The expedition of "Our Version" examined the secret Japanese bases in the Kuriles

The Mannerheim line and the Maginot line, the Molotov line and the Eastern Wall, the Stalin line and the Siegfried line, Soviet and Japanese fortified areas in the Far East, etc., etc. - in this book you will find comprehensive information about all " Chinese walls XX century” and professional analysis of their effectiveness.

Why in 1939-1945. did not repeat the "positional impasse" of the First World War? Is it possible in principle to create an "irresistible" line of defense? Are the colossal costs of building fortified areas justified? And how exactly did the assault groups manage to break through the most powerful defensive systems?

In the late 1930s, Japanese troops invaded China and captured Manchuria. With the outbreak of World War II, they deployed fighting in Central China. The Chinese authorities tried to resist, but the split among their leaders nullified all these efforts. By the spring of 1940, Japanese troops occupied 552 out of 1937 counties of the country, about 30% of its entire territory. By 1945, Japan had in China

25 infantry, tank, cavalry and aviation divisions, 11 mixed brigades with a total strength of 620 thousand people.

However, China did not stop resisting the aggressor. By the summer of 1940, the Japanese were opposed by the Chinese armed forces, which included the troops of the Kuomintang government and the troops of the Communist Party of China. In addition, numerous partisan detachments were active in a number of regions of the country.

The resistance forces were significant. Thus, by 1945, the Kuomintang command had at its disposal 324 divisions and more than 60 brigades with a total strength of up to 3 million people, and together with provincial troops - up to 5 million people. China had 200 aircraft. In addition, 130 S.A. aircraft were based on its territory. By that time, the armed forces of the Communist Party of China had about 900 thousand people in the regular army of the liberated regions, and about 2 million people in the militias.

And although the Chinese Armed Forces were a rather unorganized force, their numbers created a great threat to the enemy. In particular, in his political report at the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of China on April 24, 1945, Mao Zedong said that at that time 22.5 enemy divisions with a total number of 580 thousand people were operating against the front of the liberated regions, and 17.5 against the troops of the Kuomintang divisions with a total number of 260 thousand people. Thus, until the summer of 1945, the main enemy for Japan in South-East Asia were the Chinese Armed Forces, with which they had constant combat contact.

At the same time, the Japanese leadership looked with great apprehension towards the Soviet Union, with which relations were traditionally bad. True, at the end of 1944, the Japanese high command, influenced by the victories of the Red Army in the war with Nazi Germany and the defeats suffered by Japan in the Pacific Ocean, decided in every possible way to avoid a collision with. Therefore, in the spring of 1945, he developed a plan for the defense of Manchuria and Korea, which provided for stubborn resistance to Soviet troops on the border lines, and then on the Greater and Lesser Khingan ridges, on the eastern ridges of Manchuria and on the Mulinghe and Mudanjiang rivers. In cases where these lines were breached, Japanese formations and units were allowed to withdraw to the line of Tamyn, Changchun, Mukden and Jinzhou.

The Japanese troops stationed in Manchuria and North Korea were merged into the Kwantung Army, whose main forces were located in central Manchuria, and whose headquarters were in the city of Changchun.

To directly cover the border with the USSR, only a part of the troops from this grouping was allocated, which was supposed to solve defense tasks together with the garrisons of the 17 fortified areas there. At the same time, 10 of the 17 fortified regions were supposed to cover the Kwantung Army from the Far East (the front was about 900 kilometers). The remaining 7 fortified areas, designed to cover the most important operational areas and communications centers, were scattered along the right bank of the Amur, Argun and the Mongolian-Chinese border (the front was over 3,600 kilometers). At the same time, two of them (Hailar and Kalgan) were located at a considerable distance from the border.

Thus, speaking about the system of fortified areas of the Japanese in the Far East, one should first of all keep in mind those ten of them that were located on the front from Sea of Japan to Khabarovsk and a little further along the Amur and Sungari. In sequence from south to north, they were called Kenkhynsky, Hunchunsky, Tungsingzhensky, Tungninsky, Pogranichnensky, Mishansky, Khitouskiy, Zhaoheisky, Sungarisky and Funzinsky.

CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE FORTIFIED AREAS

Each fortified area was built taking into account the nature of the terrain and had frontal dimensions of 40 to 80 kilometers and a depth of 12 to 25 kilometers. At the same time, its depth was determined not only by long-term defensive structures (DOS), but also by various field-type defensive structures that were erected by field troops. long-term fortifications were built for almost twenty years, and the construction of the system of trenches and communications was carried out mainly during 1944 by the forces of the troops and the local population.

The number of nodes of resistance and long-term defensive structures within each fortified area also varied. Thus, the Dunning fortified region, stretching along the front up to 80 kilometers and up to 18 kilometers deep, had about 600 long-term defensive structures, 16,000 linear meters of trenches, 7,000 linear meters of anti-tank ditches, 88 linear kilometers of trenches and communications. The Khalun-Arshan fortified region, 60 kilometers long along the front and more than 12 kilometers deep, consisted of 700 long-term defensive structures.

To solve a single tactical task, several long-term defensive structures were combined into underground fire groups located on one or more adjacent heights, which are the tactical key to the area. Most of the underground firing groups had from 3 to 12 armored domes and reinforced concrete structures that came to the surface and were intended for firing and observation.

At the same time, the variety of types and the presence of various layouts and forms of firing structures eloquently indicates that the Japanese abandoned their standardization in the design. Typical structures were met as an exception, and then only light, field ones.

The power of each structure was determined based on the tactical and fire mission assigned to it. Therefore, along with small, low-power field-type structures, multi-storey reinforced concrete and underground long-term defensive structures were erected, which were entire ensembles. The shape and layout of the structures were determined by the terrain, which contributed to their better fitting into the terrain and greatly facilitated the conditions for camouflage. Shelters, warehouses, headquarters, communication centers, barracks, power plants, as well as ventilation, heating, water supply systems, etc. were located underground.

Among the fortifications intended for observation and firing, armored and metal structures of a light type, which, due to their small size, were well camouflaged on the ground, found great use.

Field-type open firing structures erected in the system of Japanese trenches were intended for firing in a sector from 90 to 360 degrees. For the most part, they represented open areas equipped with niches and simple shelters for weapons and soldiers. The most common were open sites for an easel machine gun, taken out or adjacent to the trench.

All open firing positions were equipped with shelters that were located during construction or were as close as possible to it. At the same time, each shelter served two firing positions - both the main one and the additional one. open areas the simplest type provided maneuver with fire and the weapon itself. Fire crews occupied them at the signal for battle, and before the signal they were in shelters.

Reinforced concrete caps were installed for the combat equipment of trenches and individual sections of communication passages. They provided shelter for personnel not only from flat fire, but also from mounted fire, small mines and fragments. Each reinforced concrete cap, located directly in the trench or, according to the conditions of the terrain, moved forward or to the side, had three loopholes and ensured firing in the sector up to 180-200 degrees. Shields served as a roof: metal (25–30 mm), reinforced concrete (10–15 cm) or wooden (8–10 cm), which were covered with a layer of pound 20–30 cm thick on top.

Despite the lack of metal, the Japanese widely used armor structures, mainly of a light bulletproof type, using the most diverse metal in terms of quality and size. Along with specially made structures, there were metal and armored structures made from industrial waste and obsolete samples of ship-type armored turrets.

In particular, three armored shields on a concrete base with an inclination of 30-40 degrees could be installed on an open machine-gun platform, which rose above ground level to a height of up to 0.5 meters. They were designed to cause armor-piercing bullets and shrapnel to ricochet. At the same time, the firing sector up to 180 degrees allowed both frontal and flank fire. It was important that the design of armored shields made it possible to install them both permanently, by embedding them into the base of the site during its concreting, and already during hostilities (collapsible).

The machine-gun platform with armored shields was one of the structures of the fire group, interconnected into one whole by underground posterns. The Japanese successfully used the same type of construction for the military equipment of trenches, placing them directly in the trench or taking them out in the right direction at a distance of 5 to 30 meters and connecting the site with the main trench with a supply covered passageway. In addition, these sites, well-hidden in the folds of the terrain, in the parapets of trenches and communications, were also successfully used for observation, as advanced observation posts.

In addition to reinforced concrete caps and other armored structures, there were concrete or reinforced concrete light-weight machine gun structures in the trench system. Cut into the fold of the terrain, almost flush with the ground, such structures had a coating and a floor wall up to 0.6 meters thick, and side walls of 0.4 meters each. They protected weapons and crew from all types of artillery and mortar fire from systems of caliber up to 76 mm. At the same time, the rear wall in the structure was not erected, but the rear parapet of the trenches protected from fragments. They were located in most cases on the reverse, and sometimes on the front slopes of heights. When using a machine-gun structure for flank fire, its side wall became floor, and the entrance to the structure was arranged in the side wall facing the rear. The simplicity of the layout and the uncomplicated design of the structure made it possible for the troops to erect it themselves as a field reinforcement of fortified areas.

In an effort to hide the fire system and facilitate the maneuver of weapons and manpower, the Japanese created separate fire groups. Most often they were located on separate hills, which were the basis of the company defense area. The hill was surrounded by a covered concrete trench, which had a number of concrete casemates for firing machine guns, anti-tank rifles and machine guns, between which fire communication was established. The location of the casemates on the ground made it possible to create a circular defense.

The thickness of the concrete clothing of the walls and vault of each casemate was within 30 centimeters, and the base - 20 centimeters. In the coverage in areas close to the surface of the earth, light openings were left. To create a multi-layered fire in the most critical areas, a second tier of firing casemates was built, also interconnected by a concrete covered trench.

In addition to firing casemates, the company stronghold had three shelters, each for one rifle squad. In addition to special observation posts, separate firing casemates were used for observation. The internal dimensions of the trench (2.0x2.5 meters) allowed free two-way movement to carry any infantry weapons.

Casemated firing structures, which formed the basis for the fortification preparation of resistance centers and strongholds of a fortified area, as a rule, were located not directly at the front line of the defense, but at some depth.

In terms of their external design and layout, they were very diverse. The thickness of their walls ranged from 1 to 2 meters. When pouring the concrete of each wall, special reinforcing meshes were used, welded from metal rods with a diameter of 15–20 mm with cells measuring 20x20 cm. Depending on its thickness, from 2 to 5 such meshes could be installed in the wall.

Reinforcement of coatings of reinforced concrete structures with a thickness of up to one meter was usually limited to one mesh of round iron with a diameter of 16–20 mm with cells measuring 20x20 cm, which was located 10 cm from the lower surface of the coating. Only powerful structures had a second grid laid 20 cm higher than the first. However, the connection of the wall reinforcement with the coating was insufficient, and sometimes completely absent. As a result of this, long-term defensive structures were not monolithic, and when undermined by a charge laid inside, the coating was easily separated from the walls.

As anti-spall clothing for long-term defensive structures, boards up to 2.5 cm thick were used, which were located with a gap of 2 cm and were screwed or tied with wire to wooden blocks vertically installed in concrete. The DOS foundations had no reinforcement.

To strengthen the walls and partly the coatings of DOSs, their sprinkling from boulder stone, located in the area of work, was quite widely used. Fortification concrete was used weak, with a low dosage of cement and a large percentage of river pebbles. Therefore, direct hits of shells (especially large calibers) on the walls of reinforced concrete structures produced significant damage. So, when a 203-mm projectile hits a 2.5-meter-thick DOS wall from its inner side over an area of about 2 sq. m formed deep cracks and spalling, as a result of which the wall was actually destroyed. It was this circumstance that subsequently made it necessary to increase the thickness of the walls of individual DOSs to 2.5 meters, the coatings to 3.0 meters, and also to widely use their stone dressing.

Closed firing structures for machine-gun purposes were also very diverse in their design. Most often, they were a reinforced concrete firing structure for two heavy machine guns, having two combat casemates, a room for a garrison and one vestibule. But there were also structures designed to accommodate one machine gun. The embrasures of each DOS were arranged with a bell in a casemate and had external dimensions 0.25x0.45 meters. This ensured their camouflage and the conduct of frontal, oblique and flank fire. To reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide in each DOS, a fan was installed in a special niche, and a hole for the pipe was left in the coating, covered with a metal visor from above.

DOSs designed for four heavy machine guns with an armor cap for observation were much less common. This building consisted of four casemates, two rooms for the garrison, a draft entrance and a sub-storey room, which was used as a store. A cap with walls made of 40-mm armor is mounted in the cover of the through-hole, providing observation in a 360-degree sector. Each of the embrasures of this DOS, unlike the one- and two-machine-gun ones, had a 25-mm armor plate installed inside the shutter. The entrance to the building was covered with a heavy armored door, and the combat casemates were separated from the premises for the garrison by light armored doors. The shelling of the approaches to such a structure from the rear and the protection of its entrance were provided by the presence of four gun embrasures, two of which, located in the wall of the garrison room, also had armored shutters. From the front, such a long-term defensive structure was covered by fire from neighboring firing points, in the system of which it was included as the main one.

In addition, for the fortification equipment of fortified areas, the Japanese used separate structures of an older fortress fortification, which did not lose their significance at that time. So, to protect the anti-tank ditches, special trunks were arranged, designed for two heavy machine guns each. Each wardrobe trunk was part of a strong point and was connected by underground posterns with the rest of the elements of the fire group. It consisted of two combat casemates and a connecting corridor, which was used as a vestibule and served to accommodate the garrison on duty and combat supplies. In the center of the vestibule, near the rear wall, there was a vertical manhole hatch fenced with two ledges for communication with the underground part of the fire group, and opposite it, in the floor wall, there was an exit to the anti-tank ditch, covered with a heavy door made of 40-mm armor plates. In order to hinder the actions of the assault groups sent to undermine the embrasures and enter the coffer, a ditch 2 meters deep was made along the floor wall.

To defend the most important elements of the rear of fortified areas and individual objects (bridges, tunnels, road junctions, etc.), the Japanese used blockhouse-type machine-gun and small arms fire fortifications to protect their garrisons from rifle and machine-gun fire. The embrasures in these structures were located in two or three planes, thus providing multi-tiered fire and all-round self-defense. Reinforced concrete, stone, concrete or ordinary brick were used as a building material for them. Each structure was surrounded by wire anti-personnel obstacles. Separate structures in order to disguise them were designed in the form of residential buildings or service buildings.

Fortification equipment for artillery positions located in fortified areas was of several types. Thus, artillery of small and medium caliber, primarily anti-tank, was a maneuverable means in terms of fortification. It was located on open firing positions (platforms) made of reinforced concrete with special communication passages.

To accommodate heavier artillery, the Japanese used powerful armored structures. So, to place a ship-type artillery mount, an armored tower with a wall thickness of 100 mm was used, embedded in a reinforced concrete foundation. Relying on the base on the rollers, it rotated with the help of a manual rotary mechanism. The turret rooms were used to store the combat set of shells, spare parts and to accommodate the artillery crew.

In addition to artillery installations for one and two guns, semi-caponiers and caponiers, more powerful long-term defensive structures were created in Japanese fortified areas, in which batteries of powerful caliber guns were installed.

Noteworthy is the fortification support of a 280-mm howitzer battery of four guns, located in the depths of the fortified area, which was mainly intended for counter-battery combat. The structure intended for this battery consisted of four reinforced concrete gun casemates with one embrasure each, and three storages (warehouses) for ammunition, interconnected by underground galleries. To install the gun in the center of each casemate, a round reinforced concrete pedestal with a diameter of 2 meters was erected. The building itself was equipped with three entrances, the direction of which was designed taking into account the terrain.

And finally, in one of the fortified areas, a powerful reinforced concrete artillery structure was built, designed to accommodate a 410-mm gun.

The thickness of its walls was increased to 3.5 meters, and the reinforced concrete floor was up to 2.8 meters. The significant dimensions of the artillery system required the corresponding dimensions of the combat casemate, the diameter of which reached 24 meters and a height of 15 meters. The gun was installed in the center of the casemate on a special reinforced concrete foundation with a diameter of 6 meters. In the rear part of the reinforced concrete mass of the structure, rooms were provided for storing combat supplies, fuel and lubricants, laboratories for equipping artillery shells and a shelter for artillery crew. For the supply of combat food, a narrow railway track was laid, passing in the structure itself and equipped with a turntable. The internal dimensions of the loophole were 14 meters horizontally and 7.5 meters vertically. The conical shape of the artillery structure contributed to the ricocheting of not only large artillery shells, but also aircraft bombs.

Thus, the Japanese defense on the border with the USSR from the Sea of Japan to Khabarovsk was a powerful system of fortified areas that blocked all the most important operational areas, taking into account the complex nature of the terrain, equipped with long-term defensive structures of various types. Wherein big variety types of firing structures indicates the absence of a single standard for their construction. Each structure of a powerful, heavy, and even medium type has an independent layout, determined by the tactical task, the terrain, and the requirements of camouflage. At the same time, despite the significant dimensions of the protective thicknesses, reaching up to 4 meters, the fortification strength of the structures did not meet modern requirements and did not provide adequate resistance to the calculated calibers of shells and bombs.

To defeat the Japanese in Manchuria, the Soviet command deployed three fronts by August 1945: the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Transbaikal. The idea of the strategic offensive operation was to simultaneously launch two main and a number of auxiliary strikes from the side of Primorye, the Amur Region and Transbaikalia in converging directions towards the center of Manchuria. The main blows were to be delivered by the troops of the 1st Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, the auxiliary ones - by the forces of the 2nd Far Eastern Front.

Most difficult task, associated with the breakthrough of nine fortified areas, stood in front of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov), which included four combined arms armies (1st Red Banner, 5th, 25th and 35th) , Chuguev task force, 10th mechanized corps and 9th air army. In total, these troops included: 31 rifle (motorized rifle), one cavalry division, 12 tank and 2 mechanized brigades, as well as 12 regiments of self-propelled artillery. These forces numbered 586 thousand personnel, 8.6 thousand field guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand anti-tank guns, 516 rocket launchers of guards mortars, 1859 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1460 combat aircraft.

The breakthrough of the Pogranichnensky fortified area was entrusted to the troops of the 5th Army (commander - Colonel General N.I. Krylov), which included the 65th, 72nd and 17th rifle corps. The army was supposed to advance in a strip of 16.5 kilometers, approximately 5 kilometers for each division. Taking into account the concentration of forces in the direction of the main attack of the front reinforcement, the operational density in the breakthrough area was 1.3 kilometers per rifle division and 283 guns (mortars) and 40 tanks (self-propelled guns) per kilometer. Such densities of artillery and tanks in mountainous and wooded areas were achieved for the first time during the war years.

To break through the fortified area, special assault detachments were created, which consisted of a reconnaissance and obstacle group, 1–2 blocking groups, and 1–2 assault groups. The entire personnel of the assault detachments were armed with small arms, grenades and explosive charges, and in addition, the blocking group had several anti-tank rifles and mortars, and sometimes an anti-tank gun. Border guard officers who knew the adjacent territory well were assigned as guides to each detachment.

By order of the head of the border troops of the Amur district, Major General P.I. Zyryanov, 4-5 days before the start of hostilities, assault detachments were secretly concentrated on those outposts, in the zones of responsibility of which they were supposed to cross the state border. Here they studied in detail the adjacent territory and lost options for action within the fortified areas of the enemy.

The Soviet troops launched an offensive against the Kwantung Army at 1 a.m. on August 9, 1945.

In the zone of the 5th Army were the structures of the Pogranichnensky fortified region, which blocked the most convenient routes from Primorye to Manchuria. The fortified region itself occupied an area of up to 40 kilometers along the front and about 25 kilometers in depth and consisted of four nodes of resistance: Southern, Eastern, North-Eastern and Volyn. The fortifications of the Southern node of resistance were located 10-15 kilometers south of the station Pogranichnaya, Vostochny and North-East - in the vicinity of this station and the village of Pogranichny, Volynsky - 20-25 kilometers north of the station Pogranichnaya. Within the fortified area, there were about 400 long-term defensive structures and 4,000 running meters of tunnels (tunnels). In addition, in the rear of the Eastern and North-Eastern nodes, in the area of the Xiaosuifynhe station, the construction of another node of resistance began, which was supposed to mark the second defensive line.

The Volyn resistance center of the Pogranichny fortified area (commander - Arima Narihiko) covered from the east the rock roads, railway communications (the former CER), as well as the cities of Silin and Suyan. With his flanks, he relied on hard-to-reach terrain. It occupied up to 17 kilometers along the front, had a depth of 3-4 kilometers and consisted of seven strongholds located on the heights of Camel, Ostraya and Grusha, the gaps between which were covered by the fire of guns, machine guns and engineering barriers. Within its boundaries there were 31 machine-gun and 29 artillery DOSs, as well as one artillery and 29 machine-gun structures of a lighter type. In addition, 14 open firing positions for artillery and 15 positions for anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, 3 command posts, 16 observation posts, 20 ammunition depots and 9 shelters for personnel were equipped there. The defensive structures of the Volyn resistance center covered 8.5 kilometers of barbed wire, 16.7 kilometers of an anti-tank ditch, 12.5 kilometers of scarps, and 3.3 kilometers of gouges. Its garrison consisted of five companies of special (fortress) and field troops, which included 1,520 personnel.

The assault on the Pogranichnensky fortified area was launched by special groups of border guards, who, moving forward, silently removed the enemy's border posts. Then the assault groups of the forward units of the 5th Army without fire training, in the dark, when heavy rain, observing complete silence, crossed the state border. Behind them moved the main forces.

The enemy was taken by surprise. An hour before the Soviet troops went on the offensive, the Japanese command received an order to put the border garrisons on alert, but there was no time left to carry out this command. Therefore, most of the DOS garrisons were attacked sleeping in the barracks or at the moment they were occupying defensive structures. Only a few managed to get into their DOS through underground galleries. According to the chief of staff of the Japanese army, "the offensive of the Soviet troops was so unexpected that the army headquarters did not know and could not obtain any information about what was happening on the border throughout the night and until 12 o'clock on August 9" .

But still there were facts of resistance. Thus, the 11th Japanese border garrison, which managed to occupy long-term defensive structures and field fill positions in the area of the Camel strong point, met the advanced battalions of the 144th Rifle Division of the 65th Rifle Corps with organized artillery fire, machine guns and small arms. However, this fight did not last long. A 10-minute massive artillery fire was carried out at the stronghold and strikes were carried out by assault aircraft. At this time, the tank battalion of the 208th tank brigade bypassed the height from the north, which attacked the height together with the infantry. The enemy garrison was destroyed.

No less successful were the advanced units of the 190th and 97th rifle divisions of this corps. They also suddenly attacked the enemy strongholds and, advancing around the Camel stronghold from the north, by the morning of August 9 they advanced to a depth of 5 kilometers.

In the offensive zone of the 215th Rifle Division, the advanced battalion of the 707th Rifle Regiment under the command of the Hero of the Soviet Union Captain D. E. Moskalev operated most successfully. Under the cover of night and bad weather, he secretly penetrated the gap between the structures of the enemy stronghold located at the height of "Acute", and suddenly attacked pre-planned bunkers, in which there were only emergency equipment. The main part of the garrison of the strong point of the height "Ostraya" was destroyed when leaving their barracks. At the same time, it should be noted that the tanks of the 210th tank brigade, allocated to escort this battalion, did not fulfill their task, as they got stuck in a swamp and were able to reach the paved road only by 3 p.m. on August 9, when the fortified area had already been broken through .

By morning, the strongholds located at the Grusha height were successfully captured in the same way by the advanced battalions of the 63rd Infantry Division with units of the 218th Tank Brigade and the 479th Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment attached to it.

Thus, in the offensive zone of the 5th Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front, the Japanese fortified area "Volynsky" was broken through by 9 o'clock on August 9 by infantry and tank forces. The previously planned artillery and aviation training was not carried out. From total number losses of tanks and self-propelled guns (183 units) 40% of combat vehicles got stuck in swamps and 30% failed for technical reasons.

Separate garrisons of the fortified area, being surrounded, offered stubborn resistance, as was customary in the spirit of Japanese samurai. So, the commander of the garrison of the North-Eastern stronghold, Captain Suzuma Chesaku, before the battle, addressed his subordinates with the words: “By the highest command of the emperor, we are left as suicide bombers and must die in the bunkers we occupy, so that the emperor helps our families and the elderly live freely and in luxury ". The Japanese soldiers did their duty to the end, and none of them left their combat post.

The elimination of Japanese troops surrounded in resistance centers was carried out by forces and means specially allocated for this from each rifle division, which included, as a rule, one rifle regiment, reinforced by sapper units and self-propelled artillery. To destroy the DOS, which continued to resist, assault groups were allocated. With their help, by the end of August 9, almost all the long-term defensive structures of the enemy were destroyed, along with the garrisons of suicide bombers who had settled in them.

At the same time, the task of destroying the garrisons of individual DOS required great efforts. So, one of the DOS in the offensive zone of the 5th Army had to be undermined four times before its complete destruction. The first charge weighing 250 kg of explosives did not give the expected result, since it took on a layer of soil two meters thick. The second charge weighing 500 kg of explosives destroyed the steel cap, but even after that it was not possible to get inside the bunker. To destroy it, three more charges were detonated, as a result of which the surviving Japanese were destroyed in the upper floor. And only after that, with an explosion of a charge of 400 kg and a detonated ammunition depot, the firing structure was completely destroyed, and its garrison was destroyed.

The capture of the Khutous fortified area was entrusted to the 35th Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front. Under the cover of artillery fire, army troops crossed the Mulinghe River. But after that, the Soviet troops found themselves in front of a completely swampy area, through which movement was impossible. The rains that took place on August 7–9 flooded not only the entire river valley, but also the roads in the area. I had to advance using the available engineering equipment, improvised watercraft, and even moving on foot along the chest in the water.

In the zone of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, the 5th separate rifle corps broke through the Zhaoheisky fortified areas during August 9, and the 2nd Red Banner Army - the Sakhalyansky fortified areas.

Heavy fighting unfolded for the Fundzinsky fortified area, which was attacked by troops of the 15th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, especially in the area of the stronghold equipped with stone buildings the city of Fujin, turned into DOSs. The city was defended by the 2nd Battalion of the Marine Corps and a detachment of reservists. On the outskirts of the city, the Japanese installed 20-meter metal towers with concrete caps at the top. In these caps were suicide soldiers chained to machine guns.

The advance battalion of the 15th Army approached the city of Funtsin only on August 11 and was unable to capture the stronghold on the move. By the end of the day, they captured the central part of the city, and the remnants of the enemy garrison, pressed against the Sungari River, laid down their arms. However, the further advance of the Soviet troops was stopped by powerful rifle and machine-gun fire from a stronghold located on the southern outskirts of the city near the military camp, which was a powerful center of resistance. The solid stone buildings located in it were turned into DOS, bordered by an anti-tank ditch and a large earthen rampart. The approaches to the moat were covered by carefully disguised bunkers and bunkers. Inside the stronghold there were underground warehouses, shelters for personnel connected by concrete barriers, and a well-developed system of trenches and communications, as well as sections of wire barriers. From the north, the military town was covered by a number of neighboring strongholds, which consisted mainly of field-type structures with a well-developed system of trenches and communications.

On the night of August 12, the forward units of the 361st Rifle Division, supported by artillery fire from the ships of the Amur Flotilla, repeatedly attacked this stronghold, but all attacks were repulsed. On the night of August 13, a group of sappers managed to lay charges at some pillboxes, the explosion of which in the morning of the same day violated the integrity of the Japanese defense. Nevertheless, the battles for separate defensive structures continued all day, and only by the end of August 13 the stronghold was defeated.

The troops of the 36th Army of the Trans-Baikal Front at 04:30 on August 9, without artillery preparation, strong forward detachments crossed the Mongol-Chinese border and launched an attack on the Chzhalainor-Manchurian fortified region. By the end of the day, having crushed the resistance of the enemy, they captured this fortified area and launched an offensive into the depths of Manchuria.

Somewhat to the south, the troops of the 39th Army of the Trans-Baikal Front broke through the Khalun-Arshan fortified area, which occupied up to 40 kilometers along the front and had a depth of 6 kilometers. Within this UR there were four strongholds: one in the area of the Khalun-Arshan railway station, the second - in the area of the Uchagou station, the third - at an unnamed height northwest of Mount Mana-Ula, the fourth - on Mount Guangding-Shan, between which there were separate DOS, trenches and communication passages were dug. It was defended by units of the 107th Japanese Infantry Regiment. The task of capturing the Khalan-Arshan fortified area was assigned to the 124th Infantry Division.

The 622nd Rifle Regiment of Colonel D.M. Lelekova. This stronghold, which was located around the height, had a four-hammer machine-gun bunker, several open machine-gun sites and developed system trenches and communications. The approaches to it were covered with wire fences in three rows of iron stakes. The garrison of this strong point consisted of only 9 people, three of whom were non-commissioned officers. He was armed with two light machine guns, a grenade launcher, 9 rifles, as well as a supply of ammunition and food necessary for a long defense.

The commander of the 622nd Infantry Regiment decided to bypass the enemy's stronghold from the northwest and southeast, and part of the forces to attack him from the front. For a frontal attack, an assault detachment was created, reinforced with three 76-mm and two 45-mm guns for direct fire. In addition, the assault detachment was supported by a regimental company of anti-tank rifles.

Before the start of the assault, a company of anti-tank rifles took up firing positions to the south and southeast of the stronghold and opened fire on the embrasures of long-term defensive structures. Under the cover of their fire, artillery pieces were withdrawn for direct fire, and the assault group quietly reached the starting line.

The signal for a general assault on the stronghold was a volley of guns, and soon the garrison, stubbornly defending its defenses, was completely destroyed. However, the final defeat of the Khalun-Arshan fortified region was completed only on August 13.

The Kalgan fortified region was located at a distance of about 370 kilometers from the border and consisted of three nodes of resistance, interconnected by communications. The embrasures of its defensive structures were directed to the northwest. The central junction, covering the Kalgan tract, occupied a section of six kilometers along the front and three kilometers in depth. Parts of the 2nd Cavalry Division of Japan were defending within the fortified area.

The troops of the 27th motorized rifle brigade of the Trans-Baikal Front approached the Kalgan fortified area on August 17. On the morning of the next day, in pouring rain, its fortifications were attacked by two motorized rifle regiments: the 1st advanced along the road, the 2nd - off-road. By the end of the day, both units, having overcome the anti-tank ditch, came close to the pillboxes. After that, again under the cover of night, the assault group of the right-flank company of the 1st regiment, secretly advancing to the bunker, first blocked it, and then, after a direct-fire artillery salvo, attacked and captured it.

However, due to the lack of a layout of long-term defensive structures of the fortified area, its assault was postponed. During August 18, dividing the fortified area into observation sectors, the scouts mapped its entire fire system: artillery and machine-gun pillboxes and pillboxes, engineering barriers. Only after that the Kalgan fortified region was captured.

The troops of the 36th Army of the Trans-Baikal Front also encountered great difficulties, which, after capturing the Jalainor-Manchurian fortified region, developing an offensive in eastbound On August 11, they approached the Hailar fortified area, in which a 6,000-strong Japanese garrison was blocked.

Wanting to avoid unnecessary casualties during the assault, the army commander ordered heavy artillery to begin shelling the fortified area. Then the assault on the city of Hailar began, on the outskirts of which everyone stone structures were turned into pillboxes. Under the pressure of the Soviet troops, the Japanese gradually began to leave the city and move to the DOS located on the hills surrounding it.

The battles for the Hailar fortified region lasted six days, and only on August 18 did the surrender of the garrisons of individual DOS begin. The rest were destroyed by direct-fire artillery fire and blown up by sappers.

Matua is the Big Island Kuril ridge on which serious scientific research has not yet been carried out. During the Second World War, the Japanese literally dug up the island with tunnels and fortifications. They created a whole underground city there with warehouses, hospitals and even a railway. Now an expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense is working on the island, which should give an answer whether it is possible to build a Russian military base From a bird's eye view, Matua Island seems like a small spot - 11 kilometers long and six and a half wide, two thirds of the island's area is occupied by an active volcano - Sarychev Peak. In a good way, the island is generally not adapted for life. Severe climatic conditions: constant winds and rains in summer. Sunny days once or twice and miscalculated. Here, even in June, snow turns white on the slopes of the hills. The snow cap decorates Sarychev Peak all year round. This volcano is famous for being one of the most active active volcanoes region. Norov at Sarychev Peak is cool - you can’t call him sleeping. Eruptions, though short-lived, are frequent and strong. Despite all the natural disasters, the Japanese during the Second World War turned the island into impregnable fortress where were and underground tunnels, and the airfield, and even Railway. The garrison on the island exceeded three thousand people. In general, the Kuril Islands were used by the Japanese as a strategic barrier to exit from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific Ocean. A whole network of various military defensive fortifications was erected here. To get to the island by air, you need a fair amount of luck. The so-called windows - small gaps - open very rarely above the island, and people sometimes have to sit at the airfield for several days to get into this window that opened for a short time. The nearest airfield from which you can get to Matua is on the island of Iturup. It's about 500 kilometers. And if suddenly the weather over Matua deteriorates after the "turntable" has almost flown up to the island, then you have to return to the base on the remaining fuel. As the helicopter pilots say, "with adventures." When approaching the island, you can see that it is pitted with coastal fortifications. Trenches originating at the very edge of the water. Pillboxes and bunkers, hollowed out in the numerous hills of the island, look like empty loopholes towards the sea. It is noticeable that the island really resembles a fortress rising directly from the sea. In mid-June, Matua is about 7 degrees Celsius and a piercing wind. You have to warm up in winter: jackets, sweaters, boots with high berets. An expedition of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the Russian geographical society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet under the leadership of Vice Admiral Andrei Vladimirovich Ryabukhin, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Despite the fact that since September 1945 the island passed to the USSR, no research was really carried out on it. The current expedition is designed to unravel the mysteries of the most little-studied island of the Kuril chain. And there are a lot of secrets here. The researchers have three main tasks: to study the military-historical component of the island, to study the volcanic activity of Matua and to understand how to develop military infrastructure. The scientific group of the Russian Geographical Society is engaged in routine, but very necessary work on the island, compiling maps of the island: landscape, geological and soil. They take samples of soil and plants. The second group is looking for artifacts left over from the Japanese. So, in June, search engines raised the wing of a Japanese aircraft manufactured in 1942 and brought it to the camp. Items that can tell about the life of Japanese soldiers were also found: ammunition, dishes, clothes, household items. Members of the expedition even climbed Sarychev Peak, where two flags were hoisted - Russian Federation and St. Andrew's flag of the Navy. Climbing a volcano is not just about hoisting flags, the expedition members tried to understand which side the eruption with a plume is going to.

From a height you can clearly see where the island has changed its structure, geography, where new beaches have appeared. They found out how Japanese barriers, including anti-mudflow outflows, blocked the path of mud flowing towards the Japanese barracks. I’m interested in one of the leaders of the expedition, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society Andrei Ivanov, is Matua really a mysterious island where the secrets of Imperial Japan are kept, or is it idle speculation of journalists? - Journalists like to ask questions about riddles, - the scientist smiles. - Of course, it is still difficult to thoroughly study what is left of the Japanese, to understand where the myths are and where the reality is. We managed to find out that the legends that there is an underground city on Matua, built by them at the end of the Second World War, have grounds. We have found quite a few entrances that lead underground, all of them are blown up or filled up. We dug up one such entrance and found behind it numerous underground passages, storage rooms, which were connected to the above-ground system of trenches and trenches by special passages.

This is not a legend, it really is in fact. At the same time, the main goal of the expedition is not to guess Japanese puzzles, but to make a comprehensive assessment of the territory in order to understand how suitable it is for development, whether mudflows and tsunamis will wash away the new infrastructure of the island. The expedition is also interested in the question of how the Japanese garrison solved life support issues, because, as it turned out, there are no water sources on the island.

The head of the expedition, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Andrei Ryabukhin, told Army Standard that the Japanese used exclusively melt water, which is formed by melting snow on the volcano. Therefore, many old Japanese filters for water purification are found on Matua, which were invented by the head of the 731st detachment in Manchuria, Shiro Ishii (a Japanese doctor who conducted inhuman experiments on people and developed bacteriological weapons). They assumed two types of cleaning, coarse and fine. Coarse with the help of brushes removed all dirt and debris from the water. During the fine, water was driven through ceramic filters under pressure, then it went through trenches into special containers. Part of the system was carried out in the area mountain system, and part of the Japanese arranged near the lakes, which were formed during the period of snow melting. Pumping stations were installed next to them. By the way, due to the fact that there were many rats on the island, which also used water, strong antibiotics were found here, with which underground hospitals were literally littered. Tablets prevented the defeat of personnel. At the same time, the members of the expedition assert that there was no actual production of bacteriological weapons on the island. After all, if something had gone wrong, then the Japanese garrisons in the Kuriles would have died themselves.
The island was needed primarily as a huge storage base and a security base for an extended communication line that ran from "big" Japan to the Paramushir and Shumshu islands, where large garrisons were stationed. Only American submarines and surface ships posed a threat to the safety of this route. Since Allied aircraft could not actively bomb the islands due to the flight range, the main emphasis was placed on defense against the fleet. Therefore, a large airfield with two lanes was built on the island, where fighter aircraft and bombers were based. Also, up to ten thousand people could be on the island in order to, if necessary, strengthen the Japanese garrisons on the northern islands of Shumshu and Paramushir. I ask Ryabukhin: did the expedition manage to understand how the defense of the island was built? the defense structure of Matua was built, he says. - A feature of the structure of the island is a large number of ravines - long gorges in which they concentrated their warehouses. The road system was developed on the island. It was of a serpentine type and led to where separate garrisons were stationed. A warehouse and barracks were equipped next to the garrison, as well as positions for defense - trenches, pillboxes. So far, we can only guess how food and ammunition were transported to the positions. It is already clear that Matua was developed automobile transport and railroad. Of course, the search engines have not yet found the railway itself, only traces of it are found. One can only guess where it passed - these are tunnels pierced underground and crossing the island like arteries. The fact that it worked is also evidenced by numerous finds: trolleys rusted from time to time, fragments of rails. In addition, brass or bronze pipelines were laid throughout the island to supply fuel. The search engines find characteristic fittings and pumping parts, but the tanks where the fuel was stored have not yet been found either. In addition, the expedition found out how the Japanese built their barracks. They were collapsible and consisted of a metal frame and wood. All pillboxes on the island were also sheathed with wood. The Japanese airfield is now in a rather deplorable state, it was badly damaged by air raids and natural disasters. Now there are several helipads. However, in the future, its restoration is possible. Of course, the main question is: do we need this piece of land, absolutely unsuitable for normal life? “Since last year, the Sea of Okhotsk has become our inland sea,” says Andrey Ryabukhin. - This is our sea. And here, let's say, a lot open doors. And everyone wants to enter them. But with what intentions they enter these doors - good or not, you will not immediately understand. In order to reliably protect our territories, we must make efforts so that later we don’t regret that we didn’t do anything.
Loopholes still exist, and they must be eliminated, including by creating Russian bases. So far, it is planned that units of the Pacific Fleet will be located on the island, which will ensure the protection of state interests. At the same time, the vice admiral believes that it makes no sense to restore the Japanese infrastructure on the island. - Now, in modern conditions, it is expensive and inexpedient to go deep underground, to build cities and railways there. Again, all the underground communications that we open are very dilapidated. They crumble, dilapidated. The structure of the soil here is peculiar, including rocks that are very fragile. The fact that the Japanese dug up here was very relevant for that time, now it is no longer there. The expedition will work on the island until July, after which a report will be prepared based on its results. Conclusions whether the Armed Forces need Matua, whether a base will appear there, will be made this year. And there is a high probability that our troops will still be located on Matua.

67 years ago, on September 2, 1945, the Japanese surrender was signed on the USS Missouri. It is believed that the Second World War ended on this day. Her last volleys sounded not far from the coast of Kamchatka. Quite a lot is known about how the Red Army stormed Shumshu Island. Almost nothing is known about what happened on the other Kuril Islands...

Gone and didn't come back

Matua is rightly called the most mysterious of the islands of the Kuril chain. A small, picturesque piece of land (about 6 by 12 kilometers) is located in the very center of the archipelago. But the island is interesting mainly not for its protected nature, but for the huge number of military installations built by the Japanese on the eve of World War II. Despite the fact that many of these objects are perfectly preserved, no one really studied them. Although there was a Soviet frontier post on Matua. The border guards began to inspect the Japanese fortifications, penetrate into the dungeons. But after several fighters from traveling around the island did not return (they simply disappeared to no one knows where), the commanders forbade walks outside the outpost. And in 2000, the outpost burned down. The border guards were taken to the mainland - the island became uninhabited ...

Ruins. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

The real exploration of Matua began only in 2003. A group landed on its shore Kamchatka travelers headed by Evgeny Vereshchaga (now the head of the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). What they saw amazed them so much that they subsequently returned to Mysterious Island again and again, organized 15 expeditions, the last of which ended this summer.

Deep explorers. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

Fortress and Museum

- Why did Matua attract your attention so much, - I asked Yevgeny Vereshchaga?

First of all, monumental structures, the existence of which we did not even suspect. On the island, for example, there is a bulk hill - 130 meters high and half a kilometer in diameter. Once it was a natural hill, but the Japanese ennobled it and adapted it to their needs. We believe that hangars or storage facilities are equipped inside the hill, but we cannot get there - all entrances and exits are covered with a multi-meter layer of soil. A narrow-gauge railway crashes into the hill, along which, apparently, various goods were delivered to the dungeon.

Military installations violate the harmony of nature. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

The island has a chic airfield, built with the wind rose in mind. Planes can take off and land on it in any direction of wind. Veteran border guards say that earlier the runways were heated with thermal water - that is, they did not freeze even in winter.

Runway. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

Already during the first expedition, we discovered a mass interesting objects: roads, communications, anti-tank ditches 10-15 meters deep, six-meter pillboxes. According to our estimates, Matua was much better protected than Shumshu Island, where active hostilities took place.

- But, as far as I know, the Japanese capitulated on Matua almost without a fight ...

It really is. Moreover, when they surrendered, they handed over only machine guns, machine guns and cartridges. It turned out that there were no heavy weapons on the island.

Although, for example, I do not believe that in such a powerful fortress as Matua was, heavy guns were not provided. Why, in this case, were they digging anti-tank ditches there? The imperial garrison did not intend to fight off the tanks with machine guns. If there were guns, the question arises: where did they go? Apparently, they were either taken out or mothballed. I'm more inclined towards the second version. Because there are a lot of underground facilities on the island. But the entrances to most of them are blown up ...

During the war years, Matua was impregnable fortress, and now it is a unique museum under open sky.

Open-air museum. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

Difficult but possible

At one time, the journalist of AIF-Kamchatka also had a chance to visit Matua. I can say that the abundance of military buildings in a relatively small area is really impressive. The island is pitted up and down with ditches and trenches. The pillboxes are well preserved here, and the airfield, perhaps, can be used today. In one of the rocks, the industrious Japanese cut down a cave where a submarine could easily hide. The researchers believe that the residence of the garrison command is camouflaged in the hill. Its walls are gracefully lined with stone, nearby there is a swimming pool and an underground bath…

It is surprising why all this "wealth" did not arouse the interest of scientists for decades?

Luke. with inscriptions in German Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

- What new things have you learned about Matua over the past 9 years?I asked Yevgeny Vereshchaga.

Frankly, not much. We still have far more questions than answers. Nevertheless, now we can say with a high degree of probability that some serious military production was launched here. We found here containers that look like autoclaves that can withstand high pressure. They say "secret item" in Japanese.

We can also say that conservation of the island began long before August 1945. Therefore, it is difficult to find anything of value here. But you can. I don't doubt it. If there was nothing left in the underground bunkers, why would the Japanese have walled them up so carefully?

Commentators on the Internet speculate that here, either they made an atomic bomb, or they hid the gold of the Japanese emperor ...

I have read about it, of course. But I don’t take such versions too seriously ... Events took place on the island after the war, which are difficult to explain. Maybe that's why stories like this happen.

- What events do you mean?

We are in correspondence with the border guards, who in different time served on Matua. They write that the Japanese were noticed on the island back in the 60s of the last century. But these are, so to speak, words that we cannot verify ... However, some interesting stories backed up by facts. In 1989, from the slope of the Sarychev Peak volcano, which is located in the center of the island, a green beam of light hit like a searchlight. The frontier post was alerted, the incident was reported to Petropavlovsk. A group of border guards was sent to the volcano. They did not find the searchlight, neither did they find people... What happened there is still not known.

Disc with hieroglyphs. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

Stalin to Truman

The Kamchatka writer and historian, author of the book “To the Secrets of the Foggy Kuriles” Alexander Smyshlyaev is sure that the island of Matua is fraught with many mysteries.

I think that there are some storage facilities on the island,” he says. - It is known that after the war, one ensign constantly brought imported alcohol to the frontier post: sake or whiskey. Where he took them, no one found out ... Even veterans say that the most common animals on the island were rats. They literally did not give people life. This also indirectly confirms that somewhere underground there were storage facilities with food... By the way, a warehouse with rice stocks was found quite recently on Paramushir Island. And, it all happened by accident. The bulldozer dug out some kind of hillock, and under it, as it turned out, there was a warehouse.

Kamchatka researchers of the Kuriles have repeatedly tried to establish contact with Japanese scientists in order to get at least some information about Matua. But each time they ran into a wall of misunderstanding. All their inquiries went unanswered...

There are many passages and tunnels on the island. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

It is interesting that at one time the Americans laid eyes on Matua. This is evidenced by Stalin's correspondence with Harry Truman. The President of the United States expressed his desire "to have the rights to air bases for land and sea aircraft on one of Kuril Islands, preferably in the central group". Apparently, it was about Matua, because there are no airfields on other islands of the “central group”. Stalin, in principle, did not refuse Truman. But in a response letter, he asked him in return for one of the islands of the Aleutian ridge in order to place a Soviet military base on it. The topic was closed after that. But questions, as they say, remain. And it's not easy to answer them. At a minimum, for this it is necessary to organize a large scientific expedition to Matua and thoroughly work in the Moscow archives. Kamchatka researchers have neither the strength nor the means for this. And besides them, the secrets of the island of Matua in our country seem to be of little interest to anyone ...

The beauty of Matua is mesmerizing. Photo: AiF / Vladimir Khitrov

You can visit the island of Matua right now with the help of .

67 years ago, on September 2, 1945, the Japanese surrender was signed on the USS Missouri. It is believed that on this day the Second World War. Her last volleys sounded not far from the coast of Kamchatka. Quite a lot is known about how the Red Army stormed Shumshu Island. Almost nothing is known about what happened on the other Kuril Islands...

Matua is the most mysterious island Kuril ridge ...

Gone and didn't come back

Matua is rightly called the most mysterious of the islands of the Kuril chain. A small, picturesque piece of land (about 6 by 12 kilometers) is located in the very center of the archipelago. But the island is interesting mainly not for its protected nature, but for the huge number of military installations built by the Japanese on the eve of World War II. Despite the fact that many of these objects are perfectly preserved, no one really studied them. Although there was a Soviet frontier post on Matua. The border guards began to inspect the Japanese fortifications, penetrate into the dungeons. But after several fighters from traveling around the island did not return (they simply disappeared to no one knows where), the commanders forbade the walk outside the outpost. And in 2000, the outpost burned down. The border guards were taken to the mainland - the island became uninhabited ...

Coast of Matua...

The real exploration of Matua began only in 2003. A group of Kamchatka travelers headed by Yevgeny Vereshchaga (now the head of the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky) then landed on its shore. What they saw amazed them so much that they subsequently returned to the mysterious island again and again, organized 15 expeditions, the last of which ended this summer.

On Matua you can find not only Japanese, but also Soviet rarities ...

Fortress and Museum

- Why did Matua attract your attention so much, - I asked Yevgeny Vereshchaga?

This hill may be artificial...

Airstrip on a desert island...

Already during the first expedition, we discovered a lot of interesting objects: roads, communications, anti-tank ditches 10-15 meters deep, six-meter pillboxes. According to our estimates, Matua was much better protected than Shumshu Island, where active hostilities took place.

Matua was better protected than the island of Shumshu, where there were active hostilities ...

- But, as far as I know, the Japanese capitulated on Matua almost without a fight ...

It really is. Moreover, when they surrendered, they handed over only machine guns, machine guns and cartridges. It turned out that there were no heavy weapons on the island. Although, for example, I do not believe that in such a powerful fortress as Matua was, heavy guns were not provided. Why, in this case, were they digging anti-tank ditches there? The imperial garrison did not intend to fight off the tanks with machine guns. If there were guns, the question arises: where did they go? Apparently, they were either taken out or mothballed. I'm more inclined towards the second version. Because there are a lot of underground facilities on the island. But the entrances to most of them are blown up ...

During the war years, Matua was an impregnable fortress, and now it is a unique open-air museum.

Open-air museum…

Difficult but possible

The author of these lines also happened to visit one of the expeditions to Matua. I can say that the abundance of military buildings in a relatively small area is really impressive. The island is pitted up and down with ditches and trenches. The pillboxes are well preserved here, and the airfield, perhaps, can be used today. In one of the rocks, the industrious Japanese cut down a cave where a submarine could easily hide. The researchers believe that the residence of the garrison command is camouflaged in the hill. Its walls are gracefully lined with stone, nearby there is a swimming pool and an underground bath…

It is surprising why all this "wealth" did not arouse the interest of scientists for decades?

A cave carved into the rock…

At the entrance to the dungeon...

Some objects are flooded…

- What new things have you learned about Matua over the past 9 years? I asked Yevgeny Vereshchaga.

Frankly, not much. We still have far more questions than answers. Nevertheless, now we can say with a high degree of probability that some serious military production was launched here. We found small containers, like autoclaves, that can withstand high pressure. They say "secret item" in Japanese.

There are quite a lot of old barrels with the inscription "Wehrmacht" scattered on the island ...

Commentators on the Internet speculate that here, either they made an atomic bomb, or they hid the gold of the Japanese emperor ...

- What events do you mean?

We are in correspondence with the border guards who served at Matua at various times. They write that the Japanese were noticed on the island back in the 60s of the last century. But these are, so to speak, words that we cannot verify ... However, some interesting stories are backed up by facts. In 1989, from the slope of the Sarychev Peak volcano, located in the center of the island, a green beam of light hit like a searchlight. The frontier post was alerted, the incident was reported to Petropavlovsk. A group of border guards was sent to the volcano. They did not find the searchlight, neither did they find people ... What happened there is still not known.

The guns are rusty...

Stalin - Truman

The Kamchatka writer and historian, author of the book “To the Secrets of the Foggy Kuriles” Alexander Smyshlyaev is sure that the island of Matua is fraught with many mysteries.

I think that there are some storage facilities on the island,” he says. - It is known that after the war, one ensign constantly brought imported alcohol to the frontier post: sake or whiskey. Where he took them, no one found out ... Even veterans say that the most common animals on the island were rats. They literally did not give people life. This also indirectly confirms that somewhere underground there were storage facilities with food... By the way, a warehouse with food supplies was found quite recently on the Kuril Island of Paramushir. And, it all happened by chance. The bulldozer dug out some kind of hillock, and under it, as it turned out, there was a warehouse.

There used to be a lot of rats on the island, but now foxes are in charge here ...

It is interesting that at one time the Americans laid eyes on Matua. This is evidenced by the correspondence between Joseph Stalin and Harry Truman. The US President expressed his desire "to have the rights to air bases for land and sea aircraft on one of the Kuril Islands, preferably in the central group." Apparently, it was about Matua, because there are no airfields on other islands of the “central group”. Stalin, in principle, did not refuse Truman. But in a response letter, he asked him in return for one of the islands of the Aleutian ridge in order to place a Soviet military base on it. The topic was closed after that. But questions, as they say, remain. And answering them is not easy. At a minimum, for this it is necessary to organize a large scientific expedition to Matua and thoroughly work in the Moscow archives. Kamchatka researchers have neither the strength nor the means for this. And besides them, the secrets of the island of Matua in our country seem to be of little interest to anyone ...

Russian ministers and presidents have made many loud statements about the Kuril Islands in recent years. Basically, they dealt with the territorial issue and boiled down to the fact that we would not give an inch of Russian land to the Japanese ... In words, our leaders paid a lot of attention to the Kuriles, but in reality they were not too willing to invest in their development or at least research. It turns out that the islands seem to be ours, but we don’t know what happened on them some 70 years ago ...

The authorities have no money to study the Kuriles. But Dmitry Medvedev has already flown there twice - first as president, then as prime minister. Each of the trips cost the budget, I think, tens of millions of rubles. Whether there was any benefit from these actions is hard to say. But relations with Japan, already difficult, worsened after them, and the budget money that could have been spent on exploring the islands evaporated in airplane smoke ...

Dmitry Medvedev in Kunashir.

Matua is the most mysterious and enigmatic island in Russia. The team of the catamaran "Kotoyarvi" explored this piece of Kuril land for several days and only strengthened the idea that we had not seen the most important thing. Secret chemical laboratories, underground cities - yes, it was all there. But clearly there is something that has eluded us. Perhaps it was here that the Nazis hid some of the looted treasures: we made sure that German submarines went to the allies even after the surrender of Berlin.

Matua Island is relatively small - 11 kilometers long, 6.5 kilometers wide. Height highest point, Sarychev Peak (Fuyo Volcano), - 1485 meters. The island is located in the central part of the Kuril ridge, therefore it is significantly removed from populated areas Sakhalin and Kamchatka. There is no connection with the outside world. Yes, actually, and there is no need - the island is uninhabited.

on Iwo Jima, it has 45 floors of communications. We assume that on Matua in the hill there are at least 45 floors of communications and galleries

Until the beginning of the 20th century, there was a permanent settlement of the Ainu. On the eve of World War II, the Japanese turned Matua - by the way, the Japanese themselves pronounce its name as Matsua-to - into a powerful fortress, into an unsinkable aircraft carrier that controlled the Pacific Northwest. There was a large airfield with three long runways, allowing aircraft to be lifted in almost any wind direction. The strips were heated by thermal waters, and therefore could be used all year round. There are enough reasons to believe that there were some secret Japanese facilities on Matua. It is likely that these were laboratories for the development of chemical or bacteriological weapons. Submarines of the Third Reich came here, having made an almost round-the-world trip. The Americans repeatedly tried to destroy airfields and island facilities, losing a dozen aircraft and at least two submarines in battle.

After the surrender of Japan on August 14 and until the capture of the island by Soviet troops on August 27, 1945, the Japanese had enough time to hide and conserve all the most important and valuable island objects. Surprisingly, judging by the inventory of weapons and equipment captured on the island, the paratroopers did not find a single aircraft, tank or gun on Matua. For 3811 Japanese soldiers and officers who surrendered, only 2127 rifles turned out to be available. At the same time, pilots, sailors and gunners disappeared somewhere, and only construction battalion workers and support personnel were captured. Compare this with the trophies taken on the island of Shumshu, suddenly attacked on August 18, where there were more than 60 tanks alone.

Already after the Japanese were evacuated from Matua, and the Soviet military settled in their place, very strange events began to occur on the island: people disappeared, at night light flashed on the slopes of the volcano, and from nowhere our military appeared rare trophies. For example, collectible French cognac ...

After the war, the United States really wanted to get Matua for itself, but Truman did not accept Stalin's crafty offer to change it to one of the Aleutian Islands.

Little is known about what happened on Matua in Soviet times. Civilians did not get here and were not allowed, but the military keep their secrets. Apparently, there was a military unit serving radars on the island. Broken installations and dumps of electronic equipment from the 60s and 70s are scattered throughout the island.

Until about 2001, a frontier post was maintained on Matua. Then it burned down, and the homeless border guards were evacuated to the mainland. There is no one on the island now.

There are no closed bays on Matua. If you look at the island on maps or aerial photography, it may seem that there is no good shelter for a ship near the island at all. In practice, a convenient and relatively safe place is the strait in the southwestern part of the island, covered from the west by the small island of Ivaki (Toporkovy). It was here that the Japanese raid was located, the berths were located. The two-story pillbox on the shore, the beach littered with the wreckage of ships and equipment, the remains of the pier and the skeleton of the Royo-maru transport sunk in the strait are reminiscent of the Japanese. Somewhere at the bottom of the strait lie other Japanese transports - Iwaki-maru and Hiburi-maru, torpedoed by the American submarine SS-233 Herring.

Not far from the Kotojärvi parking lot, at low tide, a huge diesel engine emerges from the water, overgrown with algae and shells. The heart of which of the ships that found their end in the strait, he was, is no longer possible to establish.

We stayed on Matua for several days, and each trip to the island was accompanied by amazing finds and discoveries. The runways of the airfield are well preserved. The concrete on them is still better than what is in Sheremetyevo. There are hundreds of rusty fuel barrels around the airfield. Mostly ours, but there are also German ones marked Kraftstoff Wehrmaght 200 Ltr. ("Fuel of the Wehrmacht, 200 liters"). The dates from 1939 to 1945 are clearly visible on the barrels. Surprisingly, among the German barrels there are also full ones.

IN open access numerous defensive structures: bunkers, pillboxes, caponiers, equipped artillery positions, tens of kilometers of trenches and ditches. The alder thickets are full of iron rubbish, sometimes the most amazing. You can, for example, stumble upon a cast-iron steam plant, very reminiscent of a small steam locomotive. Cast-iron and ceramic pipes stick out of the ground in ditches and on coastal screes. What is this? Plumbing, sewerage or parts of the airfield heating system?

I walked along the coast - I came across a disguised water station with huge cast-iron mechanisms inside the casemates. Everything is relatively safe. In the back wall of another collapsed building, I found a small door. I opened a path behind it, after 200 meters there was a rock in the forest, I looked closely - and this is skillful masonry, behind which is the entrance to a stone tunnel that goes uphill. Unfortunately, littered with an explosion at the very beginning. Landfill nearby. A cast-iron Japanese “potbelly stove” sticks out of the ground, next to it are fragments of ceramics, on which the markings of the Japanese army are read, bottles and vials with hieroglyphs, cartridge cases, leather shoes ...

Even if you do not try too hard, it is easy to find many structures on the island, the purpose of which is not easy to explain. What kind of load, for example, could be carried by concrete bunkers with meter-long walls, thick steel doors and the same shutters? Barracks, command post, warehouse, bomb shelter? But why then so many windows with a complex system of steel shutters and locks, why an intricate network of air ducts? Maybe a lab? On the island, more than once, some complex devices with sensors, pressure gauges, centrifuges were found ... However, these devices were broken and thrown away by the Japanese themselves. Where is everything else? Technique, equipment, equipment, personal belongings of the garrison? What did German submarines bring or take away here? What did the Americans try to destroy or capture, what have ours already found?

There are many questions. We were able to get answers to some of them in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, having met with Evgeny Mikhailovich Vereshchaga, the permanent leader of the Kamchatka-Kuril expedition.

We contacted Vereshchaga from Moscow and talked about our plans. An experienced Kamchadal looked at the photos of the catamaran and expressed polite bewilderment: along the Sea of Okhotsk and Pacific Ocean they don't go to that. But he did not refuse help - 120 liters of 92nd gasoline were waiting for us on Matua, without which it would have been difficult. We could meet at sea. Around the time when the Kotoyarvi was moving north, the Kamchatka-Kuril expedition with border guards was installing Orthodox crosses in the Kuriles. Near Ushishir Island, we got in touch with a border whaleboat, but could not approach it because of the rough sea and thick fog. We met already in Petropavlovsk - in the museum that Evgeny Vereshchaga, Irina Viter and their associates created as a result of the study of the Kuril Islands and, first of all, Matua.

- Why exactly Matua, because very close to Kamchatka there are Shumshu and Paramushir, bigger and better famous islands recaptured from the Japanese in the same 1945?

- For a very long time, Matua was absolutely inaccessible. The opportunity to get there appeared only in 2001, when the outpost burned down and the border guards left. This year we have already completed the 14th expedition, but even now the island shows us only one hundredth of its secrets. Although the conclusion is unequivocal: the island was mothballed by the Japanese garrison before surrendering to Soviet troops.

Did they have time for this?

- On August 18, the Kuril landing operation began. Information about this passed through all the Kuril Islands, naturally, on Matua they learned about the start of hostilities by the USSR. On August 23, the Japanese garrison capitulated to Shumshu and Paramushir. And on August 25, the Matua garrison, led by commander Colonel Ledo, surrendered. However, we know from Japanese sources that since February 1945, Ketsu's plan was implemented in Japan, according to which it was necessary to take out everything that was possible from the Kuril Islands, and what could not be taken out, then mothballed, that is, hidden. Equipment, machinery, raw materials ... The country's leadership took such actions due to the fact that there was a forecast about the imminent surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan's main ally. In February-March 1945, the Ketsu plan was put into effect on Matua. Everything that could not be taken out was hidden. And what could not be hidden was destroyed. We found a large amount of burnt equipment, and not just burnt, but burnt and buried 2 meters. Small parts were burned in barrels at high temperatures. Everything there was scorched and melted. Everything was destroyed very carefully. But we assume that especially valuable things were well hidden. After all, it is known how the Japanese acted in such cases in the southern islands, in the same Philippines, for example. According to our assumptions, about 10-15 thousand people left the island before the surrender. And those who surrendered were the so-called funeral brigade, which conserved the island and hid everything.

- But in February 1945, and even more so later, it was very difficult for the Japanese to evacuate such a large and complex military facility as the island of Matua. Maybe they drowned everything in the ocean?

– The divers who participated in the expedition examined the coast, including the secret pier. Apart from a few pieces of iron and American shells that were fired at the island, there is nothing there.

- And why was this rather small island, which does not have a convenient bay, so important for the Japanese?

- We believe that Matua was built as a powerful reserve base, which was supposed to become a springboard for a possible retreat from northern islands. Shumshu and Paramushir are the tip of the sword directed at Kamchatka. The structures on these islands are of purely military importance. Nothing exotic, but on Matua we see paved roads, figured walls, decorative finishes, new technologies ... It can be seen that everything was very comfortable here, the blissful Japanese lived, there was a rear. As we learn from the interrogations of General Tsumi Fusaki, the commander of the northern group, the Matua garrison did not obey him and was controlled directly from the Hokkaido headquarters. This indicates some special status of the island of Matua. Japanese and our mentality are very different; on the island, on which it would seem impossible to create a naval base, the Japanese built it. Surprise and paradox are their know-how.

- In Germany, work was underway to create a new weapon. In particular, chemical and bacteriological. They probably did the same in Japan. There is a version that secret laboratories were located on Matua. What did your research show?

The Japanese did this kind of work. It is known that Detachment 731 was engaged in the development of chemical and bacteriological weapons in Harbin, on the territory of today's PRC. I was there two years ago and saw structures very similar to those on Matua. Of course, we heard all sorts of scary stories, tales, myths, so we try to observe safety precautions as much as possible. If we find something that could potentially be dangerous, then we never touch it. We mask it so that someone else does not find it, and examine it very carefully.

- I saw some chemical flasks, other glass-blown vessels ...

Of course we found them too. But we did not carry out special excavations. Everywhere in the world there are safety standards. If warehouses of dangerous chemicals or bacteria must be hidden at a depth of 20 meters, it is natural that they are there. In this sense, Matua is safe. Our garrisons have been here for 55 years, and nothing bad has happened.

- What evidence is there that mothballed objects are hidden inside the island?

– We found underground communications, 100-200-300 meters of corridors carved in basalt, trimmed with wood, there are many different rooms inside, stoves for cooking and heating ... This is the so-called underground city object. And this is only that part of it that we discovered by accident. There was a scree, an entrance was formed, and we were able to climb through. After earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, more and more objects are accidentally discovered. But we find only that which is not very disguised.

You can take for example the island of Iwo Jima, which everyone has probably heard of. Its garrison consisted of 22 thousand people. The Americans stormed it for three months. The operation involved about 200 thousand soldiers, hundreds of ships, it was only bombed for a whole month ... So, Iwo Jima is three times smaller than Matua. And on Matua, when ours arrived there, not a single plane, not a single tank, not a single gun. And the huge US interest in this island. All this suggests that the main facilities were mothballed by the state resource. I mean the Ketsu plan or something similar. Everything was done by specialists, everything was purposefully disguised, put into storage, then to be taken away, clogged, exploded. With the resources we have, it is very difficult to open what was hidden by the resources of the whole state.

P.S. Read the end of the conversation and the story about the island of Matua in the next issue.