Army was used in the Pacific, about 25%With a straight up war between the US and Japan, the US army is not that useful in an island-naval war,
amphibious landings wasn't a Marine only thing
Army was used in the Pacific, about 25%With a straight up war between the US and Japan, the US army is not that useful in an island-naval war,
1. When the torpedo problem is solved.
2. When the submarine force is built, trained and capable.
3. When the amphibious assault forces are created.
4. When the strategic bomber force is created.
5. When the battle fleet is created, trained and capable.
6. When the central and southwest Pacific campaigns are conducted to completion.
7. When it all comes together to clamp down the blockade and strategic bombardments.
Four years to do all of this. Victory in late 1944 early 1945. It is not just % of industrial production, but time to create the tools and to mount the operations to come within range of the home islands.
Does this also include the B-29 program? The Manhattan project?
I think the point is that you don't need an army of European size until you hit Japan proper.Army was used in the Pacific, about 25%
amphibious landings wasn't a Marine only thing
Thanks to Dugout Doug's slogging thru New Guinea, the rough spots were identified and worked out, and while Doug's local Staff were a bunch of Republican sycophants and Yes Men, he also picked Eichelberger, Kenney, Kinkaid and Krueger to do their thing, and they were _solid_ picks.Would the army even be able to run a competent campaign on the Home Islands without the European learning curve? Would they be capable of of boots on the ground stuff or expect air power to get them out of trouble?
Thanks to Dugout Doug's slogging thru New Guinea, the rough spots were identified and worked out, and while Doug's local Staff were a bunch of Republican sycophants and Yes Men, he also picked Eichelberger, Kenney, Kinkaid and Krueger to do their thing, and they were _solid_ picks.
And really, Air Support was far better organized with USN and USAAF in the Pacific than was ever achieved in the Med or over France.
So, what if say, Hitler for whatever reason decides not to declare war on the US after PH?
And US now has a war with Japan as in OTL??
Well my thought was that it allows FDR to justify sailing the supply convoys (under strong USN escort with authorisation to shoot any "IJN" attempts to stop them) via the North Atlantic, then through the Med stopping at Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria (at each point offloading any equipment from any damaged ship and giving it to the local (British) port officer for safekeeping by the time they get to Burma I wasn't expecting much to be still on-board and naturally unavoidable convoy sailing times and schedules would mean that any damaged ships (and a few "stragglers") would sail back to US in ballast rather than carry on at each stage. The USAAF would as well also be directed to cover the convoy routes requiring the construction of a string of bases in UK and North Africa.....What is with this idea of supplying a ground war in southern China through Burma?...
Simple FDR will order it shipped via the two best routes,
1- Via US East coast to Glasgow then onto Murmansk and along the TSR to Northern China...
2- Via US East coast to Gibraltar, Malta, Suez and on into Burma etc.....
I cant guarantee that everything will get to the end delivery destination of mainland China and inevitably the USN might get involved in defending the convoys from disguised Japanese forces trying to hide under false flags of the other Axis members....
Well my thought was that it allows FDR to justify sailing the supply convoys (under strong USN escort with authorisation to shoot any "IJN" attempts to stop them) via the North Atlantic, then through the Med stopping at Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria (at each point offloading any equipment from any damaged ship and giving it to the local (British) port officer for safekeeping by the time they get to Burma I wasn't expecting much to be still on-board and naturally unavoidable convoy sailing times and schedules would mean that any damaged ships (and a few "stragglers") would sail back to US in ballast rather than carry on at each stage. The USAAF would as well also be directed to cover the convoy routes requiring the construction of a string of bases in UK and North Africa.....
So you are going to ship across the North Atlantic with all the Uboats that were trying to cut off Britain? I think you will be at war with Germany whether you like it or not, or admit it or not.
How are you going to get through the Mediterranean until you kick the Italians and Germans out of North Africa?
Do you think the Soviets will allow major shipments to the ROC through their territory?
Until you open up a coastal Chinese port there is no way you can support a major effort in China. The route through India and Burma (The 'Hump', Ledo and Burma roads) cannot handle the tonnage you would need to support a large American effort.
I think you are potentially missing the point, "Remember the Maine! Germany first!'Strong USN escort' Where is this escort coming from? It didn't exist until mid to late 43 at the earliest. That was why the Battle of the Atlantic was so tough. Through the Med? Are you just going to ask the Germans, Italians, and Vichy French nicely? And the moment you turn over any equipment to the British along the way the entire effort becomes a target for them no matter what you say about being neutral in their fight.
From my reading, the main issue is the huge supplies needed to feed the Americans who came into China. I'd say that American military personnel within China would be limited to a handful of actual ground troops, advisors and airmen.
Vinegar Joe and the Peanut were mutually detrimental. I would, if I were a Chinese national, not have been too happy with Stilwell, because of his racism, but I would have been happy to see both Chiang and his gangster wife stood against a wall to pay for their crimes. They, together, set China back a generation. As an American I would not have been unhappy to see both have that "accident", either.Following the 36-division plan proposed by Stilwell (please send him somewhere else, he was nothing but detrimental) and improved further by Wedemeyer, the Chinese would require enough small arms, 75mm pack howitzers, radios and other equipment available to Western armies to fit 36 divisions, and build their army around that.
Without the Road, things will be a lot more difficult, unless you can get the Hump to work very effectively. But it could still be done.
Regarding the mixed opinions on Nationalist China here, Western historiography on China is complicated in that it changes every few years when more and more of the archives are open. The difficulty of obtaining sources and information means that perspectives tend to skew towards US views during the war, when the disillusionment had sent in.
My current reading is the Sino-centric perspective pioneered by Rana Mitter, Richard Bernstein, Jonathan Fenby and others, that the Chinese view of their war hasn't been paid much attention, and that the KMT, while undoubtedly horribly corrupt, could and did have several areas where they did well militarily.
This is just my two cents here: arguments often break out surrounding the Second Sino-Japanese War and I'm therefore cautious to actually discuss it openly. Ironic, as it's the area of modern history I'm primarily interested in.
Could the US extend its might to help retake the Dutch East Indies and Malaya?
There's also the question of if Iwo Jima could have gone ideally as planned with the USN storming across the Pacific, namely ten days of shelling rather than three, although there would still be awful casualties for both Japan and America.
How would the Australians be handled this time round? Hopefully Doug's other worst moment doesn't kick in, bossing Blamey around and getting good men killed.
There's also the big question of if Peilulu is going to be actually used for something this time, assuming that they'll still decide to invade it.
The only cure for that kind of defense barring modern thermobarics or an atomic bomb was flame throwers and grenades and point blank cannon fire from tanks.