MrP
Banned
I think people tend to over-estimate the power of WWII nuclear weapons. Hiroshima/Nagasaki could have been achieved by 2,000 B29s with conventional bombs.
The Nazis did not surrender after conventional bombs and would not after A bombs without an invasion. Here's previous discussion about a Dec '43 bomb.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=17680
I have been doing some thinking about the physics and
Energy Damage to city = bomb energy + energy of combustibles burnt in the city.
For the A bombs that relied on blast the second term is negligible but for the incendiary raids against Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo it is significant.
At a guess
City True tonnage
Tokyo 40,000
Dresden 25,000
Hamburg 20,000
Hiroshima 20,000
It would be interesting to do some figures on the energy in 1 hectare of wooden property.
I think you've got some valid points here. But don't forget the morale implications. If the recipients of an A-bomb don't know how many the enemy have, it's a bit worrisome that a single plane - as opposed to 2,000 - can knock out a (goodly portion of a) city.