The House of the Rising Sun

JosefStalin

The House of the Rising Sun
"I expected casualties, just not like this." - Douglas MacAurthur

War_flag_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Army.svg

Flag of Imperial Japan 1870-1948​

On September 13th, 1945 the Japanese War Cabinet convened in a bunker under Tokyo. There they met Emperor Hirohito and the meeting began. By the time it was over, nothing would be the same ever again. The Emperor quickly brought his thoughts to the table "We must come to terms with the unthinkable." he said. "The Americans are growing closer to our shores every day, bombing raids are growing ever more frequent as the days pass." A explosion rocks the bunker from overhead as to exemplify his point. "As the Emperor I wish to begin peace talks with the Americans and Soviets." the room became dead silent, then the Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki, stood with a stern look on his face "Emperor Hirohito, In the name of the Japanese people I hereby take control of the Japanese Government. Surrender is simply not an option at this point in time." The Emperor looked shocked "Prime Minister, you cannot do that! I am the Emperor and favored by the gods!" The rest of the War Cabinet stood and chanted "We stand by you Prime Minister Suzuki!" Then simultaneously bowed. Suzuki the motioned to the door and a pair of black figures came down the stairs. "Emperor, for your safety I have arranged for you to be put under house arrest for the time being." The Emperors shoulders slumped as he was led to his car by the men. Suzuki then moved to the front of the room and raised his fist into the air "No Surrender!". The Cabinet soon followed, the Military was in full control.

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Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki​

By 1945 Japan was on the short end of the stick. The American Island Hopping Campaign was taking Islands faster than previously thought, Their Navy was all but destroyed and incapable of defending the water around Japan, Its Air Force had resulted in suicide bombing American ships and on top of all of that, the Russians had overrun Manchuria and Korea. The US Air Force was running regular bombing raids on the Japanese mainland from bases in Ryuku Island chain. In all, Japan was on its last legs and even those were wobbly. After the coup Suzuki banned all non-military radio broadcasts from Japan and did not inform anyone, not even his own people, about the seizure of power. Allied peace offers were rejected or flat out ignored and Japanese intelligence picked up more info about a supposed invasion from Kyushu so the Army rose to meet them, when and if they came. The gradual concentration of men was brought to a screeching halt when the Americans dropped a terrifying new weapon on Niigata on August 6th, then Kyoto three days later, completely destroying both cities.

Hiroshima-Bombing.jpg

The most iconic picture from Kyoto. A man looks on upon the ruins of his house and city.​

After the initial shock wore off Suzuki wasted no time in blasting the Americans for the bombings, calling them "barbarians" and "dishonorable". Karachi Anami, the Minister of the Army, issued pictures of the bombing with "Do you want this to be your home?" Written on the back to inspire troops. He also formed the Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps which was a group of armed citizens that were to aid in the defense of Japan in the event of an invasion. Another Allied peace offer was made and the Japanese again, stubbornly refused. The Invasion was green lit only 4 days later to begin on November 1st, 1946. The Americans began to prepare for a invasion that was undoutably the most important in History. The Japanese began making defenses to, right were the Americans were due to land, no matter how it was put, it was going to be bloody.

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Japanese Troops in Kyushu​



The Day the World Ended
 
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MattII

Sorry, misread, the Soviets are involved, and have taken Manchuria and Korea, but somehow, this Kantarō Suzuki is an ubermilitarist who's prepared to head a coup against the emperor and see Japan reduced to rubble simply to avoid giving up.
 

JosefStalin

I was going on the reasoning that surrender us unacceptable for the Japanese War Cabinet and they knew the Emperor was prepared to do just that, so they got rid of them.
 

The Red

It's always interesting to see new TL's dealing with this subject and I'm looking forward to more of this. :)

That said, I hope you don't mind if I make a few points on this initial update:

- On a general note, the large type face comes across as a bit garish, is there any chance you could take it down a few notches?

- It's rather odd for Kantaro Suzuki to be acting in this manner, whilst he was initially opposed to Unconditional Surrender he did support the so-called 'Tentative Plan to Cope with the Situation' which called for Soviet mediation to reach terms which included the Japanese retreating from Asia outside of the Home Islands and demilitarising the army to no more than a home defence force. After the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, removing any chance of Soviet support or mediation, he made it clear that he believed there was no option but to end the war, whilst he was talked round from this position a few days later he ultimately deferred to the Emperor's decision to surrender without any great protest.

- As others have noted this could be an ATL Suzuki who is ardently in favour of waiting until the 'Decisive Battle' before negotiating with the Americans from a position of strength. However if he held these options, subsequently preventing the Cabinet deadlock, it's unlikely that he would have felt the need to consult the Emperor at all.

- If Shigenori Tōgō is still a member of the Cabinet then there is going to be no chanting in unison against the Potsdam Declaration, though I also find it unlikely that even the most fanatical militarists would be so actively rebellious in the presence of the Emperor.

- I can't see the build-up on Kyushu being delayed due to Atomic Bombings against targets on Honshu unrelated to the Second General Army, unlike Hiroshima. For this reason I'd also question why the Americans wouldn't hit the more strategic targets of Hiroshima, Kokura or Nagasaki, which in OTL did hamper Japanese efforts. Though if this is September then the vast majority of the forces for the upcoming 'Decisive Battle' are already in place.

- Operation Majestic (formerly Olympic), the American invasion of Kyushu, was scheduled to take place on November 1, 1945. If the implication is that the war is going better for Japan and America isn't yet ready to launch an invasion then they would likely fall back to April 1946 or failing that, October 1946 as they had planned. They would not launch an invasion of the Home Islands during Typhoon Season. Though if they are already successfully blockading Japan then it's quite likely they would have abandoned the idea of invasion altogether as the implication of the war continuing until early 1947 (it was estimated in July 1945 that it would take eighteen months to starve out Japan) is no longer going to be much of a delay on the prospective timetable for a late 1946 invasion.
 
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JosefStalin

The Day the World Ended

"Today, American troops have landed in the Japanese Homeland, justice will be served"- President Harry Truman

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American troops in Yokoshuko, Japan​

November 1st, 1946 was a beautiful day for a war. The US Navy wasted no time though, they had to land while the tide was going in. They bombarded the landing beaches for a scant twenty minutes before sending out the troops. All at once 210, 000 men rushed toward the ports of Miyazaki, Ariake, and Kushikino. There were 35 landing beaches and each corps was to take their own. The Japanese put up a stiff resistance though and many men never made it to the shore and those that did were immediately pinned by Japanese machine guns. Japanese troops were never to surrender, not even if that meant death. Japan did not just have the preliminary coastal defenses though, they had more men in reserve in the center of Kyushu. As bombing raids began to take their toll on the Japanese defenders more arrived, revitalizing the defense and keeping the pressure on the invading Americans. The Japanese Air Force even made an appearance in the skies over Landing Beach Yankee, although this did little if anything against the US. In the end though the Americans managed to take the beaches.

landing.jpg

The Beginning of the End for the Japanese Empire.​

The North was a whole different, horrifying story from the Southern landings. When they went ashore they marched right into Hiratsuka without a fight but were then confronted with the Patriotic Citizens Defense Force. Children as young as 10 and men as old as 80 charged the Americans, throwing or shooting whatever they happened to have. The Americans withstood the onslaught as long as possible before opening fire on the crowd, killing 300 people and causing the rest to scatter into the city. This was a big mental burden because some of those killed were children. Men, 25 and toughened by almost six years of war, broke down and cried, it was hard on everyone. The Japanese government in Tokyo though capitalized on this and drew up dramatized stories of American Soldiers shooting an unarmed crowd, the public ate it up; the US Army hesitated. The Japanese Army used this hesitation to their advantage by setting up defenses around Hiratsuka to contain one invasion while the other continued to press on. When the Americans resumed their advance they met a determined resistance outside the city and were eventually pushed back, but only temporarily. After regrouping the Americans broke the Japanese defenses and captured 20 Japanese soldiers, something thats not usual.

Even further North the Soviet Union decided to get in on invading Japan so they landed troops in Rebun and Rishiri Islands and then attempted a landing at Wakkanai on the Northern Island of Hokkaido. As the Red Navy began their bombardment the infamous kamakazi planes wreaked havoc on them and heavily damaged many of the covering ships. The landing boats were already on their way when the Red Navy turned and ran so they kept going even under fire. When the boats that survived hit the beach the remnants of the Japanese Air Force strafed them as machine guns and artillery rained fiery death on anybody caught without cover. The Russians fought on into the night then as dawn broke the remnants of their invasion was being marched off into a POW camp somewhere in Hokkaido. By the end of the war almost 30% of those men were dead, of disease, neglect or a combination of both. After the debacle Stalin decided against launching another invasion and instead opted to continue to focus on Eastern Europe. The Soviet Politburo and its Generals protested but were ultimately overruled, Japan was so far safe from communism.

JapaneseInfantryPassSovietTankManchuria1939.jpg

Soviet troops attempt to Invade Japan​

Back down south on Kyushu the American forces had fought their way to taking the South-Eastern corner of the island but were unable to advance due to stiff resistance in the Kyushu Mountain Range. As the front in the South stalled and bodies began to outweigh gains, public opinion back home began to waver. Truman tried to play the Pearl Harbor trick but it was largely unsuccessful and another nuclear weapon was built to be used on Japan, more specifically Tokyo. The bomb was to be a new type, a Hydrogen bomb, which has been in development for some time in conjunction with the Atom bomb but was not quite ready all it needed was some more testing and calculations. Said to be more powerful than a conventional atom bomb, it was chosen to break the bunker the Japanese government was surely inside and cause maximum damage. Oppenheimer told them it would not be ready for some time but the government ordered one anyway, after checking for imperfections the plane was off to Tokyo.

mk4.jpg

Mary, the first Hydrogen Bomb​
 
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JosefStalin

The Red said:
It's always interesting to see new TL's dealing with this subject and I'm looking forward to more of this. :)

hat said, I hope you don't mind if I make a few points on this initial update:

- On a general note, the large type face comes across as a bit garish, is there any chance you could take it down a few notches?

- It's rather odd for Kantaro Suzuki to be acting in this manner, whilst he was initially opposed to Unconditional Surrender he did support the so-called 'Tentative Plan to Cope with the Situation' which called for Soviet mediation to reach terms which included the Japanese retreating from Asia outside of the Home Islands and demilitarising the army to no more than a home defence force. After the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, removing any chance of Soviet support or mediation, he made it clear that he believed there was no option but to end the war, whilst he was talked round from position a few days later he ultimately deferred to the Emperor's decision to surrender without any great protest.

- As others have noted this could be an ATL Suzuki who is ardently in favour of waiting until the 'Decisive Battle' before negotiating with the Americans from a position of strength. However if he held these options, subsequently preventing the Cabinet deadlock, it's unlikely that he would have felt the need to consult the Emperor at all.

- If Shigenori Tōgō is still a member of the Cabinet then there is going to be no chanting in unison against the Potsdam Declaration, though I also find it unlikely that even the most fanatical militarists would be so actively rebellious in the presence of the Emperor.

- I can't see the build-up on Kyushu being delayed due to Atomic Bombings against targets on Honshu unrelated to the Second General Army, unlike Hiroshima. For this reason I'd also question why the Americans wouldn't hit the more strategic targets of Hiroshima, Kokura or Nagasaki, which in OTL did hamper Japanese efforts. Though if this is September then the vast majority of the forces for the upcoming 'Decisive Battle' are already in place.

- Operation Majestic (formerly Olympic), the American invasion of Kyushu, was scheduled to take place on November 1, 1945. If the implication is that the war is going better for Japan and America isn't yet ready to launch an invasion then they would likely fall back to April 1946 or failing that, October 1946 as they had planned. They would not launch an invasion of the Home Islands during Typhoon Season. Though if they are already successfully blockading Japan then it's quite likely they would have abandoned the idea of invasion altogether as the implication of the war continuing until early 1947 (it was estimated in July 1945 that it would take eighteen months to starve out Japan) is no longer going to be much of a delay on the prospective timetable for a late 1946 invasion.
Click to expand...

- Fixed

- Suzuki, in this TL, took the meeting as a chance to confront the Emperor directly about the coup.

- Point taken

- They were just stunned, not stopped the build up continued through the bombing and if anything, intensified.

- The Americans knew the Japanese would not surrender unless defeated in battle, so after exhausting all other options (accept blockading but thats rather dull right?) they have begun their invasion.
 

The Red

JosefStalin said:
- Suzuki, in this TL, took the meeting as a chance to confront the Emperor directly about the coup.
Click to expand...

Why risk a confrontation at all when at this point the Emperor was willing to defer to his Cabinets decisions?

JosefStalin said:
- They were just stunned, not stopped the build up continued through the bombing and if anything, intensified.
Click to expand...

Oh right, 'screeching halt' kind of implies otherwise but fair enough.

JosefStalin said:
- The Americans knew the Japanese would not surrender unless defeated in battle, so after exhausting all other options (accept blockading but thats rather dull right?) they have begun their invasion.
Click to expand...

If this is their conclusion then why did they wait almost a year when IOTL they would have been ready to go by late '45? Not to mention that Japan likely would have been facing famine if not outright societal collpase several months before this invasion goes underway, provided the blockade and atomic/conventional bombings have continued, turning the Second General Army into a husk that would be likely unable to feed itself let alone mount any coordinated defence.
 

JosefStalin

- I thought he would be more demanding for peace at this point

- He wanted to say it to his face and salvage whatever honor was left in his decision.

- Did I say Screeching halt? If i did than I am sorry.

- a) Were they really that ready? The Invasion called for 14 divisions of men b) The effects of the bombing are coming later.
 

The Red

JosefStalin said:
- I thought he would be more demanding for peace at this point
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Hirohito had been pretty clear on his wish for peace ever since May '45. I doubt he'd be significantly more pressing, especially if the bomb hadn't been dropped yet.

JosefStalin said:
- He wanted to say it to his face and salvage whatever honor was left in his decision.
Click to expand...

There's little honour in openly attacking the living spirit God.

JosefStalin said:
- a) Were they really that ready? The Invasion called for 14 divisions of men
Click to expand...

In my own TL on this subject I did mention the logistical difficulties of the task but fundamentally the operation would have been ready to go by late '45 barring ASB intervention.


JosefStalin said:
b) The effects of the bombing are coming later.
Click to expand...

To be honest it's the effects of the famine that might be more pressing.
 

James G

Gone Fishin'
JosefStalin said:
The Day the World Ended

​

Even further North the Soviet Union decided to get in on invading Japan so they landed troops in Rebun and Rishiri Islands and then attempted a landing at Wakkanai on the Northern Island of Hokkaido. As the Red Navy began their bombardment the infamous kamakazi planes wreaked havoc on them and heavily damaged many of the covering ships. The landing boats were already on their way when the Red Navy turned and ran so they kept going even under fire. When the boats that survived hit the beach the remnants of the Japanese Air Force strafed them as machine guns and artillery rained fiery death on anybody caught without cover. The Russians fought on into the night then as dawn broke the remnants of their invasion was being marched off into a POW camp somewhere in Hokkaido. By the end of the war almost 30% of those men were dead, of disease, neglect or a combination of both. After the debacle Stalin decided against launching another invasion and instead opted to continue to focus on Eastern Europe. The Soviet Politburo and its Generals protested but were ultimately overruled, Japan was so far safe from communism.
Click to expand...

I've got to ask, just where did the Japanese get their fuel for their aircraft from in 1946?
In addition: have you read up on the Soviet Armed Forces in WW2? And what kind of man Joe Stalin was? When would he ever allow the Red Army / Navy to cut and run after a little defeat?
 
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