page_title: 34th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
section_title: Soviet invasion of Manchuria
hierarchical_section_title: 34th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) / History / World War II / Soviet invasion of Manchuria
caption_attribution_description: English: Soviet troops of the 15th Army crossing the Sungari aboard a monitor of the Amur Flotilla during the Sungari Offensive
context_page_description: The 34th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during and before World War II. The division was formed in 1923. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. Postwar, it became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division.
context_section_description: In the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the division participated in the attack across the Amur River conducted by the 2nd Far Eastern Front, known in Soviet historiography as the Sungari Offensive. The 15th Army was tasked with making the main attack of the front with its three forward rifle divisions: the 34th, 361st and 388th. With the 203rd Tank Brigade, the 34th was positioned near Blagoslovennoye, tasked with launching the rightmost of the three attacks of the 15th Army. The 34th and the 203rd Tank Brigade were to cross the Amur, capturing Luobei and the Japanese Xingshanzhen fortified region before linking up with the 361st and 388th Divisions at Jiamusi on the Sungari River. The Soviet forces faced the Japanese 14th Border Guards Unit at Xingshanzhen and the 134th Infantry Division at Jiamusi.
  Operations began at 01:00 on 9 August, when the divisions of the 15th Army sent reconnaissance detachments and advanced battalions to capture major islands in the Amur. These were captured and in the predawn hours, reconnaissance parties crossed to the southern bank of the river. During the day positions on the islands and on the southern bank were consolidated, as main forces concentrated to cross the Amur in force. The operations were hindered by heavy rains, high water, and mud. On the night of 9–10 August, the divisions of the 15th Army conducted reconnaissance-in-force on Japanese strongpoints on the south bank, and late on 10 August an advanced regiment from the 34th captured the village of Lopei, reconnoitering strongpoints to the south.
  The main force of the division and the 203rd Tank Brigade crossed the river at Lopei around this time, and advanced to the south after bypassing the Xingshanzhen fortified region, leaving a small detachment behind to reduce it. The fortified region fell within three days after artillery bombardment and airstrikes forced the Japanese to retreat either towards Jiamusi or the mountains west of Xingshanzhen. The advance of the division towards Jiamusi was stymied by formidable Japanese opposition south of Xingshanzhen, which was outflanked by a 14 August amphibious landing of the 83rd Rifle Regiment of the 34th and another regiment from the 361st Division by ships of the Amur Flotilla near Huachuan on the Sungari, 40 kilometers (25 mi) north of Jiamusi. This movement forced the Japanese defenders to retreat to Jiamusi. The latter was captured by the 361st and 388th on 17 August, after which the 15th Army continued to pursue the retreating Japanese until 21 August.
caption: Soviet troops of the 15th Army crossing the Sungari aboard a monitor of the Amur Flotilla during the Sungari Offensive
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