When 18-year old Mihayel Zhukovsky marched together with other Russian soldiers into China in August 1945, he received a warm welcome.

Even though 60 years have passed, the 78-year-old former Byelorussian soldier remembers the scene in Northeast China clearly.

"Many Chinese people stepped out of their homes to welcome our troops. They smiled as if we had been good friends," Zhukovsky said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

He is a member of a former Soviet veterans' delegation visiting China to join the Chinese commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World War II.

Zhukovsky was one of the 1.7 million Soviet soldiers ordered to fight the 700,000-strong Kwantung Army, the final vital force of Japanese fascism in Northeast China in August 1945.

After Nazi Germany's announcement of surrender in May 1945, Japan became the only fascist country to continue to resist surrender. In order to end the war as soon as possible, Stalin manoeuvred Soviet troops from the European battlefield.

Historians say the Soviet troops used their best weapons against the Japanese Kwantung Army, believed to be Japan's most powerful. The bloody battle was expected to last several days, but the war ended sooner than expected.

It was just a little more than three weeks between August 8, when the Soviet Union declared war against Japan, and September 2, when the Japanese Government signed the formal letter of surrender. Suffering 32,000 casualties, the Soviet army killed 83,000 Japanese soldiers; more than 500,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered.

"This is because the brave Soviet soldiers had been fighting German invaders for several years and had accumulated rich war experience," said 81-year-old Vladimir Govorov, leader of the veterans' delegation and former commander-in-chief of the Soviet's Far East Military Zone in the 1970s.

During World War II, Govorov was a second lieutenant and an artillery platoon leader. His platoon destroyed 17 German tanks and he himself destroyed three.

Although not involved in the war against the Kwantung Army in Northeast China, Govorov knew what was going on, because of his long service in the Soviet Far Eastern military zone.

"Our generals used the correct tactics," Govorov added.

During the first days of the Soviet-Japanese war, Soviet troops launched a blitzkrieg against the Kwantung Army with the aid of its air force and its Pacific Fleet. Before the Kwantung Army could find its feet, it became divided into several segments that were quickly surrounded by the Soviet army and its allied Mongolian troops.

"Another, and perhaps most important, factor leading to our rapid victory was the support and help of the Chinese troops," Zhukovsky said.

He recalled that when the Soviet troops moved southward, the troops led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) marched northward from Chengde, in Hebei Province.

"We had good co-operation. We attacked the front Japanese positions while the Chinese CPC army attacked the flank. It also gave us good support ranging from guides to materials," Zhukovsky said.

But there were still some very bloody battle fought. One that Zhukovsky remembers well took place in the city of Mudanjiang.

Zhukovsky's troop, a gunnery regiment, was ordered to bomb the Wanting Army continuously through several days and nights.

"The forts of the Japanese were very firm and their firepower was strong. Many of my comrades-in-arms lost their lives in our gunnery position," Zhukovsky said.

Of the total casualties of 32,000 on the Soviet side, more than 10,000 were accounted for by the battle in Mudanjiang.

"But eventually we overcame the Japanese, because we fought for peace," Zhukovsky said. "Many of my old companions were buried there (Mudanjiang)."

After the war, Zhukovsky returned to his hometown and served as vice-mayor of Minsk, capital of Byelorussia.

In 1997, he came to China for the first time after the war and visited the tombs of his comrades in Mudanjiang and other Northeast Chinese cities.

The Chinese people have preserved their tombs well, Zhukovsky said gratefully.

"They gave their lives, but it was worthwhile. With their struggle and blood, China has become such a booming and prosperous country!" he said.

Source: China Daily