WI japan discovers napalm in 1938

What if the unit 731 discovered Napalm in 1938? Could this made Japan defeat china, or would only makes the conflict worse with the same results? What about the war against the allies in pacific?
 

Deleted member 1487

What if the unit 731 discovered Napalm in 1938? Could this made Japan defeat china, or would only makes the conflict worse with the same results? What about the war against the allies in pacific?
They already had incendiaries of their own, but didn't have enough oil to make all the napalm they'd need, nor the access to the solidifying compounds.
 
Did the IJNAS and IJAAF even have close support doctrine? Dropping Ordnance is the easy part, dropping it on the right troops is hard, see Marine vs USAAF close support efforts.

Dropping Napalm on cities doesn't really do more than the Incendiaries they used OTL
 

Deleted member 1487

Did the IJNAS and IJAAF even have close support doctrine? Dropping Ordnance is the easy part, dropping it on the right troops is hard, see Marine vs USAAF close support efforts.

Dropping Napalm on cities doesn't really do more than the Incendiaries they used OTL
Well they did develop Attack Aircraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_aircraft#1919.E2.80.931939
In Japan, the Imperial Japanese Navy had developed the Aichi D3A dive bomber (based on the Heinkel He 70) and the Mitsubishi B5M light attack bomber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Ki-3
. It subsequently was used in combat in Manchukuo (Manchuria) and in north China during the initial stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, where it could make use of its good maneuverability to support ground troops. It was considered a rugged ground-attack aircraft, but the supercharger of its liquid-cooled engine was a constant source of problems.[1]
 
Japan's problems in China weren't so much equipment related but strategic. What was their end goal? How did they intend to pacify conquered regions, how would they get equipment to the frontiers through hundreds of miles of territory occupied by angry Chinese?

Even in 1945-45 Ichi-Go was a huge success and that's when the allies were beating the tar out of the Japanese homeland. Their biggest problems were still logistics and pacification. Which hadn't changed much from 1937.
 

Deleted member 1487

Well, the USAAF had the A-24, and didn't have the Doctrine for real close support. Coordination is the hard part, not the tech.
Sure, but the indication that they had ground attack aircraft means they had the doctrine, the coordination is a technology issue in term of communication tech and having the right organization, which comes from combat experience; Japan had a lot more of that by 1939 than anyone but maybe the Germans thanks to the Condor Legion and effort put into learning the ins and outs of ground support. The IJA did have the aircraft, concepts, and need, but I think the communication tech was lacking. Germany, with a much more advanced electronics industry, was still working that out in 1939. The US, with THE most advanced electronics industry in the world still was working out the comm tech issue even in 1943.
 
Top