Japan refuses to surrender.

What if also after the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan refuse to surrender?
We suppose that the Empeor is now prisoner by a group of mads fanatics that have take the power and prefer the complete destruction of the country to the surrender.
How many A bombs can be dropped on Japan?
And what next,nuclear holocaust on Japan or invasion?
 
Soviets probably invade using Korea as a staging ground. US invades to counter Soviet influence. Possibly another Korea during the Cold War.
 
The soviets and what navy, with there economy strained by 4 years of brutal warfare? As for the U.S invasion it would have been a very costly affair. Maybe The Allies could decide to sue for peace, because if the proposed invasion does go through Japan is going to become a bloody warzone with everyone willing to fight to the death.
 

Strategos

Banned
Soviets probably invade using Korea as a staging ground. US invades to counter Soviet influence. Possibly another Korea during the Cold War.

No, the USN enjoys total superiority. The Soviets come and go at the USN's mercy.


You are looking at 30% bare minimum of the country being killed. Its plausible for 90% to end up killed.


So...a horrific genocidal bloodbath. Thats what happens.
 
I always wondered if they would have continued dropping A-bombs, perhaps eventually dropping one right on the center of Tokyo, thus frying Hirohito as well. Purely from the point of saving American lives, this would have been the best course. Olympic/Coronet wouldhave been a bloodbath. But undoubtedly the rest of the world would have eventually come to condemn this course of action.
 
If they not surrender with atomic bombs,they surrender for a block?
I suspect that pubblic opinion in America push for complete destruction of Japan ("better that die those damned crazies that my son in an invasion").
 
If they not surrender with atomic bombs,they surrender for a block?
I suspect that pubblic opinion in America push for complete destruction of Japan ("better that die those damned crazies that my son in an invasion").

Probably yes, or for be more precise whatever is still alive surrender; is general opinion (at least here) that Downfall will not be done and the USA opt for the blockade (aka starving the population due to the fact that Japan cannot feed itself, expecially with is transport system wrecked) plus unleashing LeMay over the Japanese Island and throwing at them everything they had (and this will make more damage than Atom Bomb).
 
Is that even possible?

Japan has a lot of cities and a year of prep could only make twenty bombs at best, if not less.

Nuclear weapon were not necessary for destroy any Japanese city, the USAF is capable of do it conventionally, sure take more time and cost more but with total control of air Lemay boys can do whatever they want
 
Wouldn't the US just blockade the home islands, and starve the Japanese into surrender?
Probably this, Japan had already had most of their industry pounded to rubble to the extent there was left to target apart from firebombing cities. With their railways, road transport and coastal shipping that they heavily relied upon destroyed or sunk they had no real way to transport what food they had been able to grow to the population centres. You'd be looking at mass starvation on a national level and a complete breakdown of civilisation in the not too distant future even without any more bombing. Admiral Halsey's statement just after Pearl Harbour that "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell." has a very real chance of becoming almost prophetic in the Home Islands.
 
I have seen previous discussions on here that apparently the US's own estimates were that if such a blockade was maintained until the end of 1946 Japan's population would have fallen to the same level as in 1700. It's a very disturbing notion that there were people in Japan prepared to fight on despite regular nuclear bombings and such a blockade, Japanese society and culture would have completely collapsed under either of these scenarios.
 
The tragic of this is that in this way Japanese would throw on Americans the genocide of whole population,canceling the moral superiority of Allied in comparison to axis.
Obviously this sense of guilty would come out many times after,in late 60s.
In 1945 all Americans (and British,French,and other allied) just wanted to end the war without others husbands and sons dead.
So,there would be no mercy.
Is terrible,but i can understand this.
 
Nuclear weapon were not necessary for destroy any Japanese city, the USAF is capable of do it conventionally, sure take more time and cost more but with total control of air Lemay boys can do whatever they want

Correction: the USAF was not just capable but by in large already had. Their next targets was going to be the transportation infrastructure and smaller towns, with the loss of railways meaning that even Japan's meager internal agricultural production couldn't reach the population.
 
Is that even possible?

Japan has a lot of cities and a year of prep could only make twenty bombs at best, if not less.

The US had plans to up bomb production to 3 per month before the end of '45. I think they were looking at 7 per month a bit later. A year of prep would give a lot more than 20 bombs. Certainly 30, probably 40, maybe 50. And those numbers assume they run into unexpected hitches.

Not that dropping 40 bombs in one week would make much military sense, imo.
 
If The Japanese hadn't surrendered after the two A-bombs plans for Operation Olympic would have continued as well as the planning for Operation Coronet. I believe most of the A bombs being built would have been reserved for use with the invasions but bombing of any targets the USAAF could find would have continued with conventional weapons.
 
Slybrarian said:
Correction: the USAF was not just capable but by in large already had. Their next targets was going to be the transportation infrastructure and smaller towns, with the loss of railways meaning that even Japan's meager internal agricultural production couldn't reach the population.
Correct on both counts. The severing could have been done in a matter of days, or a couple of weeks; there were IIRC about a dozen rail tunnels or bridges that needed to be cut.

So the next step is widespread famine. After that, revolution? Civil war?

Meanwhile, the AAF burns whatever's left, & (joining with the Navy) hammers the railways & roads, while aircraft & surface craft slaughter the coastal shipping. I picture subs in the Sea of Japan & Yellow Sea, using their guns freely, since targets are probably too small for torpedoes.:eek: Might even be going out without torpedoes at all,:eek: or no reloads. (Working off Tsushima or the Bungo/Kii Suido is too damned hazardous, under all that "shoot any sub that moves" air.:eek::rolleyes:)

Widespread use of nukes? Maybe: what's left?:confused:

Japan surrenders in January '46? I can't believe it would go far beyond that...
 
Top