[86][pageneeded] As time went on, other US leaders made estimates of their own: In a letter to General Curtis LeMay when LeMay assumed command of the B-29 force on Guam, General Lauris Norstad told LeMay that if an invasion took place, it would cost the US "half a million" dead. Operation Barbarossa: Date & Significance - HISTORY An Army estimate in May was 3,391 planes; in June, 4,862; in August, 5,911. Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Koshikijima Islands were to be taken, starting on X-5. This also includes Soviet losses from the planned Soviet invasion of Hokkaido. "It is an awful responsibility that has come to us," the president wrote. 13 . In preparation for Operation Olympic, the invasion of southern Kyushu, various figures and organizations made casualty estimates based on the terrain, strength, and disposition of known Japanese forces. [49][50] One mobilized high school girl, Yukiko Kasai, found herself issued an awl and told, "Even killing one American soldier will do. Several estimates were made, but varied widely in numbers, assumptions and purposes, which included advocating and opposing the invasion. 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. In the days following the bombings Japan surrendered. 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. 11 World War II in Eastern Europe, 1942-1945. In the Allied party were Generals Percival and Wainwright who had surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 at Singapore and in the Philippines respectively. Unknown to the Americans, the Soviet Union also considered invading a major Japanese island, Hokkaido, by the end of August 1945,[77] which would have put pressure on the Allies to act sooner than November. Debate over the Bomb: An Annotated Bibliography The Soviet plan of attack called for an invasion of Hokkaido from the west. As set out in prior parts of the series, communications intelligence revealed the massive Japanese build up on southern Kyushu, the planned target for an initial invasion of Japan in November 1945 (Operation OLYMPIC.) [33], While Japan no longer had a realistic prospect of winning the war, Japan's leaders believed they could make the cost of invading and occupying the Home Islands too high for the Allies to accept, which would lead to some sort of armistice rather than total defeat. The capitulation followed three days of heated debate amongst Japanese leaders. Fourteen U.S. divisions and a "division-equivalent" (two regimental combat teams)[14] were scheduled to take part in the initial landings. [42] Unlike the larger ships, these, together with the destroyers and fleet submarines, were expected to see extensive action defending the shores, with a view to destroying about 60 Allied transports. ", "Are New Purple Hearts Being Manufactured to Meet the Demand? However, as reported Japanese strength in the Home Islands continued to climb and Japanese military performance increased, so too did the casualty estimates. In early 1945, Miyazaki was virtually undefended, while Ariake, with its good nearby harbor, was heavily defended. Proposed Soviet invasion of Hokkaido - Wikipedia [38], Admiral Ernest King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S Navy, was so concerned about losses from kamikaze attacks that he and other senior naval officers argued for canceling Operation Downfall, and instead continuing the fire-bombing campaign against Japanese cities and the blockade of food and supplies until the Japanese surrendered. General Umezu Yoshijiro, the army chief of staff, signed on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Army in front of the newly appointed Supreme Commander, Allied Powers in Japan, General Douglas MacArthur. At Kysh, because of the more favorable circumstances (such as terrain that would reduce the Allies' radar advantage, and the impressment of wood and fabric airframe training aircraft into the kamikaze role which would have been difficult for Allied radar systems of the time to detect and track), they hoped to raise that to one for six by overwhelming the US defenses with large numbers of kamikaze attacks within a period of hours. 50 "land attack planes," 50 seaplane bombers, and 50 torpedo bombers flown by highly trained pilots for night attacks on convoy escorts. Apr 30, 2023, 2:37 PM PDT. By August, the count was up to 600,000, and Magic cryptanalysis had identified nine divisions in southern Kyshthree times the expected number and still a serious underestimate of the actual Japanese strength. Indeed, the first day of the invasion would have been . [95] Of these estimates, only Nimitz's included losses of the forces at sea, though kamikazes had inflicted 1.78 fatalities and a similar number of wounded per kamikaze pilot in the Battle of Okinawa,[96] and troop transports off Kysh would have been much more exposed. However, MacArthur blocked proposals to include an Indian Army division because of differences in language, organization, composition, equipment, training and doctrine. The Americans lost 36 ships. In the Battle of Shumshu (1823 August 1945), the Soviet Red Army had 8,821 troops that were not supported by tanks and without back-up from larger warships. A destroyed hotel in Kyiv after a . Japan and the Soviet Union formally made peace four years later, when they signed the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. 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. Ukraine war dashes hopes of elderly Japanese on returning to Kuril The Soviets had arrived to train on the first of 149 vessels the U.S. Navy was transferring to the Soviet Union. [55] Ketsu plans for Kyushu envisioned committing nearly 9,000 aircraft according to the following sequence:[56], The Japanese planned to commit the majority of their air forces to action within 10 days after the Allied fleet's arrival off Kysh. This would have been the Pacific equivalent of D-Day. Soviet declaration of war. In a conference with President Truman on June 18, Marshall, taking the Battle of Luzon as the best model for Olympic, thought the Americans would suffer 31,000 casualties in the first 30 days and ultimately 20% of Japanese casualties, which he estimated would include the entire Japanese force. 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. Barton, Charles A. A study done by General MacArthur's staff in June estimated 23,000 US casualties in the first 30 days of Olympic and 125,000 after 120 days, fighting an assumed Japanese force of 300,000[91] (in actuality some 917,000 Japanese troops were on Kyushu,[92]). Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Unionwhich met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. 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. Kyushu 900,000 WW2 Debate: Was The US Right To Drop Atomic Bombs On Hiroshima Operation Downfall, the codename for the invasion of Japan, was scheduled to begin on Nov 1, 1945. intensified to pave the way for the planned invasion of Kyushu. President Harry Truman received news of itwhilst at the Potsdam Conference. Truman's Nightmare: U.S. Kysh was to be invaded by the Sixth United States Army at three points: Miyazaki, Ariake, and Kushikino. Following the surrender and demobilization of Japan, vast amounts of war matriel were turned over to the US occupation forces in the Japanese Home Islands and South Korea. The Japanese staged a furious defence, which included kamikaze suicide attacks (c. 1900 sorties) against the invasion fleet. . NEMURO, Japan Soviet soldiers barged into Hirotoshi Kawata's home on Sept. 4, 1945, searching for hidden Japanese soldiers and valuables. On the other hand, no agreement envisaged Soviet participation in the invasion of Japan itself. This article appears in: . [3], Responsibility for the planning of Operation Downfall fell to American commanders Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs of StaffFleet Admirals Ernest King and William D. Leahy, and Generals of the Army George Marshall and Hap Arnold (the latter being the commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces). The Japanese estimated that the planes would sink more than 400 ships; since they were training the pilots to target transports rather than carriers and destroyers, the casualties would be disproportionately greater than at Okinawa. More than 10,000 aircraft were ready for use in July (with more by October), as well as hundreds of newly built small suicide boats to attack Allied ships offshore. ", Henry L. Stimson, "The Decision to use the Atomic Bomb" p. 11, "Okinawa: The Final Great Battle of World War II", "The Final Months of the War with Japan. Yalta Conference | Summary, Dates, Consequences, & Facts In my opinion, there should not be the slightest thought of changing the Olympic operation.[75]. 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). It is unknown to what extent they could have opposed Soviet landings in the far north of Japan. In the last days of World War II, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as Stalin secretly agreed at . They and their soldiers had endured three years of harsh captivity. However, Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations, was prepared to oppose proceeding with the invasion, with Admiral Nimitz's concurrence, which would have set off a major dispute within the US government. Weapons, training and uniforms were generally lacking: many were armed with nothing better than antiquated firearms, molotov cocktails, longbows, swords, knives, bamboo or wooden spears, and even clubs and truncheons: they were expected to make do with what they had. The Japanese defense relied heavily on kamikaze planes. 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. They hoped that at least 15 to 20% (or even up to a half) of the US transport ships would be destroyed before disembarkation. 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. U.S. plans for the invasion of Kyushu in Operation Olympic, the first phase of the planned invasion of Japan. In July MacArthur's Intelligence Chief, Maj. Gen. Charles A. Willoughby, warned of between 210,000 and 280,000 battle casualties in the push to the "stop line" one-third of the way up Kyushu. 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. Gradually, intelligence learned that the Japanese were devoting all their aircraft to the kamikaze mission and taking effective measures to conserve them until the battle. Plan 2 has the Japanese invading the West Coast of America via Pearl Harbor and then California. [citation needed], Fears of "an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other"[64] encouraged the Allies to consider unconventional weapons, including chemical warfare. This would require capturing bases in Formosa, along the Chinese coast, and in the Yellow Sea area. American support included Sherman tanks armed with flamethrowers. [34] From the Battle of Saipan onward, Japanese propaganda intensified the glory of patriotic death and depicted the Americans as merciless "white devils". Russia Planned To Attack Japan in 2021: Leaked FSB Letters - Newsweek [citation needed]. The operation for the occupation of Japan following the landing may be a very long, costly and arduous struggle on our part. Invasion of Manchuria | Harry S. Truman The Postwar World After World War II - ThoughtCo On 8 May 1945, the Allies celebrated VE Day, marking the end of the war in Europe. Based on intelligence available early in 1945, their assumptions included the following:[13]. Remaining major warships numbered four battleships (all damaged), five damaged aircraft carriers, two cruisers, 23 destroyers, and 46 submarines. Japans surrender in Manchuria. What Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Portends for Japan's Northern Territories Tokyo appears to have finally realized that Putin has no intention of ever handing any of the disputed islands back. Prior to the First Quebec Conference, a joint CanadianBritishAmerican planning team produced a plan ("Appreciation and Plan for the Defeat of Japan") which did not call for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands until 194748. "[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. (U.S. Army) The assault on Japan was expected to take 18 months, starting with an intense blockade and air bombardment of Japan. Outside the government, well-informed civilians were also making guesses. According to a newly leaked email from a whistleblower with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), months before Vladimir Putin began his disastrous invasion of Ukraine he was . Russia switching to defensive positions in all areas of combat except They were to be armed with contact-fuzed mines, and to dive under landing craft and blow them up. ", "The Final Months of the War With Japan: Signals Intelligence, U.S. And it was, indeed, the death blow U.S . [39] However, General George Marshall argued that forcing surrender this way might take several years, if ever. The Proposed Invasion of Japan On 8 May 1945, the Allies celebrated VE Day, marking the end of the war in Europe. [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. Olympic was also to include a deception plan, known as Operation Pastel. Casualty predictions varied widely, but were extremely high. [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). President Truman authorized the use of the atom bombs in an effort to bring about Japan's surrender in the Second World War. 1940s 1945 - US USES ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN TO END WWII In an attempt to end the war in the Pacific without a costly invasion of Japan, the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively. This area would then be used as a further staging point to attack Honshu in Operation Coronet. The first firebombing attack was on Wuhan, the Imperial Japanese Army headquarters in China, on 18 December 1944. The offensive was finally halted in December. Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. [71], Ken Nichols, the District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District, wrote that at the beginning of August 1945, "[p]lanning for the invasion of the main Japanese home islands had reached its final stages, and if the landings actually took place, we might supply about fifteen atomic bombs to support the troops.
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