tank
Specialist
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2012
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Russian Second Front.
The entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan was predetermined by the agreements that the USSR, Great Britain and the USA concluded in February 1945 during the Yalta Conference, which determined the format of the post-war world. According to these agreements, by the end of the summer of 1945, Soviet troops were to be concentrated near the land borders in the Far East and then launch an attack on the Kwantung Army, which was the largest unit of the Japanese army in the region.
The entry of USSR into a new war immediately after the end of hostilities in the West was a difficult task. Despite the fact that during all the war years, military formations were concentrated on the Far Eastern borders, numbering up to one third of the entire Red Army, the degree of their saturation with modern military equipment and experienced personnel was lower than that of units fighting on the Soviet-German front. And even despite the fact that as early as 1943 the construction of the most important railway line began, connecting Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Sovetskaya Gavan, and the plans for possible military operations against the Japanese group in the Far East began to be developed a year later, by the summer of 1945, the offensive began the Japanese still looked difficult.
This was very well understood by the Allies, especially the Americans. But they could not refuse Soviet assistance in the war with Japan: their own military analysts predicted that in this case the hostilities could last for one and a half to two years, and the loss of the American army if the hostilities were transferred to Japanese territory, including to the islands of the Japanese archipelago, will turn into catastrophic losses. On average, they were estimated at a million soldiers' lives, which was double the total losses already suffered by the country!
Therefore, the question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was extremely important, and its discussion was the reason for the nomination by the Soviet side of the requirements to which the Allies were forced to agree. Among them was the expansion of Soviet influence in China, and the transfer of southern Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands. But, apparently, it seemed to the Americans and the British a low price for the Soviet troops to pull over a substantial part of the Japanese.
From one war to another
It is possible that, urging the Soviet Union to start a war with Japan and agreeing to the demands voiced in Yalta by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the Allies hoped that Russian troops would get bogged down in battle with the Japanese just like the Allied ones in western France. On the other hand, it was obvious that the preparation of the USSR for the start of hostilities in the Far East would force the Japanese command to stop the transfer of the most combat-ready units from there, which began back in 1944 and significantly influenced the course of battles in the Pacific Ocean.
Already after the Soviet troops reached the coast of the Yellow Sea, it became clear that the Allied command did not expect such a speed from them. For example, American ships, the landing of which was supposed to land in the cities of Dalian and Lushun (founded by Russian sailors in the 19th century, Dalniy and Port Arthur), arrived there after the Soviet paratroopers completely broke the Japanese defense. And this was clearly an unpleasant surprise for the United States, counting on a slightly different development of events and believing that the Red Army, which had gotten stuck in border battles with the Japanese, did not have time to reach the strategically important Chinese and Korean cities, but would pull itself back and allow the American marines to take them under your control.
Parts of the 39th Army of the Transbaikal Front on the march in the Manchu steppe. Colonel General Ivan Lyudnikov, commander of the 39th Army, Colonel General Ivan Ludnikov, is to the extreme right next to the car, Major Hero of the Soviet Union Major Vasily Boyko, member of the Military Council of the 39th Army, is to his left
However, the Soviet side had its own plans for a war with Japan, and most importantly, there was an understanding of how to defeat the Kwantung Army with as little loss as possible. First of all, for this it was necessary to saturate the troops of the Transbaikal Front with modern technology, which was achieved by sending from the Urals to the east part of the new tanks, guns and aircraft. Their flow gradually increased as the start of hostilities was approaching. And when the battles in Europe ended, the colossal group of troops with vast combat experience was quickly transferred to the Far East: 36 rifle, artillery and anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 53 brigades, 5 air divisions, 3 corps
Win in ten days
As a result, by August 8, 1945, 11 combined-arms, one tank and three air armies were concentrated in the Trans-Baikal and 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts, consisting of 80 infantry divisions, four tank and mechanized corps, six infantry and 40 tank and mechanized brigades. There were also the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla. The total number of Soviet troops in the Far Eastern direction was about 1.6 million people, armed with 26137 guns and mortars, 5556 tanks and self-propelled guns and almost 5000 aircraft.
With an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment, Soviet troops were able to break the resistance of the Kwantung Army in the shortest possible time and reach the intended borders on the shores of the Yellow Sea in just ten days, completing the defeat of the Japanese. Almost 650 thousand soldiers and officers of the Land of the Rising Sun were captured, and the irretrievable losses were at least twice as high as those on the Soviet side, which made the Manchu Red Army operation one of the most successful in the history of World War II.
On August 14, 1945, the Japanese government decided to surrender, and by August 19, most Japanese units and units threw out white flags. And finally, on September 2, an act of surrender of Japan was signed on board the American battleship Missouri in the presence of representatives of the command of the Allied forces, including Soviet and Chinese. The Soviet Union regained all the losses Russia suffered as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and even a little more, considering the South Kuril Islands ceded to the Japanese back in 1855.
Strength
Soviet Union: Japan
1,577,225 men[3] 993,000 men[a]
26,137 artillery 5,360 artillery
1,852 sup. artillery 1,155 tanks
5,556 tanks and self-propelled artillery 1,800 aircraft
5,368 aircraft 1,215 vehicles
Mongolia: Manchukuo:
16,000 men 170,000[1]-200,000 troops[4]
Mengjiang:
44,000 men[1][3]
Total USSR: 1,577,241 men Total Japan: 1,237,000 men
Loses
USSR Japan
12,031 killed 21,389 killed
24,425 wounded[5][6] 20,000 wounded
41,199 captured[7][8]
Soviet claim:
83,737 killed
The entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan was predetermined by the agreements that the USSR, Great Britain and the USA concluded in February 1945 during the Yalta Conference, which determined the format of the post-war world. According to these agreements, by the end of the summer of 1945, Soviet troops were to be concentrated near the land borders in the Far East and then launch an attack on the Kwantung Army, which was the largest unit of the Japanese army in the region.
The entry of USSR into a new war immediately after the end of hostilities in the West was a difficult task. Despite the fact that during all the war years, military formations were concentrated on the Far Eastern borders, numbering up to one third of the entire Red Army, the degree of their saturation with modern military equipment and experienced personnel was lower than that of units fighting on the Soviet-German front. And even despite the fact that as early as 1943 the construction of the most important railway line began, connecting Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Sovetskaya Gavan, and the plans for possible military operations against the Japanese group in the Far East began to be developed a year later, by the summer of 1945, the offensive began the Japanese still looked difficult.
This was very well understood by the Allies, especially the Americans. But they could not refuse Soviet assistance in the war with Japan: their own military analysts predicted that in this case the hostilities could last for one and a half to two years, and the loss of the American army if the hostilities were transferred to Japanese territory, including to the islands of the Japanese archipelago, will turn into catastrophic losses. On average, they were estimated at a million soldiers' lives, which was double the total losses already suffered by the country!
Therefore, the question of the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan was extremely important, and its discussion was the reason for the nomination by the Soviet side of the requirements to which the Allies were forced to agree. Among them was the expansion of Soviet influence in China, and the transfer of southern Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands. But, apparently, it seemed to the Americans and the British a low price for the Soviet troops to pull over a substantial part of the Japanese.
From one war to another
It is possible that, urging the Soviet Union to start a war with Japan and agreeing to the demands voiced in Yalta by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the Allies hoped that Russian troops would get bogged down in battle with the Japanese just like the Allied ones in western France. On the other hand, it was obvious that the preparation of the USSR for the start of hostilities in the Far East would force the Japanese command to stop the transfer of the most combat-ready units from there, which began back in 1944 and significantly influenced the course of battles in the Pacific Ocean.
Already after the Soviet troops reached the coast of the Yellow Sea, it became clear that the Allied command did not expect such a speed from them. For example, American ships, the landing of which was supposed to land in the cities of Dalian and Lushun (founded by Russian sailors in the 19th century, Dalniy and Port Arthur), arrived there after the Soviet paratroopers completely broke the Japanese defense. And this was clearly an unpleasant surprise for the United States, counting on a slightly different development of events and believing that the Red Army, which had gotten stuck in border battles with the Japanese, did not have time to reach the strategically important Chinese and Korean cities, but would pull itself back and allow the American marines to take them under your control.
Parts of the 39th Army of the Transbaikal Front on the march in the Manchu steppe. Colonel General Ivan Lyudnikov, commander of the 39th Army, Colonel General Ivan Ludnikov, is to the extreme right next to the car, Major Hero of the Soviet Union Major Vasily Boyko, member of the Military Council of the 39th Army, is to his left
However, the Soviet side had its own plans for a war with Japan, and most importantly, there was an understanding of how to defeat the Kwantung Army with as little loss as possible. First of all, for this it was necessary to saturate the troops of the Transbaikal Front with modern technology, which was achieved by sending from the Urals to the east part of the new tanks, guns and aircraft. Their flow gradually increased as the start of hostilities was approaching. And when the battles in Europe ended, the colossal group of troops with vast combat experience was quickly transferred to the Far East: 36 rifle, artillery and anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 53 brigades, 5 air divisions, 3 corps
Win in ten days
As a result, by August 8, 1945, 11 combined-arms, one tank and three air armies were concentrated in the Trans-Baikal and 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts, consisting of 80 infantry divisions, four tank and mechanized corps, six infantry and 40 tank and mechanized brigades. There were also the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla. The total number of Soviet troops in the Far Eastern direction was about 1.6 million people, armed with 26137 guns and mortars, 5556 tanks and self-propelled guns and almost 5000 aircraft.
With an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment, Soviet troops were able to break the resistance of the Kwantung Army in the shortest possible time and reach the intended borders on the shores of the Yellow Sea in just ten days, completing the defeat of the Japanese. Almost 650 thousand soldiers and officers of the Land of the Rising Sun were captured, and the irretrievable losses were at least twice as high as those on the Soviet side, which made the Manchu Red Army operation one of the most successful in the history of World War II.
On August 14, 1945, the Japanese government decided to surrender, and by August 19, most Japanese units and units threw out white flags. And finally, on September 2, an act of surrender of Japan was signed on board the American battleship Missouri in the presence of representatives of the command of the Allied forces, including Soviet and Chinese. The Soviet Union regained all the losses Russia suffered as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and even a little more, considering the South Kuril Islands ceded to the Japanese back in 1855.
Strength
Soviet Union: Japan
1,577,225 men[3] 993,000 men[a]
26,137 artillery 5,360 artillery
1,852 sup. artillery 1,155 tanks
5,556 tanks and self-propelled artillery 1,800 aircraft
5,368 aircraft 1,215 vehicles
Mongolia: Manchukuo:
16,000 men 170,000[1]-200,000 troops[4]
Mengjiang:
44,000 men[1][3]
Total USSR: 1,577,241 men Total Japan: 1,237,000 men
Loses
USSR Japan
12,031 killed 21,389 killed
24,425 wounded[5][6] 20,000 wounded
41,199 captured[7][8]
Soviet claim:
83,737 killed
