EMPEROR TAKEN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21801, 25 August 1945, Page 5

EMPEROR TAKEN

MANCHURIA PUPPET RED ARMY EXPLOITS PRAISE FROM STALIN LONDON, Aug. 23. Generalissimo Stalin’s Order of the Day, addressed to the commander of the Far East, Marshal Vassilievsky, said that since the opening of the offensive in Manchuria, the Red Army forces have advanced distances ranging from 310 to 560 miles. They had now captured the whole of Manchuria, besides the entire South Sakhalin, which the Japanese named Karafuto, and also the islands of Shumushu and Paramushiro in the Kurile chain of islands. The Japanese Kwantung Army had ceased resisting. / Twenty-four salvoes from 324 guns were saluting the feat in Moscow. The order concluded with the words: “Let the victorious Red Army and Red Fleet live and prosper!” A Russian communique states that the Rea Army yesterday took 35,000 Japanese prisoners, including 15 generals. Troons of the Trans-Baikal Command in South Manchuria entered Port Arthur and linked up with airborne troops. Russian troops on the Mukden aerodrome captured and interned the Emperor Kangteh, the Japanese-sponsored ruler of the puppet State of Manchuria, and his suite. Japanese garrisons in Port Arthur and Dairen were disamred after unopposed Russian airborne landings. Red Army troops have secured Shumushu, the most northerly of the Kurile Islands. Huge supply dumps have fallen into Russian hands in Manchuria, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. It appears that the Japanese had stores for millions of soldiers for 10 years. The Soviet Military Government is restoring order, and is receiving whole-hearted assistance from the Chinese, who are streaming back to their homes from the hills and forests. Most of the Japanese commanders are thoroughly tame and are. complying with all Russian demands.