The provinces of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi were taken and by October 1944 Sichan was the last large province still held by the Chinese Nationalists. USASTAF and Tiger Force were to remain active through Operation Coronet. [62] The total strength of the Japanese military in the Home Islands amounted to 4,335,500, of whom 2,372,700 were in the Army and 1,962,800 in the Navy. the Kanmon Tunnel) and for gaining and maintaining air superiority over the beaches. It was the largest Japanese campaign on land during the war comprising 500,000 troops. [74] Attacking northern Honshu would have the advantage of a much weaker defense but had the disadvantage of giving up land-based air support (except the B-29s) from Okinawa. In 1944, early planning proposed a force of 5001,000 aircraft, including units dedicated to aerial refueling. Kysh was to be invaded by the Sixth United States Army at three points: Miyazaki, Ariake, and Kushikino. They proposed operations to capture airbases in nearby Shanghai, China, and Korea, which would give the United States Army Air Forces a series of forward airbases from which to bombard Japan into submission. Victory over JapanDay marked the end of the Second World War in August 1945. The first phase, code-named Olympic , was scheduled for late October 1945, with a landing on Kyushu, defended by an estimated 350,000 Japanese troops backed by at least 1,000 kamikaze planes. This included the planned invasion of Japanese territory in Sakhalin. After the name Operation Olympic was compromised by being sent out in unsecured code, the name Operation Majestic was adopted. So fearful were the Japanese leaders that they planned to ignore isolated tactical use of gas in the home islands by the US forces because they feared escalation. They were to be armed with contact-fuzed mines, and to dive under landing craft and blow them up. If not checked, this threatened "to grow to [the] point where we attack on a ratio of one (1) to one (1) which is not the recipe for victory. For Soviet invasion of Manchuria under Japanese rule, see, Allied re-evaluation of Operation Olympic. In addition, the Japanese had organized the Volunteer Fighting Corps, which included all healthy men aged 15 to 60 and women 17 to 40 for a total of 28 million people, for combat support and, later, combat jobs. [95] Admiral King thought that casualties in the first 30 days would fall between Luzon and Okinawa, i.e., between 31,000 and 41,000. An email sent by a whistleblower at FSB . "[101], The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific, with an estimated total of over 82,000 direct casualties on both sides: 14,009 Allied deaths and 77,417 Japanese soldiers. War against Japan, 1945 In South East Asia, by late 1944, British and Commonwealth, US and Chinese forces had begun the reconquest of Burma (Myanmar). [5], The Pacific War was not under a single Allied commander-in-chief (C-in-C). Planning was later scaled back to 22 squadrons and, by the time the war ended, to 10 squadrons: between 120 and 150 Avro Lancasters/Lincolns, operating out of airbases on Okinawa. The rise in . Russia in 2021 was preparing to attack Japan just months before Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new leaked letters from the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), the successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB accessed by Newsweek revealed. During the Soviet-Japanese War in August 1945, the Soviet Union made plans to invade Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan 's four main home islands. On 1 April 1945, four US divisions landed on Okinawa;the fighting became a war of attrition that lasted almost three months for an island the size of 485 square miles. If Downfall had taken place, it would have been the largest amphibious operation in history, surpassing D-Day. (1983). Set to begin in November 1945, Operation Olympic was intended to capture the southern third of the southernmost main Japanese island, Kysh, with the recently captured island of Okinawa to be used as a staging area. By August, the Japanese Army had the equivalent of 65 divisions in the homeland but only enough equipment for 40 and ammunition for 30. Osprey Publishing. However, MacArthur blocked proposals to include an Indian Army division because of differences in language, organization, composition, equipment, training and doctrine. The entire island of Okinawa is 464sqmi (1,200km2). Japanese holdouts, especially on . Nimitz planned a pre-invasion feint, sending a fleet to the invasion beaches a couple of weeks before the real invasion, to lure out the Japanese on their one-way flights, who would then find ships bristling with anti-aircraft guns instead of the valuable, vulnerable transports. Allied command was divided into regions: by 1945, for example, Chester Nimitz was the Allied C-in-C Pacific Ocean Areas, while Douglas MacArthur was Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area, and Admiral Louis Mountbatten was the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command. Admiral Matome Ugaki was recalled to Japan in February 1945 and given command of the Fifth Air Fleet on Kysh. Richard B. Frank states that when the proposal reached Truman in June 1945, he vetoed the use of chemical weapons against personnel; their use against crops, however, remained under consideration. In Hell To Pay, military historian D.M. At the Tehran Conference in Nov 1943 and at the Yalta Conference in Feb 1945, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had agreed declare war on Japan three months after Germany would be defeated. The last great island battle of Okinawa began with an onslaught of shells, rockets and bombs from 1300 ships (the British Pacific Fleet also took part). The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 brought an end to the Second World War, but at a terrible cost to the Japanese civilian population, and signalling the dawn of the nuclear age. [2], Japan's geography made this invasion plan quite obvious to the Japanese as well; they were able to accurately predict the Allied invasion plans and thus adjust their defensive plan, Operation Ketsug, accordingly. Truman's Options ", "That approximately twenty-one (21) hostile divisions, including depot divisions, will be on Honshu at the initiation of [Coronet] and that fourteen (14) of these divisions may be employed in the Kanto Plain area. Fourteen U.S. divisions and a "division-equivalent" (two regimental combat teams)[14] were scheduled to take part in the initial landings. However, the Battle of Okinawa went on for so long that they concluded the Allies would not be able to launch another operation before the typhoon season, during which the weather would be too risky for amphibious operations. [90] Plan Your Visit Current Exhibitions Calendar of Events . [94] Admiral Leahy, more impressed by the Battle of Okinawa, thought the American forces would suffer a 35% casualty rate (implying an ultimate toll of 268,000). [104] Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals (awarded for combat casualties) were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan; the number exceeded that of all American military casualties of the 65 years following the end of World War II, including the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Emperor Hirohito, in a meeting with his Imperial Council, stated that he wished to surrender as long as the role of the emperor was not compromised. Japanese intelligence predicted fairly closely where the invasion would take place: southern Kysh at Miyazaki, Ariake Bay and/or the Satsuma Peninsula. ", "That the enemy may withdraw his land-based air forces to the Asiatic Mainland for protection from our neutralizing attacks. Ultimately, the Navy partially conceded, and MacArthur was to be given total command of all forces if circumstances made it necessary. [46] Although the Japanese were able to muster new soldiers, equipping them was more difficult. In early 1945, Miyazaki was virtually undefended, while Ariake, with its good nearby harbor, was heavily defended. One staff study estimated that the kamikazes could destroy a third to half of the invasion force before landing. In China, Operation Ichigo started in April 1944. The key assumption was large-scale participation by civilians in the defense of Japan. Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu at the Kant Plain south of the capital, was to begin on "Y-Day", which was tentatively scheduled for 1 March 1946. This raid burned 15.8 square miles of Tokyo, killing almost 100,000 Japanese. 330 Navy bombers flown by highly trained pilots to attack the Allied carrier task force to prevent it from supporting the invasion convoys. The capture of the Mariana Islands in November 1944 meant that air bases could be established to bomb Japan. By the time the war ended, the Army was still trying to determine the optimal dispersal height to cover a wide enough area. As to the movement of ground forces I do not credit the heavy strengths reported to you in southern Kyushu. Manchurian Strategic Offensive. [69], In addition to use against people, the U.S. military considered chemical attacks to kill crops in an attempt to starve the Japanese into submission. Emperor Hirohito summoned an Imperial Council asking that his ministers accept the terms forthwith and surrender unconditionally. There is strong evidence that Marshall remained committed to an invasion as late as 15 August. The Japanese plan for defeating the invasion was called Operation Ketsug (, ketsug sakusen) ("Operation Codename Decisive"). The most transformative conflict in history, World War II impacted the entire globe and set the stage for the Cold War. [citation needed]. The estimated casualty figures later became a crucial point in postwar debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Harry Truman received news of itwhilst at the Potsdam Conference. It had already been decided that Germany would . At 11 pm Trans-Baikal time on 8 August 1945, Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed Japanese ambassador . The 35 landing beaches were all named for automobiles: Austin, Buick, Cadillac, and so on through to Stutz, Winton, and Zephyr. Plan 3 has the Japanese invading North America through the Panama Canal, then proceeding up through Mexico to the West Coast of the United States. All of which resulted in the first atomic bomb test carried out at the Alamagordo Air Force Base, New Mexicoon 16 July 1945. Over the next four months, the Imperial Japanese Army transferred forces from Manchuria, Korea, and northern Japan, while raising other forces in place. In it, they estimate that during the 18 month period after June 1945 (that is, through December 1946), the Army would be required to furnish replacements for 43,000 dead and evacuated wounded every month. General Douglas MacArthur dismissed any need to change his plans: I am certain that the Japanese air potential reported to you as accumulating to counter our OLYMPIC operation is greatly exaggerated. On 15 January 1945, the U.S. Army Service Forces released a document, "Redeployment of the United States Army after the Defeat of Germany." [citation needed] The Australian government had asked at an early stage for the inclusion of an Australian Army infantry division in the first wave (Olympic). 13 . In planning for Operation Ketsugo, IGHQ overestimated the strength of the invading forces: while the Allied invasion plan called for fewer than 70 divisions, the Japanese expected up to 90.[37]. Indeed, the first day of the invasion would have been . Operation Olympic would attack southern Kysh. Stalin brought forward the invasion of Manchuria due to the dropping of the atomic bomb. Up to 2,000 kamikaze planes launched attacks during the Battle of Okinawa, achieving approximately one hit per nine attacks. Early in the war (such as at Tarawa), the Japanese employed strong defenses on the beaches with little or no manpower in reserve, but this tactic proved vulnerable to pre-invasion shore bombardment. Proceedings. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was the impetus for the United States' entrance into World War II. It was followed by a second bomb on 9 August on Nagasaki. Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Koshikijima Islands were to be taken, starting on X-5. Soviet-Japanese War During the Soviet-Japanese War in August 1945, the Soviet Union made plans to invade Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan 's four main home islands. Widespread chemical warfare was considered against Japan's population[65] and food crops. The Cold War Notes. By mid-1945when plans for Coronet were being reworkedmany other Allied countries had, according to Skates, "offered ground forces, and a debate developed" amongst Western Allied political and military leaders, "over the size, mission, equipment, and support of these contingents". Operation August Storm, the massive 1945 Soviet invasion of Manchuria, was Japan's death blow, and brought an end to World War II. In the Allied party were Generals Percival and Wainwright who had surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 at Singapore and in the Philippines respectively.
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