landing barge with seven T-26 tanks sailed for Seishin. At about 04:00 on 15 August, the ships entered the port of Seishin and the main forces of the landing force (up to 5,000 men) began to disembark at the occupied bridgehead in the port under heavy Japanese fire. The resistance of an ever-increasing adversary was so powerful that the launch of an entire brigade into battle did not lead to a turning point in the battle. Only in the middle of the day with the help of tanks and artillery fire from the ships that damaged the Japanese armored train, which was forced to leave the battlefield, the port was finally cleared and the fighting began to take the city. By evening, the city was almost completely cleared of the Japanese, saving the surviving advanced groups of paratroopers. Stubborn fighting continued in the outskirts of the city. The commander, Lieutenant-General S. I. Kabanov, arrived at the port and assumed leadership of the operation. In the afternoon, another detachment of ships left Vladivostok (one destroyer, two minesweepers, three transports, one patrol and border boat), carrying the third echelon of assault forces: 615 soldiers, 60 guns and mortars, 94 cars. Almost all the ships remained in the harbor and supported the offensive with artillery fire. The Japanese tried to counteract them with fire from the still surviving coastal artillery and with attacks of individual aircraft. In the harbor a minesweeper was damaged by a US naval mine. On 16 August, the third echelon of the landing force was landed in the port, while two more minesweepers were significantly damaged by mines. The fleet command, realizing that it had underestimated the enemy, was now fully building up the power of the landing force. At first, another tank landing barge with seven T-26 tanks and two vehicles aboard was sent to Seishin. Then, the next detachment of ships, not initially planned, left Vladivostok: one patrol ship, one minesweeper, six landing craft, one tank landing ship, carrying the 205th infantry regiment and military equipment. During the day, the landing forces executed a limited offensive from Seishin towards the north and north-west. Japanese troops in the area of the city received a message about the order of the Emperor of Japan about the cessation of resistance. Although a number of units refused to lay down their arms, organized resistance had almost ceased by the end of