alternatehistory.com

This discussion thread is prompted by the results in a game of Hearts of Iron II I am currently playing.

When Japan invaded China in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident it was pretty much a "come as you are" invasion. Both sides were completely unprepared for war and the result was Japan was dragged into a quagmire that occupied the attention of a good bit of its army until the end of WWII and also was one of the reasons that the United States became involved in the war later due to its blocking of the sale of oil to Japan and scrap metal which were being used to fuel Japan's Chinese war effort. Because Japan needed these resources to continue its war it conducted an invasion of the British, Dutch, and French controlled areas of SE Asia to get the resources it needed and it attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor to cripple its navy so the U.S. couldn't interfere in its military objectives.

Now the question. Assume the Marco Polo Incident doesn't occur or is resolved relatively peacefully. The Japanese get the time to build up their army, and air force and better prepare for a Chinese invasion. Could they have done better and how would this affect the Pacific War?
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