alternatehistory.com

Allied plans to invade Japan at the end of WW2 obviously anticipated heavy casualties. What if instead, the US had opted for a China First strategy? An invasion of Taiwan in summer 1945 would open up the entire Chinese coast to the US Navy, and enable a connection to the Nationalist pocket in Fuzhou. The US has vast amounts of material to send through a direct link to China. If, for whatever geopolitical reason, the US accepted delaying the invasion of Japan a little bit, they could build up a sizeable and enthusiastic Chinese force. It'd be a brutal way to invade Japan, but it would save American lives, and inspire more fear in Japan than the Soviets. With the Atomics coming, liberating China first could both intimidate Japan into surrender, and strengthen the western position in China greatly.

Plausible?
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