Siege of Hutou Fortress

Siege of Hutou Fortress
	Part of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria of World War II
Date	9–28 August 1945
Location	Jixi, Manchuria
Result	Soviet victory
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Nikanor Zakhvatayev	Tadashi Oki †
Units involved
1st Far Eastern Front 35th Army;	First Area Army Fifth Army;
Strength
About 20,000	About 2,000
Casualties and losses
	All killed, deserted or surrendered

In the closing stages of the Soviet–Japanese War during August 1945, the Japanese Kwantung Army maintained strong resistance at the Hutou Fortress. Despite fierce and suicidal Japanese resistance, the Red Army, with the support of local Chinese fighters, captured the fortress on August 26, 1945. This marked the end of one of the final campaigns of the Second World War.

Following the battle, Japan’s unconditional surrender occurred just 11 days later. Of the approximately 1,400 Japanese soldiers stationed at the fortress, only 53 survived. The significance of this battle was recognized in a 2009 study by the Social Science Academy of Heilongjiang Province, titled “The Final Battle of World War II”.