Memoirs of Soviet militaries about Manchurian Campaign of 1945

[Andrey]

Grigorii Kalachev, a scout:

I remember very well the night from 8th to 9th of the August. We, scouts, got an order to cross the border as first, to define enemy fire points, and to capture a POW if it was possible. Before that time we secretly watched the enemy for a long time – Japanese patrols went along the border line routinely, they also had frontier posts and observing posts. But at the night of August, 9th, when our offensive had began, we didn't meet any resistance – we met some first enemy patrols only a few hours later, it was already at morning. And the first serious combat we had when we went 120 kms inside enemy territory – the Japanese had regained consciousness in some scale and sent a school of junior commanders against us – it looks as it was their last reserve. Everything looked like we were not waited there and we had taken the enemy by surprise. At least, the resistance in our direction was much less than in the direction of the advance of the neighboring 36th Army which assaulted Khalun-Arshan Fortified Region or of the 1st Far-Eastern Front where the samurais defended the city of Mudantsian up to the last soldier. But for us the main enemy were not the Japanese but the nature – the Japanese had no large forces there as they supposed the mountains of the Grand Khingan as impassable for heavy technics, practically unassailable.

Really, both the climate and the landscape were against us – we had to make a 500-kms rush through waterless semi-desert and then through wide mountain ridge which had no any road including country ones. And you can believe or not to believe but domestic technics showed itself better than Western one. I even do not speak about tanks. To the point, it were not only outstanding T-34s which showed itself excellently but also BTs which were considered archaic for a long time: BTs were not used in the Soviet-German Front for a long time but out Far-Eastern troops still had a lot of BTs and they showed themselves as excellent tanks – speedy, simple, reliable. But in the desert and mountain conditions even Soviet automobiles excelled greatly praised Western technics in some questions. Those "Studebeckers" and "Dodges" which our troops had in large amount were excellent trucks but they had a disadvantage – they were too wide and couldn't move along narrow mountain paths. Also, the height of the Grand Khingan was 2000 meters over a sea level but the American trucks were air-cooled and often became deaf in those mountains. But our trucks didn't become deaf. But, of course, our infantry and motorized infantry often had to pull and to push trucks with their shoulders.

It became especially difficult when rains had began – an August is a rainy season in Manchuria. We never saw something like that in Russia: the rain was a day and a night, and it continued for weeks and if it stopped on short time the humidity of the air was so high that it sensed like it was possible to choke by the air.

All the roads turned into mud area; slush covered our feet up to knees; it was slippery and we went down from the Grand Khingan like from an ice-run. And here samurais began to ambush us. It was difficult, it was very difficult. But when we had crossed through passes of the Grand Khingan and had shot forward in Manchurian Plain it was a victory: we were in deep rears of the Japanese troops. The Japanese didn’t suppose that we would be there, at least they didn’t suppose that we would be there so quickly, and they were not able to do anything, it was impossible to stop us in that moment. In the spite of what the Japanese speak now [it is about current time – rem. of Andrey] their surrender was forced and not voluntary: even if their Mikado [Emperor – rem. of Andrey] didn’t order to surrender, even if he ordered to his citizens to fight up to the last soldier their resistance couldn’t change anything – Kwantung Army was doomed.

We had finished the war in Porth Arthur. Oh, how we strived eagerly there, how we wanted to set scores with samurais for our defeat in the first Russian-Japanese War [In 1904-1905 Porth Arthur was a powerful Russian Naval Base of Russian Navy and a fortress. That war had began after a Japanese sudden night strike against Russian ships based in Porth Arthur, it was like the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbour. Porth Arthur was encircled by the Japanese and had surrendered after a long siege – rem. of Andrey] I remember that we read “Porth Artur” [“Porth Arthur” by Stepanov is a very popular in Russia novel about the siege of Porth Arthur] again and again when we were moving by train in Far East, also our military mass media often spoke about it. And our political officers again and again spoke to us later, already during our offensive, that our mission is right, it is the condign punishment for all previous Japanese crimes, it is the restoration of historical justice. Also Stalin said in his victorious declaration: we had crushed Japan and we had washed “black spot of shame” from our people’s memory.

And I had my personal reasons to win samurais, it is more correct to call it my family’s reason. It was 40 years ago when my grandfather fought in Porth Arthur and when I was a little boy he often told me about that war – how Russian soldiers beat the Japanese there, about their heroic feats, and how the Tsar’s generals had betrayed them and had surrendered the fortress to the enemy. And when we in the end of the August of 1945 had returned in Porth Arthur where our grandfathers were fighting and were dying in past so first of all we bowed before soldiers’ graves in the Russian cemetery. We went in the places of the combats that were there many years ago and it was still possible to find there bullet cases, which became green from time, and scraps of soldiers’ greatcoats with the spots of blood.

And our command at the head of Marshal Vasilevskii had placed some wreathes on those grave right after our victory.

[R.N. Armstrong]

Andrey,

Thanks for the translated excerpts. Sounds like Kalachev was in the 6th Gds Tank Army. Does he state his unit?

[Andrey]

Aleksandr Zhelvakov, an officer of Political Department of the 6th GTA

In the July of 1945 our Guards Tank Army was transferred from Czechoslovakia in Mongolia, in the border with puppet Manchu-Oko state which was made and controlled by the Japanese.

In the night on August, 9th in 01:05 we crossed the border and began to move inside of Manchuria.

It was extremely difficult during our offensive. When we were crossing the desert the hot at a day was very large; the temperature was plus 40 degrees Celsius and even higher. The terrain was completely waterless. There was a lot of dust. There were sand-storms. Then we had to cross the Grand Khingan Ridge. There was a steep slope up and much more steep, difficult and dangerous slope down from it. Right when we had entered Manchurian plain many-days downpours had began. Thick mud was everywhere, and moreover, all the rivers overflowed the banks and flooded everything. Our tankmen had to advance from Tunliao to Mukden along high railroad embankment, it was alone path even for tanks, the other way was to swim only.

And it is necessary to remember that we had to overcome not only natural and climate obstackes but and the resistance of the Japanese which had surrendered not soon.

In such conditions the significance of our air landings in deep Japanese rears – in Mukden, Chanchun, Porth Arthur, Lalnii, Kharbin, Girin – was notable, those landings hastened the surrender of Kwantung Army.

Our Mukden’s landing party captured Pu I, Emperor of Manchu-Oko. He was sent in USSR in the next morning. I was commander of his guard….

After the end of my mission I was appointed Local Party Leader of the battalion that was in landing party that landed in Mukden.
…
Also I remember an outstanding case. When we were in Mukden Junior Sergeant Ivan Zagorulko was a commander of a squad of sub-machine gunners. He told that his grandfather got a mortal wound 40 years ago in the 1st Russian-Japanese War during dolefully known Mukden Battle that was lost by our army. And now during a visit on local cemetery we had found there a common grave of soldiers of the 1st Turkestan Regiment in which Ivan’s grandfather served. So the grandson returned there as a winner 40 years after the death of his grandfather and bowed before his grandfather’s grave.

[Andrey]

Originally Posted by R.N. Armstrong

Andrey,

Thanks for the translated excerpts. Sounds like Kalachev was in the 6th Gds Tank Army. Does he state his unit?

I can say onky that he fought in the Trans-Baikal Front.

[Andrey]

Ivan Kazintsev, a sapper:

The war against militarist Japan had began for me in complete darkness and under downpour. Everything became wet even in a room in such night but we were in field and practically had no any cover.

A terrible thunderstorm was in the night from 8th to 9th of the August of 1945 but we got an order to cross the state border. I never saw such a strong thunderstorm. Lightnings were very dangerous enemy: at first, they blind and I couldn’t see anything and lost orientation in the terrain for a few seconds after a lightning; at second, they lighted up our movement better than searchlights. Of course, the Japanese also were blinded with lightnings but they had no to move anywhere and they knew the terrain very well. Some Japanese were in fortifications on a hill and we had an order to capture that hill. The hill was called “camel”. And we had captured that “camel” to the morning.

At the day we were loaded on tanks, drove 80-90 kms on their armor and had arrived to the military settlement of Siao-Sun-Fynhe to the evening. There we engaged against the local Japanese garrison.

The combat was long and furious; there were a lot of hand-to-hand fighting. A hand-to-hand fighting is not a long but when a hand-to-hand fighting goes after another hand-to-hand fighting again and again so it last for a long time. But nevertheless the Japanese had retreated in the spite of the fact of their furious resistance of doomed. Segeant Kauzov from my platoon was heavy wounded in those combats – he got 8 wounds with a knife but had survived.

A large combat occurred nearly the settlement of Madaoshi. We were informed later that the settlement was defended by a few battalions of Japanese soldiers who promised to die but to not retreat. The combat was for a whole day. The Japanese, especially their artillery, occupied very favorable positions. Their large caliber artillery fired in a flank of our troops. And Japanese soldiers who promised to die but to not retreat were in front of us. The Japanese knocked out 8 our tanks. At the night our battalion silently had moved through Madaoshi and had dug in on his outskirts, waiting the coming of our main forces. At the next morning the battle continued but at last the Japanese were dislodged from their positions approximately after 3 hours of battle. My soldier Fedotov was killed in that combat, also Sergeant Burin was wounded.

The Chinese population met us enthusiastically, sometimes they showed us the places where Japanese hided. When we met with Chinese we were amazed by their poverty and scare before the Japanese. Local Chinese came to us when we went a halt and we entertained their like good guests.

[Andrey]

Oleg Smirnov, a member of a divisional newspaper

Great Patriotic War had finished for our division in Eastern Prussia. There were very heavy combats there – everything burnt during the assault of Kenigsburg, the things that had no to burn also burnt – stone walls, concrete forts, pavement stones – but we had captured that city-fortress.

I remember how at May, 9th when we were informed about German surrender we drank over the common grave of our comrades, I took out my TT from my holster, shot upwards and said: "It was my last shot."

But my fate didn't let for it to become a reality....

In the beginning of the June we loaded in a train and became to be transferred in Far East...

During the trip I listened enough soldiers' talkings. The most of them agreed that we, of course, must beat samurais. They recalled Porth Arthur and Tsushima, Japanese occupation of Far East during Civil War, Khasan and Khalkhin Gol. They discussed what war would it be – a large or a small? In the end they had decided that we should grind samurais-vermins into dust for about four weeks – i.e. they guessed practically right. But I remember that I thought (and I suppose I was not alone in such thoughts): how vexing it will be to survive in a large war but to die in a small one....

In Chita a trackman remained in my memory. I spoke with him on a railroad station. I gave him a cigarette and he said: "What a mighty force is moving on East! Things are bad for the Samurais. And they, rats, have a presentiment. Chita's Japanese consul every day sits and angles under the railroad bridge and counts troops trains. But he can count or not cont but in any case they will lose!"

In the end we crossed Soviet-Mongol border in the last days on the June and uploaded in Baian-Tumen.

Then our division moved to Manchurian border by foot – we had to go by foot about 400 kms. Although I took part in many offensives in my life but I never saw such accumulation of troops and military technics – troops trains arrived at the railroad station after one another, the troops uploaded quickly and went a column after a column in the steppe which suddenly became very cramped. Hundreds tanks roared by their engines; they were new, right from the Ural's plants but their crews were experienced veterans who fought in Europe. After them some tractors pulled heavy siege guns, then some trucks filled the air with dust, then cavalry went, then – some Katyushas moved, and again infantry went. Oh, how many of our brothers-soldiers were concentrated there! It was cramped even in the sky – planes flew over us again and again, those were fighters, bombers, assault planes, transport ones.

The steppe smelled of petrol and diesel oil instead of wormwood. Dust was suspended over columns by dense brown cloud, it accumulated on soldiers' faces, crunch in their teeth. Hot was terrible, the temperature was 40 degrees Celsius or even more; sweat corroded eyes, a throat is parched but we had only one water bottle for a day. There is a waterless steppe around; it is practically a semi-desert and saline land. The first lake that was met by us in our way was a salt lake and we were spitting out for a long time after it. When we were moving we had an impression that we were moving on a hot frying pan, on a halt it was impossible to lay on a ground as the ground was so hot that it burnt even through a soldier's blouse. The ground was burning hot, the sky was burning hot. A wind carries not a coolness but sultriness which is a very hot, like from an oven. A wind raises dust, flogs skin with sand and small stones, and burns lungs during breath. That wind is called "Gobian" by old residents because it blows from South West, from the desert of Gobi.

We went about a week to the border; we went a day and a night; we had only short halts; we slept only for 3-4 hours per a day so in the end of the march we were so tired that we were ready to drop, we began to sleep during moving. The steppe seethed with tanks and trucks' engines at night, the darkness was flogged by many rays of headlights and searchlights but even that clank, roar and din couldn't muffle the footfall of infantry. A sand wind blows at a day, sand was everywhere – in eyes, in food, in water. Those who had German captured mess kits were lucky as German mess kits had a cover. Our mess kits were round and opened and it was necessary to cover it with a sided cap, a newspaper or a palm but anyway kasha contained some sand. However the hot was so horrific that we didn't want to eat, we even didn't want to smoke, we wanted only one thing – to drink! We were gasping for a drink. Water was given definitely according a norm. Serious guard secured all wells. Many endless marches flew together in something that was not divided on a night and a day. When we at last had arrived to the border we dropped and slept for a day and a night.

And right in the next day we were sent to dig in. We dug almost everything around – trenches, earth-houses, covers for technics. Soldiers grumbled: "Why are we doing it? Aren't we preparing to advance?" And right there officers was gathered in a headquarters and were criticized about the talkings about soon future war. We were ordered to stop the talkings about advance. Army newspapers began to write about defence. I don't know about samurais but we were not deceived with it.

Our division began to get replacement. It was hard to look on the drafted soldiers who were born in 1927 – the were real "children of a war", they were sickly as they raised on hungry rears rations. And the soldiers who arrived from the reserve of the Trans-Baikal Front also looked like a puny creature. They were emaciated, dressed in shabby uniform. They had leg-wrappings and it was amazed for us, who fought in the Soviet-German Front. So the private dividing on "westerners" and "easterners" established itself. But we didn't turn up our noses as we understood that while we were fighting on the West they were covering our backs here, in the East. The Japanese constantly drew our defense here, there were a lot of violations of the border, shootings, alarms. The Samurais quieted down only after Stalingrad.

And the life of easterners was not better than ours. The Trans-Baikal Front was not only called "rear" Front but it also was supplied according rears norms – soldiers got 360 grams of bread for a day and very weak soup. Many couldn't endure it and run away from hunger in the West, to fight. They knew they were caught and sent in a penal unit but were ready for it as they supposed it was better to die in a battle than to die from hunger.

We had another sign of soon offensive – all who were in our medical unit were discharged from it. And we were vaccinated from plague and other diseases as it was possible that samurais could use biological weapon. So nobody doubted in the beginning of the August that the war would begin very soon.

We, officers, learned by heart the maps of future operations. Our Tamtsak-Bulak lug was like a fist over Manchuria; it was an ideal place to advance from this bridgehead, to encircle, to cut and to crush Kwantung Army. The Japanese understood it and moved out two third of their troops behind of the Khingan and left only covering forces in the border zone. We had to crush those covering forces and to move to the Khingan passes through wide semi-desert as soon as possible and to occupy those passes before the main Japanese forces would do it.

At the evening of August, 8th we were informed about the beginning of the war against Japan. We went to the border after meeting, it was already during darkness. I remember that the night was very dark. Signal flares – green and red – took off over the steppe now in that place and now in another place. Sheet lightings were seen far, deep inside of Japanese rears, behind a ridge of hills, roar was heard from there. Our long range artillery shot enemy fortified region. I remember a minute pause right before the border. Then a T-34 with switching on headlights went by us, stopped before a hill after which Manchuria was and shot from its gun. It was a sign. Right now all the steppe roared with hundreds of engines and lighted up with hundreds of headlights – dazzling light heaved by waves over a plain. I looked on my watch – it was 01:00 of August, 9th of 1945.

We crossed the border without a combat. Later we from time to time met Japanese fire points – usually those were alone machine gun nests – but they were eliminated quickly. The morning began. We saw the same hills, saline land like in Mongolia but it already was Manchuria. Tanks found themselves far ahead very quickly. Motorized infantry and petrol tankers tried to not remain behind. Trucks moved along parched rivers like along a road. Infantry had remained behind. And again there were terrible hot, dust and water shortage. It was only far, on the edge of horizon, where clouds were seen over the Khingan. But it was necessary to come to the Khingan before to think about it. Even American "Studebeckers" skidded and stuck in a sand and infantry from time to time had to push the trucks. Blood went out from noses of many soldiers in the result of hot and tiredness. Miracles tortured us – soldiers saw a lake, run to it with a joyful cry but the lake disappeared. The maps were non-reliable – some lakes, pictured on them, had parched or were salted. We moved by a lost settlement – the Japanese evacuated people from the border or the people moved away themselves when water disappeared from there.

In that place I firstly saw killed samurais – two bodies lay in a puddle of blood. I have to say that I didn't feel hatred to them. I understood that it was necessary, inevitable. It was the last battle of the Great War that began for our people in the lake of Khasan, continued in Khalkhin-Gol and in Finland, then it tortured our land for 4 years and here, at last, it approached to its end here, in Far East, right there where it began...

However, the Japanese didn't want to surrender in that time. Retreating, the Japanese Command left mobile units and small groups of saboteurs in our rears. Those units and groups had to attack our rear supply lines, rear garrisons and small groups of our soldiers, to hunt for officers. Once the Japanese killed with knifes a neighboring battery – they silently killed the sentinels, and killed the sleeping soldiers... Another time they attacked a field ambulance, killed all the wounded and tortured the girl-medic up to death. Another girl-medic was killed by sniper during the assault of a monastery where a Japanese scout-saboteur school was disposed. During that assault the combat turned into a hand-to-hand fighting. To the point, ours rushing in enemy trenches cried not only "For the Motherland! For Stalin!" but also "Hende Hoh!" ["Hands Up" in German – remark of Andrey] as they didn't know any Japanese word. In general, there were a few really serious combats in the first days – I saw myself dead Japanese machine gunners who were chained to their machine guns. And the volunteers-kamikaze were dressed in white blouses and white frontlet on a head with some hieroglyphs. Such kamikazes with mines on a bamboo pole or even with a mine simply attached to their backs rushed under our tanks not once. Once I saw kamikazes which had done harakiri – it was a show not for people with weak nerves: their bellies were opened; all the guts were outside; there was much blood and it smelled of alcohol from them – it looked like they drank it "for a bravery".

But in the spite of enemy resistance our troops rushed ahead. But the hot didn't disappear; it looked like dry steppe was baked under the mad sun; sometimes sand-storms occurred.

When it was especially difficult we were saved by U-2 planes which carry to us a little water from time to time. We were glad to any amount of water, even to a half of a cup for a man. Once we went to a forsaken well. Sappers tried to dig to water but reached only to slush. We thought out to run it through a sand filter – made some hole in the bottom of a pail, added there some sand, and poured some slush over it – and we got practically clear water.

At last we approached to foothills. There were more moisture and natural growth there.

There some of our companies were loaded on BT tanks – as the forward mobile detachments operated very well in the first days of the offensive the command had decided to increase their amount. Of course, it was a risky action to rush tanks ahead practically without infantry support, the tanks had only some infantrymen on their armor. They had to operate far from our rear units; it had to stretch dangerously our supply lines. But the risk had justified hopes. Not engaging long combats, the mobile detachments had quickly crossed the Khingan and had rushed on Manchurian Plain, in operational wide. It was for the Japanese like a bolt from the blue. In the mountains our light planes U-2 reconnoitered the situation in long ranges. The Japanese tried to stop our mobile detachments a few times in passes and in ravines but our tankmen knocked them down from the highs or moved by them without engaging the combat and letting for moving behind infantry units to eliminate the Japanese units.

Our main forces went behind of the mobile detachments. Although the Khingan is relatively low (not more than 2000 meters over a sea level) but my ears were blocked and my head hurted. And the main thing, rains had begun. The Grand Khingan is a natural obstacle that prevents wet winds from an ocean to enter deeper inside of the mainland. The Mongol steppes which were gone by us were so dry because all the moisture fell in the mountains and in Manchurian plain.

And we were advancing right during rainy season – we had taken the Japanese by surprise because the Japanese Command was sure that it was absolutel6y impossible to make advancing operations there in the August, when the terrain was impassable for heavy technics, and didn;t wait our blow earlier than in the autumn.

Oh, how we dreamed about rains while we were moving though the Mongol steppes scorched with a sun! How we were glad to then at first! And how we cursed them already two dayes later! Rain was pouring a day and a night without stoppings; brooks carried huge stones down along the slope; lightnings flashed practically without a halt – our soldiers spoke: "It is like a Katyusha is playing" [it is about a shooting legendary Katyusha rocket-launcher - Andrey]. There were no roads there and earlier but now paths turned into slush areas – soil turned into slush and moves under our feet, trucks were skidding, infantry was pushing heavy "Studebeckers" on a rise (and in such moments the Grand Khingan listened Russian "One, two, let's go! One more, let's go!") and was holding then in a descending. But the mountains didn't finish. A ridge was after another ridge, a ravine was after another ravine. The width of the Khingan ridge was 300 kms there. When, at last, we had gone through the Khingan it became merrier but not easier to go down from it than to go up. The slope was 45 degrees and in some places it was even 50 degrees. The trucks slided down along moist slopes like along ice-crusted ground and it was possible to hold them with ropes not always. I myself saw how a truck fell down in a ravine and crushed there like a match box, almost taking with it the soldiers which didn't want to abandon ropes up to the last moment.

Thunderstorms and rains didn't stop even when we at last went down from the mountains in Manchurian plain. Everything around was flooded by water, the amount of slush was so terrible that even tanks stuck in that slush and I even do not want to speak about ordinary trucks; the weather was non-flying. Sometimes it was so dark at a day that we needed to switch on our headlights. It was difficult to breath because of fume, the air was damp. The rivers had overflowed their banks and flooded all the fields around; the motor roads turned into slush so our tanks had to move along a railroad embankment, right on railroad sleepers. Then we rested against an exploded bridge. While we were thinking where it is better to cross the impetuous stream of water some Chinese appeared on the opposite bank and risking their lives swam through the river and carried ropes for the crossing. Another time when our vanguard had stopped before an exploded dam some local civilians again helped us – together with our sappers they carried at a run stones, gravel, soil, and soon the dam was recovered. Also the Chinese warned us about Japanese ambushes.

The Chinese everywhere met us as liberators. I remember how we entered in large city of Vanemiao and the Chinese and Mongols welcomed us by enthusiastic cries "Shango!" ("Very well!") and "Vansui" ("10,000 years of life!"). They waved by red flags, and almost jumped under our tanks. Ours waved them in response, we did it with our sided caps, infantrymen and tankmen' helmets. The Chinese offered to visit their homes and tried to entertain us in the spite of the fact that they were very poor.
...
Our divisional newspaper printed the interpretation of the General Staff of Red Army: although mikado [Japanese Emperor – remark of Andrey] had declared about surrender still on August, 15th he hadn't order to surrender for the troops of Kwantung Army, and many its units continued to resist so our advancing operation would continue. Really, many Japanese preferred to die than to become a POW – some of them shot himself, some tried to jump with a mine in hands under our tanks. There were cases when the Japanese killed our bearers of a flag of truce. Some separate groups of kamikaze continued to fight in our rears up to the autumn. But all it was not able to stop or even to slow down the impetuous rush of the Soviet troops.

But our division was unlucky. After Vanemiao the tankmen went far, to Porth Arthur, but we were left to secure the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Front. Of course, it was annoys us as we had hope to see ourselves the legendary city. But instead of it we had to carry rears duties: we had to patrol the city, to secure the headquarters, stores, railroad. Indeed, a few times we had to eliminate groups of kamikaze in the outskirts of Vanemiao; it was the same how we hunted for "verwolfs" in Eastern Prussia....

On September, 3rd we were read Stalin's declaration about the victory over Japan and about "the peace in the whole world". Colored flares - white, green, and red –and a lot of tracer bullets were shot in the sky. Everything was like after the victory over Germany. And I again had shot from my TT in the sky and I thought: right now those are really the last shots on Earth.

[DANNGOC]

Thanks a lot, Andrei!

[Andrey]

Anatolii Shilov, a machine gunner, Komsomol Leader of a regiment

We were informed about the soon transferring in Far East at the spring of 1945 in Eastern Prussia. To the end of the June we uploaded in the Mongolian railroad station Bain-Tumen. Endless steppe was before us and the Grand Khingan was behind it.

My first task was to get with 130 drivers 260 American lend-lease trucks – "Studebeckers", "Shevrole", "Dodge" and to move them in our division. The mission was accomplished.
...
A wide Mongolian steppe was stretched out for hundreds kilometers before the Khingan. For us, citizens of conventional European plains, it looked like a desert or, more likely, a semi-desert. It was not a stone or sand desert; it was covered by a poor natural growth but in that season of year it was absolutely waterless. And right now my "Studebeckers" and "Dodges" were useful – "Dodges" pulled guns, "Studers" carried infantry. There were no roads there but why are roads useful in completely flat terrain with solid ground. The worse thing was that there were no reference points. The landscape looked like a sea – it was possible to move in any direction but to see the same picture. And as we had an order to move secretly so we had to move at night, with switching off headlights, one truck after another. And if the heading truck deviated from necessary direction on a few degrees only so all the column deviated from correct direction. But it was much more difficult for those who had no trucks and had to move by foot. Infantry had the same troubles as trucks – companies deviated from a correct direction and rambled through steppe for a long time. We suffered casualties even before engaging with an enemy. And when we had seen mountains in a horizon we breathed with relief. The Khingan is not too high ridge; there is a forest on his slopes. From large distance it looked like a paradise for us. But when we had approached to it we saw that the trees grows on very steep slope (up to 50 degrees). Here now the things were most difficult for infantry and, of course, for all the others. It is known that it is difficult for a truck to overcome the rise more than 30 degrees (the American trucks could overcome 40 degrees). So our soldiers had to cling to trucks and to push them up.

We were lucky that we had no serious combats in that time. In general, the Japanese showed strong resistance only in the border area where they had a powerful defense (fortified regions, strongholds, fire points) which our troops had to crush. But the deeper we came inside enemy territory the weaker was their resistance. And they were not able to stop that avalanche – when we hade rose on the Khingan it was easy seen from above what a mighty force was moving: all the steppe up to a horizon was covered by our troops and technics. Also we had complete supremacy in the air – I didn't see any Japanese plane for all the war, I saw only ours.

Mobile detachments moved before the main forces. Their main task was to capture the passes before the arriving of Japanese reserves and to clean the way to Central Manchurian Plain. I moved together with such a detachment of our division. We had about 700 men: a battalion of motorized infantry on "Studers" and "Shevrole", an artillery battalion, a battalion of SU-76 self-propelled guns, a sapper platoon and some signallers. To the point, in a steep slopes trucks often moved by reverse movement – many experienced drivers knew that a truck's reverse movement was more powerful that direct movement, it was especially correct for American trucks. the self-propelled guns pulled one another. After we had overcame the Grand Khingan we captured Vanemiao and moved on the path Chanchun-Mukden-Harbin-Girin-Inkou (it was not far from legendary Porth Arthur). In our way we disarmed four Japanese divisions, which contained about 60,000 soldiers and officers. The Samurais requested us, the even entreated us about one thing – to leave with them without fail a Soviet representative in the head of the guard that had to secure them. In other case local Chinese could kill them in revenge for their crimes that were made there during the years of Japanese occupation. I.e. the Japanese needed not in the guard but in the protection from local civilians. At first we left officers, than we left sergeants and in the end we left ordinary soldiers – so much was the amount of the POWs we captured.

I don't know about the others but I had no any sympathy with the Japanese, I had only hatred to them. But what do you suppose to hear? We were enemies from the beginning of the century; my brother fought with them on Khalkhin-Gol as a commander of a tank battalion so why had we to pity them? Of course, that hatred disappeared later...

[Andrey]

Vladimir Spindler, a battalion commander

On April, 25th we were loaded in a train and went in Russia. After Moscow we must take off medals "For the defence of Leningrad" and paint over inscriptions "To Kenigsburg!" on the barrels of our guns and soon we understood that we were moving to fight against the Japanese.

We went to the capital of Mongolia and then we moved at foot along waterless desert for 300 kms in the conditions of hot of 40 degrees Celsius and of even more temperature. There were nether trees nor grass nor water. So some wells were dug for every 30 kms. We went in the region of the river of Khaljkhin-Gol where there were famous combats in 1939. In the night from 8th to 9th of August we had crossed that river and moved in the direction of Khalun-Arshan.

It was there, in Mongolia, where we had gotten large replacement of men who were born in 1927. All they were belly-pinched and were drafted only for a half of year. We teached them how to master weapon and how to fight commonly. We fed them up as we got 850 grams of meat for a day in Mongolia, can you imagine it? In general, we had a lot of food excluding water.

It was difficult to cross the river of Khalkhin-Gol. It was not too wide, only 60-80 meters in width but if a laden "Studebecker" or tractor entered in the river so the stream overturned and blew up it. But the river was not too deep, its depth was only about one and a half meters. There it were Mongols with their horses who helped us. A Mongol rode on a horse and we, scouts, holds on to the horse's mane and moved together with him. Then when we captured both banks of the river a crossing for artillery and other technics was made. In that time I was the chief of the divisional recon and our mission was to come along a parched crease and to capture a bridge and to prevent it from the blowing up by Japanese. When I reported about the accomplishion of the mission the commander of our regiment ordered me to become the commander of the 3rd Rifle Battalion. So I became a battalion commander and all the combats for Khalun-Arshan ridge and the following combats in the plain I fought in that post. Six guns moved together with my battalion, indeed, those were small 45-mm guns. And if Japanese stopped us on a resistance point so we had to deploy in a battle order, to shoot them from guns, to attack and to eliminate them – the Samurais didn't surrender, all they were ready to die but to not retreat.

The war against Japan was not too long. In the spite of the fact that we overcame Khalun-Arshan ridge for only 3 days and were advancing in the centre of Manchuria we were remained behind by other units there. To the August, 16th the war against Japan had finished, I mean military actions exactly. And approximately in August, 25th our division was disbanded. There were a lot of POWs and we were formed in a convoy regiment.

Sometimes I am asked who was more dangerous enemy against whom I myself fought – the Germans, the Finns or the Japanese? Of course, the German were most dangerous. The Finns also were good soldiers. If to speak about the Japanese so Kwantung Army was a million men army which was very well-equipped. I suppose that two Atomic bombs that were dropped in the 6th and the 9th of the August (we began to advance in the 9th) demoralized them, and when they knew that USSR joined the war, when they became aware of what huge force came there – of course, they were defeated. At first, the commander of Kwantung Army ordered to surrender, then the Emperor of Manchuria was captured and also ordered to surrender. So some of their units continued to fight and some surrendered. In short, it was as mess in Japanese troops and the war had finished for them with large casualties. But if to speak about the Japanese soldiers so almost all they were ready to die in combat. And when my battalion had to deploy in a battle order and to attack their resistance points so they showed strong resistance until we eliminated them up to the last soldier.

[Andrey]

Vasilii Ivanov, an army scale recon officer

I was in Far East from the February of 1945 when I had graduated Supreme Special School of General Staff of Red Army.

In the beginning of July of 1945 troops from Europe began to arrive to us in Far East and I was sent in Field Command Post of the 2nd Far Eastern Front – to prepare scouts who must to cros the Amur at first, to eliminate silently Japanese border guards patrols and to clean the bank for the landing of main forces.

The campaign was not a secret for anyone but the masking efforts were made very definitely. I remember how a group of unknown to us generals had arrived in out command post. One of them said that he was Marshal Vasilevskii. He carried generals epaulettes instead of a marshal' ones up to the beginning of the war to deceive Japanese intelligence.

Our main trump was the strategic element of surprise; for it we even refused from a preparatory bombardment. And we really had taken the enemy by surprise – the Japanese supposed that Red Army would be able to advance net earlier than in September but we had made our blow in the beginning of the August. At the evening of August, 8th when Molotov was speaking on radio about the declaration of a war to Japan our troops were standing in the banks of the Amur and Ussuri in commission and in that night we went ahead.

On the morning of August, 9th I landed on the enemy bank with the Recon Battalion of the 361st Rifle Division of the 15th Army. we crossed the river nearly the village of Leninskoie. Boats of the Amur River Military Flotilia provided the crossing; border guards and seamen went to gether with us in the first wave. Neither during the crossing nor during the landing in Tuntsian and Futsyn nor in the next morning we met serious resistance – it was clearly that the Japanese didn't wait us there in that time. The landing of the main forces also was unhampered and our troops began to move impetuously inside of Manchurian territory.

Serious combats began in our direction only 3 days later, in August, 12th when the Japanese had regained consciousness, concentrated reserves and met us in Tsiamusy where they had a powerful Fortified Region. We spent a few days to breakthrough that Fortified Region. The Japanese had 17 such Fortified Regions.

So it is wrong to describe Manchurian operation as a easy walk. Indeed, it was a serious war, the Samurais resisted furiously, especially in the first week of combats: they were very well-trained and firm soldiers and fought up to the last soldiers. To the point, the stories about Japanese kamikaze chained to machine guns are not false or hearsays, I saw myself such kamikaze in Tsiamusy, he was already dead.

Breaking the Japanese defense, our division continued advance to Harbin. Armored boats, gun boats and monitors of the Amur River Military Flotilia helped us very much. They landed assault groups on the bank of Sungari. We entered Harbin in August, 20th but we didn't meet any resistance as the city was already liberated with small air landing group of the 1st Far Eastern Front.

We had to take the surrender of Japanese units, to disarm them and to place them in POW camps, to make an order in the city, to provide the security of our rears. It was calm at day but at night some shots were heard. Those were not the Japanese but the Gomindan representatives who attacked local Communists and Soviet soldiers.

But the most part of Chinese population met us enthusiastically, literally with open arms. the y were poor, half dressed but the presented us by a lot of flowers and fruits. The Chinese restaurants offered us free cheer. So we felt that we were real liberators. Of course, we were ready to it. And we were amazed by the treat of local Russian emigrants, the amount of which was very much in Harbin. Russian youth, especially girls, met us not less enthusiastically, they also presented us with flowers and fruits. They offered us to be guides and interpreters. The senior generation, former Whites [during the Civil War – remark of Andrey] at first were watchful to the Soviet troops – they tried to not be on the streets in the first a few days, then they stared at us for some time but little by little the distrust disappeared and the loyalty turned into friendliness.

Our enemies – and external, and internal – even right now try to blame USSR in cruel treat against Japanese POWs and civilians. But we didn't kill POWs, in reality we saved them as if the Japanese fall into the Chinese's hands so the Chinese tear them to pieces for the countless crimes that the Samurais made in Chinese land during the occupation. In the August of 1945 many Chinese demanded to deliver up them the Japanese POWs for condign punishment but we had orders to prevent lynch law. If to speak about the Japanese civilians so we had no any hatred to the Japanese moreover, to the local civilians. When we were placed in Japanese villages in the Southern Sakhalin we didn't oppress anyone, there were neither marauding nor violence.

Now some betrayers, who work on Japanese money, try to prove that really there were no combats in the August of 1945, that the Japanese almost didn't resist, the casualties were minimal and so on. In fact, we lost more than 12,000 men as KIA only. And the Japanese lost 84,000 as KIA. Is it little? I was there, I know how they fought – they fought like Samurais, heroically, furiously, especially in a few first days. The resistance began to decrease only after August, 15th when mikado declared about surrender but even in that time many samurais preferred to suicide but to not become a POW. To not confirm the courage of an enemy means to decrease the scale of our victory. And it is meanly to declare that it was easy walk.

The Chinese remember about Soviet soldiers-liberators and now. Memorials in the honor of our victory are in 46 cities of China. Even during the "cultural revolution" when the relations between our countries were very bad the Chinese preserved Russian graves from destruction (there are more than 50 Soviet cemeteries in China). Not long time ago a delegation of our veterans visited China in an anniversary of the victory over Japan. We were in all large cities where Russian cemeteries are and saw that all they are in excellent condition.

[Andrey]

A pair of remarks:

1 Samurai - the Soviet soldiers called Japanese soldiers Samurais

2 mikado - the Japanese Emperor

3 there is a Russian term smertnik. It means a soldier-fanatic who is ready to die in any moment. It is practically the same kamikaze but it is about ordinary soldiers and not about special units where kamikaze were concentrated.

My dictionary doesn't give an English equivalent of Russian smertnik. In the texts I translate smertnik as "a soldier who is ready to die but to not retreat".

In reality the Russian term smertnik has very menacing meaning.

When a pair of Soviet veterans writes "Almost all the Japanese were smertniks" (it is practically the same "Almost all the Japanese fought like kamikaze") it is heard very threateningly.

[Andrey]

I forgot to mention that all the stories were speaken a few years ago.

So there are no any Soviet censorship here.

[Andrey]

Dashi Irincheev, an artillery scout of an artillery regiment

In the evening on August, 8th meetings have taken place in all our batteries and battalions, then everyone have been given out on a unit of fire, enough ammunition have been brought up on the battery. With the approach of darkness we were ordered to have a rest but nobody slept. Everyone waited the command. In three o'clock in the morning our regiment has been lifted on battle alarm and has followed at our infantry to the border. When we have approached to a Japanese frontier post we have seen that all the Japanese were already destroyed by our assault group. There was a fight somewhere ahead - some shots and explosions were heard, they moved away inside of the territory of Manchuria.

The Japanese were so stunned by the unexpectedness, power and precipitancy of our offensive that they almost didn't show resistance and retreated in a panic. We have moved on 120 kilometers for the first two days and had arrived to the Khailar Fortfied Region to the evening on August, 11th. It was the most powerful and largest Fortified Region on that direction.

Here Japanese at last tried to stop us. Having collided with fierce resistance, our infantry has requested an artillery support. While our regiment was deploying, we, artillery scouts, were divided on some groups in 5-7 men and have gone in the frontline. In spite of the fact that it was already dark, we adjusted the fire of our batteries which was very intensive and exact. When the fire points of the enemy have been suppressed, our infantry has risen in an attack and has broken through the first line of the enemy defense. The Japanese have retreated in the depth of the Fortified Region, to the mountain of Khailar. The enemy fortifications were very serious there - there were some lines of barbed wire behind of a tank ditch, further there were some trenches, behind of them there were some two-storeyed artillery pillboxes, each of which was defended with a strengthened battalion. The thickness of the pillboxes' walls was up to three meters of reinforced concrete, above of which there was a two-meter pillow of the ground. All the approaches were exposed to cross-fire.

All the day we were on the frontline, conducting supervision over the Japanese positions. In the evening we have received an order to penetrate secretly as deep as possible inside of the enemy positions and to adjust artillery fire from there. It was necessary to filter secretly through the battle order of the enemy. Infantry scouts have shown us a place where there was no a continuous line of defense - that place was under fire of our artillery all the day long. It was there when we for the first time have seen many dead Japanese: probably, it was because of high losses why they have left that position. After we have passed the frontline, we have crept about two kilometers deep into the Japanese defense, have camouflaged, and have distributed the sectors of supervision. Since the morning and till the evening our commander adjusted the fire of our batteries with a portable radio set, while we attentively were watching the actions of the Japanese, were defining their fire points, were revealing their command posts and accumulations of enemy infantry, preparing for counterattacks, and were informing the coordinates of the found out targets in the headquarters of our regiment.

At the night when it had became quiet a little, we have dozed by turns for an one and a half or two hours. It was closer to the morning when we have received an order to move forward on a pair kilometers. Not uncovered by the enemy we have risen on a hill, have found a trench which was overgrown with a little small bush. We have carefully camouflaged again and with the dawn we have already transmitted fresh data.

However on the next night, on August, 15th when we were returning back and already passed the frontline, the Japanese have spotted us. The machine-gun and mortar fire was so strong that it was impossible to lift a head. It was necessary to request covering artillery fire and to retreat on all fours but we had no avoided losses nevertheless - efreitor Anatolii Seredkin was killed and we carried out his body. We have crawled up to a tank ditch and have stopped. There was our infantry there. We have dug out some shelters right in the wall of the ditch and have equipped an observing post there. It was very close to the Japanese pillboxes which continued to shoot. Then the batteries of our regiment had moved forward and opened a direct laying fire on the embrasures of the pillboxes. Our sappers began to break the walls of pillboxes with charges of an explosive. But the Japanese in no way wished to recognize their defeat and even tried to counterattack. It was about five o'clock PM when a battalion of Samurais-smertniks [they had decided to die in the combat and had no hope to survive] suddenly made a psychological attack. They run to us with naked swords, they were dressed in unbuttoned tunics with rolled sleeves and were shouting "Banzai!" But our artillerymen had kept their heads - they turned the batteries and opened shrapnel fire. After a few shrapnel volleys the Japanese battalion has lost a half from its stuff. Our infantry has risen in a counterattack and has eliminated all the remaining Japanese. No one of those Japanese retreated or surrendered. Wounded Samurais suicided with hara-kiri but didn't surrender. All the field has been covered by their corpses. At that moment someone of us has carelessly risen, Japanese have spotted our shelter and have hitted our observing post with mortar and artillery fire. One shell exploded right on the parapet of the trench, I was shell-shocked and was heaped up with the ground. When I was dug out, I heard nothing and only blinked with my eyes. Blood exuded from my left ear and I have a headache. I was sent in a field hospital.

On August, 17th the garrisons of the Japanese pillboxes at last have surrendered. About 54 thousand soldiers and officers led by general Namuro had surrendered. But there were some exchanges of fire from time to time - our soldiers were cleaning the territory of the Fortified Region and the mountain of Khailar from the Japanese who did not wish to surrender.

Mikhail Vasiliev visited me in the hospital a couple days later. He has told that at the evening our division would move to the Grand Khingan. I did not want to remain behind my regiment and I have run away from the hospital. When I has returned on my battery, the platoon commander asked me about my health. My head still hurted but I have answered that my health was OK (I already have removed the bandage from my head earlier as I wanted my commanders to believe me that I was healthy). The infantry regiments of my division already have moved forward and our regiment has moved at them two hours later.
The rise on the Grand Khingan was very difficult - though the wheels of our trucks were covered by chains they all the same slipped; on steep slopes we often had to climb down, to push out our trucks and to pull our guns with ropes. Not reaching the pass, we have came across a Japanese resistance point at village Buhedu where Samurais again have shown persistent resistance - the fierce fights lasted almost for two days. The Japanese smertniks, chained to rocks, fired on us from sniper rifles and machine guns and did not surrender, suiciding with a hara-kiri and dying right before our eyes. Only after the Japanese fire points have been suppressed by our artillery, our tanks and infantry have rushed into Buhedu. Japanese have retreated to the mountain of Tsitsikar where they have been finished off.

Then our division has moved further to Harbin, but it has stopped a day after - we were informed that the Japanese army is crushed finally and the war is finished. We shouted: "Ura!" and “The victory is ours!"

[Andrey]

Viktor Korner, the Commander the Patrol-Recon Detachment of the 1st Brigade of River Ships of the Awarded by an Order of Red Banner Amur Flotilla

In the Sungari campaign of the ships of the Awarded by an Order of Red Banner Amur Flotilla in the August of 1945 the combat nearly Khunkhedaothe was the most remarkable if to speak about the basis of sea tactics.

In the region of that settlement the ships of the Patrol-Recon Detachment consisting of the monitor "Sun Yat-Sen" and a group of armored boats have overtaken the retreating Japanese "Division of the Southern Seas" in the morning on August, 17th, have done large damage to the enemy and have not let to the enemy to strengthen the garrison of the city of Sansin, on the approaches to which the Japanese Command supposed to organize a General Battle against advancing Soviet troops...

On August, 16th the Patrol-Recon Detachment was ready to follow to its destination. At 14.10 the detachment have got the signal "To weigh anchor", and it has began to move upwards across the Sungari. The armored boats have increased a speed and left our ship behind.

The stream of the logs floated on the river increased with each kilometer of our movement. From time to time there were whole rafts. It very much complicated and strongly slowed down our movement.

(The commander of the group of armored boats V.N.Doroshenko recalls: "The Campaign to Harbin was very difficult. To that moment the river Sungari has over flown its banks and has spread on many kilometers and it was impossible to define the necessary a ship's course. The additional trouble was that on some thousands logs flew on all the extent of the Sungari. At any moment they could damage not only our screw propellers but also the hulls of the ships, especially it was related to the armored boats. There was an opinion that these logs were washed off by the flood of the river, another opinion was that Japanese have dropped them in the river as an obstacle to our ships. Anyhow, but the amount of the logs was so much that at times they covered all the surface of the river".)

On the approach to the settlement of Aotsi (about 30 km above Tsiamusy) the detachment has been fired with rifle-machine-gun and mortar fire from a bank. For the liquidation of that resistance point a group of our men has been landed from the monitor. Support with the fire from our ships the landing group promptly attacked the Samurais who dug in inside of the settlement of Aotsi and has forced the enemy to surrender after a short combat. We had captured more than 300 Japanese including 37 officers from whom one was a general and one was a colonel. The detachment was delayed on one and a half hours at the settlement of. At 19.00 the armored boats got an order to continue the movement to their destination. It was 19.20 when monitor "Sun Yat-Sen" has finished the loading of the trophy equipment and ammunition, has departed from a bank and had began to move to Sunsin. We hurried up as according the words of the captured general (which together with aide-de-camp and the colonel have been taken aboard the monitor) the "Division of the Southern Seas" has proceeded through Aotsi two hours prior to our occurrence. The enemy was somewhere nearly us, and it was necessary to catch up with him before darkness!

After Aotsi the stream of logs floating on the river has increased; and it became more difficult to move ahead. On top of it all the monitor has collided with a whole raft when it became dark so it was compelled to anchor to be released from that "a wood captivity". The armored boats had immediately been transmitted the order "To anchor".

Due the efforts of emergency and boatswain teams we have released the ship from logs to two o'clock in the morning. We decided to weigh anchor at five o'clock and it was transmitted to the armored boats. But unforeseeable consequence happened. In four o'clock in the morning the river had been covered by a dense fog , and visibility was reduced up to zero. It was impossible even to think about any movement on the river in such conditions.

Only at 8 o'clock some openings have started to appear in the fog and it became possible to see the clean blue sky and a slice of coastal feature on short time intervals. Both anchors were weighed; and the ship began to move ahead upwards on the river, moving like to the touch at first...

At 8.32 the sounds of an artillery cannonade have reached my ears. In spite of the fact that the fog still has not dissipated completely, I have given an order with telegraph to give a full speed. Ten minutes later we had received a report from the commander of the group of armored boats in which he informed that on the approaches to Khunkhedao the armored boats have been shelled by massed artillery fire from the right bank of the Sungari.

It became clear for me that the Patrol-Recon Detachment has came into a contact with the Japanese "Division of the Southern Seas". It was necessary to move to help to "our junior brothers" [it is about the armored boats - rem. of Andrey] as soon as possible. The telegraph was moved in the position of "full speed". The hull of the ship starts to shudder evenly. Here a water shaft lifts over the stern, throws on a deck and fills all the foredeck of the ship. The monitor is especially beautiful with its mighty force and with its irrepressible squall forward in such minutes...

At 10.30 the monitor was already in three kilometers from Khunkhedao, and I have seen all the picture of the combat. All the right bank of the river from the settlement of Hunhedao and on 6-7 kilometers above with stream is was wrapped up with a dense shroud of a smoke. The flashes of cannon shots are seen through the smoke. The armored boats, been strewed with shells, are maneuvering on the river which width did not exceed 400-500 meters in this place. They make a direct laying fire on visible fire points and enemy infantry. The monitor is ready to open fire. All its eight main caliber guns are loaded by high explosive shells. The basic enemy fire points have been defined and the main caliber turrets have directed in their direction. When the distance to Khunkhedao has decreased till 10-12 cables, the enemy has let alone the armored boats and transferred all the artillery fire on the monitor. I immediately have reacted: "We are on a battle course! Fire on Samurais!" At the same minute the monitor has shuddered from the first onboard salvo. Here where the excellent training level of all artillery crews and the skill of the commanders of the turrets to control the direct laying fire of their turrets against the visible targets were useful and showed its worth in full measure. Salvoes followed one another with an interval of 8-10 seconds. While the distance to the enemy fire points was reducing the torrent of shells with which he strewed the monitor increased but the efficiency of that fire against an armored ship was rather insignificant. To the eighth minute of the combat our ship had got 3 direct hits by shells of caliber up to 85 mm but no one of those shells has penetrate our armor and hit any vital parts of the ship. At the same time our 120-mm high explosive shells caused appreciable casualties to the enemy as its personnel and equipment were placed in open place without any cover by engineer means.

On the 15th minute of the combat the ship a battery of 105-mm howitzers has suddenly opened fire against our ship. The monitor has been covered right by the first volley. Two shells have exploded with a short, and the third one has hit a breakwater's fender for storage of food stocks which was ahead of the 1st turret. That hit, apparently, has caused some triumph between the enemies and has brought to me some disturbing seconds. The matter is that the fender hit by the shell contained three bags of flour. All the flour was lifted in air by the force of the explosion and covered the forward part of the ship with a white shroud. At first it seemed to me that there was an explosion inside of the 1st turret. I have immediately ordered to request the turret and its powder-magazine what has happened there. It was answered from there that everything was all right.

In that time the monitor, following at the most full speed, already has had time to slip "the flour cloud"; and it looked like the ship was covered by a white cerement. My assumption about some triumph between the enemies after that hits is based on the fact that when we have arrived in Harbin three days later we read in a local newspaper of White Russian emigrants an article about the combat nearly Khunkhedao. It was written in that article that Japanese gunners have destroyed one large ship and three boats of a Soviet flotilla. Being in large joy the Japanese signalers have hurried with that information and have sent us on a next world ahead of time...

The Japanese battery, achieved the hit in the ship, has had time to make one more volley, but then it was covered with some shells of the first turret and was forced to silence. By the way, the second volley of the battery has already laid down with flight and has not caused any damage to the ship. Showered by bullets, mortar and artillery shells, the monitor was quickly rising upwards on the river. During the movement forward the fire of the main caliber guns, antiaircraft guns and automatic guns was transferred on new fire points of the enemy and on accumulations of its soldiers.

In the full fling of the combat two enemy shells hit the bridge. One shell had put out of action the left antiaircraft automatic gun and wounded three its crewmen. The second shell has hit into a box containing 37-mm cartridges for antiaircraft automatic guns. The bright flame of burning gunpowder was pulled out outside. In any second an explosion could happen. Not losing time, Andrei Gundobin and Georgii Zhaleiko have rushed to the burning box: burning their hands and faces and straining all their forces, they have started to throw overboard the burning cartridges. When the danger of an explosion has disappeared, in the spite of numerous burns they again have risen to their weapon to destroy with neat fire the Samurais dug un along the bank.

Some minutes later a stray bullet has penetrated inside of the 2nd turret and has gone right through the breast of the commander of a turret Dubrovin. The falling heavily wounded commander was picked up on hands by the comrades who stood nearly and he was laid on a deck. The gunner Bachurin has replaced the commander and shouted: "Let's take revenge for our commander! Death to Samurais! Fire!" And the turret continued to shoot a shell behind a shell with the same accuracy.

An example of courage, firmness, heroism and utter devotion to a duty was shown by sailors-gunners Artikov and Antonov. Both they were in one combat post and were the crewmen of 20-mm automatic gun "Erlicon". Both were almost simultaneously wounded in legs but no one abandoned their post. Bandaged themselves their wounds they continued neat fire on the enemy and went in medical aid post only after a command "Cease fire!".

When the disordered battle orders of the Japanese division have remained behind, we have stopped to shoot on a bank.

The first part of the task of Patrol-Recon Detachment has been solved. It has overtaken the Japanese "Division of the Southern Seas" and has caused to it serious casualties. Now it was necessary to not let the further movement of that division in the direction Sunsin - Harbin. For that purpose it was necessary to choose and occupy a favorable artillery position, to adjust some reference points on the right bank of the river of Sungari and to compel with an artillery fire the enemy to turn back in the case of an attempt of the enemy to use the coastal road Tsziamusy - Sunsin.

Such position has been found in four kilometers above the place of the combat. An abrupt winding of the river hided the ship from the supervision from the direction of Khunkhedao. At the same time the coastal road was superb looked through from the ship, it was not difficult to zero in. We had zeroed in spending only two shells. In that place the monitor has anchored.

(The commander of a group of armored boats S.S.Glushkov recalls: "The armored boats shelled the road to Sunsin for about two hours, till the moment of the approach of the monitor "Sun Yat-Sen". Together with it they have suppressed the enemy fire points and have transferred the fire on enemy retreating troops. Then they shelled the road for seven hours scattering and eliminating the arriving units of the Japanese "Division of the Southern Seas".)

I have gone down in the wardroom where a medical aid post was deployed and have inquired about the wounded men. Their number was nine, all of them were already there, and all of them already had got the necessary medical aid. The doctor's assistant has reported to me the character of the wounds of everyone. According his estimation, the most dangerous was the wound of Dubrovin. Samurai's bullet has gone through his breast very closely to his heart and could injure large blood vessels.

All the wounded men have returned in the ranks for a month. And it was strangely enough but the first one who had returned was Dubrovin.

It is difficult to me to mark out somebody the best from the ship's crew. Everyone tried to be the best; everyone aspired there where it was most dangerous.

The Motherland has adequately appreciated the feat of the staff of the monitor "Sun Yat-Sen". Having started the campaign under a usual naval flag, we have returned to the native base under Guards one. All the sailors and officers were awarded by orders and medals, and I got the rank of the Hero of Soviet Union

[Andrey]

Alexander Fadin, a tank company commander

On June, 24th of 1945 I took part in Victory Parade. And already at the next day I got an order to return in my 20th Guards Tank Brigade which has been transferred in Mongolia to that time. While were moving by train we didn’t think about the war. All we believed that we should quickly settle scores with the Japanese.

When I arrived in the brigade which was dispersed in battalions around the Tamtsak-Bulak Lake I took command on a tank company (10 T-34-85). It was felt on the basis of everything around that important events would be soon. It was already on the next morning when all the officers of the brigade had been gathered to get officers lectures. We were learned the organization and equipment of Japanese Army up to a divisional scale and their probable tactics in a combat. But first of all we were trained to orientate ourselves in a terrain with stars, sun and azimuth. It was done because the terrain of Mongolia and Northern China in the area of probable combats was a desert-steppe region up to the Grand Khingan. It contained alkali soil and loose sand areas and practically had no any reference point.

In the first days of the August Major Popkov, our battalion commander, drove his officers to recon possible path to the border. We were driven by a truck. We often stopped, defined our position with sun and azimuth and also marked any details of the terrain which could be used as a reference point. In one halt our commander said: “It is enough, the border is in 10 km before us.” In that day I firstly saw two Japanese planes – they suddenly appeared from behind of clouds in the height of 1.5-2 km, arrived the border and sharply turned back. 15 minutes later they again appeared and repeated their actions but it was done 5-7 km to the right from us. Out battalion commander said: “The Samurais feel that something wrong there and make recon flights”. I wanted to ask about when should we begin but he looked at me and I did understand that it was not a good idea to ask that question. After all nobody spoke directly about the future war. But we were told in political lessons (and it was done up to the last moment) about the previous wars against the Japanese, about the struggle of the Chinese people been enslaved by Japanese imperialists, and about liberation mission of Red Army. So all we understood clearly that the war would begin very soon but we didn’t discuss it aloud. And it was only in the morning of August, 8th when we already have got additional rations and the water (5 liters for a person and 100 liters for a tank on every day of the advance) when we, the commanders of the companies and the platoons, were gathered in the headquarters of the battalion and were declared: “It is time when we, soldiers-Guards, must wash black spot of history lying on our Motherland.” After that our commander informed us about the plan to move to the starting point for future advance.

We had moved to the border in the second half of the day. We moved along the path that had been reconnoitered a few days before. Sun scorched very much – the hot was about 40 degrees Centigrade. Our armour became hot very quickly. A large cloud of dust been made by our tanks forced us to increase the distance between neighboring tanks up to 50 meters. We had reached starting region by 11 PM. There we began to maintain our “thirty fourths”. And suddenly we saw a bad thing. Indeed the sandy gravel soil let the tanks to move with high speed (up to 50 kmph). But the caterpillar tracks wore out very quickly in such case. Especially bad was the situation with track fingers which connected separate tracks in a caterpillar track. In the result the caterpillar tracks had stretched and were on the verge of break. Moreover, it was already after the first day of a forced march when our air cleaners were so dust-laden that they could be out of action soon. On the whole, we practically had no any rest in that day. We finished the maintenance, had a supper, began to sleep and were ordered to stand up and to fall in for a meeting. We washed ourselves somehow, saving water, and gathered nearly our tanks still in the dark. General Tumanian, the Member of the Military Council of the 6th Guards Tank Army, spoke with us. He reminded us about the first Russo-Japanese War and about the aggressiveness of Japanese imperialism and wished good luck for us. After that we were informed about our common task and it was dome at first for all our time there. We had to overcome a desert-steppe region (more than 300 km!!!) between the border and the Grand Khingan for 2 days, then we had to overcome the Grand Khingan for 2 other days and to come in the Central-Manchurian Plain. Then we had to advance in the south-eastern direction and to capture the towns of Porth-Arthur and Dalnii in order to prevent the retreating of the main forces of Quantung Army from the Central Manchuria to the south. Average daily rate of our advance was planned 80-90 and more km and it was unprecedented in history before! Moreover, it was at first in a military practice when a tank formation had to operate in the first echelon.

We crossed the border on 4 AM of the August, 9th without a preparatory bombardment. Nobody resisted us. It was only 2 hours later when two Japanese planes tried to attack us but they were intercepted by our fighters which didn’t let them to attack. On the whole, our advance was absolutely sudden for the Samurais. They didn’t show expected persistent resistance in our direction. So our main enemies were not the Japanese but the climate and the terrain. To the afternoon the temperature had risen to 45 degrees Centigrade and the sun made the armour so hot that it burnt our skin even through clothes. To that time we had got first casualties – some infantrymen riding on our tanks began to fall out because of overheating and sunstrokes and some later some of the tanks’ crewmen also began to fall out because of the same reasons. From time to time our medics had to make medical care now in the head of our column and now in the tail of our column. But despite everything we were moving forward. Dust raised and impeded to orientate ourselves. But soon U-2 appeared in the sky and it began to show us the necessary direction of the movement. For the first day we went 170-180 km, and it was more than a half of the distance between the border and the Grand Khingan which was already seen in the horizon.

In the next day our difficulties were increased. Tiredness accumulated because the people and the techniques operated at the breaking point of their abilities. When a small rain began close to the evening we were glad at first. We had hope that the rain would eliminate the dust and would cool at some scale the scorching armour. But we didn’t wait till any relief because the hot was replaced by killing sultriness. Moreover, the parched rivers were filling by water and began to turn into serious obstacles and brackish areas became completely impassable. There I made an annoying mistake. I saw a small river that was about 7-8 meters width only and I decided to cross it with a rush. I ordered to increase speed to my driver. But after coming in the water my tank immediately began to stick touching the river’s bottom by its bottom and barely got out in the opposite bank. The next “thirty fourth” was more unlucky and sticked in the river. Two other tanks sticked in the river. We spent more than one and a half hours to drag out them with the common forces of 3 tanks and we tore 3 tank ropes during the dragging out. After such a lesson we began to move more carefully and often stopped to check the pass ability of our path and to know the depth of the water obstacle.

Closely to the evening Japanese planes again tried to assault our column. Three planes suddenly appeared from the Grand Khingan and began to come to an attack. But I had shouted: “Fire on enemy planes” and our tank infantry cover riding on our armour met the Samurais with so harmonious and concentrated fire that the Japanese planes didn’t endure and turned away. Soon we were informed that those planes had attacked the forward unit of our brigade. Two of them were shot down during the approaching but the third kamikaze had collided a tank after all.

To the end of August, 10th we didn’t met serious resistance, went 100 km more and entered the foothills of the Grand Khingan. Unbearable hot, that was replaced by sultriness after a rain, wearisome work to overcome brackish areas and small rivers exhausted us to the highest degree. When we had heard the command: “Stop!” and had climb out from our tanks the crewmen really staggered like they were in a ship’s deck during a tossing. But all we were cheerful. To be sure! After all we had endured the advance rate which was unprecedented before!

After a 3-4 hours rest we had began to rise on the Grand Khingan still before the sunrise. Unfortunately, the troublesome rain wasn’t finishing. The tracks were sliding on wet stones, and were rolling inside of slush. It was more difficult to move further every hour. Steep turnings, risings and descendings with the slope more than 30 degrees, and swamp areas, which were overcame by us with large difficulty, were met more and more often. Here, in the end, we saw a Korokhan Pass. Even experienced tank drivers nodded their heads when they saw its steepness. It was good only that out recon had reported that there was no enemy on it. It was really good news. I tried to raise the pass with a rush and I was successful only from the third attempt but my driver was the best in my company. I consulted with the platoons’ commanders and we decided to raise on the pass with 3 tanks simultaneously connecting them in one bunch with tank ropes. In such a formation the first one, having risen on the pass, would help to the next ones. During the descending the last tanks would hampered the moving before ones. We overcame the Korokhan Pass, tore a few more ropes, and moved further. A mountain road to the next Tsagan-Dabo Pass went along narrow swampy gorge. It was necessary to pave the most difficult parts of the road with fascines and to fill them up with stones. There are sappers helped to us very much. They went in the head of our column, splintered rocks and metaled the road. The direction of our movement was shown with U-2 planes which threw pendants. The last kilometers to the Tsagan-Dabo Pass our tanks overcame already in the darkness, moving with the speed of 5 kmph, or with the speed of a pedestrian. But even such movement was a large success if to recall about the conditions of the movement. After a short rest we began to descend from the Grand Khingan in the morning of August, 12th. In the result of unceasing rains that descend was not easier than the rise. In the spite of the incredible exertion our people still endured but our technique began to break – even faultless “thirty fourths” stopped more and more often because of breakages. But our technical support service worked very well and soon those tanks came up with our column.

We were inspired with the knowing of the fact that we overcame the Mongol steppes and the Grand Khingan for 3 days, did it ahead of units of Quantung Army and didn’t let them to strengthen on that very important defense position. But our following successful advance inside of Manchuria would drive the Samurais into a corner. Quantung Army was doomed to destruction or surrender after the losing of the ability to retreat to their bases in Northern China and to their ports in the coast of the Pacific.

Descending to the plain we heard the sounds of far combat soon. The tanks of our forward recon unit began a combat against Japanese units, defending the town of Lubei. Our battalion commander ordered with a radio to increase our speed. I deployed my company in the formation of a platoon’s columns to attack the enemy with a rush. But how large was our disappointment when coming to the approaches to Lubei we had seen that the combat was over. Our recon unit crushed the enemy. We saw a few dozens of dead Japanese in a battlefield. I heard on a radio: “A pretty business this! We again were late!”

While we driving along the killed Japanese I drew my attention that some of them had bamboo pole in their hands. Those poles had 4 meters length and had something like a German Faustpatron [Russian nickname of a Panzerfaust – rem. of Andrey] in one of their ends. But in contrast to Hitlerites the Japanese had not to shoot from it but to run to a tank with that pole and to poke the pole into the tank’s side. Using such method the Japanese had to destroy not only the tank but and himself. Probably, soldiers-smertniks were an ordinary event in Japanese Army in that time.

We began to feel the shortage of fuel to the evening of August, 12th. The downpours have made the roads across the Grand Khingan impassable to wheeled transport. Besides, we were a few kilometers from our main supply bases. I was hearing on a radio: “How is the situation with “milk”?”. It was a question of our commander about fuel. I ordered that we had fuel to move 30 km, probably 50 km at maximum. A half hour later I got a “Stop!” command. I stopped my company assuming that we should get dinner and fuel. But our battalion commander arrived and said that we had to leave minimum fuel if the worst comes to the worst and to give up all the other fuel to the 1st Battalion which had to continue the advance. We had to stay and to wait of the refueling. I understood that the decision was correct – the brigade had to advance with at least part of its force – but it was a pity why the others and we continued the advance.

Given up the fuel we began to maintain our technique waiting for refueling. In the next morning we saw an amazing picture: some transport planes landed after one another in an ordinary field in a kilometer from us. Metal containers with fuel were unloading from them. But due the low carrying capacity of the transport planes of that time it needed 2 days to transfer the fuel for only our formation. In the end we began to move in the morning of August, 15th.

Rains periodically began again. Operating in difficult conditions of lack of roads our “thirty fourths” had entered in the town of Tunliao to the end of the next day. But it was practically impossible to move further. And it was impossible even to infantry. In the result of downpours something like an artificial sea was formed in the wide territories of the Central Manchurian Plain. And the Japanese opened the dams. So everything 100 km around was submerged. We again gad to risk. It was decided to overcome the submerged plain along the alone in that region the railroad embankment from Tunliao to Chzhansu. At that the tanks had to stretch in one line, moving with low speed ad without a possibility to maneuver as there was no any other way. Also the moving on sleepers caused large jolting and was a reason of the quick deterioration of track fingers and of tearing of caterpillar tracks. But any breakage was the reason of the stopping of the whole column and turned the column in an easy target, so damaged “thirty fourths” really threw off from the embankment in water to give path to the other tanks. Soon Japanese planes appeared. The Japanese kamikaze 4-6 planes groups tried simultaneously to attack different targets. But our supporting infantry, riding on the armour, contained experienced veterans, met the Japanese planes with organized concentrated fire so the resukt usually was unsuccessful for the attacking planes. But nevertheless they destroyed a tank from forward unit and a few trucks. Our common casualties during that 100-km march were extremely heavy although they were temporal. Only my company lost 5 of 9 tanks, those tanks tore their caterpillar tracks and were left behind. Those tanks hadn’t come up with us up to the end of the war. The situation was not better in the other companies. But we had overcome that artificial sea.

After that march we began to move to the ancient Manchurian capital Mukden in the second half of August, 18th. But an air landing was made there before, and the landed soldiers forced the local garrison to surrender, captured Manchurian Emperor Pu I and released some American POWs from a POW camp. To that time the resistance of the Japanese troops had practically stopped and the Japanese had become to surrender by whole units. Mukden’s powerful troops group together with their generals laid down arms cap in hand.

One day later air landings were made in the Liaodun Peninsula – in Dairen and Dalnii. We uploaded in a train and went to help to them. It was unheard-of bold decision which again was completely successful. What I saw I couldn’t see even in my dreams – tremendous officers-Samurais in full dress and with sabers met us in all our way, saluted us, bowed before us and rendered any assistance to us. On August, 23rd we arrived in Porth Arthur. We also were met by Japanese military administration which obligingly offered Japanese help in unloading the tanks and capturing of the town. I had a mixed feeling on my soul – I couldn’t believe that I was in legendary Porth Arthur which was so disgracefully given up to the Japanese by Tsarist generals in 1905.

And then we went again. Our column began to move on a motor road along the coast of Yellow Sea to the town of Dairen. We had arrived there one and a half hours later without any accidents. The local population met us with exultation. After our tanks have entered south-eastern outskirts of Dairen we were ordered to turn to the ocean.

We know now that those resolute actions frustrated an American plan to occupy the Liaodun Peninsula.

To that time my company had only 4 tanks from initial 10. One was lost in a desert (his pump was broken) and five were abandoned in railroad embankment because of tearing of their caterpillar tracks. The other companies had no less casualties. It was rare when a company contained more than 5 tanks. And those casualties were explainable. It was only for only 2 weeks while we made an unprecedented 2000-km rush from Mongolia to the Yellow Sea. We had overcome Mongolian semi-desert, the Grand Khingan mountains, and Manchurian impassability of roads, and forced to surrender one of the strongest armies of the World !!!