It was the night of August 9, 1945, merely hours after the US had unleashed the second
atomic bomb on top of the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
Dense fog blanketed the landscape, shrouding the treacherous Manchurian terrain in a ghostly
mist.
Like a pale eye, the moon peered through the veil of clouds above.
All was quiet; it was the calm before the storm.
In the shadows, a small Soviet platoon with their faces painted in camouflage moved in
silence.
Suddenly, a distant rumble echoed across the hills, and the soldiers readied themselves.
The rumble grew louder as the sound of hundreds of Soviet tanks and artillery emerged from
the fog, a thunderous stampede of iron and steel.
The massive invasion force seemed endless.
In the last days of World War 2, a force was assembling in the far eastern reaches of Russia
and Mongolia.
The next few weeks would be a blistering series of battles, pushing every man to their limit.
But the stakes were too high to falter, for the reward was immense.
If they succeeded, they would vanquish the already weakened Japanese forces that still
held sway over Manchuria and secure permanent Soviet influence over all of Asia for the
rest of the 20th century…
Scheming
Forced into a brittle alliance with the West during World War 2, Joseph Stalin's true loyalties
lay solely with the Soviet Union's survival and ascent to power.
A master double-dealer, he deftly navigated all sides of the conflict, driven by a single-minded
determination to ensure that his country emerged victorious.
Despite the pleas of the United States and Britain, Stalin refused to go to war with
Japan, hiding behind the shield of the Japanese Neutrality Pact of 1941, even as the Allies
focused all their efforts on bending the might of the Empire of the Rising Sun.
But even after the fall of Germany and the Allies officially asking the USSR to join
the war against Japan at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin dawdled, reluctant
to commit troops to face Japan before the Empire of the Rising Sun was thoroughly defeated.
He knew that the US possessed a weapon of incomprehensible power, as he had been informed
by his spies, one of which was Klaus Fuchs, a German expert who worked on the Manhattan
Project on the development of the atomic bomb.
President Harry S. Truman confirmed this at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, but Stalin
acted nonchalantly, knowing what was coming.
With patience and cunning, Stalin bided his time, waiting for the moment when Japan would
be at its weakest, demoralized, and defeated by the atomic bombs.
He prepared his troops meticulously, led by Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Commander-in-Chief of
USSR Forces in the Far East, who rehearsed the battle plans for weeks.
All he needed now was to wait for the US to drop the bombs so he could strike with overwhelming
force in one devastating swoop that would comply with the Allies' requests of him, but
more importantly, guarantee the Soviet Union a decisive victory and a lasting influence
on the future of Asia.
Execution
As Germany capitulated in May 1945, Japan, the last bastion of the Axis powers, desperately
attempted to extend the Neutrality Pact and implored the Soviets to help broker peace
with the Allies.
The cunning Soviets stalled their response, discreetly amassing their invasion forces.
The high-stakes Potsdam Conference in July 1945 demanded Japan's unconditional surrender,
but Japan held its breath, placing all its hopes on the Soviet response.
Even so, the Asian nation gravely underestimated the Soviets’ invasion plans.
They braced for an assault by the end of August 1945 or spring 1946, oblivious to the Soviets'
covert strategy: a mid-August 1945 blitzkrieg with a colossal 89-division force poised to
strike at the heart of the Japanese Empire.
The operation unfolded like a classic double-pincer movement, spanning an area as large as Western
Europe.
The Red Army advanced from Mongolia, traversing deserts and mountains far from their supply
railways, which surprised the Japanese.
The Kwantung Army, known for their fierce and relentless fighting, was caught off-guard,
with their commanders away during the initial 18 hours of conflict.
Moreover, communication with forward units was quickly lost due to poor infrastructure.
Colonel General Andrei Kravchenko spearheaded the invasion by leading the 6th Guards Tank
Army in the Transbaikal Front's offensive against the Japanese Kwantung Army holding
Manchuria.
The force, consisting of 1,019 tanks and self-propelled guns, had been restructured to balance infantry,
artillery, and armored components, setting the standard for Soviet mechanized army organization
during the Cold War.
Despite being weak and unprepared, the Kwantung Army fiercely defended the town of Hailar
and other strategic positions.
Meanwhile, Soviet airborne units seized airfields and city centers, fueling advancing land forces.
Sailing through the vast ocean, the Soviet Pacific Fleet, commanded by the skilled Admiral
Yumashev, executed a series of daring amphibious landings on numerous Japanese-held islands
and ports in northern Korea.
With Yumashev at the helm, the Pacific Fleet provided invaluable assistance to the 1st
and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts troops, contributing to the defeat of the formidable Kwantung Army.
Ultimate Defeat
Despite their fearsome reputation and remarkable resistance, the Kwantung Army soon reached
the limit of its capabilities to fight against the massive Soviet all-encompassing assault.
The whole command structure was eroded, with the forces in Manchuria lying isolated and
depleted.
In mainland Japan, things were just as chaotic, with the Japanese High Command struggling
to assess the consequences of the atomic bombs and refusing to surrender without specific
guarantees.
However, with an entirely new war front opened in Manchuria, the hopes of an advantageous
ceasefire had vanished.
In just a few days, the Japanese were forced to use suicide bombers and kamikaze planes
to combat the Soviet tanks and impede their progress, but the tactics were to little avail.
The Soviets were able to cross the Ussuri and attack Suifenhe with lethal efficiency.
The popular appraisal that a quick defeat of the Japanese Army would be impossible,
given their extreme and often suicidal resistance, soon shattered, as in just one week, the Soviet
forces had infiltrated deep into Manchukuo.
They were now meeting almost zero resistance.
With their hold over the Pacific shattered, their homeland being attacked by a weapon
of unfathomable power, their claim over Manchuria and China contested, and their total inability
to prevent any of these factors, Japanese Emperor Hirohito finally announced a ceasefire
on August 15, 1945.
Even so, the announcement, known as Gyokuon-hōsō, led to confusion due to the archaic language
used and poor communication lines.
Some Kwantung Army units either misunderstood or ignored the order, leading to continued
resistance.
The Soviets pressed on, capturing key cities and the former Chinese Emperor, Puyi.
Eventually, the ceasefire order reached the Kwantung Army, but by then, the Soviet Union
had already secured most of its territorial gains.
By the end of the invasion, the Soviet Union held extensive territories in Asia, ranging
from northeastern China to Mengjiang, northern Korea, southern Sakhalin Island, and the Kuril
Islands.
Their success gave Stalin a significant advantage when negotiating with the Allies and the promise
of exerting vast influence over the region for years to come.
Surprisingly, the Soviet government agreed to the US proposal to divide Korea at the
38th parallel north.
The Soviet forces rapidly occupied the northeast of the Korean peninsula and, by August 24,
established a military government in the north.
American troops then arrived in Incheon on September 8, taking control of the South.
Far-Reaching Consequences
The Soviet Invasion of Manchuria was a last-moment military operation that profoundly impacted
history.
The Soviet Red Army's swift advance through Japanese-occupied Manchuria and northern Korea
prompted the United States to propose dividing the Korean Peninsula along the 38th parallel.
This partition plan culminated in the formation of two ideologically opposed Korean states:
the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea, and the capitalist
Republic of Korea, or South Korea.
This stark ideological chasm between North and South Korea sowed the seeds of discord
and eventually ignited the Korean War.
In a harrowing display of aggression, North Korea, emboldened by Soviet support, invaded
South Korea on June 25, 1950.
The ensuing conflict, characterized by brutal combat and devastating consequences for both
nations, raged until July 27, 1953, when an armistice was signed.
However, the absence of a formal peace treaty left the two Koreas in a perpetual state of
war.
Moreover, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria facilitated the spread of communism across
Asia.
Under the aegis of the Soviet Union, North Korea adopted a communist system, influencing
subsequent regional events, such as the Chinese Communist Revolution and the Vietnam War.
The Soviet Union's pivotal role in partitioning Korea and its patronage of communist regimes
in Asia exacerbated the broader Cold War animosity between the two superpowers.
As one of the first significant proxy wars, the Korean War galvanized global politics,
fostering a climate of suspicion and hostility that endured for decades.
In essence, the Soviet incursion into Manchuria left an indelible mark on Asia's modern geopolitical
fabric, precipitating the division of Korea, the Korean War, the ascent of communism, and
heightening the Cold War tensions that reverberate across the globe to this very day.
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