Chapter Twenty-Three

1.     The Soviet Union’s invasion of Manchuria was the last epic battle of the Second World War. While often overlooked, the clash occurred on a scale comparable to the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944; 1.5 million Russian soldiers faced off against 713,724 Japanese troops. The Soviets routed the Japanese within a matter of weeks, losing an estimated 12,000 men killed and 24,000 men wounded. Japanese casualties were 22,000 killed and another 20,000 wounded, but just as debilitating was a historical rarity: mass desertion in the ranks. As in so many Russian conquests throughout Europe, rape and looting in Manchuria quickly followed. The joy many Chinese felt upon being liberated from their Japanese captors was soon replaced by fear and loathing for the Soviets.

2.     The radioactivity caused by the fission of uranium most severely affected those within two miles of the blast center, causing vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, damage to the bone marrow (which affects the body’s ability to produce blood), and large bumps on the skin known as keloids. The lack of white blood cells in victims led to sepsis and infection. Delayed effects included the abnormally high mortality rate among fetuses subjected to high levels of radiation and high levels of mental impairment for those in utero who survived birth. The radiation poisoning was caused not just by the initial blast but also by the highly radioactive black rain that began falling twenty minutes later. Even those who visited Hiroshima’s hypocenter in the weeks after the explosion were subjected to extremely high levels of radiation and began displaying symptoms. Most victims (90 percent) of radiation poisoning die within the first sixty days after exposure; those who live more than five months are still subject to a higher rate of cancer mortality than the general population.