I remember reading somewhere here on the forum that by 1945 Japan held not only the major chinese cities close to the coast but also many inland industrial hubs like Changsha, and someone argued that if Japan advanced just a bit more they would have control of about 80% of the chinese GDP and it wouldn't be necessary to advance more.
Of course the controlled areas had a massive presence of partisans.
Well here a question: If Japan for some reason, ranging from luck or maybe some earlier reforms in the 1910s that does not butterflies the invasion of China, manages to push as far they did in 1945 but earlier and neutralize the remaineing part of China under the communists, warlords and the kuomitang, would the japanese government stop to digest their gains and pacify their held territory, or they would be even more sick from the victory illness and declare war on the USA anyway?