The beginning:
August, 1945: Air and naval operations against Japan continue. Carrier- and land-based air mount strikes in general preparation for OLYMPIC.
22 August, 1945: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov receives the Japanese Ambassador, who had been hoping for a positive reply to the sincere requests of the Japanese Government for Soviet mediation of an end to the Pacific War. Instead, the old Bolshevik reads aloud the Soviet Declaration of War.
23 August: Soviet forces attack the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Karafuto (South Sakhalin) and the Kuriles. Fighting is fierce and bloody, but the Soviet blitzkreig on the plains of Manchuria and through the Gobi Desert into China is unstoppable. Despite this, the Japanese, as usual, fight to the death.
23 August: Operation ZIPPER begins on the West Coast of Malaya. This is the British and Commonwealth attack intended to retake Singapore. British, Indian, and British colonial troops from East and West Africa participate. Air and naval support provided by the RAF and both the Royal Navy and the French Navy (BB Richeliu with several cruisers and destroyers). Fighting is expected to last seven months.
6 September: After weeks of arguing, and two assassinations (Togo, the Foreign Minister-and Marquis Kido, the Lord Privy Seal, the Japanese Government formally rejects the Potsdam Declaration in an Imperial Rescript.
10 September: Meeting at Pearl Harbor involving President Truman, the JCS, and both Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur. Both commanders recommend no change in OLYMPIC. Truman agrees, and though formal Presidential Approval had been authorized on 18 June, Truman insisted on a final conference to confirm the decision. After the meeting, a formal "execute" order is given for OLYMPIC.
10 September through 9 October: Air and naval action in support of OLYMPIC preparation continues. Vice Adm. Frank Fletcher's North Pacific Force operates in support of Soviet efforts to clear the northern Kuriles and enable shipping to enter the Sea of Okhotsk and deliver Lend-Lease supplies to Soviet Far East ports.
British Pacific Fleet elements mount a ten-day series of carrier strikes on the Hong Kong-Canton area to draw attention away from Kyushu.
U.S. Eighth Air Force now fully operational on Okinawa, with groups operating B-17s, B-24s, and B-29s, and either P-51H or P-47N fighters. All units are veterans of the air war in Europe.
Soviets overrun Karafuto. Japanese garrisons in the Kuriles continue to hold out. Each island must be cleared, one-by-one. And the defenders, as usual, fight to the death. The Soviets are experiencing what the Americans have gone through in the Central Pacific Campaign.
Continued carrier air strikes on Japanese mainland targets. U.S. Navy Escort carrier groups penetrate the East China Sea and launch strikes against Japanese targets on the China Coast. Several coastal targets on the Japanese Mainland are bombarded by both USN and Royal Navy battleships.
9 October: Typhoon Louise hits Okinawa, causing considerable damage to airfields, troop camps, radar stations, and other facilities. A number of invasion craft (LCIs and LCMs) are sunk or washed ashore.
10 October: Typhoon Louise slams into Kyushu, washing out defenses, wrecking crops, and imparing road travel-worse, in some areas, than the American bombing.
11 October: A delay of up to two weeks is recommended for OLYMPIC. MacArthur agrees, as does Admiral Nimitz. OLYMPIC is pushed back to 15 November 1945.