1940: American Preemptive Strike Against Japan

What if on September 26th, 1940, in response to Japan's seizure of French Indochina, the United States formed an alliance with Nationalist China and launched a preemptive strike against Taiwan via the Philippines and afterwards other parts of the Japanese Empire?
 
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That would have required a POD before that occupation, that pushes the US Congress away from isolationism. And that would have been better used against Germany than Japan.
 
Presumably Germany declares war against the US sooner, and it is the Western Allies that get the joy of the meatgrinder of the German army sans the eastern front eating a good half of it.
The big question here; what does the Soviet Union in a timeline where the Allies and Axis are grinding away at each other without involving them?
 

CalBear

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With what?

The U.S. military in 1940 was somewhat less than robust.

Good navy, albeit in the early stages of replacing the older Treaty hulls, AAF was just starting to get some useful aircraft, and the Army was under 270,000 men, and that was a HUGE increase from 1939, when the entire active Army was under 190,000. The entire U.S. military had a smaller ration strength in 1940 than the Marine Corps did all by itself in 1945.

The U.S. added 1,200,000 troops to the active Army ranks in 1941, with another 1.6 million in 1942, and 3.8 million in 1943. Overall the U.S. military went from 334,000 active troops in 1939 to 12 MILLION+ under arms in 1945 (this figure does not include KIA/WIA discharged due to invalidity/mustered out).

The expansion of the U.S. Army between 1939 and 1942 is one of the more miraculous parts of the entire U.S. effort in WW II.
 

Pangur

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That would have required a POD before that occupation, that pushes the US Congress away from isolationism. And that would have been better used against Germany than Japan.

That does not make sense in as a far as in 1940 Germany was already at war so a preemptive strike will only have the surprise of who not the attack itself. The Japanese would not have been on alert
 
That does not make sense in as a far as in 1940 Germany was already at war so a preemptive strike will only have the surprise of who not the attack itself. The Japanese would not have been on alert

But the condition is to politically convince Congress to approve it. The isolationist 1940 US will simply not strike Japan for seizing a French colony. There is a bigger chance with Germany occupying France, but still requires a different Congress.
 

Pangur

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But the condition is to politically convince Congress to approve it. The isolationist 1940 US will simply not strike Japan for seizing a French colony. There is a bigger chance with Germany occupying France, but still requires a different Congress.

OK, no arguments from me re Congress and the need for a pretty different one at that
 
But the condition is to politically convince Congress to approve it. The isolationist 1940 US will simply not strike Japan for seizing a French colony. There is a bigger chance with Germany occupying France, but still requires a different Congress.
Historians speculate that the United States had intelligence in Japan that learned of the planned Pearl Harbor surprise attack ahead of time. Maybe word of the intelligence report reaching Congress is enough to convince them.
 
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