Hingano-Mukden offensive

On June 28, 1945, the directive of the Supreme High Command No. 11114 issued an order to the forces of the Trans-Baikal Front to prepare an offensive operation in central Manchuria. ^[3] In developing the plan of operation required:

• apply the main attack with the forces of three combined-arms (39th, 53rd, 17th) and one tank armies bypassing the Halun-Arshansky fortified area in the general direction of Changchun ;
• on the direction of the main strike to use the bulk of the artillery of the RGC , tanks and aircraft;
• 6th Guards Tank Army, acting on the direction of the main attack, to overcome the Great Khingan by the 10th day of the operation;
• auxiliary blow by the forces of the 36th Army to inflict on Hailar ;
• by the forces of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army, deliver an auxiliary blow to Kalgan and Dolonnor ;
• all preparation for the operation to finish by July 25.

Within the framework of the entire Manchurian strategic operation, the troops of the front were assigned the task together with the troops of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts to encircle and defeat the main forces of the Kwantung Army.

USSR

Trans-Baikal Front (Commander Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky R. Ya. , Chief of Staff General of the Army M.V. Zakharov )

• 17th Army (Lieutenant-General A. I. Danilov )
• 36th Army (Colonel-General A. A. Luchinsky )
• 39th Army (Col. Gen. Lyudnikov I.I. )
• 53rd Army (Colonel-General I.Magarov M. )
• 6th Guards Tank Army (Colonel General T. Kravchenko )
• 12th Air Army (Air Marshal Khudyakov S. A. )
• Horse-mechanized group (Colonel-General I. I. Pliev , deputy to the Mongolian troops J. Lhagvasuren )
• Transbaikal Army Air Defense (Major General of Artillery Rozhkov PF )

Japan

Part of the forces of the Kwantung Army:

• 3rd Front (General Jun Ushiroku ) composed of:
  • 30th Army (Lieutenant-General Shojiro Iida )
  • 44th Army (Lieutenant-General Yoshio Hongo )
• 4th Separate Army (Lieutenant-General Mikio Uemura )

On the night of August 9, the forward and reconnaissance detachments of the Soviet troops crossed the border. At dawn, the main forces of the Trans-Baikal Front followed them on the offensive. On the move, knocking over Japanese guard units, the attackers immediately picked up a high pace. By the end of the day, the troops of the 17th Army had advanced 50 km to the main forces, the 61st Panzer Division of the 39th Army had 60 km. The 6th Guards Tank Army, which by the end of the day was on the outskirts of the passes of the Great Khingan, had traveled 150 km in the fastest time. The troops of the 36th Army forced the Argun River , crossed the Zhalainor-Manchurian Fortified Area and advanced almost 40 km in the direction of Hailar. The 12th Air Army delivered massive air strikes against the enemy’s railway hubs: Halun-Arshan, Solun , Hailar and large stations. Japanese aviation did not counter it.

In the first days of the operation, the Japanese command lost control of the troops and was unable to organize strong resistance. However, individual garrisons fought very hard. The fierce resistance was exerted by Japanese troops in the Hailar area. Relying on reinforced concrete pillboxes, the 111th Infantry Division held defense for several days. Only after the arrival of additional artillery units, which included a large-capacity howitzer regiment, and a thorough preparation of the assault, the Soviet troops managed to seize this fortified area.

On the sixth day of the operation, the 6th Guards Tank Army traveled more than 450 km, overcame Great Khingan, and advanced into the rear of the Kwantung Army. The 12th Air Army , which the pilots did not allow the Japanese troops to occupy the Bolshoi Khingan passes, was very helpful to the tank crews, delivered powerful blows to important enemy targets in the operational depth and carried out reconnaissance routes. In general, as a result of six days of operation, Soviet and Mongolian troops overcame 250-450 km and reached the line of Dolonnor , Linxi , Tao'an , and Vanyemiao . The offensive of the 17th army saved the 8th Chinese army from destruction, which was surrounded by Japanese troops for more than a week in the city of Pingtsuan.

The rapid advance of the 6th Guards Tank Army led to the fact that its communications were extremely stretched (up to 700 km) and army vehicles could not deliver ammunition and fuel from the warehouses in time. Therefore, having reached the area of Lubei , Tuquan , the 6th Guards Tank Army was forced to stop for almost two days to tighten the rear. In this situation, it was decided to supply the troops with the help of aviation. On August 12 and 13, the 21st Guards and 54th Transport Air Divisions, operating in adverse weather conditions and in the absence of landing sites, transferred 940 tons of fuel and lubricants to the advancing ones. ^[four]

By August 15, the 6th Guards Tank Army resumed the offensive and developed it against Shenyang and Changchun . Behind her, remaining in the 2nd echelon of the front, the 53rd Army was moving. The 36th Army was fighting on the outskirts of Zhalantun and part of the forces eliminated the group in the Hailar fortified area. The 17th Army continued to advance in the Chifeng direction. The horse-mechanized group fought near Kalgan . On August 15-17, despite significant losses, the Hailar fortified garrison continued to defend itself stubbornly. On August 16, in the 400-km gap, formed as a result of the rapid advance between the 17th and 39th armies, the 53rd army was introduced from the 2nd echelon of the front. Her task was to go to the Kyle area.

The rapid overcoming by the Red Army of the Great Khingan, major rivers and deserts, the suppression of resistance in fortified areas and access to the Manchurian Plain put the Japanese command before the fact of the military defeat of the Kwantung Army. On August 17, its commander-in-chief, General Yamada, offered the Soviet command to begin negotiations on the cessation of hostilities. The next morning, his order was transmitted by radio to Japanese troops to cease resistance and surrender their weapons. After that, in many sectors of the front, Japanese troops began to surrender. The resistance to the Hailar fortified area ceased, where 3,823 soldiers and officers surrendered. The Soviet command, in turn, issued an order for the cessation of hostilities in those sectors where Japanese troops lay down their arms and surrender.

To document the capitulation of the Kwantung Army, the commander of the Trans-Baikal Front, R. Ya. Malinovsky, sent a special mission to General Yamada’s headquarters, led by Colonel I. T. Artemenko . On the morning of August 19, a plane with parliamentarians landed at the Changchun military airfield and Colonel Artemenko, accompanied by officers, went to the headquarters of the Kwantung Army. At 11 o'clock, an airborne force of 500 people landed on the same airfield. The paratroopers under the command of the guards major P. N. Avramenko quickly captured the airfield and occupied the all-round defense . After short negotiations with representatives of the Red Army, General O. Yamada signed the act of surrender to the Kwantung Army. Also, at the request of the Soviet command, General O. Yamada and Prime Minister Manzhou-Guo Ch. Jing-hui spoke to the public on the radio and reported on surrender.

By the end of August 19, the troops of the Transbaikal Front reached the line of Zhangbei, Chengde, Chifeng, Shenyang, Changchun, Kaitung, Qiqihar. To speed up the surrender of the Japanese garrisons, airborne assault forces were landed in a number of large cities. August 19 in Shenyang and Girin, August 22 - in Lüshun and Lüda, August 23 - in Yanji. Following the paratroopers, forward detachments of land forces approached the cities. In order to increase the pace of advancement, Soviet troops used railway transport in certain areas. By the end of August 26, the 53rd Army reached the Laohahe and Liaohe rivers on the Xingmyao , Kyle and Tongliao lines. The 36th Army reached the cities of Changchun, Siping , Gongzhuling . After the capture of Chifeng by the main forces, the 17th Army concentrated in the Ping Quan area, Lingyuan , sending strong reconnaissance detachments to the coast of Liaodong Bay . The 6th Guards Tank Army reached Lüshun , Zhuanghe and Fuzhou by a forced march.

Japan

Japanese troops lost more than 220 thousand prisoners, 480 tanks, 500 aircraft, 860 guns. ^[one]

USSR

In the course of the operation, the Trans-Baikal Front lost 8383 people, of which 2,228 were irretrievably lost. Mongolian troops lost 197 people, 72 of them irrevocably. ^[2]

As a result of the operation, Soviet troops defeated the opposing enemy grouping and advanced into the territory of Manchuria to a depth of 800 km.

13 particularly distinguished compounds and units were awarded the honorary names " Mukden " and 8 " Port Arthur ".

• The team of authors. The history of the Second World War. 1939-1945. Volume eleventh. - M .: Military Publishing, 1979.
• Khingano-Mukden offensive operation on the website "Red Army fighting in World War II"
• Larin M.Yu., Khvatov A.V. Unknown War of Russia. - M .: Slavic House Books, 2012. - 480 p. - ISBN 978-5-91503-199-8 .