941. In this regard, it was planned to launch an offensive against the Soviet Union in the winter. On December 3, the Japanese command ordered the troops in China to prepare for the transfer to the north. The Japanese were going to invade the USSR in the Ussuri region, and then launch an offensive in the north. To implement the approved plan, it was necessary to strengthen the Kwantung Army. Troops liberated after the fighting in the Pacific were sent to the Northern Front.
However, the hopes of the Japanese government for a quick German victory did not come true. The failure of the blitzkrieg tactics and the defeat of the Wehrmacht armies near Moscow testified that the Soviet Union was a strong enough adversary whose power should not be underestimated.
The threat of a Japanese invasion intensified in the fall of 1942. Nazi German troops advanced into the Caucasus and the Volga. The Soviet command hastily transferred to the front 14 rifle divisions and more than 1.5 thousand guns from Far East. Just at this time, Japan did not conduct active battles in the Pacific. However, the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief foresaw the possibility of a Japanese attack. The Far Eastern troops received replenishment from local reserves. This fact became known to Japanese intelligence. The Japanese government again delayed entry into the war.
The Japanese attacked merchant ships in neutral waters, preventing the delivery of goods to Far Eastern ports, repeatedly violated state borders, committed sabotage on Soviet territory, and threw propaganda literature across the border. Japanese intelligence collected information about the movements Soviet troops and handed them over to the headquarters of the Wehrmacht. Among the reasons for the entry of the USSR into Japanese war in 1945 there were not only obligations to the allies, but also concern for the security of their borders.
Already in the second half of 1943, when the turning point in the course of World War II ended, it became clear that, following Italy, which had already withdrawn from the war, Germany and Japan would also be defeated. The Soviet command, foreseeing future war in the Far East, since that time almost no Far Eastern troops have been used in Western front. Gradually, these units of the Red Army were replenished with military equipment and manpower. In August 1943, the Primorsky Group of Forces was created as part of the Far Eastern Front, which indicated preparations for a future war.
At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union confirmed that the agreement between Moscow and the Allies on participation in the war with Japan remained in force. The Red Army was to begin military operations against Japan no later than 3 months after the end of the war in Europe. In return, I. V. Stalin demanded territorial concessions for the USSR: the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Russia and the part of Sakhalin Island assigned to Japan as a result of the war of 1905, the transfer of the Chinese port of Port Arthur (on modern maps - Luishun ). The Dalniy commercial port was to become an open port, with the interests of the USSR being predominantly observed.
By this time, the US and British Armed Forces had inflicted a number of defeats on Japan. However, her resistance was not broken. US, China and UK requirement for unconditional surrender, filed on July 26, was rejected by Japan. This decision was not unfounded. The United States and Great Britain did not have sufficient forces to carry out a landing operation in the Far East. According to the plans of the American and British leaders, the final defeat of Japan was envisaged no earlier than 1946. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with Japan, significantly brought the end of World War II closer.
Forces and plans of the parties
The Soviet-Japanese war or the Manchurian operation began on August 9, 1945. The Red Army was faced with the task of defeating the Japanese troops in China and North Korea.
Back in May 1945, the USSR began the transfer of troops to the Far East. 3 fronts were formed: the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Transbaikal. The Soviet Union used border troops, the Amur military flotilla and ships of the Pacific Fleet in the offensive.
The Kwantung Army included 11 infantry and 2 tank brigades, more than 30 infantry divisions, cavalry and mechanized units, a suicide brigade, and the Sungari River Flotilla. The most significant forces were deployed in eastern regions Manchuria, bordering the Soviet Primorye. In the western regions, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and 1 brigade. The number of enemy soldiers exceeded 1 million people, but more than half of the fighters were conscripts younger ages and of limited use. Many Japanese units were understaffed. Also, the newly created units lacked weapons, ammunition, artillery and other military equipment. Outdated tanks and aircraft were used in Japanese units and formations.
On the side of Japan, the troops of Manchukuo, the army of Inner Mongolia and the Suiyuan army group fought. In the border areas, the enemy built 17 fortified areas. The command of the Kwantung Army was carried out by General Otsuzo Yamada.
The plan of the Soviet command provided for two main strikes by the forces of the 1st Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal fronts, as a result of which the main enemy forces in the center of Manchuria would be pincered, divided into parts and defeated. The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades, in cooperation with the Amur military flotilla, were supposed to strike in the direction of Harbin. Then the Red Army was to occupy large settlements Shenyang, Harbin, Changchun. The fighting took place on a stretch of more than 2.5 thousand km. on the map of the area.
Start of hostilities
Simultaneously with the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops, aviation carried out bombing of areas of large concentrations of troops, strategically significant objects and communication centers. Pacific Fleet ships attacked Japanese naval bases in North Korea. The offensive was led by the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, A. M. Vasilevsky.
As a result of the military operations of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which, having crossed the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Mountains on the first day of the offensive, advanced 50 km, significant groups of enemy troops were defeated. The offensive was hampered natural conditions terrain. There was not enough fuel for the tanks, but the units of the Red Army used the experience of the Germans - the supply of fuel by transport aircraft was organized. On August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army reached the approaches to the capital of Manchuria. Soviet troops isolated the Kwantung Army from the Japanese units in Northern China and occupied important administrative centers.
The Soviet group of troops advancing from Primorye broke through the border fortifications. In the Mudanjiang area, the Japanese launched a series of counterattacks, which were repulsed. Soviet units occupied Kirin and Harbin, and, with the assistance of the Pacific Fleet, liberated the coast, capturing strategically important ports.
Then the Red Army liberated North Korea, and from mid-August, hostilities took place in China. On August 14, the Japanese command initiated surrender negotiations. On August 19, enemy troops began to surrender en masse. However, the hostilities of World War II continued until early September.
Simultaneously with the defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Soviet troops carried out the South Sakhalin offensive operation and landed troops on the Kuril Islands. During the operation in the Kuril Islands on August 18-23, Soviet troops, with the support of the ships of the Peter and Paul Naval Base, captured Samusya Island and occupied all the islands of the Kuril chain by September 1.
Results
As a result of the defeat of the Kwantung Army on the continent, Japan could no longer continue the war. The enemy lost important economic regions in Manchuria and Korea. The Americans carried out atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and captured the island of Okinawa. On September 2, an act of surrender was signed.
The USSR included the territories lost Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century: South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. In 1956, the USSR restored relations with Japan and agreed to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, subject to the conclusion of a Peace Treaty between the countries. But Japan has not come to terms with territorial losses and negotiations on the ownership of the disputed regions still do not stop.
Per military merit more than 200 units received the titles of Amur, Ussuri, Khingan, Harbin, etc. 92 servicemen became Heroes Soviet Union.
As a result of the operation, the losses of the warring countries amounted to:
- from the USSR - about 36.5 thousand military personnel,
- from Japan - more than 1 million soldiers and officers.
Also, during the fighting, all the ships of the Sungaria flotilla were sunk - more than 50 ships.
Medal "For the victory over Japan"
background
At the Yalta Conference of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, held in February 1945, the United States and Great Britain obtained final consent from the USSR to enter the war with Japan three months after the victory over Japan. Nazi Germany. In exchange for participation in hostilities, the Soviet Union was to receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, lost after Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905.
At that time, the Neutrality Pact was in force between the USSR and Japan, concluded in 1941 for a period of 5 years. In April 1945, the USSR announced the unilateral termination of the pact on the grounds that Japan was an ally of Germany and waged war against the allies of the USSR. “In this situation, the Neutrality Pact between Japan and the USSR lost its meaning, and the extension of this Pact became impossible,” the Soviet side said. The sudden termination of the treaty threw the Japanese government into disarray. And it was from what! The position of the Land of the Rising Sun in the war was approaching critical, the allies inflicted a number of severe lesions in the Pacific theater of operations. Japanese cities and industrial centers were subjected to continuous bombardment. Not one in the least reasonable person in the Japanese government and command no longer believed in the possibility of victory, the only hope was that they would be able to wear down the American troops and achieve acceptable terms of surrender for themselves.
In turn, the Americans understood that victory over Japan would not be easy. A good example of this are the battles for the island of Okinawa. The Japanese had about 77,000 people on the island. The Americans fielded about 470,000 against them. The island was taken, but the Americans lost nearly 50 thousand soldiers killed and wounded. According to the estimate of the US Secretary of War, a final victory over Japan, provided the Soviet Union did not intervene, would have cost America about a million dead and wounded.
The document declaring war was handed over to the Japanese ambassador in Moscow at 17:00 on August 8, 1945. It said that hostilities would begin the next day. However, taking into account the time difference between Moscow and the Far East, in fact, the Japanese had only one hour before the Red Army went on the offensive.
Confrontation
The strategic plan of the Soviet side included three operations: Manchurian, South Sakhalin and Kuril. It was the first one that was the most significant and large-scale, and it is on it that we should dwell in more detail.
In Manchuria, the Kwantung Army under the command of General Otsuzo Yamada became an enemy of the USSR. It included about a million personnel, more than 6,000 guns and mortars, about 1,500 aircraft, and more than 1,000 tanks.
The grouping of Red Army troops at the time the offensive began had a serious numerical superiority over the enemy: only there were 1.6 times more fighters. 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. Moreover, the superiority of the Soviet Union was not only quantitative. The equipment that was in service with the Red Army was much more modern and powerful than that of its enemy.
The Japanese had long understood that war with the Soviet Union was inevitable. Therefore, a large number of fortified areas were created. Let us consider as an example one of them - the Hailar region, against which the left flank of the Trans-Baikal Front of the Red Army acted. This area has been under construction for over 10 years. By August 1945, it consisted of 116 pillboxes connected by concrete underground communication passages, a developed system of trenches and a large number of engineering defensive structures. The area was defended by Japanese troops numbering more than a division.
It took the Soviet troops several days to suppress the resistance of this fortified area. It would seem that not too long a time, the troops were not stuck for months. But during this time, in other sectors of the Trans-Baikal Front, the Red Army managed to advance more than 150 kilometers. So by the standards of this war, the obstacle was quite serious. And even after the main forces of the garrison of the Hailar region surrendered, separate groups of Japanese soldiers continued to fight, demonstrating examples of fanatical courage. In Soviet reports from the battlefield, soldiers of the Kwantung Army are constantly mentioned, who chained themselves to machine guns so as not to be able to leave the position.
Against the background of the very successful actions of the Red Army, it is necessary to note such an outstanding operation as the 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Guards Tank Army across the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range. The Khingan Mountains seemed like an insurmountable obstacle to technology. The passes through which the Soviet tanks went were at an altitude of about 2 thousand meters above sea level. The steepness of the slopes in some places reached 50 degrees, so the cars had to move in a zigzag. The situation was complicated by continuous heavy rains, impassable mud and overflow of mountain rivers. Nevertheless, Soviet tanks stubbornly moved forward. By August 11, they had crossed the mountains and found themselves in the rear of the Kwantung Army, on the Central Manchurian Plain. The army experienced a shortage of fuel and ammunition, so the Soviet command had to establish supplies by air. Transport aviation delivered more than 900 tons of tank fuel alone to our troops. As a result of this unprecedented offensive, the Red Army managed to capture only about 200,000 Japanese prisoners. In addition, a large number of weapons and equipment were captured.
The 1st Far Eastern Front of the Red Army faced fierce resistance from the Japanese, who fortified on the heights of Ostraya and Camel, which were part of the Khotous fortified area. The approaches to these heights were swampy, indented by a large number of small streams. Scarps were excavated on the slopes and wire fences were installed. The Japanese cut down firing points in a granite rock massif. Concrete caps of pillboxes had a thickness of about one and a half meters.
The defenders of the height of Ostraya rejected all the demands of the Soviet troops for surrender. The commander of the fortified area cut off his head to a local resident, who was used as a truce (the Japanese did not go into dialogue with the Red Army at all). And when the Soviet troops finally managed to break into the fortifications, they found only the dead there. Moreover, among the defenders were not only men, but even women armed with grenades and daggers.
In the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the Japanese actively used kamikaze saboteurs. Strapped with grenades, these people rushed at Soviet tanks and soldiers. On one of the sectors of the front, about 200 "live mines" lay on the ground in front of the advancing equipment. Suicide attacks were successful only at first. 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.
The final
On August 15, Emperor Hirohito made a radio address announcing that Japan accepted the terms Potsdam conference and capitulates. The emperor called on the nation to courage, patience and unite all forces to build a new future.
Three days later, on August 18, 1945, at 13:00 local time, the Kwantung Army Command addressed the troops on the radio, saying that in view of the futility of further resistance, a decision was made to surrender. Over the next few days, the Japanese units that did not have direct contact with the headquarters were notified and the terms of surrender were agreed.
Most of the military accepted the terms of surrender without objection. Moreover, in the city of Changchun, where the strength of the Soviet troops was not enough, the Japanese themselves guarded military facilities for several days. However, a small number of fanatical soldiers and officers continued to resist, refusing to obey the "cowardly" order to cease hostilities. Their war stopped only when they died.
On September 2, 1945, an act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. The signing of this document is the official date for the end of World War II.
"The Diplomat, Japan
From May to September 1939, the USSR and Japan waged an undeclared war against each other, in which more than 100,000 military personnel took part. Perhaps it was she who changed the course of world history.
In September 1939, Soviet and Japanese armies clashed on the Manchu-Mongolian border in a little-known but far-reaching conflict. It was not just a border conflict - the undeclared war lasted from May to September 1939, and more than 100,000 soldiers took part in it, as well as 1,000 tanks and aircraft. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people were killed or injured. In the decisive battle, which took place on August 20-31, 1939, the Japanese were defeated.
These events coincided with the conclusion of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact (August 23, 1939), which gave the green light to Hitler's aggression against Poland, undertaken a week later and served as the start of World War II. These events are related to each other. border conflict also influenced the key decisions made in Tokyo and Moscow that determined the course of the war and, ultimately, its outcome.
The conflict itself (the Japanese call it the Nomongan Incident, and the Russians the Battle of Halkin Gol) was provoked by the notorious Japanese officer Tsuji Masanobu, head of the group in the Japanese Kwantung Army that occupied Manchuria. On the opposite side, the Soviet troops were commanded by Georgy Zhukov, who would later lead the Red Army to victory over Nazi Germany. In the first major battle in May 1939, the Japanese punitive operation failed, and the Soviet-Mongolian forces pushed back the Japanese detachment, which consisted of 200 people. The frustrated Kwantung Army intensified military operations in June-July and began to deliver forced bombing strikes deep into Mongolian territory. The Japanese also carried out operations along the entire border with the participation of entire divisions. The successive Japanese attacks were beaten back by the Red Army, but the Japanese constantly upped the stakes in this game, counting on the fact that they could force Moscow to retreat. However, Stalin tactically outplayed the Japanese and, unexpectedly for them, launched a military and diplomatic counteroffensive at the same time.
In August, when Stalin was secretly seeking an alliance with Hitler, Zhukov formed a powerful group near the front line. At the moment when German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop flew to Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet pact, Stalin threw Zhukov into battle. The future marshal demonstrated the tactics that he would later use with such a stunning result near Stalingrad, in the Battle of Kursk, and also in other places: a combined arms offensive, during which infantry units, with the active support of artillery, tied up enemy forces in the central sector of the front, in while powerful armored formations attacked the flanks, surrounded and eventually defeated the enemy in a battle of annihilation. Over 75% of the Japanese ground forces on this front died in action. At the same time, Stalin made a pact with Hitler, a nominal ally of Tokyo, and thus left Japan diplomatically isolated and militarily humiliated.
The coincidence in time of the Nomongan Incident and the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact was by no means accidental. While Stalin was openly negotiating with Britain and France to create an anti-fascist alliance and secretly trying to negotiate with Hitler for a possible alliance, he was attacked by Japan, Germany's ally and partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact. By the summer of 1939, it became clear that Hitler intended to move east against Poland. Stalin's nightmare, which should have been prevented at all costs, was a war on two fronts against Germany and Japan. His ideal outcome would be one in which the fascist-militarist capitalists (Germany, Italy, and Japan) fought the bourgeois-democratic capitalists (Britain, France, and possibly the United States). In this scenario, the Soviet Union would have remained on the sidelines and would have become the arbiter of the fate of Europe, after the capitalists had exhausted their forces. The Nazi-Soviet pact was Stalin's attempt to achieve the optimum result. This treaty not only pitted Germany against Britain and France, but also left the Soviet Union out of the fray. He gave Stalin the opportunity to decisively deal with isolated Japan, which was done in the Nomongan area. And this is not just a hypothesis. The connection between the Nomongan Incident and the Nazi-Soviet Pact is even reflected in German diplomatic documents published in Washington and London in 1948. Recently released documents from the Soviet era contain supporting details.
Zhukov rose to prominence at Nomongan/Khalkin Gol, thus earning the trust of Stalin, who in late 1941 placed him in command of the troops, just at the right time to avert catastrophe. Zhukov managed to stop the German offensive and turn the tide on the outskirts of Moscow in early December 1941 (probably the most important week of World War II). This was partly facilitated by the transfer of troops from the Far East. Many of these soldiers already had combat experience - it was they who defeated the Japanese in the Nomongan area. The Soviet Far Eastern Reserve - 15 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 1,700 tanks and 1,500 aircraft were redeployed to the west in the autumn of 1941, when Moscow learned that Japan would not attack the Soviet Far East, as it had made the final decision regarding expansion in the southern direction, which eventually led her to war with the United States.
The story regarding Japan's route to Pearl Harbor is well known. But some of these events are not so well covered, and Japan's decision to go to war with the United States is connected with the Japanese memories of the defeat at the village of Nomongan. And the same Tsuji who played a central role in the Nomongan Incident became a powerful proponent of southern expansion and war with the United States.
In June 1941, Germany attacked Russia and inflicted crushing defeats on the Red Army in the first months of the war. Many at that moment believed that the Soviet Union was on the verge of defeat. Germany demanded that Japan invade the Soviet Far East, avenge the defeat at the village of Nomongan, and seize as much Soviet territory as it could swallow. However, in July 1941, the United States and Britain imposed an oil embargo on Japan that threatened to leave the Japanese war machine on a starvation diet. In order to avoid such a situation, imperial fleet Japan intended to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. Holland itself had been occupied a year earlier. Britain also struggled to survive. Only the American Pacific Fleet blocked the way for the Japanese. However, many in the Japanese army wanted to attack the USSR, as Germany demanded. They expected to avenge Nomongan at the moment when the Red Army suffered heavy losses as a result of the German blitzkrieg. Leaders of the Japanese army and naval forces during a series of military conferences with the participation of the emperor discussed this issue.
In the summer of 1941, Colonel Tsuji was the senior officer of the headquarters for planning operations at the Imperial Headquarters. Tsuji was a charismatic man as well as a flamboyant speaker, and he was one of the army officers who supported the navy's position, which eventually led to Pearl Harbor. Headed the Bureau in 1941 military service Army Ministry Tanaka Ryukichi reported after the war that "the strongest supporter of the war with the United States was Tsuji Masanobu." Tsuji later wrote that the Soviet firepower in Nomongan forced him to abandon the attack on the Russians in 1941.
But what would have happened if there had been no Nomongan Incident? And what would have happened if it had ended differently, for example, if it hadn't revealed a winner or if it had ended with Japan's victory? In this case, Tokyo's decision to push south might look very different. Less impressed with the military capabilities of the Soviet armed forces and forced to choose between fighting against the Anglo-American forces and participating with Germany in the defeat of the USSR, the Japanese might have considered the northern direction the best choice.
If Japan had decided to move north in 1941, the course of the war and history itself might have been different. Many believe that the Soviet Union would not have survived a two-front war in 1941-1942. The victory in the battle near Moscow and a year later - near Stalingrad - were won with exceptionally great difficulty. A determined enemy in the east in the form of Japan at that moment could tip the scales in favor of Hitler. Moreover, if Japan had moved its troops against the Soviet Union, it would not have been able to attack the United States in the same year. The United States would have entered the war a year later, and would have done so under much less favorable circumstances than the grim reality of the winter of 1941. And how, then, could the domination of the Nazis in Europe be ended?
The shadow from Nomongan was very long.
Stuart Goldman is a Russia and researcher National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. This article is based on his book Nomonhan, 1939. The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II.
The question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was resolved at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 by a special agreement. It provided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allied Powers 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the July 26, 1945 demand from the United States, Great Britain and China to lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.
According to V. Davydov, on the evening of August 7, 1945 (two days before Moscow officially broke the neutrality pact with Japan), Soviet military aviation unexpectedly began bombing the roads of Manchuria.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order of the Supreme High Command, back in August 1945, preparations began for a military operation to land an amphibious assault in the port of Dalian (Far) and liberate Luishun (Port Arthur) together with units of the 6th Guards Tank Army from the Japanese invaders on the Liaodong Peninsula of Northern China. The 117th Air Regiment of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet was preparing for the operation, which was trained in Sukhodol Bay near Vladivostok.
On August 9, the troops of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, in cooperation with the Pacific Navy and the Amur River Flotilla, began military operations against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.
The 39th Combined Arms Army was part of the Transbaikal Front, commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. Commander of the 39th Army - Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, member of the Military Council, Major General Boyko V. R., Chief of Staff, Major General Siminovsky M. I.
The task of the 39th Army was to break through, strike from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge, Khalun-Arshan and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified regions. The 39th, 53rd combined-arms and 6th guards tank armies set out from the area of the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the MPR and advanced to state border Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of up to 250-300 km.
In order to better organize the transfer of troops to the areas of concentration and further to the areas of deployment, the headquarters of the Transbaikal Front sent special groups of officers to Irkutsk and to the Karymskaya station in advance. On the night of August 9, advanced battalions and reconnaissance detachments of three fronts in extremely unfavorable weather conditions- the summer monsoon, which brings frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory.
In accordance with the order, the main forces of the 39th Army crossed the border of Manchuria at 4:30 am on August 9. Reconnaissance groups and detachments began to operate much earlier - at 00:05. The 39th Army had at its disposal 262 tanks and 133 self-propelled artillery mounts. She was supported by the 6th bomber air corps of Major General I.P. Skok, based at the airfields of the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge. The army struck at the troops that were part of the 3rd Front of the Kwantung Army.
On August 9, the head patrol of the 262nd division went to railway Khalun-Arshan - Thessalonica. The Khalun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262nd division found out, was occupied by parts of the 107th Japanese Infantry Division.
By the end of the first day of the offensive, Soviet tankers made a throw of 120-150 km. The forward detachments of the 17th and 39th armies advanced 60-70 km.
On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic joined the statement of the USSR government and declared war on Japan.
Treaty of the USSR - China
On August 14, 1945, an agreement on friendship and alliance between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and the Far East were signed. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and the agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The contract was concluded for 30 years.
Under the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former CER and part of it - the South Manchurian Railway, running from the Manchuria station to the Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalny and Port Arthur, became the common property of the USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the CCRR was subject to free transfer to the full ownership of China.
The agreement on Port Arthur provided for the transformation of this port into a naval base, open to warships and merchant ships only from China and the USSR. The duration of the agreement was determined at 30 years. After this period, the naval base of Port Arthur was to be transferred to the ownership of China.
Dalniy was declared a free port, open to trade and navigation of all countries. The Chinese government agreed to allocate wharfs and warehouses in the port for leasing to the USSR. In the event of a war with Japan, the regime of the naval base of Port Arthur, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur, was to extend to Dalny. The term of the agreement was set at 30 years.
Then, on August 14, 1945, an agreement was signed on relations between the Soviet commander-in-chief and the Chinese administration after the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of the Northeastern provinces for joint military operations against Japan. After the arrival of Soviet troops in the territory of the Northeastern provinces of China, the supreme power and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was assigned to the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet armed forces. The Chinese government appointed a representative who was to establish an administration and lead it on the territory cleared of the enemy, assist in establishing 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 under General A. G. Kravchenko crossed the Greater Khingan.
The first of the rifle formations to reach the eastern slopes of the mountain range was the 17th Guards rifle division General A.P. Kvashnin.
During August 12-14, the Japanese launched many counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Wanemyao, Buhedu. However, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front inflicted strong blows on the counterattacking enemy and continued to move rapidly to the southeast.
On August 13, formations and units of the 39th Army captured the cities of Ulan-Khoto and Thessalonica. Then launched an offensive against Changchun.
On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which included 1019 tanks, broke through the Japanese defenses and entered the strategic space. The Kwantung Army had no choice but to retreat across the Yalu River to North Korea, where its resistance continued until August 20.
In the Hailar direction, where the 94th Rifle Corps was advancing, it was possible to encircle and eliminate a large grouping of enemy cavalry. About a thousand cavalrymen, including two generals, were taken prisoner. One of them, Lieutenant General Goulin, commander of the 10th military district, was taken to the headquarters of the 39th Army.
On August 13, 1945, US President Harry Truman gave the order to occupy the port of Dalniy before the Russians landed there. The Americans were going to do this on ships. The Soviet command decided to get ahead of the United States: while the Americans sailed to the Liaodong Peninsula, the Soviet troops would land their troops on seaplanes.
During the Khingan-Mukden front-line offensive operation, the troops of the 39th Army delivered a blow from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge against the troops of the 30th, 44th armies and the left flank of the 4th separate Japanese army. Having defeated the enemy troops, covering the approaches to the Great Khingan passes, the army captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified region. Developing the offensive on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km with battles and by August 14 it entered the central part of Manchuria.
Marshal Malinovsky set a new task for the 39th Army: to occupy the territory of southern Manchuria in the shortest possible time, acting with strong forward detachments in the direction of Mukden, Yingkou, Andong.
By August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Changchun.
On August 17, the First Far Eastern Front broke the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjian.
On August 17, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender. But he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order. In a number of sectors, they carried out strong counterattacks and regrouped, trying to occupy advantageous operational lines on the Jinzhou - Changchun - Jilin - Tumen line. In practice, hostilities continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th cavalry division of General T.V. Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 to the northeast of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.
By August 18, along the entire length of the Trans-Baikal Front, the Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Beiping-Changchun railway, and the strike force of the front's main grouping - the 6th Guards Tank Army - broke out on the approaches to Mukden and Changchun.
On August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal A. Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.
On August 19, Soviet troops took Mukden (airborne assault of the 6th guards that, 113 sk) and Changchun (airborne assault of the 6th guards that) - the largest cities of Manchuria. At the airfield in Mukden, the emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested.
By August 20, South Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea were occupied by Soviet troops.
Landing forces in Port Arthur and Dalniy
On August 22, 1945, 27 aircraft of the 117th Aviation Regiment took off and headed for the port of Dalniy. In total, 956 people participated in the landing. The landing force was commanded by General A. A. Yamanov. The route ran over the sea, then through the Korean Peninsula, along the coast of Northern China. Sea roughness during landing was about two points. Seaplanes landed one after another in the bay of the port of Dalniy. The paratroopers were transferred to inflatable boats, on which they sailed to the pier. After landing, the landing force acted according to the combat mission: they occupied a shipyard, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), and storage facilities. The Coast Guard was immediately withdrawn and replaced by its sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.
On the same day, August 22, at 3 p.m., planes with landing forces, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon part of the aircraft turned to the port of Dalniy. The landing in Port Arthur, consisting of 10 aircraft with 205 paratroopers, was commanded by the deputy commander of the Trans-Baikal Front, Colonel General V. D. Ivanov. As part of the landing was intelligence chief Boris Likhachev.
The planes landed on the airfield one by one. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several nearby parts of the garrison, capturing about 200 Japanese soldiers and officers. marines. Having captured several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed for the western part of the city, where another part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the vast majority of the garrison capitulated. The head of the naval garrison of the fortress, Vice Admiral Kobayashi, surrendered along with his headquarters.
Disarmament continued the next day. In total, 10 thousand soldiers and officers of the Japanese army and navy were taken prisoner.
Soviet soldiers released about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
On August 23, an airborne assault force of sailors, led by General E. N. Preobrazhensky, landed in Port Arthur.
August 23 in the presence Soviet soldiers and officers, the Japanese flag was lowered and the Soviet flag flew over the fortress under a triple salute.
On August 24, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army arrived in Port Arthur. On August 25, new reinforcements arrived - marines on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down in Dalniy, landing an additional 265 Marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here as part of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Far) and Lushun (Port Arthur). General V. D. Ivanov was appointed commandant of the Port Arthur fortress and head of the garrison.
When units of the 39th Army of the Red Army reached Port Arthur, two detachments of American troops on high-speed landing craft tried to land on the shore and take a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped their landing.
As it was calculated, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was completely occupied by the Soviet units. After standing for several days on the outer roadstead of the port of Dalniy, the Americans were forced to leave the area.
On August 23, 1945, Soviet troops entered Port Arthur. The commander of the 39th Army, Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, became the first Soviet commandant of Port Arthur.
The Americans did not fulfill their obligations to share the burden of the occupation of the island of Hokkaido with the Red Army, as agreed by the leaders of the three powers. But General Douglas MacArthur, who had great influence with President Harry Truman, strongly opposed this. And the Soviet troops never set foot on Japanese territory. True, the USSR, in turn, did not allow the Pentagon to place its military bases in the Kuriles.
On August 22, 1945, the advanced units of the 6th Guards Tank Army liberated the city of Jinzhou.
On August 24, 1945, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Akilov from the 61st Panzer Division of the 39th Army in the city of Dashicao captured the headquarters of the 17th Front of the Kwantung Army. In Mukden and Dalniy, large groups of American soldiers and officers were liberated from Japanese captivity by Soviet troops.
On September 8, 1945, a parade of Soviet troops took place in Harbin in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. The parade was commanded by Lieutenant-General K.P. Kazakov. The parade was hosted by the head of the Harbin garrison, Colonel-General A.P. Beloborodov.
To establish a peaceful life and the interaction of the Chinese authorities with the Soviet military administration in Manchuria, 92 Soviet commandant's offices were created. Major General A. I. Kovtun-Stankevich became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin became the commandant of Port Arthur.
In October 1945, the ships of the US 7th Fleet with the Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to enter the ships into the port. Commandant of the Far, Deputy. The commander of the 39th Army, Lieutenant General G.K. Kozlov, demanded that the squadron be withdrawn 20 miles from the coast in accordance with the sanctions of the mixed Soviet-Chinese commission. Settle continued to persist, and Kozlov had no choice but to remind the American admiral of the Soviet coastal defense: "She knows her task and will do it perfectly." Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to get out. Later, the American squadron, simulating an air raid on the city, also unsuccessfully tried to penetrate Port Arthur.
Withdrawal of Soviet troops from China
After the war, the commandant of Port Arthur and the commander of the grouping of Soviet troops in China on the Liaodong Peninsula (Kwantung) until 1947 was I. I. Lyudnikov.
September 1, 1945 by order of the commander of the BTiMV of the Transbaikal Front No. 41/0368 61st tank division was withdrawn from the troops of the 39th Army into front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she should be prepared to go under her own power to winter quarters in the city of Choibalsan. The 76th Orsha-Khinganskaya Red Banner Division of the NKVD escort troops was formed on the basis of the command and control of the 192nd Rifle Division to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.
In November 1945, the Soviet command submitted to the Kuomintang authorities a plan for the evacuation of troops by December 3 of that year. In accordance with this plan, Soviet units were withdrawn from Yingkou and Huludao and from the area south of Shenyang. In the late autumn of 1945, Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.
However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, which had begun, was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the organization of the civil administration in Manchuria was completed and the Chinese army was transferred there. On February 22 and 23, 1946, anti-Soviet demonstrations were held in Chongqing, Nanjing and Shanghai.
In March 1946, the Soviet leadership decided to immediately withdraw the Soviet Army from Manchuria.
On April 14, 1946, the Soviet troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, led by Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky, evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Immediately, preparations began for the evacuation of troops from Harbin. On April 19, 1946, a meeting of the city's public was held, dedicated to seeing off the units of the Red Army leaving Manchuria. On April 28, Soviet troops left Harbin.
In accordance with the 1945 treaty, the 39th Army remained on the Liaodong Peninsula, consisting of:
113 sc (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
5 Guards sk (17 Guards Rifle Division, 19 Guards Rifle Division, 91 Guards Rifle Division);
7 mech.d, 6 guards adp, 14 zenads, 139 apabr, 150 UR; as well as the 7th Novoukrainian-Khingan Corps transferred from the 6th Guards Tank Army, which was soon reorganized into the division of the same name.
7th Bomber Aviation Corps; in joint use Naval base Port Arthur. The place of their deployment was Port Arthur and the port of Dalniy, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guandong Peninsula, located on the southwestern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Small Soviet garrisons remained along the CER line.
In the summer of 1946, the 91st Guards. SD was reorganized into the 25th Guards. machine gun artillery division. 262, 338, 358 sd were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel transferred to the 25th guards. pulad.
Troops of the 39th Army in China
In April-May 1946, in the course of hostilities with the PLA, the Kuomintang troops came close to the Guandong Peninsula, practically to the Soviet naval base of Port Arthur. In this difficult situation, the command of the 39th Army was forced to take countermeasures. Colonel M. A. Voloshin with a group of officers left for the headquarters of the Kuomintang army advancing in the direction of Guangdong. The Kuomintang commander was told that the territory beyond the border marked on the map in the zone 8-10 km north of Guandang was under fire from our artillery. If the Kuomintang troops advance further, dangerous consequences may arise. The commander reluctantly promised not to cross the dividing line. This most managed to calm the local population and the Chinese administration.
In 1947-1953, the Soviet 39th Army on the Liaodong Peninsula was commanded by Colonel General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov (headquarters in Port Arthur). He was also the senior commander of the entire grouping of Soviet troops in China.
Chief of Staff - General Grigory Nikiforovich Perekrestov, who commanded the 65th Rifle Corps in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, a member of the Military Council - General I.P. Konnov, head of the political department - Colonel Nikita Stepanovich Demin, commander of artillery - General Yury Pavlovich Bazhanov and deputy for civil administration - Colonel V. A. Grekov.
In Port Arthur there was a naval base, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.
In 1948, on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from the Far East, an American military base. Every day, a reconnaissance aircraft appeared from there and flew around and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects, airfields at low altitude along the same route. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Foreign Ministry with a statement about the attack of Soviet fighters on a "light passenger aircraft that had gone off course", but reconnaissance flights over Liaodong were stopped.
In June 1948, a major joint exercise of all military branches was held in Port Arthur. The general leadership of the exercises was carried out by Malinovsky, S.A. Krasovsky, the commander of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District, arrived from Khabarovsk. The exercises took place in two main stages. On the first - a reflection of the amphibious assault of a mock enemy. On the second - an imitation of a massive bombing strike.
In January 1949, a Soviet government delegation headed by A.I. Mikoyan arrived in China. He inspected Soviet enterprises, military installations in Port Arthur, and also met with Mao Zedong.
At the end of 1949, a large delegation headed by the premier of the State Administrative Council of the PRC, Zhou Enlai, arrived in Port Arthur, who met with the commander of the 39th Army, Beloborodov. At the suggestion of the Chinese side, a general meeting of the Soviet and Chinese military was held. At a meeting attended by more than a thousand Soviet and Chinese military personnel, Zhou Enlai made a big speech. On behalf of the Chinese people, he presented the banner to the Soviet military. Words of gratitude to the Soviet people and their army were embroidered on it.
In December 1949 and February 1950, at the Sino-Soviet talks in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of Chinese navy"in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of the Soviet ships to China, prepare a plan for a landing operation on Taiwan in the Soviet General Staff and send a group of air defense forces to the PRC and required amount Soviet military advisers and specialists.
In 1949, the 7th BAK was reorganized into the 83rd mixed air corps.
In January 1950, Hero of the Soviet Union General Yu. B. Rykachev was appointed commander of the corps.
The further fate of the corps was as follows: in 1950, the 179th infantry regiment was reassigned to the aviation of the Pacific Fleet, but it was based in the same place. The 860th bap became the 1540th mtap. Then the shad was brought to the USSR. When the MiG-15 regiment was deployed in Sanshilipu, the mine-torpedo regiment was transferred to the Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on La-9 and mixed on Tu-2 and Il-10) moved to Shanghai in 1950 and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.
On February 14, 1950, the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance was signed. At that time, Soviet bomber aircraft were already based in Harbin.
On February 17, 1950, a task force of the Soviet military arrived in China, consisting of: Colonel General Batitsky P.F., Vysotsky B.A., Yakushin M.N., Spiridonov S.L., General Slyusarev (Transbaikal Military District). and a number of other specialists.
On February 20, Colonel General Batitsky P.F. with his deputies met with Mao Zedong, who had returned from Moscow the day before.
The Kuomintang regime, which has entrenched itself in Taiwan under the protection of the United States, is intensively equipping itself with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at major cities in the PRC. By 1950, a direct threat arose to the largest industrial and commercial center - the city of Shanghai.
Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the PRC government, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decides to create an air defense group and send it to the PRC to carry out an international combat mission of organizing air defense in Shanghai and conducting combat operations; - appoint Lieutenant General Batitsky P.F. as commander of the air defense group, General Slyusarev S.A. as deputy, Colonel Vysotsky B.A. as chief of staff, Colonel Baksheev P.A. as deputy for political affairs, Colonel Yakushin as commander of fighter aircraft M.N., head of logistics - Colonel Mironov M.V.
The air defense of Shanghai was carried out by the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel S. L. Spiridonov, the chief of staff, Colonel Antonov, as well as units of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlight, radio engineering and rear formed from the troops of the Moscow Military District.
The combat strength of the air defense group included:
three Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments of medium caliber, armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, POISO-3 and rangefinders.
anti-aircraft regiment of small caliber, armed with Soviet 37-mm guns.
fighter aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander lieutenant colonel Pashkevich).
the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft relocated by flight from the Dalniy airfield.
anti-aircraft searchlight regiment (ZPr) - commander Colonel Lysenko.
radio engineering battalion (RTB).
airfield maintenance battalions (ATO) relocated one from the Moscow region, the second from the Far.
During the period of deployment of troops, mainly wired communications were used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding radio stations of the group. The urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used to organize telephone communications in combat formations. Radio communication was deployed only partially. The control receivers, which worked to listen to the enemy, were mounted together with the anti-aircraft artillery radio units. The radio networks were preparing to act in the event of a wire communication failure. The signalmen provided an exit from the communication center of the command post of the group to international station Shanghai and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.
Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese planes appeared freely and with impunity in the airspace of East China. From April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.
During the period from April to October 1950, Shanghai's air defense was put on alert a total of about fifty times, when anti-aircraft artillery opened fire and fighters rose to intercept. In total, during this time, three bombers were destroyed and four bombers were shot down by Shanghai air defense systems. Two aircraft voluntarily flew to the side of the PRC. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another Kuomintang B-24 aircraft.
In September 1950, General P.F. Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead of him, his deputy, General S. V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, Moscow received an order to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese command of the Air Force and Air Defense. By mid-November 1953, the training program was completed.
With the outbreak of the war in Korea, by agreement between the governments of the USSR and the PRC, large Soviet aviation units were deployed in the Northeast of China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from attacks by American bombers. The Soviet Union took the necessary measures to build up its armed forces in the Far East, to further strengthen and develop the naval base of Port Arthur. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and in particular Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this the role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government turned to the Soviet leadership with a request to postpone the transfer of this base from joint control with the USSR to the full disposal of the PRC. The request was granted.
On October 4, 1950, 11 American aircraft shot down a Soviet A-20 Pacific Fleet reconnaissance aircraft, which was performing a scheduled flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American planes attacked the Soviet airfield in Primorye Dry River. 8 Soviet aircraft were damaged. These incidents exacerbated the already tense situation on the border with Korea, where additional units of the Air Force, Air Defense and ground forces USSR.
The entire grouping of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the warring North Korea, but also as a powerful potential "strike fist" against American troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the ground forces of the USSR with the families of officers on Liaodong amounted to more than 100,000 people. 4 armored trains ran in the Port Arthur area.
By the beginning of hostilities, the Soviet aviation group in China consisted of 83 mixed air corps (2 iad, 2 bad, 1 shad); 1 IAP of the Navy, 1 tap of the Navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense squadrons (2 IAP, 1 sbshap) arrived. From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.
In total, during the period of the war in Korea and the ensuing Kaesong negotiations, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.
The corps in different periods was commanded by major generals of aviation I. V. Belov, G. A. Lobov and lieutenant general of aviation S. V. Slyusarev.
The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel of the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps included 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.
According to Soviet data, from November 1950 to July 1953, Soviet fighters shot down 1,106 enemy aircraft in 1,872 air battles. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and 1259 enemy aircraft were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC various types. Losses of aircraft in air battles conducted by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. Soviet aviation divisions that participated in repelling US air raids lost 120 pilots. Losses of anti-aircraft artillery in personnel 68 people were killed and 165 wounded. The total losses of the contingent of Soviet troops in Korea amounted to 299 people, of which 138 officers, sergeants and soldiers - 161. As Major General of Aviation A. Kalugin recalled, “until the end of 1954, we were on combat duty, flew out to intercept when groups appeared American planes, which happened daily and several times a day.
In 1950, the chief military adviser and at the same time the military attache in China was Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A. V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel General Aviation S. A. Krasovsky.
The chief military adviser was subordinate to the senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - Major General of Artillery M. A. Nikolsky, in armored forces - Major General of Tank Forces G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - Major General of Artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in air force- Major General of Aviation S. D. Prutkov, and in 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 in the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, more than 3,000 Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. The first US ship to hit a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Brahm. The second to hit a contact mine was the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Megpay". In addition to them, they were blown up by mines and sank patrol ship and 7 minesweepers.
The participation of the Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And yet, throughout the war, Soviet troops were stationed in North Korea, a total of about 40,000 servicemen. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and servicemen of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (IAK). Total There were 4,293 specialists (including 4,020 military personnel and 273 civilian employees), most of whom were in the country until the start of the Korean War. The advisers were attached to the commanders of the armed forces and the chiefs of services of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and separate infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, separate combat and training parts, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.
Veniamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese doodles". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families didn’t even know about it.”
The researcher of the combat operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China, I. A. Seidov, notes: “In the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers.”
V. Smirnov testifies: "An old resident of Dalian, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and Soviet soldiers gave him the name Zhora), said that Soviet pilots, tankers, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in the cemetery in Port Arthur.
The work of Soviet military advisers was highly appreciated by the government of the DPRK. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for selfless work "to assist the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selflessly devoting their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples." Due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was “officially” prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that from September to December 1951, the 52nd Zenad conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.
On May 15, 1954, the US government published documents that set the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the given data, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were in the North Korean army. Two months before the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 men.
American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B. S. Abakumov, controlled the operation of Soviet air units. Every month, North Korea and China were bombarded with big number saboteurs with various tasks, including the capture of one of the Russians to prove their presence in the country. The American scouts were equipped with first-class technology for transmitting information and could mask radio equipment under the water of the rice fields. Thanks to the high-quality and efficient work of the agents, the enemy side was often informed even about the departures of Soviet aircraft, up to the designation of their tail numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army Samochelyaev F.E., commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took to the air, the enemy radio station immediately began to work. It was extremely difficult to catch the gunner. They knew the area well and skillfully disguised themselves.
American and Kuomintang intelligence agencies were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the "Research Bureau for Far Eastern Issues" was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek gave a secret order to create special units in Southeast China to carry out terrorist acts against Soviet specialists. In particular, it said: "... to widely deploy terrorist actions against Soviet military and technical specialists and important military and political communist workers in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents from Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet soldiers on Chinese women. These scenes were photographed and presented in the press as acts of violence against local residents. One of the sabotage groups was uncovered in the aviation training center for preparing for flights on jet technology in the territory of the PRC.
According to veterans of the 39th Army, "saboteurs from the nationalist gangs of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang attacked Soviet servicemen while on guard duty at distant sites." Constant direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation required constant high combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was continuously conducted. Conducted joint exercises with units of the PLA.
Since July 1951, new divisions began to be created in the North China District and old divisions were reorganized, including the Korean divisions withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions for the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a self-propelled tank regiment. With their active help, combat training of all units and subunits began, was carried out and ended. The advisers to the commanders of these infantry divisions in the North China Military District (in 1950-1953) were: Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Pomazkov; Colonel N. P. Katkov, V. T. Yaglenko. N. S. Loboda. Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Nikiforov, Colonel I. D. Ivlev and others were advisers to the commanders of the tank-self-propelled regiments.
On January 27, 1952, President Truman wrote to personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution now would be a ten-day ultimatum informing Moscow that we intend to block 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 to achieve our peaceful goals... It means 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 military personnel 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-29s were bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies infected with various diseases. The whole earth was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze curtains. We were constantly given prophylactic injections, but many still fell ill. And some of our people died in the bombings.”
On the afternoon of August 5, 1952, Kim Il Sung's command post was raided. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans made the largest raid on the complex of hydraulic structures on the Yalu River, in which more than five hundred bombers participated. As a result, almost all of North Korea and parts of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities denied this act, carried out under the flag of the United Nations, by protesting.
On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of an employee of the embassy V. A. Tarasov, the first bombs were dropped at two in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs of two hundred kilograms each were dropped.
On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Treaty (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), the Soviet Il-12 military aircraft, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur heading for Vladivostok. Flying over the spurs of the Great Khingan, he was suddenly attacked by 4 American fighters, as a result of which an unarmed Il-12 with 21 people on board, including crew members, was shot down.
In October 1953, Lieutenant General V.I. Shevtsov was appointed commander of the 39th Army. He commanded the army until May 1955.
Soviet units that participated in the hostilities in Korea and China
The following Soviet units are known to have taken part in hostilities on the territory of Korea and China: the 64th IAK, the GVS Inspection Department, the Special Communications Department under the GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok - Port Arthur route; Heijin reconnaissance point, the HF station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, the broadcasting point in Ranan and the communications company that served the communication lines with the USSR embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communication with the General Staff Soviet army. Until January 1951, there was also a separate communications company in North Korea. 06/13/1951 the 10th anti-aircraft searchlight regiment arrived in the combat area. He was in Korea (Andun) until the end of November 1952 and was relieved by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals ran on the railway and the 3rd railway operational regiment operated. combat work were conducted by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, Soviet medical institutions.
As well as parts and connections 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", 27 - Laboratory of Aviation Medicine.
Locations
In Port Arthur, the headquarters of the 113th Rifle Division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (338th Rifle Division - in the Port Arthur, Dalniy sector, 358th Rifle Division from Dalniy to the northern border of the zone, 262nd Rifle Division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 th artillery corps, 150 UR, 139 April, communications regiment, artillery regiment, 48th Guards. SME, air defense regiment, iap, anti-terrorist operation battalion. The editorial office of the newspaper of the 39th Army "Son of the Motherland". After the war, it became known as "For the Glory of the Motherland!", Editor - Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Krasovsky. Base of the USSR Navy. Hospital 29 BCP.
In the area of the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards were stationed. sk Lieutenant General L. N. Alekseev, 19, 91 and 17th Guards. rifle division under the command of Major General Yevgeny Leonidovich Korkuts. Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Strashnenko. The division included the 21st separate communications battalion, on the basis of which Chinese volunteers were trained. 26th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, 46th Regiment guards mortars, parts of the 6th breakthrough artillery division, mine and torpedo air regiment of the Pacific Fleet.
In Far - the 33rd cannon division, the headquarters of the 7th BAC, aviation units, the 14th zenad, the 119th rifle regiment guarded the port. Parts of the Soviet Navy. In the 50s, Soviet specialists built a modern hospital for the PLA in a convenient coastal zone. This hospital still exists today.
In Sanshilipu - air units.
In the area of the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou - the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division, aviation units (at the Jianwan and Dachang airfields), VNOS posts (at the points of Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Congjiaolu).
In the area of the city of Andun - the 19th Guards. rifle division, air units, 10th, 20th anti-aircraft searchlight regiments.
In the area of the city of Yingchenzi - the 7th fur. division of Lieutenant General F. G. Katkov, part of the 6th breakthrough artillery division.
In the area of the city of Nanchan - air units.
In the area of the city of Harbin - air units.
In the Beijing area - the 300th air regiment.
Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air force bases.
In the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Qiqihar - air units.
In the area of the city of Myagou - air units.
Losses and losses
The Soviet-Japanese war of 1945. The dead - 12,031 people, sanitary - 24,425 people.
During the period of fulfillment by Soviet military specialists of international duty in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died, died from wounds and diseases. Of these, officers - 155, sergeants - 216, soldiers - 521 and 44 people. - from among civilian specialists. The graves of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.
War in Korea (1950-1953). The total irretrievable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which 168 officers, 147 sergeants and soldiers.
The figures for Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly from different sources. Thus, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens were buried in the cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 (the cities of Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992 - 723 people. In total, for the period from 1945 to 1956 on the Liaodong Peninsula, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizen(of which 104 are unknown), and according to the Chinese passportization in 1992 - 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for Soviet losses, complete data on this is still not available. From many literary sources, including memoirs, it is known that Soviet advisers, anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, medical workers, diplomats, and other specialists who provided assistance to North Korea died during the Korean War.
There are 58 burial sites of Soviet and Russian soldiers in China. More than 18 thousand died during the liberation of China from the Japanese invaders and after WWII.
The ashes of more than 14,500 Soviet soldiers rest on the territory of the PRC; at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.
Regarding accounting for the loss of Soviet civilians in China detailed information missing. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. The children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948 are buried here, mostly one or two years old.
The question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was resolved at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 by a special agreement. It provided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allied Powers 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the July 26, 1945 demand from the United States, Great Britain and China to lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.
According to V. Davydov, on the evening of August 7, 1945 (two days before Moscow officially broke the neutrality pact with Japan), Soviet military aviation unexpectedly began bombing the roads of Manchuria.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. By order of the Supreme High Command, back in August 1945, preparations began for a military operation to land an amphibious assault in the port of Dalian (Far) and liberate Luishun (Port Arthur) together with units of the 6th Guards Tank Army from the Japanese invaders on the Liaodong Peninsula of Northern China. The 117th Air Regiment of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet was preparing for the operation, which was trained in Sukhodol Bay near Vladivostok.
On August 9, the troops of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, in cooperation with the Pacific Navy and the Amur River Flotilla, began military operations against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.
The 39th Combined Arms Army was part of the Transbaikal Front, commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. Commander of the 39th Army - Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, member of the Military Council, Major General Boyko V. R., Chief of Staff, Major General Siminovsky M. I.
The task of the 39th Army was to break through, strike from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge, Khalun-Arshan and, together with the 34th Army, the Hailar fortified regions. The 39th, 53rd combined-arms and 6th guards tank armies set out from the area of the city of Choibalsan on the territory of the MPR and advanced to the state border of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo at a distance of up to 250-300 km.
In order to better organize the transfer of troops to the areas of concentration and further to the areas of deployment, the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Front sent special groups of officers to Irkutsk and to the Karymskaya station in advance. On the night of August 9, advanced battalions and reconnaissance detachments of three fronts, in extremely unfavorable weather conditions - the summer monsoon, which brings frequent and heavy rains - moved into enemy territory.
In accordance with the order, the main forces of the 39th Army crossed the border of Manchuria at 4:30 am on August 9. Reconnaissance groups and detachments began to operate much earlier - at 0005 hours. The 39th Army had at its disposal 262 tanks and 133 self-propelled artillery mounts. She was supported by the 6th bomber air corps of Major General I.P. Skok, based at the airfields of the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge. The army struck at the troops that were part of the 3rd Front of the Kwantung Army.
On August 9, the head patrol of the 262nd division went to the Khalun-Arshan - Solun railway. The Khalun-Arshan fortified area, as reconnaissance of the 262nd division found out, was occupied by parts of the 107th Japanese Infantry Division.
By the end of the first day of the offensive, Soviet tankmen made a 120-150 km throw. The forward detachments of the 17th and 39th armies advanced 60-70 km.
On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic joined the statement of the USSR government and declared war on Japan.
Treaty of the USSR - China
On August 14, 1945, an agreement on friendship and alliance between the USSR and China, agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railway, on Port Arthur and the Far East were signed. On August 24, 1945, the treaty of friendship and alliance and the agreements were ratified by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The contract was concluded for 30 years.
Under the agreement on the Chinese Changchun Railway, the former CER and its part, the South Manchurian Railway, running from the Manchuria station to the Suifenhe station and from Harbin to Dalny and Port Arthur, became the common property of the USSR and China. The agreement was concluded for 30 years. After this period, the CCRR was subject to free transfer to the full ownership of China.
The agreement on Port Arthur provided for the transformation of this port into a naval base, open to warships and merchant ships only from China and the USSR. The duration of the agreement was determined at 30 years. After this period, the naval base of Port Arthur was to be transferred to the ownership of China.
Dalniy was declared a free port, open to trade and navigation of all countries. The Chinese government agreed to allocate wharfs and warehouses in the port for leasing to the USSR. In the event of a war with Japan, the regime of the naval base of Port Arthur, determined by the agreement on Port Arthur, was to extend to Dalny. The term of the agreement was set at 30 years.
Then, on August 14, 1945, an agreement was signed on relations between the Soviet commander-in-chief and the Chinese administration after the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of the Northeastern provinces for joint military operations against Japan. After the arrival of Soviet troops in the territory of the Northeastern provinces of China, the supreme authority and responsibility in the zone of military operations in all military matters was assigned to the commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces. The Chinese government appointed a representative who was to establish an administration and lead it on the territory cleared of the enemy, assist in establishing 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 under General A. G. Kravchenko crossed the Greater Khingan.
The first of the rifle formations to reach the eastern slopes of the mountain range was the 17th Guards Rifle Division of General A.P. Kvashnin.
During August 12–14, the Japanese launched numerous counterattacks in the areas of Linxi, Solun, Wanemyao, 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 Thessalonica. Then launched an offensive against Changchun.
On August 13, the 6th Guards Tank Army, which included 1019 tanks, broke through the Japanese defenses and entered the strategic space. The Kwantung Army had no choice but to retreat across the Yalu River to North Korea, where its resistance continued until August 20.
In the Hailar direction, where the 94th Rifle Corps was advancing, it was possible to encircle and eliminate a large grouping of enemy cavalry. About a thousand cavalrymen, including two generals, were taken prisoner. One of them, Lieutenant General Goulin, commander of the 10th military district, was taken to the headquarters of the 39th army.
On August 13, 1945, US President Harry Truman gave the order to occupy the port of Dalniy before the Russians landed there. The Americans were going to do this on ships. The Soviet command decided to get ahead of the United States: while the Americans sailed to the Liaodong Peninsula, the Soviet troops would land their troops on seaplanes.
During the Khingan-Mukden front-line offensive operation, the troops of the 39th Army delivered a blow from the Tamtsag-Bulag ledge against the troops of the 30th, 44th armies and the left flank of the 4th separate Japanese army. Having defeated the enemy troops, covering the approaches to the Great Khingan passes, the army captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified region. Developing the offensive on Changchun, it advanced 350-400 km with battles and by August 14 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, Andong.
By August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Changchun.
On August 17, the First Far Eastern Front broke the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjian.
On August 17, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender. But he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order. In a number of sectors, they carried out strong counterattacks and regrouped, trying to occupy advantageous operational lines on the Jinzhou-Changchun-Girin-Tumyn line. In practice, hostilities continued until September 2, 1945. And the 84th Cavalry Division of General T.V. Dedeoglu, which was surrounded on August 15-18 to the north-east of the city of Nenani, fought until September 7-8.
By August 18, along the entire length of the Trans-Baikal Front, the Soviet-Mongolian troops reached the Beiping-Changchun railway, and the strike force of the front's main grouping, the 6th Guards Tank Army, broke out on the approaches to Mukden and Changchun.
On August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal A. Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.
On August 19, Soviet troops took Mukden (airborne assault of the 6th guards ta, 113 sk) and Changchun (airborne assault of the 6th guards ta), the largest cities in Manchuria. At the airfield in Mukden, the emperor of the state of Manchukuo, Pu Yi, was arrested.
By August 20, South Sakhalin, Manchuria, the Kuril Islands and part of Korea were occupied by Soviet troops.
Landing forces in Port Arthur and Dalniy
On August 22, 1945, 27 aircraft of the 117th Aviation Regiment took off and headed for the port of Dalniy. In total, 956 people participated in the landing. The landing force was commanded by General A. A. Yamanov. The route ran over the sea, then through the Korean Peninsula, along the coast of Northern China. Sea roughness during landing was about two points. Seaplanes landed one after another in the bay of the port of Dalniy. The paratroopers were transferred to inflatable boats, on which they sailed to the pier. After landing, the landing force acted according to the combat mission: they occupied a shipyard, a dry dock (a structure where ships are repaired), and storage facilities. The Coast Guard was immediately withdrawn and replaced by its sentries. At the same time, the Soviet command accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrison.
On the same day, August 22, at 3 p.m., planes with landing forces, covered by fighters, took off from Mukden. Soon part of the aircraft turned to the port of Dalniy. The landing in Port Arthur, consisting of 10 aircraft with 205 paratroopers, was commanded by the deputy commander of the Trans-Baikal Front, Colonel General V. D. Ivanov. As part of the landing was intelligence chief Boris Likhachev.
The planes landed on the airfield one by one. Ivanov gave the order to immediately occupy all exits and capture the heights. The paratroopers immediately disarmed several nearby parts of the garrison, capturing about 200 Japanese soldiers and officers of the Marine Corps. Having captured several trucks and cars, the paratroopers headed for the western part of the city, where another part of the Japanese garrison was grouped. By evening, the vast majority of the garrison capitulated. The head of the naval garrison of the fortress, Vice Admiral Kobayashi, surrendered along with his headquarters.
Disarmament continued the next day. In total, 10 thousand soldiers and officers of the Japanese army and navy were taken prisoner.
Soviet soldiers released about a hundred prisoners: Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
On August 23, an airborne assault force of sailors, led by General E. N. Preobrazhensky, landed in Port Arthur.
On August 23, in the presence of Soviet soldiers and officers, the Japanese flag was lowered and the Soviet flag was raised over the fortress under a triple salute.
On August 24, units of the 6th Guards Tank Army arrived in Port Arthur. On August 25, new reinforcements arrived - marines on 6 flying boats of the Pacific Fleet. 12 boats splashed down at Dalniy, landing an additional 265 Marines. Soon, units of the 39th Army arrived here as part of two rifle and one mechanized corps with units attached to it and liberated the entire Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Dalian (Far) and Luishun (Port Arthur). General V. D. Ivanov was appointed commandant of the Port Arthur fortress and head of the garrison.
When units of the 39th Army of the Red Army reached Port Arthur, two detachments of American troops on high-speed landing craft tried to land on the shore and take a strategically advantageous line. Soviet soldiers opened automatic fire into the air, and the Americans stopped their landing.
As it was calculated, by the time the American ships approached the port, it was completely occupied by the Soviet units. After standing for several days on the outer roadstead of the port of Dalniy, the Americans were forced to leave the area.
On August 23, 1945, Soviet troops entered Port Arthur. The commander of the 39th Army, Colonel General I. I. Lyudnikov, became the first Soviet commandant of Port Arthur.
The Americans did not fulfill their obligations to share the burden of the occupation of the island of Hokkaido with the Red Army, as agreed by the leaders of the three powers. But General Douglas MacArthur, who had great influence with President Harry Truman, strongly opposed this. And the Soviet troops never set foot on Japanese territory. True, the USSR, in turn, did not allow the Pentagon to place its military bases in the Kuriles.
On August 22, 1945, the advanced units of the 6th Guards Tank Army liberated the city of Jinzhou
On August 24, 1945, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Akilov from the 61st Panzer Division of the 39th Army in the city of Dashicao captured the headquarters of the 17th Front of the Kwantung Army. In Mukden and Dalniy, large groups of American soldiers and officers were liberated from Japanese captivity by Soviet troops.
On September 8, 1945, a parade of Soviet troops took place in Harbin in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. The parade was commanded by Lieutenant-General K.P. Kazakov. The parade was hosted by the head of the Harbin garrison, Colonel-General A.P. Beloborodov.
To establish a peaceful life and the interaction of the Chinese authorities with the Soviet military administration in Manchuria, 92 Soviet commandant's offices were created. Major General A. I. Kovtun-Stankevich became the commandant of Mukden, Colonel Voloshin of Port Arthur.
In October 1945, the ships of the US 7th Fleet with the Kuomintang landing approached the port of Dalniy. The squadron commander, Vice Admiral Settle, intended to enter the ships into the port. Commandant of the Far, Deputy. The commander of the 39th Army, Lieutenant General G.K. Kozlov, demanded that the squadron be withdrawn 20 miles from the coast in accordance with the sanctions of the mixed Soviet-Chinese commission. Settle continued to persist, and Kozlov had no choice but to remind the American admiral of the Soviet coastal defense: "She knows her task and will do it perfectly." Having received a convincing warning, the American squadron was forced to get out. Later, the American squadron, simulating an air raid on the city, also unsuccessfully tried to penetrate Port Arthur.
After the war, the commandant of Port Arthur and the commander of the grouping of Soviet troops in China on the Liaodong Peninsula (Kwantung) until 1947 was I. I. Lyudnikov.
On September 1, 1945, by order of the commander of the BTiMV of the Transbaikal Front No. 41/0368, the 61st Panzer Division was withdrawn from the troops of the 39th Army into front-line subordination. By September 9, 1945, she should be prepared to go under her own power to winter quarters in the city of Choibalsan. The 76th Orsha-Khinganskaya Red Banner Division of the NKVD escort troops was formed on the basis of the command and control of the 192nd Rifle Division to guard Japanese prisoners of war, which was then withdrawn to the city of Chita.
In November 1945, the Soviet command submitted to the Kuomintang authorities a plan for the evacuation of troops by December 3 of that year. In accordance with this plan, Soviet units were withdrawn from Yingkou and Huludao and from the area south of Shenyang. In the late autumn of 1945, Soviet troops left the city of Harbin.
However, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, which had begun, was suspended at the request of the Kuomintang government until the organization of the civil administration in Manchuria was completed and the Chinese army was transferred there. On February 22 and 23, 1946, anti-Soviet demonstrations were held in Chongqing, Nanjing and Shanghai.
In March 1946, the Soviet leadership decided to immediately withdraw the Soviet Army from Manchuria.
On April 14, 1946, the Soviet troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, led by Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky, evacuated from Changchun to Harbin. Immediately, preparations began for the evacuation of troops from Harbin. On April 19, 1946, a meeting of the city's public was held, dedicated to seeing off the units of the Red Army leaving Manchuria. On April 28, Soviet troops left Harbin.
On May 3, 1946, the last Soviet soldier left the territory of Manchuria [source not specified 458 days].
In accordance with the 1945 treaty, the 39th Army remained on the Liaodong Peninsula, consisting of:
- 113 sc (262 sd, 338 sd, 358 sd);
- 5 Guards sk (17 Guards Rifle Division, 19 Guards Rifle Division, 91 Guards Rifle Division);
- 7 mech.d, 6 guards adp, 14 zenads, 139 apabr, 150 UR; as well as the 7th Novoukrainian-Khingan Corps transferred from the 6th Guards Tank Army, which was soon reorganized into the division of the same name.
7th Bomber Aviation Corps; in joint use Naval base Port Arthur. The place of their deployment was Port Arthur and the port of Dalniy, that is, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Guandong Peninsula, located on the southwestern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Small Soviet garrisons remained along the CER line.
In the summer of 1946, the 91st Guards. SD was reorganized into the 25th Guards. machine gun artillery division. 262, 338, 358 sd were disbanded at the end of 1946 and the personnel transferred to the 25th guards. pulad.
Troops of the 39th Army in China
In April-May 1946, in the course of hostilities with the PLA, the Kuomintang troops came close to the Guandong Peninsula, practically to the Soviet naval base of Port Arthur. In this difficult situation, the command of the 39th Army was forced to take countermeasures. Colonel M. A. Voloshin with a group of officers left for the headquarters of the Kuomintang army advancing in the direction of Guangdong. The Kuomintang commander was told that the territory beyond the border marked on the map in the zone 8-10 km north of Guandang was under fire from our artillery. If the Kuomintang troops advance further, dangerous consequences may arise. The commander reluctantly promised not to cross the dividing line. This most managed to calm the local population and the Chinese administration.
In 1947-1953, the Soviet 39th Army on the Liaodong Peninsula was commanded by Colonel General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov (headquarters in Port Arthur). He was also the senior commander of the entire grouping of Soviet troops in China.
Chief of Staff - General Grigory Nikiforovich Perekrestov, who commanded the 65th Rifle Corps in the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, member of the Military Council - General I.P. Konnov, head of the political department - Colonel Nikita Stepanovich Demin, commander of artillery - General Yury Pavlovich Bazhanov and deputy for civil administration - Colonel V. A. Grekov.
In Port Arthur there was a naval base, the commander of which was Vice Admiral Vasily Andreevich Tsipanovich.
In 1948, an American military base operated on the Shandong Peninsula, 200 kilometers from the Far East. Every day, a reconnaissance aircraft appeared from there and flew around and photographed Soviet and Chinese objects, airfields at low altitude along the same route. Soviet pilots stopped these flights. The Americans sent a note to the USSR Foreign Ministry with a statement about the attack of Soviet fighters on a "light passenger aircraft that had gone off course", but reconnaissance flights over Liaodong were stopped.
In June 1948, a major joint exercise of all military branches was held in Port Arthur. General management of the exercises was carried out by Malinovsky, S.A. Krasovsky, commander of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District, arrived from Khabarovsk. The exercises took place in two main stages. On the first - a reflection of the amphibious assault of a mock enemy. On the second - an imitation of a massive bombing strike.
In January 1949, a Soviet government delegation headed by A.I. Mikoyan arrived in China. He inspected Soviet enterprises, military installations in Port Arthur, and also met with Mao Zedong.
At the end of 1949, a large delegation headed by the premier of the State Administrative Council of the PRC, Zhou Enlai, arrived in Port Arthur, who met with the commander of the 39th Army, Beloborodov. At the suggestion of the Chinese side, a general meeting of the Soviet and Chinese military was held. At a meeting attended by more than a thousand Soviet and Chinese military personnel, Zhou Enlai made a big speech. On behalf of the Chinese people, he presented the banner to the Soviet military. Words of gratitude to the Soviet people and their army were embroidered on it.
In December 1949 and February 1950, at the Soviet-Chinese talks in Moscow, an agreement was reached to train "cadres of the Chinese navy" in Port Arthur with the subsequent transfer of part of the Soviet ships to China, prepare a plan for a landing operation on Taiwan in the Soviet General Staff and send to PRC grouping of air defense forces and the required number of Soviet military advisers and specialists.
In 1949, the 7th BAK was reorganized into the 83rd mixed air corps.
In January 1950, Hero of the Soviet Union General Yu. B. Rykachev was appointed commander of the corps.
The further fate of the corps was as follows: in 1950, the 179th infantry regiment was reassigned to the aviation of the Pacific Fleet, but it was based in the same place. The 860th bap became the 1540th mtap. Then the shad was brought to the USSR. When the MiG-15 regiment was deployed in Sanshilipu, the mine-torpedo regiment was transferred to the Jinzhou airfield. Two regiments (fighter on La-9 and mixed on Tu-2 and Il-10) moved to Shanghai in 1950 and provided air cover for its facilities for several months.
On February 14, 1950, the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance was signed. At that time, Soviet bomber aircraft were already based in Harbin.
On February 17, 1950, a task force of the Soviet military arrived in China, consisting of: Colonel General Batitsky P.F., Vysotsky B.A., Yakushin M.N., Spiridonov S.L., General Slyusarev (Transbaikal Military District). and a number of other specialists.
On February 20, Colonel General Batitsky P.F. with his deputies met with Mao Zedong, who had returned from Moscow the day before.
The Kuomintang regime, which has entrenched itself in Taiwan under the protection of the United States, is intensively equipping itself with American military equipment and weapons. In Taiwan, under the leadership of American specialists, aviation units are being created to strike at major cities in the PRC. By 1950, a direct threat arose to the largest industrial and commercial center - the city of Shanghai.
Chinese air defense was extremely weak. At the same time, at the request of the PRC government, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decides to create an air defense group and send it to the PRC to carry out an international combat mission of organizing air defense in Shanghai and conducting combat operations; - appoint Lieutenant General Batitsky P.F. as commander of the air defense group, General Slyusarev S.A. as deputy, Colonel Vysotsky B.A. as chief of staff, Colonel Baksheev P.A. as deputy for political affairs, Colonel Yakushin as commander of fighter aircraft M.N., head of logistics - Colonel Mironov M.V.
The air defense of Shanghai was carried out by the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division under the command of Colonel S. L. Spiridonov, the chief of staff, Colonel Antonov, as well as units of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft searchlight, radio engineering and rear formed from the troops of the Moscow Military District.
The combat strength of the air defense group included: [source not specified 445 days]
- three Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments of medium caliber, armed with Soviet 85-mm cannons, POISO-3 and rangefinders.
- anti-aircraft regiment of small caliber, armed with Soviet 37-mm guns.
- fighter aviation regiment MIG-15 (commander lieutenant colonel Pashkevich).
- the fighter aviation regiment on LAG-9 aircraft relocated by flight from the Dalniy airfield.
- anti-aircraft searchlight regiment (ZPr) - commander Colonel Lysenko.
- radio engineering battalion (RTB).
- airfield maintenance battalions (ATO) relocated one from the Moscow region, the second from the Far.
During the period of deployment of troops, mainly wired communications were used, which minimized the enemy's ability to listen to the work of radio equipment and take direction finding radio stations of the group. The urban cable telephone networks of Chinese communication centers were used to organize telephone communications in combat formations. Radio communication was deployed only partially. The control receivers, which worked to listen to the enemy, were mounted together with the anti-aircraft artillery radio units. The radio networks were preparing to act in the event of a wire communication failure. Signalers provided access from the group's communications center to the international station of Shanghai and to the nearest regional Chinese telephone exchange.
Until the end of March 1950, American-Taiwanese planes appeared freely and with impunity in the airspace of East China. From April, they began to act more cautiously, the presence of Soviet fighters, which conducted training flights from Shanghai airfields, affected.
During the period from April to October 1950, Shanghai's air defense was put on alert a total of about fifty times, when anti-aircraft artillery opened fire and fighters rose to intercept. In total, during this time, three bombers were destroyed and four bombers were shot down by Shanghai air defense systems. Two aircraft voluntarily flew to the side of the PRC. In six air battles, Soviet pilots shot down six enemy aircraft without losing a single one of their own. In addition, four Chinese anti-aircraft artillery regiments shot down another Kuomintang B-24 aircraft.
In September 1950, General P.F. Batitsky was recalled to Moscow. Instead of him, his deputy, General S. V. Slyusarev, took over as commander of the air defense group. Under him, in early October, Moscow received an order to retrain the Chinese military and transfer military equipment and the entire air defense system to the Chinese command of the Air Force and Air Defense. By mid-November 1953, the training program was completed.
With the outbreak of the war in Korea, by agreement between the governments of the USSR and the PRC, large Soviet aviation units were deployed in the Northeast of China, protecting the industrial centers of this region from attacks by American bombers. The Soviet Union took the necessary measures to build up its armed forces in the Far East, to further strengthen and develop the naval base of Port Arthur. It was an important link in the defense system of the eastern borders of the USSR, and in particular Northeast China. Later, in September 1952, confirming this role of Port Arthur, the Chinese government turned to the Soviet leadership with a request to postpone the transfer of this base from joint control with the USSR to the full disposal of the PRC. The request was granted.
On October 4, 1950, 11 American aircraft shot down a Soviet A-20 Pacific Fleet reconnaissance aircraft, which was performing a scheduled flight in the Port Arthur area. Three crew members were killed. On October 8, two American planes attacked the Soviet airfield in Primorye Dry River. 8 Soviet aircraft were damaged. These incidents exacerbated the already tense situation on the border with Korea, where additional units of the Air Force, Air Defense and Ground Forces of the USSR were deployed.
The entire grouping of Soviet troops was subordinate to Marshal Malinovsky and not only served as a rear base for the warring North Korea, but also as a powerful potential "strike fist" against American troops in the Far East region. The personnel of the ground forces of the USSR with the families of officers on Liaodong amounted to more than 100,000 people. 4 armored trains ran in the Port Arthur area.
By the beginning of hostilities, the Soviet aviation group in China consisted of 83 mixed air corps (2 iad, 2 bad, 1 shad); 1 IAP of the Navy, 1 tap of the Navy; in March 1950, 106 air defense squadrons (2 IAP, 1 sbshap) arrived. From these and newly arrived units, the 64th Special Fighter Air Corps was formed in early November 1950.
In total, during the period of the war in Korea and the ensuing Kaesong negotiations, twelve fighter divisions were replaced in the corps (28th, 151st, 303rd, 324th, 97th, 190th, 32nd, 216th , 133rd, 37th, 100th), two separate night fighter regiments (351st and 258th), two fighter regiments from the Navy Air Force (578th and 781st), four anti-aircraft artillery divisions (87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th), two aviation technical divisions (18th and 16th) and other support units.
The corps in different periods was commanded by major generals of aviation I. V. Belov, G. A. Lobov and lieutenant general of aviation S. V. Slyusarev.
The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in hostilities from November 1950 to July 1953. The total number of personnel of the corps was approximately 26 thousand people. and remained so until the end of the war. As of November 1, 1952, the corps included 440 pilots and 320 aircraft. The 64th IAC was originally armed with MiG-15, Yak-11 and La-9 aircraft, later they were replaced by MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and La-11.
According to Soviet data, from November 1950 to July 1953, Soviet fighters shot down 1,106 enemy aircraft in 1,872 air battles. From June 1951 to July 27, 1953, 153 aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery fire of the corps, and in total, 1259 enemy aircraft of various types were shot down by the forces of the 64th IAC. Losses of aircraft in air battles conducted by the pilots of the contingent of Soviet troops amounted to 335 MiG-15s. Soviet aviation divisions that participated in repelling US air raids lost 120 pilots. The loss of anti-aircraft artillery in personnel amounted to 68 people killed and 165 wounded. The total losses of the contingent of Soviet troops in Korea amounted to 299 people, of which 138 officers, sergeants and soldiers 161. American planes, which happened daily and several times a day.
In 1950, the chief military adviser and at the same time the military attache in China was Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Kotov-Legonkov, then Lieutenant General A. V. Petrushevsky and Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel General Aviation S. A. Krasovsky.
The chief military adviser was subordinate to the senior advisers of various branches of the armed forces, military districts and academies. Such advisers were: in artillery - Major General of Artillery M. A. Nikolsky, in armored forces - Major General of Tank Forces G. E. Cherkassky, in air defense - Major General of Artillery V. M. Dobryansky, in the air force 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 in the DPRK - Admiral Kapanadze). With the help of Soviet specialists, more than 3,000 Soviet-made mines were delivered in coastal waters. The first US ship to hit a mine on September 26, 1950 was the destroyer Brahm. The second to hit a contact mine was the destroyer Manchfield. The third is the minesweeper "Megpay". In addition to them, the mines blew up and sank a patrol ship and 7 minesweepers.
The participation of the Soviet ground forces in the Korean War is not advertised and is still classified. And, nevertheless, throughout the entire war, Soviet troops were on the territory of North Korea, a total of about 40 thousand military personnel. These included military advisers to the KPA, military specialists and servicemen of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (IAK). The total number of specialists was 4293 people (including 4020 military personnel and 273 civilian employees), most of whom were in the country until the start of the Korean War. Advisers were with the commanders of the military branches and chiefs of services of the Korean People's Army, in infantry divisions and separate infantry brigades, infantry and artillery regiments, separate combat and training units, in officer and political schools, in rear formations and units.
Veniamin Nikolaevich Bersenev, who fought in North Korea for a year and nine months, says: “I was a Chinese volunteer and wore the uniform of the Chinese army. For this we were jokingly called "Chinese doodles". Many Soviet soldiers and officers served in Korea. And their families didn’t even know about it.”
The researcher of the combat operations of Soviet aviation in Korea and China, I. A. Seidov, notes: “In the territory of China and North Korea, Soviet units and air defense units also observed camouflage, performing the task in the form of Chinese people's volunteers.”
V. Smirnov testifies: "An old-timer of Dalian, who asked to be called Uncle Zhora (in those years he was a civilian worker in a Soviet military unit, and Soviet soldiers gave him the name Zhora), said that Soviet pilots, tankers, artillerymen helped the Korean people in repelling American aggression, but they fought in the form of Chinese volunteers. The dead were buried in the cemetery in Port Arthur."
The work of Soviet military advisers was highly appreciated by the government of the DPRK. In October 1951, 76 people were awarded Korean national orders for selfless work "to assist the KPA in its struggle against the American-British interventionists" and "selflessly devoting their energy and abilities to the common cause of ensuring the peace and security of peoples." Due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to make public the presence of Soviet military personnel on the territory of Korea, their stay in active units from September 15, 1951 was “officially” prohibited. And, nevertheless, it is known that from September to December 1951, the 52nd Zenad conducted 1093 battery fires and shot down 50 enemy aircraft in North Korea.
On May 15, 1954, the US government published documents that set the size of the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War. According to the given data, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were in the North Korean army. Two months before the armistice, the Soviet contingent was reduced to 12,000 men.
American radars and the eavesdropping system, according to fighter pilot B. S. Abakumov, controlled the operation of Soviet air units. Every month, large numbers of saboteurs are thrown into North Korea and China on various missions, including capturing one of the Russians to prove their presence in the country. The American scouts were equipped with first-class technology for transmitting information and could mask radio equipment under the water of the rice fields. Thanks to the high-quality and efficient work of the agents, the enemy side was often informed even about the departures of Soviet aircraft, up to the designation of their tail numbers. Veteran of the 39th Army Samochelyaev F.E., commander of the headquarters communications platoon of the 17th Guards. sd, recalled: “As soon as our units began to move or the planes took to the air, the enemy radio station immediately began to work. It was extremely difficult to catch the gunner. They knew the area well and skillfully disguised themselves.
American and Kuomintang intelligence agencies were constantly active in China. The center of American intelligence called the Research Bureau for Far Eastern Issues was located in Hong Kong, in Taipei - a school for training saboteurs and terrorists. On April 12, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek gave a secret order to create special units in Southeast China to carry out terrorist acts against Soviet specialists. In particular, it said: "... to widely deploy terrorist actions against Soviet military and technical specialists and important military and political communist workers in order to effectively suppress their activities ..." Chiang Kai-shek agents sought to obtain documents from Soviet citizens in China. There were also provocations with staged attacks by Soviet soldiers on Chinese women. These scenes were photographed and presented in the press as acts of violence against local residents. One of the sabotage groups was uncovered in the aviation training center for preparing for flights on jet technology in the territory of the PRC.
According to veterans of the 39th Army, "saboteurs from the nationalist gangs of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang attacked Soviet servicemen while on guard duty at distant sites." Constant direction-finding reconnaissance and search activities were carried out against spies and saboteurs. The situation required constant high combat readiness of the Soviet troops. Combat, operational, staff, and special training was continuously conducted. Conducted joint exercises with units of the PLA.
Since July 1951, new divisions began to be created in the North China District and old divisions were reorganized, including the Korean divisions withdrawn to the territory of Manchuria. At the request of the Chinese government, two advisers were sent to these divisions for the period of their formation: to the division commander and to the commander of a self-propelled tank regiment. With their active help, combat training of all units and subunits began, was carried out and ended. The advisers to the commanders of these infantry divisions in the North China Military District (in 1950-1953) were: Lieutenant Colonel I. F. Pomazkov; Colonel N. P. Katkov, V. T. Yaglenko. N. S. Loboda. Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Nikiforov, Colonel I. D. Ivlev and others were advisers to the commanders of the tank-self-propelled regiments.
On January 27, 1952, US President Truman wrote in his personal diary: “It seems to me that the correct solution now would be a ten-day ultimatum informing Moscow that we intend to blockade the Chinese coast from the Korean border to Indochina and that we intend to destroy all military bases in Manchuria... We will destroy all ports or cities in order to achieve our peaceful goals... This means a general war. This means that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mukden, Vladivostok, Beijing, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Dairen, Odessa and Stalingrad and all industrial enterprises in China and the Soviet Union will be wiped out. This is the last chance for the Soviet government to decide whether it deserves to exist or not!”
Anticipating such a development of events, iodine preparations were issued to Soviet servicemen in case of an atomic bombing. Water was allowed to drink only from flasks filled in parts.
The facts of the use of bacteriological and chemical weapons by the UN coalition forces received a wide response in the world. As the publications of those years reported, both the positions of the Korean-Chinese troops and areas remote from the front line. In total, according to Chinese scientists, 804 bacteriological raids were carried out by the Americans in two months. These facts are also confirmed by Soviet military personnel - veterans of the Korean War. Bersenev recalls: “B-29s were bombed at night, and in the morning you go out - insects are everywhere: such big flies infected with various diseases. The whole earth was littered with them. Because of the flies, they slept in gauze curtains. We were constantly given prophylactic injections, but many still fell ill. And some of our people died in the bombings.”
On the afternoon of August 5, 1952, Kim Il Sung's command post was raided. As a result of this raid, 11 Soviet military advisers were killed. On June 23, 1952, the Americans made the largest raid on the complex of hydraulic structures on the Yalu River, in which more than five hundred bombers participated. As a result, almost all of North Korea and parts of North China were left without electricity. The British authorities denied this act, carried out under the flag of the United Nations, by protesting.
On October 29, 1952, American aircraft carried out a devastating raid on the Soviet embassy. According to the memoirs of an employee of the embassy V. A. Tarasov, the first bombs were dropped at two in the morning, subsequent visits continued approximately every half hour until dawn. In total, four hundred bombs of two hundred kilograms each were dropped.
On July 27, 1953, on the day of the signing of the Ceasefire Treaty (the generally accepted date for the end of the Korean War), the Soviet Il-12 military aircraft, converted into a passenger version, took off from Port Arthur heading for Vladivostok. Flying over the spurs of the Great Khingan, he was suddenly attacked by 4 American fighters, as a result of which an unarmed Il-12 with 21 people on board, including crew members, was shot down.
In October 1953, Lieutenant General V.I. Shevtsov was appointed commander of the 39th Army. He commanded the army until May 1955.
Soviet units that participated in the hostilities in Korea and China
The following Soviet units are known to have taken part in hostilities on the territory of Korea and China: the 64th IAK, the GVS Inspection Department, the Special Communications Department under the GVS; three aviation commandant's offices located in Pyongyang, Seisin and Kanko for maintenance of the Vladivostok-Port Arthur route; Heijin reconnaissance point, the HF station of the Ministry of State Security in Pyongyang, the broadcasting point in Ranan and the communications company that served the communication lines with the USSR embassy. From October 1951 to April 1953, a group of GRU radio operators under the command of Captain Yu. A. Zharov worked at the headquarters of the CPV, providing communication with 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 relieved by the 20th regiment. 52nd, 87th, 92nd, 28th and 35th anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 18th aviation technical division of the 64th IAK. The corps also included 727 obs and 81 ors. There were several radio engineering battalions on the territory of Korea. Several military hospitals ran on the railway and the 3rd railway operational regiment operated. Combat work was carried out by Soviet signalmen, operators of radar stations, VNOS, specialists involved in repair and restoration work, sappers, drivers, Soviet medical institutions.
As well as units and formations of the Pacific Fleet: ships of the Seisin naval base, 781st IAP, 593rd separate transport aviation regiment, 1744th long-range reconnaissance aviation squadron, 36th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, 1534th mine-torpedo aviation regiment, cable ship "Plastun", 27th laboratory of aviation medicine.
Locations
In Port Arthur, the headquarters of the 113th Rifle Division of Lieutenant General Tereshkov (338th Rifle Division - in the Port Arthur, Dalniy sector, 358th Rifle Division from Dalny to the northern border of the zone, 262nd Rifle Division along the entire northern border of the peninsula, headquarters 5 1st Artillery Corps, 150 UR, 139 April, Communications Regiment, Artillery Regiment, 48th Guards SME, Air Defense Regiment, IAP, ATO battalion The editorial office of the 39th Army's newspaper "Son Rodina". After the war, it became known as "Vo Glory to the Motherland!", Editor - Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Krasovsky. Base of the USSR Navy. Hospital 29 BCP.
In the area of the city of Jinzhou, the headquarters of the 5th Guards were stationed. sk Lieutenant General L. N. Alekseev, 19, 91 and 17th Guards. rifle division under the command of Major General Yevgeny Leonidovich Korkuts. Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Strashnenko. The division included the 21st separate communications battalion, on the basis of which Chinese volunteers were trained. 26th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, 46th Guards Mortar Regiment, units of the 6th Breakthrough Artillery Division, Pacific Fleet Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment.
In Dalny, the 33rd Cannon Division, the headquarters of the 7th BAK, aviation units, the 14th Zenad, the 119th Rifle Regiment guarded the port. Parts of the Soviet Navy. In the 50s, Soviet specialists built a modern hospital for the PLA in a convenient coastal zone. This hospital still exists today.
In Sanshilipu - air units.
In the area of the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Xuzhou - the 52nd anti-aircraft artillery division, aviation units (at the airfields of Jianwan and Dachang), VNOS posts (at the points of Qidong, Nanhui, Hai'an, Wuxian, Congjiaolu).
In the area of the city of Andun - the 19th Guards. rifle division, air units, 10th, 20th anti-aircraft searchlight regiments.
In the area of the city of Yingchenzi - the 7th fur. division of Lieutenant General F. G. Katkov, part of the 6th breakthrough artillery division.
In the area of the city of Nanchan - air units.
In the area of the city of Harbin - air units.
In the Beijing area - the 300th air regiment.
Mukden, Anshan, Liaoyang - air bases.
In the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Qiqihar - air units.
In the area of the city of Myagou - aviation units.
Losses and losses
The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. The dead - 12,031 people, sanitary - 24,425 people.
During the period of fulfillment by Soviet military specialists of international duty in China from 1946 to 1950, 936 people died, died from wounds and diseases. Of these, officers - 155, sergeants - 216, soldiers - 521 and 44 people. - from among civilian specialists. The graves of the fallen Soviet internationalists are carefully preserved in the People's Republic of China.
War in Korea (1950-1953). The total irretrievable losses of our units and formations amounted to 315 people, of which 168 officers, 147 sergeants and soldiers.
The figures for Soviet losses in China, including during the Korean War, differ significantly from different sources. Thus, according to the Russian Consulate General in Shenyang, 89 Soviet citizens were buried in the cemeteries on the Liaodong Peninsula from 1950 to 1953 (the cities of Lushun, Dalian and Jinzhou), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992, 723 people. In total, for the period from 1945 to 1956, according to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, 722 Soviet citizens were buried on the Liaodong Peninsula (of which 104 were unknown), and according to the Chinese passportization of 1992, 2572 people, including 15 unknown. As for Soviet losses, complete data on this is still not available. From many literary sources, including memoirs, it is known that Soviet advisers, anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, medical workers, diplomats, and other specialists who provided assistance to North Korea died during the Korean War.
There are 58 burial sites of Soviet and Russian soldiers in China. More than 18 thousand died during the liberation of China from the Japanese invaders and after WWII.
The ashes of more than 14,500 Soviet soldiers rest on the territory of the PRC; at least 50 monuments to Soviet soldiers have been erected in 45 cities of China.
With regard to accounting for the loss of Soviet civilians in China, detailed information is not available. At the same time, about 100 women and children were buried in only one of the sites in the Russian cemetery in Port Arthur. The children of military personnel who died during the cholera epidemic in 1948 are buried here, mostly one or two years old.
