Soviet assault on Toro

At 05:00 on 16 August 1945 the Soviet landing force approached Toro undetected, unexpectedly breaking into the port and landing troops on the pier and a sandbank. Caught by surprise, the Japanese offered very weak resistance: only a company of reservists (about 100 men) and a local militia formation (less than 100 men, half of whom did not have firearms) were stationed in the port and the city. By 06:00, the Soviets had occupied the port.

At 09:00, the second echelon of the Soviet landing force — the main force of the naval infantry battalion, a total of 334 men —— landed in the port of Toro from 16 torpedo boats. By 10:00, the battle for the village of Toro was over, with the Soviets seizing the town and Japanese losses amounting to 84 killed and 29 captured.

By 19:00, the third echelon of the Soviet landing force —units of the 113th Rifle Brigade totaling 900 men — had completed its landing. The landing force expanded the beachhead it had secured and throughout the day captured several villages around Toro. As Japanese units advanced toward Toro, Japanese resistance increased. Soviet Naval Aviation carried out 51 combat sorties in support of the landing force, losing one Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter to Japanese anti-aircraft fire.

The Soviet landing force, supported by air power, launched an offensive southward toward the town and port of Esutora (now Uglegorsk) on 17 August. At 09:30, a detachment of three flotilla boats entered the port of Esutora and landed a force of 90 men which quickly occupied the port. During the landing and while supporting Soviet troops in the battle for Esutora, two Soviet torpedo boats were damaged when they struck underwater rocks; they were towed back to Sovetskaya Gavan. Soon, units attacking from the north captured the village of Esutora. The Japanese stubbornly defended the next town, Yama-Sigai (administratively a part of Esutora for the Japanese but considered a separate city by the Soviet command; it is now a district of Uglegorsk). With up to two companies, the Japanese managed to hold back the initial Soviet assault on the fortified heights around the town.

On the afternoon of 17 August, the transport Petropavlovsk arrived at Toro, accompanied by two Bolshoi Okhotnik boats and one minesweeper. They delivered the last battalion of the 113th Rifle Brigade, artillery, and logistics units of the 365th Naval Infantry Battalion. To prevent the Japanese at Yama-Sigai from halting the Soviet advance, the Soviet landing commander decided on a night assault on the town with a naval infantry battalion and a rifle battalion. Fierce fighting continued almost all night.

Supported by naval gunfire, the Soviets cleared Yama-Sigai of Japanese forces by 09:30 on 18 August, and the remnants of the Japanese garrison retreated in disarray into the hills. The Japanese lost 136 men killed and wounded in the battle for Yama-Sigai.^[3]

Throughout 18 August, Soviet forces defended their greatly expanded beachhead. Soviet Naval Aviation carried out 37 combat sorties to support them, with one strike at Yama-Sigai mistakenly hitting Soviet positions, killing one Soviet officer. The Soviets decided that continuing the landing force's advance was impractical due to long distances, a lack of large Japanese forces, and the absence of important targets. Instead, they decided to conduct new landings at ports farther south in Sakhalin. This decision resulted in a new landing at Maoka (now Kholmsk) that began on 19 August.

Within two days, the Northern Pacific Flotilla's forces had established a vital foothold on the western coast of Karafuto Prefecture, cutting off Japanese communications along the coast. The main Japanese force on Sakhalin, which was engaged in heavy fighting with advancing Soviet forces near the border between Karafuto and the Soviet portion of the island, was left at risk of complete encirclement. This prompted the Japanese to abandon the further defense of the Koton Fortified Area: On 18 August, the commander of the Japanese forces in the fortified area began surrender negotiations, and he surrendered on 19 August. The Soviet command, in turn, used its foothold at Toro to exploit its success and quickly launch new landings in the major Japanese ports of Maoka and Otomari (now Korsakov) farther south in Karafuto. The landing force's losses during the three days of battle amounted to 12 killed and some wounded.

During the landing operation and in support of the subsequent advance of the troops from the beachhead, Soviet Naval Aviation carried out 174 combat sorties over three days, including 15 sorties by Beriev MBR-2 flying boats, 35 by Ilyushin Il-2 attack aircraft, 116 by fighters, and eight by Petlyakov Pe-2 reconnaissance aircraft. Soviet aircrews claimed the destruction of a barge (which the Japanese identified as a dredger), 66 vehicles, 16 firing positions, two field guns, and an ammunition depot and to have inflicted over 100 casualties on the Japanese. Soviet aircraft also destroyed a significant number of civilian and industrial facilities and residential buildings. There is evidence of Soviet airstrikes on refugee columns, which Soviet pilots may have mistaken for retreating Japanese troop columns.

• Великая Отечественная война 1941-1945 гг. Том 5 Победный финал. Завершающие операции Великой Отечественной войны в Европе. Война с Японией [The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: Volume 5: Victorious Finale: The Final Operations of the Great Patriotic War in Europe; The War with Japan] (in Russian). Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. 2013. pp. 554–555.
• Gelfond, G. M. (1958). Советский флот в войне с Японией [The Soviet Fleet in the War with Japan] (in Russian). Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. pp. 110–121.
• Ivanov, N. P. (1973). "Лётчики-тихоокеанцы в разгроме Японии" [Pacific Fleet Pilots in the Defeat of Japan]. Крылья над морем [Wings Over the Sea] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. (Chapter 7)
• Краснознаменный Тихоокеанский флот [Red Banner Pacific Fleet] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. 1973.
• Strelbitsky, K. B. (1996). Август 1945. Советско-японская война на море — Цена Победы [August 1945. Soviet-Japanese War at Sea – The Price of Victory] (in Russian). Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.
• Kolesnikov, A. "Падение Эсутору" [The Fall of Esutora] (in Russian).
• "Великая Отечественная. День за днём" [The Great Patriotic War: Day by Day]. Морской сборник (Morskoi Sbornik) (in Russian). No. 8. 1995.