Historians rethink key Soviet role in Japan defeat By SLOBODAN LEKIC (AP) – 9 hours ago As the United States dropped its atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, 1.6 million Soviet troops launched a surprise attack on the Japanese army occupying eastern Asia. Within days, Emperor Hirohito's million-man army in the region had collapsed.It was a momentous turn on the Pacific battlegrou