The Russians called it “the Animal Killer.” The JSU-152 was a typically Soviet response to a problem. The problem in this case was the German “zoo” of deadly Tiger and Panther tanks which could pick off any Soviet tank at long range while absorbing repeated shots from the smaller Soviet T-34s. The Russians took their biggest tank chassis, that of the KV-1 heavy tank and mounted a huge 152mm (5.9” howitzer in a boxy superstructure plated with four-and-one-half inches of steel armor and pointed these things at the Germans. The impact of the huge shells could take out any tank in the Nazi inventory. Even veteran German tank crews in their heavily armored vehicles blanched when the “Black Pigs” (as they called them) made an appearance.
Soviet JSU-152 Assault Guns during a river-crossing operation.
Almost as soon as the guns fell silent in Europe, the Red Army began to redeploy forces from Germany to the Manchurian border. The Red Army, in 1945, was arguably the most fearsome land force ever assembled. Alongside the ISU-152s were upgraded T-34s and massive IS-2 heavy tanks with their combat-proven crews and commanders. The Soviets moved over 5,000 tanks, 27,000 (no, that is NOT a mis-print) guns and mortars over 76mm (3 in) bore, 1200 multiple rocket launchers, 3,000 combat aircraft and over 1 million combat troops along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and by August 1st, all was ready.
Opposing this massive force was the Japanese Kwantung Army. Once the pride of the Imperial Army, the Kwantung Army was now a shell of its former self. Its units had been depleted to re-enforce Japanese forces in the Pacific and for the defense of the homeland itself. No unit of the Kwantung Army was at over 80% of strength and most were at less than 20%. On paper, though, it was still formidable with over a million troops, 1100 tanks and strong fortified positions with heavy artillery.
It is the tanks that reveal the true difference between the Japanese and the Russians. The heaviest Japanese tank was the Type 97 medium. The Type 97 boasted a 47mm gun incapable of knocking out a T-34 at anything over point-blank range and armor plating that at no point was over ½”. An encounter between a Type 97 and an ISU-152 or any of its brethren could have but one outcome.
A captured Japanese Type 97 medium tank.
The Russians would advance along three axes: from Mongolia southeast toward the Sea of Japan; from Vladivostok southwest toward the city of Mukden in central Manchuria: and finally an assault between the two wings to present the Japanese with yet another strategic headache.
Stalin had sent his most gifted commander to run the show, Marshal Georgi Zhukov. Zhukov was Russia’s version of George Patton. Zhukov was a man whose mastery of modern armored warfare enabled him to win the most massive tank battles of the War. He had commanded the Red Army in battles that stand in singularity of magnitude and savagery: Stalingrad, Kursk (where a combined total of some 10,000 Soviet and German tanks had slugged it out in July 1943), Kharkov, the destruction of German Army Group Center, and the crossing of the Oder-Niesse Line. It was Zhukov’s legions that had battered their way into Berlin and ended the War in Europe.
In 1939, the Japanese had attacked the Red Army in Mongolia. At a remote plain known locally as Khalkin Gol, the Imperial Army and the Russians first tasted each others’ guns. The Japanese forces suffered a massive defeat, one which quashed any further Japanese ambitions in Mongolia and Siberia. For the rest of the war, the Japanese high command lived in fear that the Soviet behemoth would stir itself and join its erstwhile ally the United States in the Pacific War.
Now it had.
The Soviet general in command at Khalkin Gol had been a heretofore obscure cavalry officer: Georgi Zhukov.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgi K. Zhukov
On August 8, as Bock’s Car was loading “Fat Man” into its bomb bay, the Red Army entered the war against Japan. Using tactics perfected against Hitler’s legions, the Russian tsunami swept all before it. The Kwantung Army had only days left as an organized force.
As the radioactive cloud drifted away from Nagasaki on August 9, the thunderclap of yet another atomic bombing had arrived at the Supreme Japanese Headquarters along with the devastating news of events in Manchuria. The civilian leadership was united, the war had to end now. The true import of the Soviet entry into the Pacific War was that it ended, once and for all for the Japanese, any glimmer of hope for a negotiated settlement. Japan faced the stark choice of surrender or face annihilation. For whatever reason, the Japanese had convinced themselves, even before Pearl Harbor, that if they could bleed the Americans enough the Americans, being weak-willed and soft, would gladly negotiate a settlement rather than batter their way across the Pacific suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of the “Soldiers of the Sun.” They never grasped that the very nature of the Pearl Harbor attack coupled with the savage conduct of Japanese soldiers against Americans and Filipinos who were captured ended any possibility of negotiation.
The Japanese Prime Minister called for a meeting of the Emperor with the “Big Six” of Japan. These were the War Minister, General Anami; Prime Minister Suzuki; Foreign Minister Togo; the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Toyoda; the Army Chief of Staff, General Umezu and the Lord Privy Seal, Baron General Hiranuma. They had all argued pointlessly over whether to continue the war or accept the Potsdam Declaration and surrender. Since the military - specifically the Army - held the real power in Japan, the war went on. Now, though, things were different and it was time at last for the Emperor to decide for them. They had all sworn allegiance to the Emperor as children and his word was law.
Emperor Hirohito heard them out. After hours of back-and-forth and argument, Suzuki came to the crux of the matter, “The situation is indeed serious, but not a moment has been spent in vain. We have no precedent – and I find this difficult to do – but with the greatest reverence, I must ask the Emperor to express his wishes.” The future, indeed, the existence of Japan hung on his answer.
In a strained voice Hirohito pronounced his judgement, “It pains me to think of those who served me so faithfully, the soldiers and sailors who have been killed or wounded in far-off battles, the families who have lost all their worldly goods – and often their lives as well – in the air raids at home. It goes without saying that it is unbearable for me to see the brave and loyal fighting men of Japan disarmed. … Nevertheless, the time has come to bear the unbearable. … I swallow my own tears and give my sanction to the proposal to accept the Allied proclamation on the basis outlined by the Foreign Minister.”
Emperor Hirohito
One by one, the Big Six rose and signed the Togo document. Japan was going to surrender. The Emperor himself would broadcast the news to the nation. Meanwhile, at the Foreign Ministry, documents were drafted and identical copies made for delivery to each of the Allied capitals signaling Japan’s intentions.
As soon as word leaked out, certain Army officers became convinced that the Emperor had been duped or had agreed under duress and that it was their duty to rise up and free him to resume command of the nation and continue the war to victory. For loyal Japanese, surrender was not only unbearable, it was unthinkable.
In Washington, the Japanese signal sparked another argument. There were those in the Truman administration who firmly believed the Emperor should be deposed and possibly tried as a war criminal. On the other hand, there was a significant group, led by Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who felt that the Emperor should retain his position but be stripped of all executive powers. Truman had immense respect for Stimson and eventually his reasoning carried the day. It was felt (accurately) that only the Emperor could order isolated Japanese garrisons to lay down their arms and that his presence would keep the civilian population from anarchy until an AMG (Allied Military Government) could be established.
At noon on August 10, word came from the American embassy in Switzerland of the official Japanese offer to surrender. At 2 pm Truman called an emergency cabinet meeting and read the State Department’s official answer. In brief, the Japanese surrender would be accepted provided that from the moment of surrender, the authority of the Japanese Government and the Emperor to rule Japan would be transferred to the Supreme Allied Commander, Douglas MacArthur. The final form of any new Japanese government would be established by the “freely expressed will of the Japanese people.
Admiral Ernest J. King, the U. S. Chief of Naval Operations sent a message to CINCPAC (Commander in Chief - Pacific) Chester Nimitz that began, “This is a peace warning …”
Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN
Allied combat operations continued. The feeling was that the pressure on the Japanese had to be maintained in order to ensure their surrender. Bombing missions and naval bombardments continued. Japan’s true plight becomes evident when one realizes that Japanese-controlled waters, which once spanned the Pacific nearly to Hawaii, had shrunk to the extent that American cruisers and battleships were now shelling targets on mainland Japan and the Imperial Navy was powerless to do anything about it.
USS Missouri (BB-63) fires her forward 16” guns at a Japanese target. In this remarkable photo, the 16” shells can be seen in flight to the upper right.
In Japan, the conspirators finalized their plans and focused on preventing the broadcast of the Emperor’s message to his people scheduled for August 14. In the end, their plot was foiled, in large part because of the last B-29 bombing mission carried out the night of August 13-14 which caused a nation-wide blackout and communications shutdown. Unable to communicate effectively, the conspirators failed. Many committed seppuku afterward. The Emperor’s broadcast went ahead on the 14th. The Japanese government agreed to the surrender.
In his message to the Japanese people, the Emperor puts the lie to all those revisionists of late who maintained that the use of the atomic bomb was not the deciding factor in Japan’s surrender and that it was employed more to cow the Russians than the Japanese. According to Hirohito: “ … the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have turned against her interest. Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is incalculable (emphasis added), taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but it would also lead to the total extinction of human civilization.”
The war was over.
Off the coast of Japan, Admiral Bill Halsey, commander of the most powerful naval combat force ever assembled - the U. S. Third Fleet - which mustered 17 fleet carriers, 10 fast battleships and hundreds of lesser warships, was asked what to do if any Japanese aircraft approached the fleet after the cease-fire.
The pugnacious Halsey replied, “Shoot them down, but in a friendly sort of way.”
howitzer in a boxy superstructure plated with four-and-one-half inches of steel armor and pointed these things at the Germans. The impact of the huge shells could take out any tank in the Nazi inventory. Even veteran German tank crews in their heavily armored vehicles blanched when the “Black Pigs” (as they called them) made an appearance. 
