Earlier Operation August Storm

What if the Soviet Union would have declared war on Japan in early 1941 and helped the Chinese drive them out of China, Korea, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands? Would the Germans catch the Soviets by surprise? Would China become communist earlier? How about when Japan turns its sights south to Euro-American colonies, would they do better without having to divert resources to China?
 
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What if the Soviet Union would have declared war on Japan in Early 1941 and helped the Chinese drive them out of China, and then out of Korea?

They probably couldn't. They would need to build up their forces somewhat but also bring up supplies all the while enlarging their western armies and reorganising hundreds of miles of new territory. Starting an Eastern war ties down a lot of resources and whilst better than the Japanese by a wide margin they weren't at 1945 levels or anything close to that yet so it would be an actual prolonged campaign rather the rout of OTL and the battles of 1939.
 
They never would have done this. It would have taken valuable men and supplies away from the fight with Germany.

Assuming "early 1941" means "prior to Pearl Harbor," IGHQ withdraws from French Indochina and makes peace with the US. They then throw everything they have at the Soviets, who (assuming they made no preparations for an offensive) would still be more or less at the border. The Soviet groupings are rolled back, cut up, and ground down owing to the inferiority of the Trans-Siberian line at shipping war material to the Far East vs. the Japanese Merchant Fleet. The war, for all intents and purposes, ends with the Red Army being pushed back to the Lake Baikal area and the Soviet Far East flying the Rising Sun.
 
They never would have done this. It would have taken valuable men and supplies away from the fight with Germany.

Assuming "early 1941" means "prior to Pearl Harbor," IGHQ withdraws from French Indochina and makes peace with the US. They then throw everything they have at the Soviets, who (assuming they made no preparations for an offensive) would still be more or less at the border. The Soviet groupings are rolled back, cut up, and ground down owing to the inferiority of the Trans-Siberian line at shipping war material to the Far East vs. the Japanese Merchant Fleet. The war, for all intents and purposes, ends with the Red Army being pushed back to the Lake Baikal area and the Soviet Far East flying the Rising Sun.
By early 1941, I mean April 13th, 1941 when the Soviet Union made the decision to sign the Neutrality Pact with Japan. In this alternate timeline, the Soviets decide it is an opportune to eliminate the Far Eastern threat rather than making peace with it.
 

By early 1941, I mean April 13th, 1941 when the Soviet Union made the decision to sign the Neutrality Pact with Japan. In this alternate timeline, the Soviets decide it is an opportune to eliminate the Far Eastern threat rather than making peace with it.

To build up the forces necessary for an offensive would take months. The Soviets would still be redeploying by June 22, and would be caught weaker in the West and unready in the East thus ending any chance of a war against Japan. The Japanese, meanwhile, would mirror the Soviet buildup and either crush the Far East (assuming a DoW by the USSR) or just guard Manchuria with vastly stronger forces than in OTL (assuming no DoW).
 
Trust in the army by the USSR was too low for them to considder attacking Japan before the German attack.

Whatsmore, they expected the Japanese to make another move on Siberia after the Khalkhin Gol battles in 1939. It wasn't untill 1941 they found out the Japanese were focussing South and by then they needed to transport the Siberia troops West for defence against the Germans. They kept plenty of troops East to defend, but not to attack.

If they would have prepared for attacking Manchuria they would have build up their forces much higher than they actually needed, completely draining any chance to stop the germans once they attack in the West.
 
I would think if the sovjets moved more troops east, the germans cannot encircle and crush so many troops in the initial weeks, allowing a much earlier effort at stopping the germans once they have logistics catch up to them. I don't think they'll be able to spot the kremlin in this TL.
 
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