On the evening of August 8, 1945, local time in Moscow, Naotake Sato, the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union, received a call from the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. The other party politely said: “Mr. Ambassador, our People’s Commissar Comrade Molotov wants to see you. Please come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately."

 Naotake Sato couldn't help feeling ecstatic when he received this call. He received a call from Prime Minister Suzuki Kantaro yesterday, saying that Hiroshima was attacked by a US super bomb on August 6, killing more than 100,000 people. He was ordered to find a way to contact the Soviet Union as soon as possible, hoping that the other party could mediate the war between his country and the United States.

Sato Naotake was worrying about how to contact Molotov, but the other party sent someone to call first and asked him to rush over to meet. Sato Naotake quickly packed up, left the embassy with his secretary, and headed towards the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Arrived at the door of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a young staff member was waiting. Seeing Naotake Sato's appearance, he said politely: "Mr. Ambassador, Comrade People's Commissar is waiting for you. Please come with me and I will take you to see him."

When Naotake Sato followed the staff into Molotov's office, he specifically looked up at the clock on the wall. The hour hand pointed to 17 o'clock.

“Minister Molotov,” although ministers in the Soviet Union were all called people’s commissars, Naotake Sato still called Molotov in the name of minister: “Nice to meet you!”

Molotov, who was sitting behind his desk, stood up and walked around the desk, shook hands with Sato Naotake, and said expressionlessly: "Dear Mr. Ambassador, I am entrusted by our government to submit a letter to you. A formal memorandum.”

As he spoke, he handed the red folder held in his other hand to Sato Naotake, "Comrade Stalin has taken decisive measures to protect the lives and safety of the Soviet people. In the early morning of August 9, 1945, we It will cross the line of actual control between the Soviet and Japanese armies in the Far East and launch an attack on the Kwantung Army stationed in the area."

 What Molotov said made Naotake Sato stunned. He opened the folder in his hand in a panic, carefully checked the contents of the memo inside, and determined that the Soviet army would launch an attack on the Kwantung Army stationed in the Far East in seven hours. In doing so, he thought that the Soviet Union and Japan were about to enter. state of war.

"Mr. Minister." Sato Naotake raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and said angrily: "You are wrong to make such a decision."

"Mr. Ambassador." But Molotov said coldly: "In the "Potsdam Proclamation" on July 26, I issued an ultimatum to you, hoping to end this protracted war as soon as possible. But time So much time has passed and you have ignored this announcement, so Comrade Stalin feels it is necessary to take certain measures against you to end this war."

"But, Mr. Minister." After hearing Molotov mention the "Potsdam Declaration", Naotake Sato seemed to grasp a life-saving straw, "As far as I know, the only participating country in the "Potsdam Declaration" was the United States. , Britain, and China, but the Soviet Union is not among them. It is a completely wrong decision for you to launch an aggressive war against us based on the Potsdam Declaration."

What Naotake Sato was going to say had long been expected by Molotov. He waited for the other party to finish, then smiled lightly and said: "Mr. Ambassador, since you are here, let me tell you another thing. The Soviet Union We have officially joined the "Potsdam Declaration" today and will work with the United States, Britain and China to defeat Japan and implement the Cairo Declaration on post-war Japan."

Sato Naotake didn’t know how he left Molotov’s office. He walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building like a zombie and walked aimlessly along the street. He didn’t even hear his secretary calling him.

The secretary saw Sato Naotake's poor mental state and didn't know what had happened. He hurriedly stepped forward to grab him, called the driver for help, and dragged Sato Naotake into the car. Then he started the vehicle and headed in the direction of the Japanese Embassy.

“Your Excellency, Ambassador,” the secretary sitting in the passenger seat turned around and asked Sato Naotake sitting in the back seat, “What happened?”

The secretary's voice woke Sato Naotake out of his daze. He glanced out the window and saw the car driving towards the embassy. He quickly raised his voice and said: "Speed ​​up, we have to rush back to the embassy as soon as possible. Damn the Russians, Declared war on our country!”

When the secretary saw Sato Naotake wake up, he originally wanted to ask a few more questions, but when he heard the other party saying that the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly said to the driver: "Speed ​​up the car and get the ambassador back as soon as possible. Pavilion.”

The car stopped at the entrance of the embassy. As soon as the secretary opened the door, Naotake Sato rushed out of the car and rushed into the building at a speed that was not consistent with his fat body.

Back in his office, Naotake Sato grabbed the phone on his desk and prepared to report the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan immediately to Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki. Unexpectedly, he picked up the phone and found that there was no sound at all. He couldn't help but became furious: "Baga, what's going on? Why is the phone broken?"

The secretary who followed him in quickly stepped forward to check the phone. After a moment, he reported to Sato Naotake with a complicated expression: "Your Excellency, Ambassador, the Russians have cut off our phone lines, which means that we cannot contact the country by phone to tell them the bad news."

"Bagaya Road." After learning that the phone line had been cut off by the Soviet Union, Naotake Sato stamped his feet angrily. He sternly said to his secretary: "Go to the communications room immediately and use the radio to inform the country of the Russian declaration of war, so as not to worry tomorrow They were caught off guard by the Russians in the early hours of the morning.”

The secretary agreed, took the memorandum and ran out of the office quickly, preparing to go to the telecommunications room to send a report to inform Tokyo of the Soviet Union's declaration of war.

But ten minutes later, the secretary came in with a frustrated look and reported to Naotake Sato: "Your Excellency, the Russians have installed jammers nearby, and our radio station cannot contact Tokyo."

The next moment, Naotake Sato swept everything on the table to the floor, jumped to his feet and cursed: "The **** Russians actually used such a dirty trick to cut off our connection with the country and prevent us from declaring war in the first place. The news will be sent to Tokyo."

"Your Excellency, Ambassador," the secretary said with a grimace, "It seems that our troops will be caught off guard by the Russians." Cutting off the Japanese Embassy's connection with Tokyo was indeed done by the Soviet Union. However, the little devils did not want to think about it. When they attacked Pearl Harbor, because there was something wrong with the embassy in the United States, they did not hand over the declaration of war memorandum to the United States in time, which was tantamount to an undeclared war. What the Soviet Union is doing now is just that. The way is only applied to the other body.

In the early morning of the 9th, tens of thousands of artillery fire were fired from the area actually controlled by the Soviet Union in the Far East, bombarding important military facilities in the Kwantung Army's defense area. Thanks to the efforts of the 88th International Brigade and many Soviet reconnaissance teams, the various defensive positions of the Little Devils were clearly reconnoitred, and the first round of artillery bombardment hit these targets.

Sokov was sleeping, but the rumble of artillery in the distance woke him up. He got dressed and came to the headquarters, only to find that Lukin, Yakov, Gorokhov and others were already here. He smiled and asked: "What are you doing here if you don't sleep at night?"

"I can't sleep." Yakov said: "Misha, listen to the sound of artillery outside. According to my analysis, at least thousands of artillery are firing at the same time, otherwise there would never be such a big noise. It's a pity, like this It was a massive offensive battle, but we could only stay behind as a reserve team."

Sokov did not immediately answer his words, but asked instead: "Is there any movement from the Kwantung Army at the front of our army?"

“Because it was too dark, I could only vaguely see figures moving in the distant positions.” Yakov said: “I guess the Kwantung Army is making defensive preparations.”

"Let them mess around." Sokov said lightly: "Although we will not attack them, the Kwantung Army does not know about this, and they will definitely think that after the shelling in other areas is over, we will They will be shelled, and they must be reinforcing their fortifications and digging shell holes to reduce casualties when they are shelled by our army."

Lu Jin said with a smile: "Yes, let's wait for these little devils to cause trouble. I really want to know what kind of expression these little devils will have when they see that our army is still standing still after dawn."

Yakov also laughed loudly: "If it is true as Misha said, the little devils repaired the fortifications all night long, and after dawn, they must be exhausted. If we launch an attack at this time, , will definitely achieve unexpected results.”

"Just think about this kind of thing." Sokov said with a wry smile: "In any case, our group army is playing the role of a reserve team this time. The main offensive troops have not yet finished. How can it be our turn?" Attack.”

It is a pity that Yakov and Sokov have been partnered for too short a time, and he does not yet understand Sokov like Sidorin does. He does not know that the reserve force will also be transformed into an assault force within a certain period of time. As an excellent commander, Lu Jin's level was naturally much higher than that of Yakov. He said slowly: "After daybreak, our army will launch an attack on the Kwantung Army in other areas, and the Kwantung Army opposite us will Once it is discovered that our army is standing still, I am afraid that only a small number of troops will be left to monitor us, while the main force will be allocated to participate in battles in other areas."

Seeing that Lu Jin had seen through his intentions, Sokov smiled and nodded and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are right. Don't look at the order given to us by our superiors to act as a reserve force, but if everything goes well during the day, maybe Our superiors will arrange some combat tasks for us. The enemies in front of our army will find that our army has not moved yet and will feel that our army will not take the initiative to attack them, so they will definitely transfer the main forces in the defense zone to other areas. Combat. As a result, the Kwantung Army defense area in front of our army will become empty. If our superiors let us launch an attack at this time, we will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

“Misha, do you need to call the commander of the front and ask him what he thinks?” Yakov asked.

"Don't be anxious, Yasha." Sokov said with a smile: "The Far East campaign has just begun, and important military targets in the enemy's defense zone are being struck. The air force and ground forces have not yet launched an attack, so don't rush to ask your superiors for permission. Combat missions will definitely hit a wall. What we can do now is to stay in the defense zone and wait until our superiors take the initiative to assign us combat missions."

"I agree with Misha's point of view." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Lukin expressed his agreement: "I think the front army headquarters is very busy at this time, so we should not cause trouble to the superior leaders and just keep quiet. Wait for orders."

As Lu Jin analyzed, Malinovsky was very busy as soon as the shelling of the Kwantung Army's defense zone began. He said to Chief of Staff Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we must keep in touch with all group armies. , wait for our army's bomber fighter formation to carry out air strikes on the Kwantung Army's defensive positions, and then launch a ground attack..."

After Zakharov recorded Malinovsky's order, when he closed the book, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, how do you plan to arrange the 53rd Army? Do you plan to keep them as a reserve force? "

"It's hard to say." Even though he had been actively preparing for the battle in the past two days, Malinovsky was unsure because the attack time had been advanced. At this moment, although he did not encounter any counter-fire when shelling the Kwantung Army's defense zone, he still felt uneasy in his heart. After hearing Zakharov's question, he said without hesitation: "Since the 53rd Army has been arranged to serve as a reserve force at the military meeting, let them stay in the defense zone and wait for our next order. .”

After saying this, he took a sip of tea and asked Zakharov: "Has Sokov called?"

"No." Zakharov shook his head, and then reminded Malinovsky: "Didn't Sokov get fired by you yesterday?"

After Zakharov reminded him, Malinovsky immediately remembered that he had indeed issued the order to remove Commander Sokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right, I yesterday It is true that Sokov was dismissed from his post in anger. But if the progress of the troops today goes smoothly, it means that the Kwantung Army did not become vigilant because Sokov's artillery bombarded their defense area, then reinstatement of him is not enough. It’s just natural.”

After Zakharov answered a phone call, he said to Malinovsky: "Comrade Marshal, the Air Force called to ask when they can attack?"

"Tell the comrades in the Air Force, don't be anxious." Malinovsky said: "After our army's artillery preparations are completed, it will not be too late for them to attack. As soon as their bombing ends, our infantry will Launch an all-out attack on a vast battlefield.”