Fundamentals of Japanese Ground Forces Tactics. The history of the battles of the Imperial Japanese tank forces

Rapid breakthrough of the Trans-Baikal Front

On the night of August 9, 1945, Soviet troops went on the offensive. The Soviet Air Force delivered powerful strikes against fortified areas, strongholds, railway junctions, airfields, and the administrative and industrial centers of Harbin and Changchun, as well as ports in Korea. On the very first day of the offensive, the main forces of the Trans-Baikal Front, without encountering strong enemy resistance, advanced 50 kilometers, and mobile units - 150 kilometers. That is, our troops moved at the speed of the march.

On the right flank, our troops also advanced rapidly. A cavalry-mechanized group in the Zhehei direction took the city of Dolonnor, and on August 15 in the Kalgan direction they started a battle for the city of Zhangbei. Parts of the 17th Army took Dabanshan.

Our troops encountered the greatest difficulties in the offensive zone of the 36th Army, on the left flank of the Trans-Baikal Front. The army troops advanced in two main directions: with the main forces from the Starotsurukhaitui region to Hailar and from the Otpor region to the Manchuria station and the city of Chzhalaynor. Here the Japanese had two fortified areas. The formations of the army strike force successfully crossed the Argun River and moved to Hailar. There was no resistance at first. But stubborn battles flared up near the city of Hailar. Here the Japanese created an SD, which had several strongholds. The approaches to them were covered with minefields, barbed wire, anti-tank ditches and scarps. The fortified area was defended by 3 thousand Japanese garrison.

On August 9-10, the army advance detachment stormed the Hailar UR, but did not achieve significant success. The Japanese resisted fiercely. Only by the morning of August 11, our troops were able to take the railway station, power plant and military city. During the day, heavy fighting continued. Soviet troops occupied several long-term firing points, a significant part of the city and the airfield. The Japanese continued to fight. On August 12-14, our troops stormed the main resistance centers of the Hailar fortified area.

On the right flank of the 36th Army, our troops advanced faster. Having suppressed the resistance of small groups of the enemy, the Soviet troops occupied the station of Manchuria, the city of Zhalaynor and moved to Hailar, where they took part in the liquidation of the strongholds of the enemy UR. To speed up the defeat of the enemy, on August 14, the army command formed a task force consisting of the 94th and 293rd rifle divisions, two separate artillery and machine-gun brigades reinforced with artillery. These troops completed the defeat of the Hailar garrison. On August 18, the remnants of the Japanese garrison capitulated.

Meanwhile, the troops of the main strike force were overcoming the Greater Khingan, a large mountain barrier. I had to move off-road, in the mountains there were many steep ascents and descents. Soldiers often had to pull equipment and supplies on themselves. Rains worsened the passability of the area, and the heat exhausted people. Despite this, the Soviet soldiers rushed forward. The forward detachments of the 6th Guards Tank Army had already crossed the mountains on August 11, reached its eastern slopes, and at the end of the day took the city of Lubei. Soon the guards took the city of Taoan.

Pilots of the 12th Air Army provided great support to our ground forces. Our Air Force struck at railway stations, stages, bridges, paralyzed traffic on sections of the roads Changchun - Ulan-Hoto (Wangyemyao) - Halun-Arshan, Harbin - Hailar - Manchuria. As a result, the Japanese command was unable to transfer operational reserves by rail and timely occupy the passes on the Greater Khingan, which could seriously impede the offensive of the Soviet troops. Also, the Japanese were unable to timely evacuate material assets from the border zone and withdraw troops from there.

The troops of the 39th Army overcame the Greater Khingan within two days and began to develop an offensive against Solun and Ulan-Khoto. On the way, our troops had to overcome the fierce resistance of individual units of the Japanese army in the Khalun-Arshan fortified region. This SD with pillboxes and bunkers occupied about 40 kilometers along the front and was up to 6 kilometers in depth. It was defended by a regiment of the 107th Japanese Infantry Division and a border detachment. On August 12, our troops took the city of Khalun-Arshan. On August 13, Soviet troops, having occupied Thessalonica and Ulan-Khato, broke through into central Manchuria. However, separate disparate groups of Japanese troops that fled from this UR, as well as units retreating into the depths of Manchuria from the western border, continued to resist in the Ulan-Khato and Khalun-Arshan regions until the end of the month.

Thus, having advanced from 9 to 14 August across the territory of Northeast China for 250-400 km, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front broke through into the rear of the enemy and launched an offensive against the largest administrative and industrial centers of Manchuria - Kalgan (Zhangjiakou), Rehe, Mukden, Changchun and Qiqihar.

1st Far Eastern Front

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front also successfully advanced. The forward detachments, taking advantage of the night darkness and thunderstorms, attacked the enemy fortifications located along the border at one in the morning. The actions of the Soviet soldiers were so swift that the Japanese could not offer strong resistance. Our troops quickly captured the advanced fortifications, disrupted its defense system and created favorable conditions for the development of the offensive. As a result, the foreseen artillery preparation became unnecessary.

Behind the forward detachments, the main forces of the front went over to the offensive. The troops of the 35th Army crossed the Ussuri and Sungach rivers and advanced 10 kilometers. The actions of the Soviet troops were hampered by the fact that they had to advance in the taiga, with complete lack of roads. For armored vehicles, vehicles and artillery, it was necessary to lay paths, for the device of which special detachments were formed. They included several tanks, units of shooters and sappers. The tanks made their way through the forest. The infantry cleared it up to 5 meters wide. Then special units improved the column tracks. Soviet troops bypassed the enemy garrisons in the nodes of resistance and strongholds that could not be taken from the raid. They were blocked by separate units reinforced by artillery. The fortified areas of the enemy were smashed with the massive participation of artillery and aviation. Separate Japanese garrisons, using long-term fortifications, resisted until August 26.

The main forces of the front, in conditions of difficult mountainous and wooded terrain, advanced up to 75 km in some directions in two days. The centers of the fortified regions of Hutou, Border, Dongning and other settlements were captured. Front-line aviation actively supported the ground forces. Our Air Force delivered massive strikes against the cities of Hutou, Changchun and Mudanjiang. Soviet fighter aircraft completely controlled the sky.

Soldiers of the 5th Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front cross the border from Manchuria

Japanese 150-mm armored turret destroyed by Soviet troops in the Khutous fortified area

In order to cover the approaches to Central Manchuria, the Japanese command concentrated its efforts to hold the line of the Mulin and Mudanjiang rivers and the area of the city of Mudanjiang. The troops of the 3rd Japanese Army were defending here, consisting of five infantry divisions, reinforced by artillery. The approaches to Mudanjiang were well protected, had a significant number of long-term reinforced concrete structures, saturated with machine-gun and artillery weapons.

However, the Japanese were unable to stop the offensive of the formations of the 1st Red Banner and 35th Army, which were actively supported from the air by bomber and attack aircraft. Our pilots delivered effective strikes against enemy resistance centers, retreating columns, and reserves approaching the rear lines of defense. The 59th Rifle Corps of the 1st Army (Red Banner Army) with the 75th Tank Brigade broke the enemy's stubborn resistance and took the large communication center of the city of Linkou, cutting off Mudanjiang from the north. The 26th Rifle Corps with the 257th Tank Brigade, destroying scattered enemy groups, crossed the Mudanjiang River with advanced forces and broke into the city of Mudanjiang. At the same time, the troops of the 5th Army broke through the heavily fortified enemy defenses and took the city of Mulin, developing an offensive against Mudanjiang from the east.

Mudanjiang was of great operational and strategic importance, so the Japanese command continued its efforts to strengthen its defenses. The Japanese hoped to hold the city and prevent the breakthrough of Soviet troops into central Manchuria. The Japanese command regrouped troops, strengthening the Mudanjiang grouping. Only in the offensive zone of the 5th Soviet Army there were 10 artillery and 11 mortar batteries. The defense on the outskirts of the city was strengthened. The battles for Mudanjiang took on a tense character. Breaking the resistance of the Japanese troops, our troops gradually occupied the city. The Japanese repeatedly launched counterattacks. Suicide bombers attacked armored vehicles, hunted for our officers.

The resistance of the Japanese troops was so strong that under the onslaught of superior enemy forces, the advanced units of the 26th Rifle Corps were forced to leave the city and move away from it for 8-10 km. The Soviet command regrouped its forces, and was forced to reorganize the assault on Mudanjiang. On the left flank of the front, the 25th Army developed an offensive against Vanqing. On August 12, part of the army's forces took the Korean port of Racine.

Thus, in six days of continuous fighting, units of the 1st Far Eastern Front broke through the powerful long-term defense of the Kwantung Army on the eastern borders, advanced up to 100 km deep into Manchuria and began the assault on Mudanjiang. At the same time, the troops of the Soviet front created favorable conditions for an offensive in the southern direction, in Korea, and for isolating the Japanese troops in Manchuria from the Korean grouping.

The crew of the MBR-2 aircraft from the Air Force of the Soviet Pacific Fleet is preparing for flight. First day of the Soviet-Japanese war

The offensive of the 2nd Far Eastern Front

At night, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front also attacked the enemy. The offensive was carried out in difficult natural conditions. Heavy rains in July and August caused flooding. Cupid overflowed its banks. The places planned for the concentration of troops were flooded, the roads were washed away. The flooded and swampy banks of the river made it extremely difficult to approach it and choose a place for crossings. Therefore, the areas of concentration of troops and crossing points had to be chosen again. The 15th Army was reinforced with crossing facilities: pontoon parks, barges of the Amur Shipping Company, and amphibians. But the main role was played by the ships of the Amur flotilla. They transported the bulk of the troops to the landing sites, supported the landing of our forces with machine-gun and artillery fire, suppressing the enemy's coastal fortifications.

Overcoming the resistance of the Japanese, on August 9, the Soviet forward detachments captured several islands on the Amur, a bridgehead north of the city of Tongjiang and defeated the garrison of the city of Fuyuan. At the same time, the 5th separate rifle corps crossed the Ussuri River in the Zhaohei direction and took the stronghold of Dun'an. Parts of the Soviet corps captured two bridgeheads.

The reconnaissance detachments of the 2nd Red Banner Army discovered that the enemy had left only small cover groups and garrisons in separate strongholds on the banks of the Amur. The main forces of the 4th separate army were withdrawn deep into Manchuria. The command of the front decided to go over to the offensive of the main forces. On the night of August 10, the crossing of the main forces in the Sungari direction began. During the night, the ships and transports of the Amur flotilla transported more than 4 thousand soldiers with artillery, vehicles and ammunition. On the morning of August 10, our troops, with the support of attack aircraft, took the city of Tongjiang.

The troops of the 15th Army developed the Jiamusi and Harbin offensive. A fierce battle unfolded for the Fujin fortified area and the city of Fujin (Fugdin). On the southern outskirts of the city there was a well-fortified military town prepared for defense. It had an anti-tank ditch and pillboxes and bunkers armed with machine guns. In the village itself, the Japanese created a whole network of fortifications, armed with guns and machine guns, disguised as residential buildings. All of them were connected by trenches and communications. The approaches to the city from the north and east were covered by several strongholds. The UR was defended by a garrison of three battalions of the 134th Japanese Infantry Division.

On the night of August 12, the main forces of the 361st Rifle Division and the 171st Tank Brigade broke into Fujin. On the morning of August 13, Soviet infantry, supported by tanks and naval artillery, broke into the military city. The Japanese stubbornly fought back and repeatedly launched counterattacks, but they could not withstand the onslaught of the Soviet troops. The Japanese military city was taken. By the end of August 14, the liquidation of the garrison of the Fujin fortified region was completed. The way to Jiamusi was opened.

Troops of the 5th Rifle Corps also successfully advanced. On August 10, after the Japanese garrison of the city of Zhaohe refused to capitulate, they defeated it and took the settlement. On August 14, our troops took Baoqing.

The successful offensive of the troops of the 15th Army and the 5th Corps in the Sungarian and Zhaohei directions allowed the command of the 2nd Far Eastern Front to order the 2nd Red Banner Army to go on the offensive. On August 9-10, the forward detachments of the army, together with the sailors, captured bridgeheads on the banks of the Amur, south of the cities of Blagoveshchensk, Konstantinovka and Poyarkovo. On August 11, the 2nd Red Banner Army launched an offensive against Qiqihar. As a result, the 2nd Far Eastern Front broke through the enemy defenses and developed an offensive deep into Manchuria.

Pe-2 dive bombers of the 1st Far Eastern Front go on a combat mission

Beginning of the Sakhalin operation

The Soviet command, noting the great success of our troops in Manchuria, decided to go on the offensive on Sakhalin. The strategic situation in Northeast China made it possible to launch offensive operations on Sakhalin and the Kuriles. The task of liberating South Sakhalin was solved by the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, which went on the offensive on August 11, 1945.

On August 11, the 79th Rifle Division of the 16th Army went on the offensive in the direction of Koton - Keaton - Nayoro, and later on Toyohara. The main road in South Sakhalin passed along this direction. To the north, the Japanese had the Koton (Haramitog) fortified area, which was defended by the troops of the 88th Japanese Infantry Division. The Japanese built a complex network of defensive structures here. On August 13, our troops took the city of Koton, the center of the Japanese fortified area. As a result, conditions were created for breaking the enemy defense system and breaking through to the south.

Soviet soldiers in South Sakhalin

Captured on the island of Shumshu Japanese amphibious tanks Type 2 "Ka-Mi". On the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, two battalions of Japanese marines were based, which were armed with these tanks.

Results of the first stage of the operation

During the first six days of the war with Japan, our troops completely broke through the enemy's defense system on the border, overcame the line of Japanese fortified areas, approaching the most important vital centers of Manchuria - Harbin, Changchun and Mukden. The Japanese army suffered heavy losses in men and equipment. The command of the Kwantung Army was unable to effectively counter the Soviet offensive to slow it down and lost control of the troops. Soviet aviation completely dominated the air, striking at enemy troops and strongholds, airfields, communications and other important objects.

Local residents greeted the Russians as liberators, with great joy, rendered all kinds of assistance. The long domination of the Japanese led to the poverty of the locals. The Japanese treated the Chinese and other ethnic groups like slaves. The liberated population of Northeast China tried to help in the repair of roads in order to speed up the advance of the Soviet troops, they caught the hiding Japanese.

The defeat of the Kwantung Army put the Japanese military-political leadership in front of a catastrophe. The plan to drag out the war completely collapsed. On August 9, as soon as Tokyo learned of the USSR's entry into the war, the emperor ordered an immediate plan to end the war. On August 14, 1945, a joint meeting of the Supreme Military Council and the government, in the presence of the emperor, decided to surrender the Japanese Empire.

However, the Japanese army continued to fight, although the imperial decree spoke of the end of the war. The Japanese military continued to resist. The General Staff of the USSR issued a special clarification, which stated that the announcement of the surrender of Japan on August 14 is only a general declaration of unconditional surrender. The order to the armed forces of Japan to cease hostilities was not given and they continue to resist. Therefore, there is no real surrender of Japan yet. Therefore, Soviet troops in the Far East will continue the offensive until the moment when the Japanese forces cease resistance and lay down their arms.

The population of Manchuria meets Soviet soldiers

To be continued…

In February 1945, a conference was held in Yalta, which was attended by representatives of the countries that were part of Great Britain and the United States, managed to get the Soviet Union to agree to take a direct part in the war with Japan. In exchange for this, they promised him to return the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, lost during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.

Termination of the peace treaty

At the time when the decision was made in Yalta, the so-called Neutrality Pact was in force between Japan and the Soviet Union, which was concluded back in 1941 and was supposed to be valid for 5 years. But already in April 1945, the USSR announced that it was breaking the treaty unilaterally. The Russo-Japanese War (1945), the reasons for which were that the Land of the Rising Sun had sided with Germany in recent years, and also fought against the allies of the USSR, became almost inevitable.

Such a sudden statement literally plunged the leadership of Japan into complete disarray. And this is understandable, because her position was very critical - the Allied forces inflicted significant damage on her in the Pacific Ocean, and industrial centers and cities were subjected to almost continuous bombardment. The government of this country was well aware that it was almost impossible to achieve victory in such conditions. But still, it still hoped that it would somehow be able to wear down and achieve more favorable conditions for the surrender of its troops.

The United States, in turn, did not count on the fact that they would get an easy victory. An example of this is the battles that unfolded for the island of Okinawa. About 77 thousand people fought here from Japan, and about 470 thousand soldiers from the United States. In the end, the island was taken by the Americans, but their losses were simply amazing - almost 50 thousand killed. According to him, if the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 had not begun, which will be briefly described in this article, then the losses would have been much more serious and could have amounted to 1 million soldiers killed and wounded.

Announcement of the outbreak of hostilities

On August 8, in Moscow, the document was handed over to the Japanese Ambassador to the USSR at exactly 17:00. It said that the Russo-Japanese War (1945) was actually starting the very next day. But since there is a significant time difference between the Far East and Moscow, it turned out that only 1 hour remained before the start of the offensive of the Soviet Army.

In the USSR, a plan was developed, consisting of three military operations: the Kuril, Manchurian and South Sakhalin. All of them were very important. But nevertheless, the Manchurian operation was the most large-scale and significant.

Side forces

On the territory of Manchuria, the Kwantung Army, commanded by General Otozo Yamada, opposed. It consisted of about 1 million people, more than 1 thousand tanks, about 6 thousand guns and 1.6 thousand aircraft.

At the time when the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 began, the forces of the USSR had a significant numerical superiority in manpower: only there were one and a half times more soldiers. As for equipment, the number of mortars and artillery exceeded the similar enemy forces by 10 times. Our army had 5 and 3 times more tanks and aircraft, respectively, than the corresponding weapons of the Japanese. It should be noted that the superiority of the USSR over Japan in military equipment consisted not only in its numbers. The equipment at the disposal of Russia was modern and more powerful than that of its opponent.

Enemy strongholds

All participants in the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 were well aware that sooner or later, but it had to start. That is why the Japanese created a significant number of well-fortified areas in advance. For example, we can take at least the Hailar region, where the left flank of the Trans-Baikal Front of the Soviet Army was located. Barrage structures on this site were built for more than 10 years. By the time the Russo-Japanese War began (August 1945), there were already 116 pillboxes, which were interconnected by underground passages made of concrete, a well-developed system of trenches and a significant number. This area was covered by Japanese soldiers, whose number exceeded the divisional one.

In order to suppress the resistance of the Hailar fortified area, the Soviet Army had to spend several days. Under war conditions, this is a short period, but during the same time the rest of the Trans-Baikal Front moved forward by about 150 km. Given the scale of the Russo-Japanese War (1945), the obstacle in the form of this fortified area turned out to be quite serious. Even when his garrison surrendered, the Japanese warriors continued to fight with fanatical courage.

In the reports of Soviet military leaders one can very often see references to the soldiers of the Kwantung Army. The documents said that the Japanese military specially chained themselves to the beds of machine guns so as not to have the slightest opportunity to retreat.

evasive maneuver

The Russo-Japanese War of 1945 and the actions of the Soviet Army were very successful from the very beginning. I would like to mention one outstanding operation, which consisted in a 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Panzer Army through the Khingan Range and the Gobi Desert. If you take a look at the mountains, they seem to be an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of technology. The passes that Soviet tanks had to pass were located at an altitude of about 2 thousand meters above sea level, and the slopes sometimes reached a steepness of 50⁰. That is why cars often had to zigzag.

In addition, the advancement of equipment was also complicated by frequent heavy rains, accompanied by flooding of rivers and impassable mud. But, despite this, the tanks still moved forward, and already on August 11 they overcame the mountains and reached the Central Manchurian Plain, in the rear of the Kwantung Army. After such a large-scale transition, the Soviet troops began to experience an acute shortage of fuel, so they had to arrange for additional delivery by air. With the help of transport aviation, it was possible to transport about 900 tons of tank fuel. As a result of this operation, more than 200 thousand Japanese soldiers were captured, as well as a huge amount of equipment, weapons and ammunition.

Height Defenders Sharp

The Japanese War of 1945 continued. On the sector of the 1st Far Eastern Front, Soviet troops encountered unprecedentedly fierce enemy resistance. The Japanese were well entrenched on the heights of Camel and Ostraya, which were among the fortifications of the Khotous fortified area. It must be said that the approaches to these heights were indented by many small rivers and were very swampy. In addition, wire fences and excavated scarps were located on their slopes. The firing points of the Japanese soldiers were cut down in advance right in the rocky granite rock, and the concrete caps protecting the bunkers reached a thickness of one and a half meters.

During the fighting, the Soviet command offered the defenders of Ostra to surrender. A man from among the local residents was sent to the Japanese as a truce, but they treated him extremely cruelly - the commander of the fortified area cut off his head. However, there was nothing surprising in this act. From the moment the Russo-Japanese War began (1945), the enemy basically did not go to any negotiations. When the Soviet troops finally entered the fortification, they found only dead soldiers. It is worth noting that the defenders of the height were not only men, but also women who were armed with daggers and grenades.

Features of military operations

The Russo-Japanese War of 1945 had its own specific features. For example, in the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the enemy used kamikaze saboteurs against units of the Soviet Army. These suicide bombers tied themselves with grenades and threw themselves under tanks or at soldiers. There was also such a case when about two hundred "live mines" lay on the ground next to each other in one sector of the front. But such suicidal actions did not last long. Soon, the Soviet soldiers became more vigilant and had time to destroy the saboteur in advance before he came close and exploded next to equipment or people.

Surrender

The Russo-Japanese War of 1945 ended on August 15, when the country's emperor Hirohito addressed his people on the radio. He stated that the country had decided to accept the terms of the Potsdam Conference and capitulate. At the same time, the emperor called on his nation to observe patience and unite all forces to build a new future for the country.

3 days after Hirohito's appeal, the call of the Kwantung Army command to its soldiers was heard on the radio. It said that further resistance is pointless and there is already a decision to surrender. Since many Japanese units did not have contact with the main headquarters, their notification continued for several more days. But there were also cases when fanatical military personnel did not want to obey the order and lay down their arms. Therefore, their war continued until they died.

Effects

It must be said that the Russo-Japanese War of 1945 was truly of great not only military but also political significance. managed to completely defeat the strongest Kwantung Army and end World War II. By the way, its official end is considered to be September 2, when the act of surrender of Japan was finally signed in Tokyo Bay right on board the battleship Missouri, owned by the United States.

As a result, the Soviet Union regained the territories that had been lost back in 1905 - a group of islands and part of the South Kuriles. Also, according to the peace treaty signed in San Francisco, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin.

Exercise 1. Analyze the text of the textbook and choose the correct answers.

1. What caused the peaceful nature of the European foreign policy of Nicholas II at the beginning of the reign:
a) the fact that Russia had no allies among the leading European powers;
b) the fact that the military-industrial potential of Russia was significantly inferior to the potential of the European powers;
c) the fact that peace in Europe facilitated the establishment of Russian dominance in East Asia

2. What foreign policy actions did Nicholas II take to establish peace in Europe:
a) concluded an agreement with England;
b) initiated the convening of an international conference on problems of general disarmament;
c) recognized the primacy of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans

Task 2. Analyze the text of the paragraph, read the documents and answer the questions.

From the letter of the German Emperor Wilhelm II to Nicholas II. January 1904
... Russia, obeying the laws of expansion, should strive to go to the sea and have an ice-free harbor for its trade. By virtue of this law, she has the right to claim the strip of coast where such harbors (Vladivostok, Port Arthur) are located. ports (Manchuria). Between the two ports there is a strip of land, which, if it falls into the hands of the enemy, can become something like new Dardanelles. You cannot allow this. These "Dardanelles" (Korea) should not be a threat to your communications and a threat to your trade. Such is the case in the Black Sea, but in the Far East you cannot reconcile yourself to such a situation. Therefore, it is clear to any unprejudiced person that Korea must be and will be Russian. When and how, no one cares about this and concerns only yourself and your country.

1. What are the causes of the Russo-Japanese War and its nature?
Reason: Russia's desire to dominate the Far East, which did not suit Japan. Russia sought to go to the sea and have an ice-free harbor. Another goal of the Russian government - victory in the war could divert attention from internal problems and bring down the rising revolutionary movement. Captivating character.

2. What are the goals of the persecution of Russia in this war?
Expand the sphere of influence and establish dominance in the Far East. Solve the country's internal problems associated with the spread of the revolutionary movement.

3. What do you think, for what purpose did the German emperor write such a letter?
In order to weaken Russia by tying it into a war with Japan.

Task 3. Match historical figures and facts.

Task 4. Based on the text of the paragraph, determine which of the following was included in the terms of the Peace of Portsmouth (several answers are possible):
a) compensation by Russia for the material losses of Japan in the amount of 100 million gold rubles;
b) the introduction of Russian troops into Korea;
c) Japanese occupation of Manchuria;
d) the transfer of the lease of Port Arthur to Japan;
e) the transfer of the southern part of Sakhalin Island to Japan;
f) prohibition to the Japanese of the right to fish along the Russian shores in the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea.

Task 5. Using textbook text, map:

1. The directions of the offensive of the Japanese troops.
2. Dates of the beginning and end of the defense of Port Arthur.
3. Places and times of the main battles of the war on land and at sea.
4. Borders between Russia and Japan before and after the war.

The situation on the Sino-Japanese front by the end of 1943 was unfavorable for the allies. In the hands of the Japanese troops was the vast territory of China, stretching in the north and northwest to the border with the Soviet Union and the Mongolian People's Republic, in the west - to the Baotou line, the Yellow River, Kaifeng and in the south - to Xinyang, Yichang, Nanchang and Hangzhou.

In addition to Manchuria, which Japan occupied as early as the early 1930s, a number of mainly coastal Chinese provinces were captured, where the largest cities, seaports and industrial enterprises, the main railway and water transport routes were located.

The Japanese military command, despite the transfer of several divisions there caused by failures in the Pacific theater, kept most of the ground forces and aviation on Chinese territory, including in Manchuria, as well as in Korea and Japan proper. By the end of 1943, out of 3,800 thousand people in the total number of personnel of the armed forces, more than 2 million were in China and Korea. The divisions of the Kwantung Army, later wrote Colonel S. Hayashi, who later worked in the highest administrative bodies of the Japanese army, conducting intensive combat training, "fettered the Soviet Far Eastern Army in order to prevent the transfer of Soviet troops to the German front." In addition to the Japanese in Northeast China, there were troops of the puppet state of Manchukuo and the so-called "autonomous" government of Inner Mongolia. In Northern, Central and Southern China there were Japanese ground forces with a total number of up to 620 thousand people. To fight the democratic forces of China, the command of Japan also used the troops of the puppet Nanking government of Wang Ching-wei.

The Japanese forces operating in North and Central China were opposed by the troops of the Kuomintang (Chongqing) government and the 8th and New 4th armies led by the Communist Party of China. The regular army of Kuomintang China, together with the troops of the provinces, which were nominally subordinate to the Chongqing government, in 1944 reached 5 million people. In the direct subordination of the commander-in-chief, Chiang Kai-shek, there were up to 3 million soldiers and officers. Chinese aviation had 200 aircraft. In addition, 130 American aircraft were based in China.

The fighting efficiency of the troops of Kuomintang China was low. They were poorly armed, experienced an acute shortage of aircraft, tanks, artillery, and vehicles. There was a shortage of trained personnel. The combat training of personnel and the work of headquarters were at a low level. In addition, in the main headquarters in Chongqing, pro-Japanese elements occupied leading posts in a number of cases. The existing order in the troops, in which each division commander received money for his troops independently and spent them without any control, greatly contributed to the prosperity of theft. At the expense of the soldiers, officers profited, who cared little about the condition and combat capability of their units and units. Discipline was also weak, especially in the armies of the provinces. Their governors-general often did not carry out the military orders of Chiang Kai-shek, which made it extremely difficult to organize interaction between the troops of the Chongqing government and the provincial armies.

Communist-led armies and partisan detachments operated in the liberated areas in the rear of Japanese troops in North China (8th Army) and in the eastern regions of Central China (New 4th Army). The general leadership of them was carried out by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the military command, located in the Border (Special) Region of Shaanxi - Gansu - Ningxia (Shenganning) with the center in the city of Yan'an. By the end of 1943, according to some sources, the number of regular armies led by the CCP reached 250,000 fighters, and in partisan formations, 1 million. These forces controlled 22 thousand settlements.

Maintenance of regular armies and partisans in the liberated territory was carried out at the expense of local resources. The soldiers and commanders of the 8th and New 4th armies were forced to grow grain, vegetables, livestock and poultry, and produce everyday household items in handicraft workshops. While pursuing a policy of preserving and accumulating forces, the nationalist elements in the leadership of the CPC Central Committee did not seek active action against the Japanese invaders. The main efforts were concentrated on the defense of the liberated regions and repelling the "raids" of both Japanese and Kuomintang troops.

Relations between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang were very tense. The Chongqing government has long since refused to supply the 8th and New 4th armies with weapons and ammunition, demanding that the CPC reduce their numbers to 10 divisions (about 100,000 men) and eliminate all other formations—partisan detachments, people's militia, self-defense detachments. Naturally, the CPC Central Committee could not accept these Kuomintang demands, which were aimed at seriously weakening the position of the Communist Party and all the democratic forces of the country. The anti-people policy of the Chiang Kai-shekists led to a further intensification of the struggle. According to an American military adviser, 500,000 Chiang Kai-shek troops fought against the army led by the CCP in the northern regions of the country. China was split into two independent and irreconcilably hostile forces. There were no general military and political actions against the Japanese aggressors. On the contrary, the danger of a civil war was growing, which weakened the strength of the nation in the struggle against the occupiers.

Suffering setbacks in the Pacific theater, the Japanese command hoped to achieve great strategic successes in China and turn this country into a base for further warfare. When planning military operations, it set itself the goal of defeating the Kuomintang troops in Central and South China, capturing the American air bases and airfields located there, establishing a single communication line on the continent from Manchuria to Singapore, and uniting all fronts in Asia. Great importance was also attached to the possibility of withdrawing Kuomintang China from the war on the side of the anti-fascist coalition.

The offensive actions of the Japanese troops, according to the directive of the headquarters of January 24, 1944, were planned to be carried out in two stages. On the first one, an offensive was planned in Henan province in order to clear the section of the Beijing (Beiping)-Hankou railway from Zhengzhou to Xinyang from Chinese troops, on the second - in the provinces of Hunan and Guangxi, in order to capture the southern section of the railway, from Hankou to Guangzhou (Canton), and to ensure further communication with the Japanese troops in Indochina and other regions of Southeast Asia.

When planning military operations against Japan for 1944, the allied command took into account that the troops of Kuomintang China were incapable of an offensive. The main goal of the allies on the Chinese front was to keep Kuomintang China in the anti-fascist coalition and to prevent the surrender of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Japan. The immediate task was to prevent the enemy from advancing west of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway, to maintain its airfields and bases in Central and South China, to build up the US air force in China, as well as the Chinese army, in order to subsequently intensify ground and air operations.

Active hostilities in Central China began in the second half of April. On the Kuomintang troops of the 1st and 5th military regions, where there were eight armies and several separate corps and divisions with a total strength of over 400 thousand people, the Japanese invaders inflicted two blows: one - by the forces of the 1st and 12th armies from the Kaifeng area and north to Zhengzhou, then to Luoyang and along the Beijing-Hankou railway to Queshan; the second - part of the forces of the 11th army to the north, towards the first. 148 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were involved in this operation in the main direction. The troops of the Kuomintang, surpassing the enemy in terms of the number of personnel, were inferior to him in weapons and military equipment, and were worse prepared. Therefore, they could not offer serious resistance to the enemy.

On the northern sector of the front, three Japanese shock groupings, supported by tanks and aircraft, in the very first days of the offensive penetrated deeply into the disposition of Chinese troops and defeated them. On April 19, the invaders captured Zhengzhou, a large city and an important junction of the Beijing-Hankow and Longhai railways. Developing the offensive, they occupied the city of Luoyang in the western direction on May 25, and in the south they went to the Queshan region, where by the same time the division and brigade of the 11th Army, advancing from the Xinyang region to the north, had approached. As a result, the Kuomintang troops of the 1st and 5th military regions suffered heavy losses. In the hands of the invaders was most of the territory of the province of Henan and the entire railway line from Beijing to Hankou.

During the Beijing-Hankow Offensive, the Japanese command prepared the second stage of the offensive with the aim of defeating the Chinese troops of the 9th military region in Hunan province and capturing the railway to Guangzhou. Offensive operations in this province were to be carried out by the 11th Army from the north and the 23rd Army from the Guangzhou area. Concentrating northeast of Lake Dongting, on May 27, the troops of the 11th Army went on the offensive in the general direction of Changsha. Already in the first days they managed to penetrate deeply into the disposition of Chinese troops. Subsequently, they quickly advanced to the south and southwest and inflicted a severe defeat on the Kuomintang.

Parts of the 8th, New 4th armies, operating in the occupied territory, and partisan detachments did not undertake broad offensive operations during this period. However, they often had to repulse the punitive expeditions of the troops of the Japanese invaders and the puppet Nanking government of Wang Ching-wei. The Japanese aggressors involved significant forces in operations against the areas liberated by the Chinese patriots. The offensive was usually carried out depending on the availability of roads in directions, on each of which a battalion operated - a regiment with reinforcements. There was often no interaction and communication between the units and subunits advancing in separate directions, which was successfully used by the people's liberation troops and partisans. They seeped into the gaps, suddenly attacked the flank and rear of the punishers and crushed them piece by piece. The defeat of any column that penetrated the territory of the liberated region often led to the disruption of the entire operation. The rest of the columns were withdrawn to their original areas. Taking advantage of this, units of the people's liberation troops and partisans began to move behind the retreating enemy and, striking him from the rear, occupied new settlements, which in some cases led to the expansion of the territory of the liberated regions.

Thus, the offensive of the Japanese troops in April-May 1944 led to the occupation of new regions of Central China. The aggressors managed to seize the railroad communications linking Manchuria with the central regions of China. This allowed them to start operating the Beijing-Hankou railway. Conditions were created for capturing it to Guangzhou. As a result of the spring offensive against the city of Changsha, which began at the end of May, a real threat arose to the American air bases in Central China.

Put on the map 1. Names of states. 2. The directions of the offensive of the Japanese troops. 3. The direction of the blows of the Russian troops. 4. Dates of the beginning and end of the defense of Port Arthur. 5. Places and times of the main battles of the war on land and at sea. 6. Borders between Russia and Japan before and after the war.

Answers:

Date of beginning and end of the defense of Port Arthur - July 30, 1904 to December 23, 1904 Attached 2 images:

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