Time Slip Reiwa Japan

011 - Soviet-Japanese War - 4

Six days after the start of the war, by all accounts, it was settled. Except for one of the parties involved, the Soviet Union.

. . .

Korean Front (D-Day+5)

Hearing of the success of the Karafuto Republican Army on the Sakhalin Front, the Republic of Korea Army command strongly urged the SDF that there was no reason why they could not do what they had done. There was also a political decision to be made, as the Japanese government could not ignore the will of the people to fight and the will of the people to gather together the volunteer soldiers.

Although the Japanese government was reluctant to accept this request at first, it eventually accepted the participation of the Republic of Korea Army because the counterattack by the SDF itself was originally planned. On the sixth day of the war (D-Day+5), a counter-offensive operation was launched.

The objective of the counteroffensive was to break through the Soviet left flank and maneuver to destroy supply lines by splitting the rear, demoralizing the Soviet forces, and encircling them while exerting pressure throughout the region. The spearhead was a regimental battle group based on the 12th Infantry Regiment. It was followed by one division of the Republic of Korea Army in an attempt to expand the results of the battle.

The offensive was launched before dawn on the sixth day, targeting the time when people were least able to concentrate. The Soviets were unable to resist the Japanese counterattack. After four days of bombing that had burned out fuel and ammunition and severed the chain of command, the Soviet forces no longer had the strength, or even the will, to resist. If this had been a defensive battle within Soviet territory, the story would have been different, but this is a war of aggression, and it would have been impossible to maintain the will to fight if they had been overwhelmed.

The Soviet command of the Korean Front, fearing that its troops would be disrupted, decided to withdraw on its own before obtaining the approval of Moscow. *1 However, it was all too late. The exhausted soldiers were defeated without being able to put up a worthwhile resistance to the enemy. The troops who could afford to surrender chose to do so, but only a very limited number of them were able to do so.

On the sixth day of the war, the Korean Front came to an end.

. . .

Air Battle of the Sea of Okhotsk (D-Day+5)

Compared to the ground battles reported in the press and the sea battles with spectacular fleet annihilations, the air battles were more subdued. However, in the sense that it was a blow to the Soviet Union, it had the greatest impact.

The bombers of the US Indo-Pacific Command stationed in Guam bombed all Soviet ports, including Vladivostok, and relentlessly bombed Trans-Siberian Railway stations, bridges, and supply depots. The Soviet Union tried to resist, but there was no way to deal with the high-altitude bombers, which were beyond the reach of anti-aircraft guns and planes.

The Soviet economy in the Far East was dying. The voices urged to do something before winter sets in began to rise.

. . .

Moscow (D-Day+6)

The trend of the war with Japan caused political problems here in Moscow. This was the rebellion of the Trotskyists against Stalin, who had led the war. There were serious questions about Stalin's ability to lead the war, and his worthiness to lead the Soviet Union was called into question. In this situation, war was no longer an option. Stalin decided to seek a way to make peace with Japan.

. . .

Sakhalin Front (D-Day+7)

The SDF and the Karafuto Republican Army, having defeated the Soviet forces and regained the border area, had planned before the war not to invade northern Sakhalin, but at this point, the regimental commander of the Karafuto Republican Army runs amok. They deliberately marched into Soviet territory while pursuing the retreating Soviet troops.