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Operation August Storm was the code name for the Soviet invasion of Japanese occupied Manchuria, Korea and southern Sakhalin Island during World War II. The Soviets agreed at the Yalta Conference to enter the war against Japan within 3 months of the end of the war in Europe. Three months after May 8, 1945 was August 8, when the invasion began.
The Soviets
The Far Eastern Command, under Marshal Georgy Zhukov, conducted the massive attack. It consisted of three Red Army Fronts: - Trans-Baikal Front - Aimed at western Manchuria
- First Far Eastern Front - Aimed at eastern Manchuria
- Second Far Eastern Front - aimed at northern Manchuria
involving at least 80 divisions with 1.5 million men, over 5000 tanks(including 3,700 T_34's), over 28,000 artillery pieces and 4300 aircraft(including 3,700 first line combat aircraft). Approximately one third of its strength was in combat support and services. Its naval forces contained 12 major surface combatants , 78 submarines, numerous amphibious craft and the Amur River Flotilla consisting of gunboats and numerous small craft. It incorporated all the experience in maneuver warfare that the Soviets had acquired fighting the Germans.
The Japanese The Kwantung Army under General Mongolian border, Fourth Army - Northern Manchuria and the 40,000 Manchukuo Defense Force of eight understrength and poorly equipped and trained Chinese divisions.
The Kwantung Army, with over a 600,000 men in 25 divisions, over 1,215 armored vehicles(mostly armored cars and light tanks), 6,700 artillery pieces(mostly light) and 1,800 aircraft(mostly trainers and obsolete types). (Note Imperial Japanese Armies were the equivelent of western Corps and Area Armies were equivelent to western Armies.) The Imperial Japanese contributed nothing to the defense of Manchuria, which it was against in the first place. The bulk of the Japanese forces were way below authorized strength and most of its heavy equipment had been tranferred to the Pacific Campaign with the result that the Kwantung Army was basically a light infantry counter-insurgency force with limited mobility and experience. Manchuria had the bulk of usable industry and raw materials for the Japanese in China. Japanese forces were no match for the Red Army, which had vastly superior equipment, material, and military tactics by that time. It also contained a large amount of raw recruits. Per Army Headquarters, Korea was given priority defense and the army was oriented along the northern and eastern borders of Manchura with only limited outposts along the western border.
The Campaign Fighting only lasted for about a week before Japan surrendered. Soviet forces were penetrating deep into Manchuria when fighting ceased. The plan had been to advance all the way to the end of the Korean peninsula and also invade Hokkaido.
The operation was carried out as a double pincer envelopement over a vast area. In the western pincer, Soviet forces advanced over the deserts and mountains from Mongolia and far from resupply railways, confounding Japanese military analysis of Soviet logistics and thus catching the Japanese forces by complete surprise and in unfortified locations. Airbourne units were used to seize airfields and city centers in advance of the land forces. Aircraft were also used to ferry fuel to units that had outrun their supply lines. Soviet forces reached Mukden, Changchun,North Korea and one each in Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands. The Japanese commander was missing for the first 18 hours of the fighting and communications with forward units was lost early on. The Emperor ordered a cease fire on 16 August the same day that Mutanchiang fell.
Results Operation August Storm, along with the two atomic bombings, were what broke the Japanese political deadlock and forced Japan's surrender since they made it clear Japan had no hope of even holding out in the home islands.
As agreed at Yalta, as the Soviets had intervened in the war with Japan within three months of the German surrender, they acquired Sakhalin, the Kurile Islands, and pre-eminent interests over Port Arthur and Darien (Dalian) with its strategic rail connections. With the exception of Darien, which was returned to full Chinese control in 1955, the other possessions are still held by the Russian Federation.
See also
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