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Historically the IJN expected that it would self-destruct at Leyte Gulf but that it would also take out the US Navy forces with it. IOTL the US Navy came very near to giving them an opportunity to actually do this. What would be the consequences of an Axis naval victory in the fall of 1944 on this scale not in the Atlantic but instead in the Pacific? US Naval superiority by this point is unalterable, and it would take more than this for Homma to do in Dugout Doug, but what realistically would happen in this case?

I can't see US self-esteem handling too well a defeat in the largest naval battle in history. Would Japan's military ego in the postwar era be smoothed a little by one last big victory? Or would this just further the reasons to firebomb almost all Japanese cities to rubble as revenge? Japan never had a chance to win the war, but a naval victory in October of 1944 would probably complicate the direct path of Allied victory at least somewhat.

To clarify one thing-this is not asking for how Japan could win a complete or decisive victory. Even if they somehow managed to do that in the immediate vicinity they've nothing by 1944 that can possibly win the war.
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