Soviet invasion of Manchuria (1945)

Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation
Part of the Soviet–Japanese War of World War II
Soviet gains in North East Asia, August 1945
Date 9–20 August 1945 Location Manchuria/Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia/Mengjiang, and north of Korea Result Decisive Soviet and Mongolian victory; Contribution to Japanese surrender Liberation of Manchuria, Inner Mongolia and northern Korea, and collapse of Japanese puppet states there Territorial changes Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are returned to China.
Belligerents
Allies:  Soviet Union  Mongolian People's Republic (Outer Mongolia)	Axis:  Japan  Manchukuo  Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia)
Commanders and leaders
Aleksandr Vasilevsky	Otozō Yamada (POW) Zhang Jinghui (POW)
Units involved
Soviet armies Western Front 17th Army 36th Army 39th Army 53rd Army 6th Guards Tank Army Mongolian Cavalry Group 12th Air Army Eastern Front 1st Red Banner Army 5th Army 25th Army 35th Army 10th Mechanized Corps 9th Air Army Northern Front 2nd Red Banner Army 15th Army 16th Army 5th Separate Rifle Corps Chuguevsk Operational Group Amur Military Flotilla 10th Air Army	Japanese armies Kwangtung Army First Area Army 3rd Army 5th Army Third Area Army 30th Army 44th Army Independent units 4th Army 34th Army Fifth Area Army
Strength
Soviet Union: 1,577,725 troops 27,086 artillery pieces 1,152 rocket launchers 5,556 tanks and self-propelled guns 3,721 aircraft Mongolia: 16,000 troops	Japan: 713,729 troops 5,360 artillery 1,155 tanks 1,800 aircraft 1,215 armored vehicles Manchukuo: 170,000 troops Mengjiang: 44,000 troops
Casualties and losses
Soviet Union: 11,033 killed 24,125 wounded 300+ tanks destroyed Mongolia: 72 killed 125 wounded	Japan: 21,389 killed 20,000 wounded unknown troops captured Much equipment captured Manchukuo: Most troops deserted beforehand Mengjiang: Most troops deserted beforehand Soviet claim: 83,737 killed

Decisive Soviet and Mongolian victory;

Japan:
21,389 killed
20,000 wounded
unknown troops captured
Much equipment captured
Manchukuo:
Most troops deserted beforehand
Mengjiang:
Most troops deserted beforehand

The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, also known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, lit. Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastupatelnaya Operaciya) or simply the Manchurian Operation (Маньчжурская операция), began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. It was the last campaign of the Second World War, and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace. Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and northern Korea. The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionally, as it made apparent the Soviet Union would no longer be willing to act as a third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on conditional terms.

Since 1983, the operation has sometimes been called Operation August Storm (mainly in the United States), after U.S. Army historian David Glantz used this title for a paper on the subject.

As agreed with the Allies at the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union entered World War II's Pacific Theater within three months of the end of the war in Europe. The invasion began on 9 August 1945, exactly three months after the German surrender on May 8 (9 May, 0:43 Moscow time).

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