The Onward March of Freedom: The Cold War

[Azure Cloud]

Hey viewers! The next update on World War II will be released tomorrow.

What a coincidence I just got the package from JB Music arrived by the time you post this lol.

I look forward to this eco-ehem @Nightingale . I am hoping you can at least show a bit of government structure of this ATL's better Philippines once the WW2 part is over.

 

[Nightingale]

What a coincidence I just got the package from JB Music arrived by the time you post this lol.

I look forward to this eco-ehem @Nightingale . I am hoping you can at least show a bit of government structure of this ATL's better Philippines once the WW2 part is over.

Hi, thank God, thanks! Yes, I've discussed much of the Philippines' government structure from Parts I to XVI, but I will elaborate on the Philippines again after World War II as the foremost part of my Southeastern Asia updates.

 

[Nightingale]

CHAPTER III - WORLD WAR II

PART IV - THE ALLIED TURNING POINT

Excerpt from

Destroying Swastikas
By Nicholas Steinfield


​

1942. It had been almost three years since the War in Europe started, but the war was not finished yet. Both the Allies and Nazi Germany wanted to break through each other and finally end this stalemate. Only time would tell if either one of them are able to do so.​

THE ALPINE STRUGGLE: ITALY VS. GERMANY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR


For much of 1940 and 1941, the Germans had focused on finally beating the French and British in the Western Front, so the Alpine Front saw little movement during the time. But the stalemates in the bloody Second Battle of Sedan and the meatgrinders at the Lille-Abbeville-Amiens Triangle, Ostend, and the Compiegne-Soissons-Maubeuge Triangle forced them to halt their offensives in those areas, and instead knock out the weaker Italians out of the war and force the Allies to divert troops and equipment there, as the Alpine Front had sucked some vital resources for the Western Front.

Fall Blau marker. Black indicates the initial offensive to Trento, Belluno and Udine, blue indicates the Nazi pincer that cut of the Italians from June to July 1942​

Finally, the Germans launched Fall Blau [1] on April 19, 1942, when the weather became surprisingly clear, completely surprising the Allies as they thought the Nazis would focus their main attack in Western Europe. Germany launched multiple offensives aimed at the towns of Merano, Cortina d’Ampezzo, and Germona to make way for further offensives to give major road links to Trento, Belluno, and Udine. The three towns were located in Alpine territory, which was hostile ground for Bltizkrieg-style warfare that was heavily implemented in the Western Front. However, the offensive succeeded, and Italian forces were compelled to move farther to the south to Trento, Belluno and Udine in a disorganized and panicky manner, leading to a horrible Italian defense of the three towns that ended in decisive Italian defeat. But this allowed the Italians to trade space for time further south.

This put the Italians in an untenable position in Northeastern Italy. With Trento, Belluno, and Udine captured, Nazi offensives that can cut off Venice and Trieste can now be conducted, especially with Rovereto falling to the Nazis on June 29, 1942. Therefore, the Italians piled defenses at the towns of Vicenza and Udine to prevent the Germans from advancing. Their assumptions proved to be disastrously false, as went even farther to the west and instead captured Verona before reaching the Adriatic Sea at Chioggia on July 1. Further to the east, instead of pushing towards Udine, the Nazis followed the River Tagliamento and surrounded Italian forces when they reached the mouth of the river a day later.

The July 26 evacuation at Trieste​

In the process, the Nazis cut off a tenth of the Italian Armed Forces and heavily damaged another tenth with aerial bombardments. 343,000 troops were surrounded just outside of Venice and in the city of Trieste. Seeing no chance of breaking out, the Italians were forced to conduct the famous July 26 evacuation. The operation was an immense success, as around 302,193 Italian troops were able to be evacuated southward, and much of Venice and Trieste’s civilian population were evacuated as well with the help of Allied ships to the port towns of Rimini and Ravenna.

To boost Italian and Allied morale after the Nazi breakthrough in early July, dictator Benito Mussolini delivered his “we shall fight in the mountains” speech [2], saying, “even if the murderous Nazi brigands were to subjugate a large part of our country and burn it to the ground, we will fight everywhere, we will not stop until we snatch victory right from the bloodied hands of the Nazi maniacs, and take the fight to their land, and with the help of our French and British allies, achieve a new order in Europe, a peace that will last for a thousand years!”

But, however, speeches are inspiring and miracles like the July 26 evacuation are uplifting, this did not stop whatsoever the German advance into Italy. As a result, the Nazi Germans were able to march towards Bologna and besiege Milan and Ravenna by August 14. Victory in these battles were of utmost priority for the Italians, because if Milan was captured, it would enable the Nazis to reach Genoa and thus cut off mainland France from mainland Italy, and if they took Bologna and Ravenna, nothing would stop the Germans from march along the eastern coast of Italy and from marching towards Florence and San Marino, thus giving them a major road towards Rome.

Italian soliders preparing for the Siege of Milan, August 14, 1942​

In the Sieges of Milan, Bologna and Ravenna, 1,500,000 troops from both sides, 1,500 tanks, 1,000 aircraft, 4,500 tanks, 3,000 artillery pieces and 1,400 anti-aircraft batteries were used in one of the largest battles in Italian history. Fortunately for this bloody battle, the civilian populations of the three cities were evacuated southward to avoid capture by the Nazis. The Nazis were able to reach the outskirts of the three cities by mid-September 1942. Then the close-quarters combat commenced. Italians and Nazis fought block by block to gain victory in the cities. Both sides poured many reinforcements, and much of the structures inside Milan, Bologna and Ravenna were destroyed by the house-to-house fighting and aerial bombardments from both sides.

But by mid-October 1942, the front lines had stagnated, but the Allies were beginning to see an opening to crush the Nazis. The Germans were concentrating too much forces into the three cities that forced their rear defenses to be stretched too thin, as they were also holding their ground in Western Europe. This enabled Italy to launch Operation Mercury, a front-wide counteroffensive aimed at encircling the Germans in Milan, Bologna, and Ravenna that involved 700,000 Italian troops, 1,000 aircraft, 3,000 tanks, 2,000 artillery pieces, and 1,000 anti-aircraft batteries, on October 14, 1942. Although Nazi forces were able to repel the first attacks, by October 19, the German forces were forced to retreat. German mobile reserves were not enough to fight off the Italians and were not able to fortify themselves against the Italians. On October 28, Italian forces surrounded Milan and met at the city of Bergamo. On October 29, Italian forces were able to take back the city of Ferrara and reach the port town of Commacchio to the north of Ravenna and secure their lines by taking back Modena and Cremona.

German soldiers surrendering to the Allies in Bologna, March 5, 1943​

In the process, 202,103 Nazi troops and much equipment were encircled, and Mercury was branded as a major success for the Allied war effort. Afterward, Hitler refused to order a breakout of the besieged German forces and instead supplied them by air, which was successful, as the trapped forces were able to meet 85% of their daily needs. However, allied air power shot down many cargo aircraft and forced the trapped Germans to ration their resources even more. The Italians were able to cut off the Bologna and Ravenna pockets from each other and started to reduce the three surrounded German armies: The Sixth in Milan, The Ninth in Bologna, and The 14th in Ravenna. The surrounded troops would hold on for the next four months, but eventually, their resources would finally run out. On March 4, 1943, the Milan, Bologna, and Ravenna pockets finally crumbled and the German troops surrendered in a major triumph for the Allies.

Frontlines by August 1942. North of the blue line indicates Nazi ground, while south means Italian ground.​

As a result of German forces being weakened by Operation Mercury, the Italians then launched Operation Umberto from April 2 to take back Brescia, Mantua, Verona and Rovigo, which largely routed the disorganized German armies and forced them to retreat to the twin Chioggio-Padua salients. In the Chioggio-Padua salient, the Italians and Nazi Germans invested 700,000 troops, 1,500 aircraft, 2,800 tanks, 3,000 artillery pieces, and 1,700 anti-aircraft batteries to gain control of the city. However, the battle turned into a meatgrinder by August stalemate that no side won.

For now, the Allies were able to prevent a general collapse of the Italian front lines and hold their ground in Western France. With more supplies coming from their colonies and from the American Lend-Lease program, and with Soviet resources to Germany tapering off as the Soviets prepared to go to war with Nazi Germany and weakening the Axis state even further, time was on the Allies’ side, and the tide in Europe was finally beginning to turn in their favor.

Excerpt from
​

​

The Arsenal of Democracy: America in the Second World War
By Angela Davis​

In the Pacific Front, the Allies were also beginning to push back against the Japanese after their major defeats in Southeast Asia and China. The Doolittle Raid exposed the weaknesses of Japanese homeland defenses. Nevertheless, a clear victory, not a purely moral one, was needed.


A SHOT IN THE ARM: THE DOOLITLE RAID

B-25 bombers leaving for the Doolittle Raid, November 2, 1942​

The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on Saturday, November 2, 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on the island of Honshu during World War II, the first air operation to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attack. Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle led the attack, and not only was it a success but also, all of Doolittle’s aircraft safely returned to unoccupied parts of China. One landed in the Soviet city of Vladivostok, and its occupants were arrested by Soviet officers, but were eventually released after negotiations between the American and Soviet governments on December 19,. [3] The Raid was a big morale booster for the Allies, and served to boost their war effort against Japan. It also promoted Doolittle two ranks up to brigadier general, and the soldiers who participated in the raid were also promoted.


BURMA: THE TURNING POINT


From Indochina to the Philippines to Malaya and to the Dutch East Indies, the Allies saw their territories collapse to the Japanese one by one. The Doolittle Raid boosted morale, and the Allies desperately wanted a solid victory, and they received it in Burma.

The Arcadia Conference, May 17, 1942​

On May 17, 1942, France, Britain and the United States met together to discuss war plans in the Pacific in the period 1942-1943 in the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C. The decision was for the United States to declare war against Nazi Germany. It also established the Combined Chiefs of Staff, headquartered in Washington, which approved and finalized all military decisions. The conference also created a unified American-British-French-Dutch-Australian Command (AFBDA) in the Far East, which included Burma, to US Secretary of State George Marshall’s insistence [4]. Burma also got its own command structure separate from British India, which was led by Field Marshal Harold Alexander [5]. Finally, the conference drafted the Declaration by the United Nations, which committed the Allies to make no separate peace with the enemy, and to employ full resources until victory was achieved.

Japanese artillerymen during the invasion of Burma, May 17, 1942​

On May 17, 1942, the Japanese began their invasion of Burma. Field Marshal Alexander ordered British forces and French forces from Indochina to retreat to the Sittang River defenses and prevent the Japanese from establishing a bridgehead there. Burma’s rugged terrain slowed the Japanese advance, and by July 28, 1942, the offensive had been stopped, and with the monsoon rains in Burma coming and with more British counteroffensives pushing back the enemy, the Allies were able to prevent Burma from falling by the end of 1942, and with naval and army reinforcements coming, they were able to repel a Japanese amphibious landing to the South of Pathein on September 9, 1942, and fortify their forces even more. As a result, Jiang Jieshi’s China got more resources and was able to halt some Japanese offensives heading into 1943 and 1944, and Japanese forces were bogged down in Burma with no hope of breaking through the front lines. The Japanese failure to take Burma also had some effects in other parts of the Pacific Front. The Burma front sucked resources from the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, and Wake Island [6]. Afterward, Japanese land forces continued to advance in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. From December 1942, the First and Second Australian Imperial Forces, helped by forces from Britain’s and France’s African colonies and British India, were able to repel Japanese forces from New Guinea altogether and with the help from the United States Navy, they were able to defeat the Japanese at Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, only putting out Japanese insurgents until the war ended [7].

Admiral Chester Nimitz's Island-Hopping Campaign became much more possible after the Allies' succes in Burma.​

From Burma onwards, the Allies were able to begin their island-hopping campaign under Admiral Chester Nimitz and were able to halt some Japanese offensives into China. In the battles of Changde and Zhejiang-Guangxi, the Chinese were able to hold off the Japanese and prevent the Doolittle airmen from getting killed [8]. They were also able to sink many Japanese resource ships that prevented the IJN from preventing future Allied invasions of occupied islands through a naval attack. In the Battle of Tarawa, in March 1943, the Allies were victorious but the Allies had to improve the techniques of amphibious landings, learn from their mistakes and implement changes such as thorough pre-emptive bombings and bombardment. They also had to be more careful in planning regarding tides and landing craft schedules, and better overall coordination. Nevertheless, the tide in the Pacific, from the successful Allied defense of Burma, was turning in favor of the Allies [9].



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[1]. IOTL, it was the name for the German offensive to Stalingrad. As has been said, Nazi Germany won’t be invading the Soviet Union ITTL.

[2]. A reference to PM Winston Churchill’s “we shall fight on the beaches” speech, which does not happen ITTL as Churchill would have a different speech since France does not fall to the Nazis.

[3]. Butterflies. IOTL, almost all of Doolittle’s aircraft crashed. Only one landed in the Soviet Union. ITTL, with the Soviet Union not in the Pacific Theater and maintaining neutrality in Second World War for now, the aircraft’s occupants would be arrested, but they would still be returned.

[4]. They didn’t include Burma IOTL.

[5]. This happens because of no. 3. Nos. 3 and 4 are based on this thread: AHC/WI: Japanese loss in Invasion of Burma

[6]. This is essentially IOTL but move forward by around five months, but I bet on historians ITTL claiming that the failure to conquer Burma sucked some IJN strength for the three battles. But the point has truth to it though, as some landing materials and ships that would have been used for Midway, Wake and Guadalcanal that were used on TTL’s Japanese amphibious landing at Pathein got destroyed in Burma.

[7]. The Second Australian Imperial Forces IOTL were just arriving from the Mediterranean Theater in the first half of 1942. ITTL, with the French and British in a stronger position, they are in Australia instead and are able to fight off the Japanese better in New Guinea.

[8]. IOTL, the Doolittle airmen were mostly killed.

[9.] Burma would be seen as the Allied tipping point instead of Midway.



Apologies for the later update; my schedule became too packed yesterday. Also, the next update will detail on guerrillas in WWII.

 

[BrentiusAtticus]

So, are we going to expect a stronger Soviet Union Post-War?

 

[Nightingale]

So, are we going to expect a stronger Soviet Union Post-War?

Hi, thanks for the comment! Yes, indeed. Again, the German invasion of the Soviet Union won't happen. That puts the USSR in a much stronger position in and of itself.

 

[Azure Cloud]

Someone stole my first comment T_T

-

What will happen to the Duce after this?

 

[Nightingale]

Someone stole my first comment T_T

-

What will happen to the Duce after this?

He will have a major role in shaping postwar Italy. Stay tuned

 

[Unknown]

Burma doesn't fall to the Japanese? Interesting. Methinks Burma will be better off postwar...

Good update and TL, BTW, @Nightingale...

 

[TheImperialTheorist]

Interesting. Il Duce and Italy are basically experiencing the same thing Britain IOTL back in '41. With a fascist leader still in Italy, will we see Italy's fate play out the same as Spain's?

 

[Nightingale]

Burma doesn't fall to the Japanese? Interesting. Methinks Burma will be better off postwar...

Good update and TL, BTW, @Nightingale...

Thank God, thanks! I have plans for Burma post-war. Take note of China, too.

Interesting. Il Duce and Italy are basically experiencing the same thing Britain IOTL back in '41. With a fascist leader still in Italy, will we see Italy's fate play out the same as Spain's?

Thank God, thanks Yes, Italy has experienced heavy defeats but it is starting to rebound. Her determination to win the war ITTL is really high. They will, of course, grow closer to the Allies Britain and France for their mutual aid to each other.

 

[Nightingale]

P.S. I won't be able to make any update until after May 18. Afterwards, I'll work on making the most out of my last few vacation days. Once school starts in June, my updates again will be sparse until the Sem Break or the Christmas vacation, but I will try my best to write. Thanks and God Bless

 

[Nightingale]

CHAPTER III - WORLD WAR II

PART VI - THE ENDGAME IN EUROPE

Excerpt from

Destroying Swastikas
By Nicholas Steinfield​

The breakthrough finally came to the European Allied troops by 1943. For three years, the French-British were only holding their ground in Northwestern France and Western Belgium, while the Italians were bogging down the Nazis at the Chioggio-Padua salient after Fall Blau failed. While they have ensured the Germans would not be able to make any significant gains into their territory, they needed to crush the Germans and take the fight to their ground.

Allied troops and tanks commence Operation Overlord, June 6, 1943​

And so with 2,500,000 troops, 4,000 tanks, 140,000 vehicles, 6300 aircraft, 1,850 artillery pieces, and 600 rubber boats, the Allies launched Operation Overlord on June 6, 1943. They would first launch an offensive aimed at breaking the German defenses at Compiegne and Soissons, aiming to surround overextended Nazi forces there. The Allies were able to make the position of the Germans untenable, forcing them to retreat from the salient to Saint-Quentin. At the same time, they surrounded 30,000 German troops at Lille, heavily damaged the Nazis to the west of Ostend, and entered Dutch soil for the first time. They stopped at the Scheldt bridgehead to avoid overstretching themselves but bombarded the Germans at Antwerp to soften it for an impending Allied invasion.

British and French bombers during the Freedom Raids, which tipped air superiority in favor of the Allies​

At the same time, the British and French Air Forces conducted the "Freedom Raids" from July 18 to August 4. Using 300 bombers across Northwestern Europe and Northeastern Italy, the Allies were able to destroy 50 Nazi air bases, 50,000 troops, and 600 aircraft in the process. This was the largest bombing aimed at military assets during Overlord, and in the process, the Allies were able to dominate the skies until the end of the war, as since 1939, they were roughly tied with the Nazis in air power. But after the Freedom Raid, the Germans were even pushed further to play defense until the end of the war in Europe.

Surrounded Nazi troops at Sedan surrender to the Allies, September 1, 1943​

Meanwhile, they pushed back the Germans as far as Valenciennes by July 14, eventually laying waste to German defenses at Saint-Quentin and retreating German forces, which the Germans were forced to abandon by the end of the month. Finally, the Siege of Charleville-Sedan occurred, and the Germans invested many resources in defending their lines there, causing heavy casualties. The Siege would last for more than a month and would result in more than 150,000 casualties, but the Allies were able to break through and devastate German forces there on the back of massive Allied air power, eventually surrounding 300,000 troops at Charleville-Mezieres and Sedan in a humiliating defeat for the Nazis, and they surrendered on September 1. The Allies were able to push towards Maubeuge, and finally, by September 13, the Germans were finally pushed out of French soil in a major victory for the French and British. Afterward, the Allies liberated Luxembourg City on September 29, Brussels on October 6, and finally Amsterdam by October 19.

Italian troops march towards the frontline for Operation Roma, June 11, 1943​

The Italians, with help from British Expeditionary Forces (BEF), also launched Operation Roma four days after Overlord on June 10. The Italians first surrounded 20,000 Nazi troops at Chioggia and was only 40 miles away from Venice. They also bombarded the Germans at Vicenza and took it back by June 29, and in the famous June 18 raid, they were able to hunt down and destroy 10 Nazi air bases and destroy at least 300 aircraft, heavily diminishing the Nazis’ air power even before the Freedom Raid. They finally laid siege to Padua, and the Nazis’ refusal to vacate the salient caused disaster for the enemy, surrounding many Nazi forces inside the city. They would all surrender by August 25.

Italian and British troops and equipment land at Venice, September 1, 1943​

Now, by mid-August, the Germans were reinforcing their forces near the frontlines as they were expecting a direct British-Italian advance, but they were caught by surprise when instead the Allies launched an amphibious landing at Venice on September 1, which decimated German forces at the frontlines just north of Padua. Afterward, the offensives were easily made, and the Germans were pushed out of Italy’s plains and into the mountains, where Italians and Germans engaged in Alpine warfare heading into the winter.

Victorious Soviet troops enter Warsaw after declaring war on Nazi Germany, July 4, 1944​

Afterward, the Soviets came. Ever since the War started in Europe, the Soviets under Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov and Mikhail Tomsky refused to intervene in Eastern Europe, as they were busy expanding the Soviet economy and the Red Army, but that neutral stance would not last for long, as they were planning on invading Nazi Germany by 1944. Listening to pleas from the Allies who had regained their strength over the course of the winter and spring (as precipitation was heavy during those times), the Soviet Union initiated Operation Bagration and invaded Nazi Germany from the east on June 22, 1944, catching them by surprise as they thought the Soviet Union was not going to invade them anytime soon (their racism made them think the “untermensch” of the USSR was incompetent and undisciplined even as the Soviets expanded their military and economic strength). Using military strength nearly identical to the Allies’ when they initiated Operation Overlord, the Soviets were able to destroy the Nazi Fourth Army, along with most of the Third Panzer and Ninth Armies. The Red Army exploited the collapse of the German front line to encircle German formations in the vicinity of Warsaw and destroy them, with Warsaw liberated on July 4.

Encountering little to no resistance in Eastern Europe, the Soviets were able to push into Slovakia by July 19 and liberated Bratislava by August 1, 1944. The Italians pushed further into Austrian ground as the Allies captured the Rhineland by August 9. From then on, it was an Allied-Soviet competition to capture Berlin, and the eventual winner was the Soviets, which reached the German capital on August 25 as the Allies captured West Germany and Austria. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler shot himself in the head on August 27 as the Battle of Berlin commenced, and his day-long wife Eva Braun and much of the top brass of the Nazi leadership committed suicide as well. Finally, the Nazis surrendered to the Allied-Soviet forces on September 1.

General Alfred Jodl signing the unconditional surrender of both east and west forces in Reims, France, September 1, 1944​

Finally, five years to the day it started, the Second World War in Europe ended. A great sigh of relief descended upon the Allied nations. Europe was finally at peace again.

The Second World War in Europe was the worst military conflict in the history of the continent. 25 million people were killed and another 20 million were wounded. Out of the countries that participated in the war, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Poland lost a combined third of their national economy to the war. Only the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union saw their economies grow during the five-year battle in Europe. Europe was also divided into Allied and Soviet spheres, directly resulting into the Cold War between the Western powers and the communist world led by the Soviet Union.

But war still brewed in the Far East as the Imperial Japanese Forces refused to surrender to them. And so they diverted their forces instead to the area, preparing for a final push that will defeat the Japanese once and for all.

 

[Nightingale]

CHAPTER III - WORLD WAR II

PART VI - THE ENDGAME IN EUROPE

Excerpt from

The Far East Burning: The War in the Pacific
By Damian West​

The Allies' "island hopping" plan from 1943 until 1945​

By the end of 1943, the Allies in Asia had gained much ground against the Imperial Japanese. All islands nearest to the International Date Line that the Japanese occupied were liberated by September 1. The Northern Marianas and Saipan were liberated on December 7, 1943, and the Japanese was locked out of the Pacific Ocean south of the Equator. Guam and Tinian Island were liberated by January 20, 1944, and many of Japanese warships and submarines, along with many Japanese airplanes, were destroyed by the start of spring in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, won the Allies air and naval superiority in the Pacific until the end of the war.​

On April 29, 1944, two years after the Pacific War started, the Battle of Leyte Gulf commenced. In the Allied side, 8 fleet carriers 8 light carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 166 destroyers and destroyer escorts Many PT boats, submarines, many fleet auxiliaries and around 1,500 aircraft participated in the battle, and in the Japanese side, 1 fleet carrier 3 light carriers 9 battleships 14 heavy cruisers 6 light cruisers, at least 35 destroyers and at least 300 aircraft participated in what was the largest naval battle in history and the largest naval battle during World War II. Leyte Gulf featured the largest battleships ever built and was the last time in history that battleships engaged each other. Kamikaze aircraft first appeared during this time. Many ships were lost and around 15,000 people died in the process, but in the end, the Allies decisively won, and in the process, they gained air and naval superiority in the Pacific until the war ended.

Operation Ichi-Go won Japan some tactical victories but was a strategic failure in the end.​

At the same time, the Japanese were trying to push further into China through Operation Ichi-Go, which was launched on January 11, 1944. The Chinese and Japanese battled each other in the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi provinces, and in the process, more than a million died in the fighting. The Japanese were able to make numerous tactical victories, but stiff Allied resistance, especially with fully-replenished supplies (as the Burma Road was successfully defended against the Japanese in 1942), made the Ichi-Go a long-term strategic failure, as the Chinese did not give up and they were able to make counteroffensives that liberated Wuhan and Changsha.

​

Afterward, on June 12, 1944, the campaign to liberate the Philippines began. 12 US Divisions totaling 2,000,000 troops in what was the largest campaign of the Pacific War. The US Sixth Army, supported by naval and air bombardment, landed on the favorable eastern shore of Leyte, north of Mindanao. The US Sixth Army continued its advance from the east, as the Japanese rushed reinforcements to the Ormoc Bay area on the western side of the island. Meanwhile, the US Fifth Air Force was able to devastate the Japanese attempts to resupply. In torrential rains and over difficult terrain, the advance continued across Leyte and the neighboring island of Samar to the north. On 7 December US Army units landed at Ormoc Bay and, after a major land and air battle, cut off the Japanese ability to reinforce and supply Leyte. Although fierce fighting continued on Leyte for months, the US Army was in control. Major landings followed in Bataan, Mindoro, Lingayen Gulf and Corregidor, precipitating a general collapse of Japanese resistance across the country. By August 1, Manila had been liberated, and by September 30, the last of the Philippine Islands had been taken, and in other Southeast Asian occupied territories, the Allies launched the Borneo campaign and retook the island by October 14 and successfully pushed the Japanese out of Burmese land. The rest of the region, however, were ignored to avoid overstretching the Allies.

The Allies began to fight Japan on its own soil, with heavy casualties.​

The Allies also took the fight to Japanese soil, although the Allied top brass refused to conduct a full-scale invasion of the Japanese mainland. They first encountered the Japanese at Iwo Jiwa on July 4 in one of the bloodiest battles during the Pacific War, and they won with over 50,000 casualties. They also took the island of Okinawa by September 4, which resulted in more than 200,000 casualties. All these losses, along with heavy Allied bombing of industrial areas that damaged Japan’s industrial capabilities to conduct war, heavily crippled Japanese forces, but they did not produce a Japanese surrender. Allied losses were also becoming unacceptably high. The Allies, in the November 13 Potsdam Declaration led by reelected President Franklin Roosevelt, newly-elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, Chinese Dictator Jiang Jieshi and Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Bukharin, the Allied powers issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction”.

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's importance in ending the Second World War is still up for debate.​

Finally, by mid-1944, the Manhattan Project had already made the United States capable of producing nuclear weapons, and so they were used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on December 6 and Nagasaki on December 19. At least 150,000 people were killed in the process, and they destroyed some military installments in the area. The necessity of the atomic bombings has long been debated, with detractors claiming that a naval blockade and aerial bombing campaign had already made invasion, hence the atomic bomb, unnecessary. However, other scholars have argued that the bombings shocked the Japanese government into surrender, with the Emperor finally indicating his wish to stop the war. Another argument in favor of the atomic bombs is that they helped avoid Operation Downfall, or a prolonged blockade and bombing campaign, any of which would have exacted much higher casualties among Japanese civilians. This, along with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, compelled the Japanese Cabinet to surrender to the Allies, and on Christmas Eve 1944, Emperor Hirohito declared Japan’s surrender to the Allies, and by January 20, 1945, the formal Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed.

Imperial Japan officially surrenders to the Allies, January 20, 1945​

That was it. After more than two years of bloodshed, the war in the Pacific was over. Crowds across Asia celebrated as the continent was finally at peace. The Pacific War was the bloodiest in Asian history. More than 25 million people died, and East and Southeast Asia’s economies were left in tatters. Cities such as Manila were among the worst bombed in history, and famine and disease were killing many people who had held out until the end of the war. These showed that much work still had to be done to help Eastern Asia rise again from the ashes.

 

[Panzerlied]

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

So we'll still have a northern communist Korea?

 

[Nightingale]

So we'll still have a northern communist Korea?

Nah. After all, the Soviets have less contribution to the war effort, only intervening in mid-1944, and so the Allies do not accept a communist North Korea, and even if they did want to take over North Korea, the Allies are capable of getting there faster. Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky are less adamant than Stalin in taking over foreign territory, so they agree that the Allies get Korea. Korea won't be divided.

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P.S. Apologies for overpromising on making an update about the guerrillas. I couldn't imagine where I can take that story to, and I'll just include stories on how all countries treat their veterans when I describe the post-war world.

 

[Panzerlied]

Leyte Gulf featured the largest battleships ever built and was the last time in history that battleships engaged each other

Does it means Yamamoto and Missouri faced off?

 

[Nightingale]

Does it means Yamamoto and Missouri faced off?

You can say that.

 

[Nightingale]

P.S. the last World War II update is my last update for this summer since school is starting, and when that happens, updates will be few and far in between. I'll still be writing chapters, though for future posts.

 

[Panzerlied]

You can say that.

YES!!!

 

[The Forty-Eighth Rōnin]

Does it means Yamamoto and Missouri faced off?

Admiral Yamamoto had superpowers?