South Sakhalin Operation (1945)

USSR

• 16th Army (Commander General L.G. Cheremisov ) of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (Army Commander M.A. Purkaev )
  • 56th Rifle Corps
    • 79th Infantry Division
    • 2nd Infantry Brigade
    • a number of separate rifle, tank and artillery units
  • 113th Infantry Brigade
  • 214th tank brigade
  • 255th Mixed Aviation Division (106 aircraft)
• Northern Pacific Naval Flotilla (Commander Vice Admiral V.A. Andreev ) Pacific Fleet (Commander Admiral I.S. Yumashev )
  • About 30 ships and boats of the flotilla were involved in the operation
• Pacific Fleet Naval Aviation (80 aircraft)

Japan

• 88th Infantry Division of the 5th Front (Commander Lieutenant General K. Higuchi )
  • Koton fortified area (17 pillboxes, 28 art. And 18 mortar positions and other structures, the garrison - 5400 people)
• border guard parts
• reservist units

Northern and Southern Sakhalin was connected by a single road that ran along the meridially elongated valley of the Poronay River. Here the Japanese built the Koton fortified area, which rests on the left flank in the Poronaisk chain, and the right on the swampy right bank of the Porona.

Attack on the Coton Fortification

The 56th Rifle Corps, under the command of Major General A. A. Dyakonov, dealt the main blow to the Koton fortified area in the Poronai river valley. The corps consisted of the 79th rifle division of Major General I.P. Baturov , the 2nd rifle brigade of Colonel A.M. Shchekalov, the 214th tank brigade of Lieutenant Colonel A.T. Timirgaleev, the 678th and 178th separate tank battalions , a separate Sakhalin rifle regiment , artillery brigade (machine gun, howitzer and mortar regiments), 82nd separate machine gun and rifle company . Air support for the corps was provided by the 255th Mixed Aviation Division (106 aircraft).

The main blow was dealt by the 79th Infantry Division, reinforced by the 214th Panzer Brigade and artillery, in the direction of Honda , Coton . Another regiment was advancing off-road through the Muik police checkpoint, bypassing the main strip of the fortified area on the east side.

The advance detachment under the command of Captain G. G. Svetsky of the 165th Infantry Regiment at 11 a.m. on August 11 started a battle for the border stronghold of Honda (Handa), which covered the first defense line of the fortified area. Soviet troops vigorously attacked the Japanese, captured four cylindrical bunkers and firmly established themselves at this line. The stubbornly opposed enemy blew up a bridge across the river and thereby blocked the way for Soviet tanks. The main forces of the 165th Infantry Regiment joined the battle. During the night, a temporary crossing was constructed from logs and improvised means, and at dawn the infantry and tanks attacked the Honda. The 6th company of Captain Farafonov went around the stronghold from the rear and captured part of the trench. Then Svetsky brought the 5th company into battle, thereby cutting off the retreat of the enemy. All attempts by enemy soldiers to break out of the encirclement were unsuccessful. A fierce battle lasted until the evening and ended in complete defeat and capture of the Japanese garrison.

On the night of August 11-12, the advance detachment of the 179th Infantry Regiment, led by the battalion commander Captain L.V. Smirnykh , marched along the swampy left bank of the Poronay River and unexpectedly attacked the Muyk stronghold for the enemy. As a result of hand-to-hand combat, the garrison was defeated. However, the main forces of the regiment that came up in the morning could not move further south due to heavy fire from a neighboring strong point. Then the regiment commander decided to block him with one battalion, and the rest of the forces go straight through the swamps to the city of Coton - the most important resistance node of the fortified area. All night on August 13, fighters made their way through the bushes and swamps, sometimes waist-deep in water, carrying weapons and ammunition above their heads. The first was the battalion of Captain Smirny.

By the evening of August 12, the 165th infantry regiment approached the front edge of the main strip of the Haramitog fortified area and, together with the 157th infantry regiment, following in the second echelon of the division, launched an assault.

By the morning of August 13, a company of senior lieutenant Dorokhov left the Smirnykh battalion to the Coton station. At dawn, the Japanese made a sortie , having previously opened strong mortar and machine gun fire. Soviet soldiers responded with long machine gun bursts. Dorokhov raised the soldiers to attack. Almost simultaneously, the attack on the opposite side of the station was started by the captain of Smirnykh with the main forces of the battalion. Having seized the road, he put up a barrier and ordered the soldiers to break through to the station, where the enemy’s reserves could approach every minute. However, having met fierce resistance, the battalion suffered the first losses in this operation.

The battle for the city and the station lasted two days. The active operations of the Smirny battalion decided the outcome of the battle. By the evening of August 15, the regiment completely took control of Coton. On August 16, the captain of Smirnykh died. Posthumously he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. On Sakhalin, two settlements ( Leonidovo and Smirnykh ) and the city ​​district were named after him.

On August 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan, and from August 16, 1945, the commander of the Kwantung Army, General Yamada Otozo, ordered his army to surrender. Some Japanese divisions refused to surrender, and hostilities continued for the next few days.

At dawn on August 16, after an hour of artillery and aviation training, Soviet troops launched an assault on the main strip of Japanese defense simultaneously from the front and rear. By the end of August 17, they divided the enemy troops into separate groups. By the evening of the next day, after mastering the main pass of Harami-Toge , the fortified area was over. The remnants of the Japanese garrison capitulated.

In these battles, high combat training and courage were shown by battery artillerymen, commanded by senior lieutenant P.N. Sidorov . Acting in battle formations of the infantry, artillerymen directly aimed at destroying the firing points and repelled enemy counterattacks. Only on August 16, the battery destroyed 6 observation posts to the company of infantry, and crushed 4 pillboxes.

Troopers

So it was at the borders dividing the northern and southern parts of the island. To accelerate the defeat of the Japanese, by the decision of the commander of the 16th Army, a detachment of ships of the North Pacific Flotilla with a landing party of sailors and soldiers of the 113th Infantry Brigade, Colonel N. 3. Zakharova left Sovetskaya Gavan. The transition was made with a wind of 5 points and the visibility of less than one cable. On the morning of August 16, suppressing enemy fire resistance, the 365th Separate Marine Battalion and the 2nd Battalion of the 113th Rifle Brigade landed in the port of Toro by landing and seized the port and city of Toro (Shakhtersk) with a swift strike. On August 20, a landing was landed at the port of Maoka ( Kholmsk ). Despite a statement of unconditional surrender, Japanese troops on the island continued to resist. That was the demand of the Japanese government. It tried to buy time for the South Sakhalin colony that had actually been lost to it. The landing at the port of Otomari ( Korsakov ) on August 25, through which the main evacuation and removal of material assets were carried out, was the last act of hostilities on the island. As a result of the operation, 18,320 Japanese soldiers and officers were captured.

• South Sakhalin Operation 1945 - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• 60 Years of Victory. South Sakhalin Operation 1945
• SOUTH SAKHALIN OPERATION 08/08/19/1945

• Zakharov S.E., Bagrov V.N., Bevz S.S., Zakharov M.N., Kotukhov M.P., Red Banner Pacific Fleet. - M., Military Publishing, 1973. Chapter Thirteen. Liberation of South Sakhalin
• Bagrov V.N., South Sakhalin and Kuril operations (August 1945), M., 1959.