The Russians came, and invincible Japan fell in a few days

When discussing the fact that Russia can have only two allies - the army and navy - often there is emphasis on possible anti-Russian aggression. Among the countries that can invade across Russian borders, China is often called. Moreover, in relation to potential Chinese “aggression”, the Russian public and specialists are usually divided into two camps. In one camp, those who consider China to be a clear adversary, in another, those who do not see the enemy in China, but see an exclusively pragmatic neighbor.

In one of the series of the documentary, which was prepared by the Russian Ministry of Defense, “The Eternal Patriotic”, with reference to an unnamed Chinese scholar, it is stated that the Chinese seem to perceive the Russians not as angels, not as demons without which there are no barriers. A Chinese scholar focuses on how the Russians perceived the Chinese after the defeat of Japan in 1945. For China, Japan was an incredible force that could not be defeated. But the Russians came, and the war ended in just a few days. And in this war, China lost millions of its citizens.

The film tells about the Russian-Japanese confrontation, the echoes of which in the form of non-signing of the peace treaty are heard to this day. One of the episodes of the film is about Soviet tankers deployed to the Far East during the war with Japan:

Comments

[Shuttle]

The Soviet troops then (as always, however) acted very humanely, like real warriors. They declared war, ended it at lightning speed, civilians did not suffer, and even returned the prisoners. I think that then it was appreciated not only by the Chinese, but also by the Japanese themselves.

[210ox]

It is said that some Japanese refused to return home after captivity. It was a shame to them

[Tatyana Pershina]

Some simply had nowhere to return and no reason. I had a friend - the son of a former soldier of the Kwantung army. After the defeat of Japan, the soldier (prisoner) remained in the USSR. This soldier went to war from Hiroshima.

[41st region]

My mother (77 years old) loves the Japanese. This is because the Japanese prisoners who were restoring the destroyed plant in the city of Artemovsk, Donetsk region, shared bread with their children. The Germans didn’t do that; mom remembers that for sure.
I have been living in the Far East for 30 years and I had to see the Japanese and learn the attitude towards them from the side of the closest "neighbors".
In short, hatred.
Neither the Chinese nor the Koreans forgot anything. Bills will be presented ...

[your1970]

Quote: 41st region

This is because the Japanese prisoners who were restoring the destroyed plant in the city of Artemovsk, Donetsk region, were sharing bread with the children.

- like that not really I believe that the prisoners Germans were not enough in the European part of the USSR

[major147]

Quote: Shuttle

I think that the Japanese themselves appreciated it then.

But now it is already forgotten by them.

[Alex2]

And not a word about the atomic bombing. As a consequence of this - the announcement of Emperor Hirohito on the surrender of Japan on August 14, is also silence. If not for these events, the commander of the Kwantung Army, General Yamada Otodzo, would not have given his army the order to surrender on August 16.

[cost 75]

And without the bombing, the Kwantung army had no chance.

[Alex2]

Of course there was no chance. However, they could resist, as in Iwo Jima or Saipan. The USSR would pay a completely different price for the victory.

[your1970]

Quote: Alex2

Of course there was no chance. However, they could resist, as in Iwo Jima or Saipan. The USSR would pay a completely different price for the victory.

-couldn't. Our army was taught by the Wehrmacht, the best teacher at that time. Japanese against the background of the Wehrmacht are hysterical suicides, no more ... I am silent about the land army, it is enough to compare the T-34 and their boxes of the 1930 model

[ZhorikVartanov]

The bombing of 2 cities was not as critical for Japan as the loss of the entire resource potential of the continental empire, together with the backbone of the army.

[210ox]

Surrender was not the result of atomic bombing. Prior to this, a dozen cities were destroyed by an ordinary lighter and so what. Where is the surrender?

[Sergey Sfiedu]

Surrender was already in the air. The fact that the war was lost was clear to everyone - from the emperor to the rank and file. And if many fanatics were ready to fight in any situation, the Japanese elite did not want to die at all. Hence the appeal to the USSR to mediate. And when the USSR entered the war, the last hope was gone. And the nuclear bombing came in very handy - they explained to the fanatics - yes, we are all ready to die for the emperor, but you can’t argue against the atomic bomb, the gods turned their backs on Japan, and they don’t argue with the gods.

[dzvero]

I read that the emperor began to discuss surrender, not after the atomic bombing, but after the USSR entered the war.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were:
1. A real-world test to assess the capabilities of a new weapon;
2. Demonstration of force against the USSR;
The Americans themselves believed that if you have to fight on the actual Japanese territory, then their losses will be in the region from 500 to one and a half million. Also, they expected the war to end in 000.
The Kwantung army was somewhat weakened, but even if it was in its original form, there was no chance against the Red Army of 1945. They would have defeated it not in seven, but in ten days.
As for major losses - they could be expected when taking the islands of the Kuril ridge and then at the very beginning. I dare to suggest that subsequent landing operations would be organized and conducted much better.

[Sergey Sfiedu]

“The Americans themselves believed that if they had to fight on Japanese territory proper, their losses would be in the region of 500 to one and a half million” - so they would hardly have climbed the islands, but would have tried to strangle the Japanese with hunger and burn houses and crops.
"The Kwantung Army was somewhat weakened" - they write that it was weakened quite strongly, everything worth anything was sent to fight in the Pacific theater of operations, China's resources were a thing for Japan - the Americans had already begun measures to blockade the ports of Japan, and it is possible not doubt it would only get worse. The Japanese had nothing to answer - there was almost no fuel for the aviation and navy, and there were very few ships and aircraft left.

[FIR FIR]

Hirohito did not even think of any surrender in August. Hiroshima, and especially Nagasaki, were not the largest industrial centers and large ports. The Soviet troops forced the capitulation of the emperor, destroying the land fist of the Japanese army - the Kwantung army, depriving Japan of the industrial and resource base of Manchuria and Korea.

[Usher]

Quote: Alex2

And not a word about the atomic bombing. As a consequence of this - the announcement of Emperor Hirohito on the surrender of Japan on August 14, is also silence. If not for these events, the commander of the Kwantung Army, General Yamada Otodzo, would not have given his army the order to surrender on August 16.

You are mistaken, the loss of two unimportant cities did not solve anything at all. Carpet bombing was just as destructive. Japan hoped to defend the metropolis to the end, and hoped precisely for the Kwantung Army.

[Tuzik]

The Japs had to give up already in April, after our neutrality pact had been torn apart, they would have saved more of their territories.

[Doccor18]

Russian public and specialists are usually divided into two camps. In one camp, those who consider China to be a clear adversary, in another, those who do not see the enemy in China, but see an exclusively pragmatic neighbor. 

Of all the above, one key word is pragmatic. Pragmatism in everything is what is the hallmark of the Chinese. Not an enemy, not a friend, not an ally, not an adversary, but a 100% pragmatic neighbor. It will be necessary, there will be a war, it is not necessary - it will not. The forces of the parties, the importance of the state, the perseverance and faith of the population, the population of territories, the depravity of politicians - all this is pragmatically taken into account by the Chinese and weighed, yes or no. No need to fear China, but no need to give it a reason ...

[mmaxx]

We must pay tribute to the Chinese. Our monuments are in their best condition. Museum exhibitions with the role of our army. It is clear that they do not forget themselves. But the Red Army is not deleted from life and is respected as a liberator. These are the strange "enemies".

[Konstantm]

But how did Stalin's words be taken at that time? Nevertheless, we avenged the Japs for the humiliating world of 905 .... He

[Koval Sergey]

The management correctly did that they postponed Japan until the end of WWII - they avoided a war on two fronts.