Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin
In 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth divided Sakhalin Island along the 50th parallel north. The Russian Empire kept control of the northern half while the Empire of Japan took the southern portion known as Karafuto Prefecture. This division created a unique geopolitical situation where two nations shared one landmass for four decades. By 1945, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin pledged to enter the war against Japan two or three months after Germany surrendered. The Yalta Conference in early 1945 established that the Soviets would receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands as part of their concessions. On the 5th of April 1945, the Soviets formally repudiated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. Three days later, on August 8, they launched a full-scale invasion of Manchuria which started the Soviet-Japanese War. The main purpose was to clear Japanese resistance and prepare within ten to fourteen days to invade Hokkaido.
General of the Army Maksim Purkayev commanded the 2nd Far Eastern Front with General Leonty Cheremisov leading the 16th Army. The Soviet forces included the 79th Rifle Division, 2nd Rifle Brigade, 5th Rifle Brigade, and 214th Tank Brigade alongside the 113th Rifle Brigade. Pacific Fleet Admiral Ivan Yumashev directed naval operations while Vice-Admiral Vladimir Andreyev led the Northern Pacific Flotilla. Imperial Japan deployed Lieutenant General Kiichiro Higuchi's 88th Infantry Division of the Fifth Area Army. The Karafuto fortified area contained seventeen bunkers, twenty-eight artillery positions, and eighteen mortar positions with a garrison of five thousand four hundred troops. The northern area featured tundra terrain where only one military road connected the border to Kamishikika Station. On August 3, the 88th Division received permission to intercept any Soviet invasion after requesting reorganization since late June. The operation plan divided into three phases: breaking through the border security line, capturing Kotono Station, and rapidly advancing to occupy South Sakhalin.
On August 11 at approximately 5 a.m., the Soviet military invasion began along the central military road from the Handa frontline. About one hundred men including two infantry squads and twenty-eight Border Police officers defended this position for an entire day before being nearly destroyed on August 12. Colonel Kobayashi commanded the 125th Infantry Regiment which had main forces stationed at Uro and Kamishikika as of August 9. By August 10, the regiment set up positions on the western side of Happo Mountain northwest of Furuton. Soviet tanks advanced despite Japanese anti-tank guns while defenders at Shishiha positions suffered heavy losses. Major Sadaharu Kobayashi and Lieutenant Colonel Iwakai died during fierce fighting around the barracks in Furuton by the evening of August 16. The 125th Infantry Regiment laid down their arms at 10 a.m. on August 19 following an immediate ceasefire order. Casualties among Japanese forces totaled five hundred sixty-eight killed mostly due to battles around Furuton with Soviet estimates suggesting one thousand killed and dozens of tanks destroyed.
Soviet Admiral Vladimir Andreyev initiated the Tōro landing operation independently on August 16 near Esutoru Town. Four waves of attacks launched from Sovetskaya Gavan included one patrol vessel, one minesweeper, two transport ships, and several small craft. Only about twenty percent of civilians remained when Soviet forces landed at Tōro while fourteen hundred women children and elderly people evacuated to the Mitsubishi Tōro coal mine. Town Mayor Shōmatsu Abe and others were sent to negotiate a ceasefire but taken hostage and executed shortly thereafter. Civilians trying to evacuate to Upper Esutoru caught in indiscriminate machine gun fire suffered numerous casualties. Soviet aircraft flying with the sun at their backs arrived silently causing deaths whenever they appeared as a common low-level attack tactic. The town of Tōro was set on fire and one defensive squad destroyed during the initial assault. Special Security Unit 301 led by Captain Shigeo Nakagaki gathered rookies regional security teams civilian volunteer combat units and police forces to form a defensive line at the entrance of Esutoru's city.
On August 16 at 4 p.m., Imperial General Headquarters issued Order 1382 directing all military forces including the Fifth Area Army to cease combat immediately except for defensive actions before ceasefire negotiations. However, Major General Kiiichiro Higuchi ordered the 88th Division to continue fighting and block the Soviet advance issuing a command to defend South Sakhalin at all costs. This order was based on fear that Soviet forces might concentrate at Otomari and advance as far as Hokkaido. When Major Yoshio Suzuki received Higuchi's combat order on the afternoon of August 16 preparations for ceasefire were already underway such as disbanding mobilized units and disposing of the regimental flag. The division had no tanks or aircraft and certainly no anti-tank or anti-aircraft weapons that could withstand Soviet forces. Suzuki quickly ordered re-arming of units and occupation of positions despite civilians voicing complaints about continued fighting. Negotiations between advancing Japanese division commanders and Soviet forces resulted in a ceasefire agreement on August 22 but halts to the advance were often refused by Soviets resulting in military attachés being shot dead.
Civilian casualties during the battle exceeded those of the military with estimates reaching around three thousand seven hundred people. On August 15, fourteen hundred women children and elderly people evacuated to the Mitsubishi Tōro coal mine nearly resorted to mass suicide by blocking ventilation pipes due to fears of Soviet atrocities. In Moeka Town over one thousand Japanese citizens died including incidents where people fled to air raid shelters were forced by others to leave or kill their children because crying children attracted nearby Soviet soldiers. A retired military veteran's family committed suicide while neighbors did not mention deaths of wife and child when speaking with the husband who was also a former soldier. At the Moeka Post and Telegraph Office female employees committed mass suicide during the incident while teachers and military instructors at local schools also committed suicide with their families. The Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare reports total war dead in areas such as Sakhalin and Kuril Islands reached twenty-four thousand four hundred including casualties from battles like Attu and Aleutian Islands Campaign.
Japanese military personnel survived were subjected to forced labor in Siberian internment camps except for some able to mix with civilians after repatriation to Hokkaido. Chief of Staff Suzuki was detained in Siberia for twelve years among the longest detainments for any of the Siberian internees. Many Japanese civilians remained on Sakhalin for about two years after the war ended. On August 25, three convoys consisting of fifteen passenger ships sent three divisions to Moeka completing occupation of southern Sakhalin. Stalin proposed dividing Hokkaido along a line from Rumoi to Kushiro with northeastern part occupied by Soviet Union beyond Yalta Conference agreements but this was rejected by President Truman. By September 3, Soviet occupation of Northern Territories carried out by 113th Rifle Brigade began. Eighteen thousand three hundred two Japanese soldiers taken as prisoners of war while many died during transit or forced labor in Siberian camps. The Soviet plan to occupy Hokkaido halted after President Truman sent letter to Stalin opposing occupation which Stalin accepted on August 18.
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Common questions
When did the Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin begin?
The Soviet military invasion began on August 11 at approximately 5 a.m. along the central military road from the Handa frontline.
Who commanded the Soviet forces during the 1945 invasion of Karafuto Prefecture?
General of the Army Maksim Purkayev commanded the 2nd Far Eastern Front while General Leonty Cheremisov led the 16th Army and Pacific Fleet Admiral Ivan Yumashev directed naval operations.
What were the civilian casualties in Moeka Town during the Soviet-Japanese War?
Over one thousand Japanese citizens died in Moeka Town where people fled to air raid shelters or killed their children because crying children attracted nearby Soviet soldiers.
How long was Chief of Staff Suzuki detained after the Soviet occupation of southern Sakhalin?
Chief of Staff Suzuki was detained in Siberia for twelve years among the longest detainments for any of the Siberian internees following the war.
Why did civilians evacuate to the Mitsubishi Tōro coal mine on August 15?
Fourteen hundred women children and elderly people evacuated to the Mitsubishi Tōro coal mine nearly resorted to mass suicide by blocking ventilation pipes due to fears of Soviet atrocities.