The 8 Days That DESTROYED Japan's Million-Man Army

The 8 Days That DESTROYED Japan's Million-Man Army August 8, 1945. Two days after Hiroshima, the Soviet Union declares war on Japan. What follows is the most one-sided military operation of the entire war. 1.5 million Soviet troops — veterans of Stalingrad, Kursk, Bagration, Berlin — pour across the Manchurian border simultaneously from three directions at once. The Kwantung Army, one million men, Japan's oldest and most battle-hardened force, the army that conquered China, collapses in hours. Soviet armored columns advance so fast they outrun their own supply lines and keep going anyway. Entire Japanese divisions are encircled before they receive orders to move. Generals cannot reach their units. Units cannot reach their men. Within 8 days, the largest army Japan ever fielded has ceased to exist as a fighting force. It is the blow that finally breaks the Japanese high command — not Hiroshima alone, but the realization that the Soviets could reach Tokyo before the Americans. Japan announces surrender on August 15th. The Kwantung Army is the reason.