The Seishin Operation (, ), also called Chongjin Landing Operation, was an amphibious assault on northern Korea between 13–17 August 1945, carried out by the forces of the Soviet Northern Pacific Flotilla of the Pacific Fleet during the Soviet–Japanese War at the end of World War II. Prelude During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, the 1st Far Eastern Front under Kirill Meretskov advanced south along the coast of northern Korea. It was decided to conduct three amphibious landings in the rear of the Japanese Kwantung Army. From 11 to 13 August, the first two landings by the Pacific Fleet were executed, in which they occupied seaports Yuki (today Sonbong) and Racine (today Rason) on the Korean coast, which encountered only some small resistance in Racine. Encouraged by the success, the fleet commander, Admiral Ivan Yumashev ordered the launch of the next amphibious assault at the port of Seishin (now Chongjin). Unlike the previous ports, Seishin was well fortified and had a strong Japanese garrison. It had some 4,000 soldiers and was enforced by retreating units of the 3rd Japanese Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Keisaku Murakami of the Kwantung Army. In view of the successful development of the offensive of the 1st Far Eastern Front, the front commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Kirill Meretskov, on 12 August cancelled the previously scheduled landing in Seishin. However, the fleet command continued preparations for the landing, hoping for an easy success. Yumashev managed to get permission to conduct the operation from the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky. But, with the previous decision of Meretskov to cancel the operation, the fleet did not receive the rifle division previously planned for the landing in Seishin, and Yumashev was forced to go ahead with a limited number of troops, a brigade of marines and some individual units. To compensate for his small force, he ordered powerful pre-strikes of aviation and torpedo boats on the port (daily bomb-assault strikes from 9 to 13 August). Nevertheless, the overall plan of the operation remained unchanged – preliminary landing of a reconnaissance group, and then building up the strength of the landing force. Since 9 August, continuous air strikes were inflicted on the port of Seishin in which, according to Soviet data, about 10 Japanese ships were sunk. On 12 August, some Soviet ships