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I'm sorry if this has been done to death before, but here goes.

What would have happened if Japan hadn't surrendered after Nagasaki? If I recall correctly, the vote to end the war was close.

With no bombs remaining (at least for the time being), I would expect the US would have been forced to try to invade, expensive as it would have been. At the very least, they would have had to occupy the islands before the Russians took too much territory.

Things get tricky when the next bomb becomes available. Deploying it near the front could yield too many American casualties. I suppose they can detonate it behind enemy lines somewhere. What is also possible is that if things go bad with Russia they can threaten to try to push the Russians out of Japan or something crazy like that.

It's also interesting to consider how the war would effect the 1948 election if it lasts that long.
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