Re: US didn't need to drop the atomic bomb on Japan
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:24 pm
The Japanese had moved 990,000 troops to Kyushu to repel the initial landings of Operation Downfall.
990,000. In Kyushu.
https://youtu.be/I34pxr23Nhw
In total, the Japanese had 4,335,500 total military personnel in the Japanese homeland to resist the invasion, plus 31,550,000 civilian conscripts. Balanced against that, the Allies had about 5,000,000 American and 1,000,000 British Commonwealth troops to commit to the invasion.....far short of the 3:1 advantage usually regarded as necessary to amphibiously assault an entrenched enemy.
The atomic bombs killed 129,000–226,000 Japanese within a few days of their having been dropped, either quickly from blast and burns, or more slowly over the next few weeks from radiation. Add to this number those who died years later of radiation-caused cancers, and it’s still a small number compared to how many would have died on both sides had the invasion proceeded.
In fact, a THIRD atomic bombing had been planned for August 19, 1945 had the attempted coup against the emperor by the militarists succeeded, in order to force the militarists to capitulate. The Japanese had already been given unconditional surrender terms BEFORE the first bomb was dropped. They flat out refused to surrender. A second bomb was dropped. Initially they refused again, and when it appeared that the emperor was wavering and was considering a surrender, the generals attempted to overthrow and assassinate him.
The Japanese were lucky that the coup failed, or another Fatman would have been dropped—probably on Kokura which was Bockscar's primary target before Nagasaki was bombed.
My dad was dying of cancer when we had our final conversation about the war. We were watching the news on TV in his room, and the story being covered was about some Japanese students protesting the visit of a nuclear-armed American ship to Yokohama harbor. I remarked that I kind of understood their point, Japan having still been the only nation ever nuked in anger. He replied that he didn’t give a darn what they thought, he said that Japan wrote a check they couldn’t cash, and started a war that claimed 6.5-7 million military deaths and 27 million civilian deaths. He wasn’t going to spend one minute agonizing over the deaths of a couple hundred thousand Japanese in the atomic bombings. That’s when he reminded me that he’d have likely been killed and I would be alive today, if he’d had to assault the western facing beaches of southern Kyushu as had been planned.
990,000. In Kyushu.
https://youtu.be/I34pxr23Nhw
In total, the Japanese had 4,335,500 total military personnel in the Japanese homeland to resist the invasion, plus 31,550,000 civilian conscripts. Balanced against that, the Allies had about 5,000,000 American and 1,000,000 British Commonwealth troops to commit to the invasion.....far short of the 3:1 advantage usually regarded as necessary to amphibiously assault an entrenched enemy.
The atomic bombs killed 129,000–226,000 Japanese within a few days of their having been dropped, either quickly from blast and burns, or more slowly over the next few weeks from radiation. Add to this number those who died years later of radiation-caused cancers, and it’s still a small number compared to how many would have died on both sides had the invasion proceeded.
In fact, a THIRD atomic bombing had been planned for August 19, 1945 had the attempted coup against the emperor by the militarists succeeded, in order to force the militarists to capitulate. The Japanese had already been given unconditional surrender terms BEFORE the first bomb was dropped. They flat out refused to surrender. A second bomb was dropped. Initially they refused again, and when it appeared that the emperor was wavering and was considering a surrender, the generals attempted to overthrow and assassinate him.
The Japanese were lucky that the coup failed, or another Fatman would have been dropped—probably on Kokura which was Bockscar's primary target before Nagasaki was bombed.
My dad was dying of cancer when we had our final conversation about the war. We were watching the news on TV in his room, and the story being covered was about some Japanese students protesting the visit of a nuclear-armed American ship to Yokohama harbor. I remarked that I kind of understood their point, Japan having still been the only nation ever nuked in anger. He replied that he didn’t give a darn what they thought, he said that Japan wrote a check they couldn’t cash, and started a war that claimed 6.5-7 million military deaths and 27 million civilian deaths. He wasn’t going to spend one minute agonizing over the deaths of a couple hundred thousand Japanese in the atomic bombings. That’s when he reminded me that he’d have likely been killed and I would be alive today, if he’d had to assault the western facing beaches of southern Kyushu as had been planned.