About 1.5 million Japanese in Manchuria, Korea and northern China became prisoners of the Soviets, many of whom spent years in prison camps. Whereas the civilian population without this protection died in their thousands. The well-established Japanese garrison had 8,500 troops and fielded about 77 tanks. 5:03 a.m. Background These ranged from 0.42 dead and missing and 2.16 total casualties per 1000 men per day under the "European Experience" to 1.95 dead and missing and 7.45 total casualties per 1000 men per day under the "Pacific Experience. The battle resulted in 72,000 US casualties in 82 days, of whom 12,510 were killed or missing (this figure excludes the several thousand US soldiers who died after the battle indirectly, from their wounds). In 1944 Ultra revealed that the Japanese doubted their ability to retaliate against United States use of gas. The ensuing Operation Downfall envisaged two main assaults Operation Olympic on Kyushu, planned for early November and Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu in March 1946. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, formerly a partner. Even when rounded down to a conservative 200,000, this figure implied a total of nearly 500,000 all-causes losses, of whom perhaps 50,000 might return to duty after light to moderate care. Emperor Hirohito summoned an Imperial Council asking that his ministers accept the terms forthwith and surrender unconditionally. Manchurian Strategic Offensive. More than 10,000 aircraft were ready for use in July (with more by October), as well as hundreds of newly built small suicide boats to attack Allied ships offshore. [98] "These [six] divisions have since made their appearance, as predicted," he observed, "and the end is not in sight." The Japanese command intended to organize its Army personnel according to the following plan:[52], Total mobilized: 3,150,000 On 6 August the lead bomber of three B-29s, Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibits, commander of 509th Composite Group, dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. During World War II, the Japanese had a naval base at Paramushiro in the Kuril Islands and several bases in Hokkaido. This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 20:51. Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. It was followed by a second bomb on 9 August on Nagasaki. If a clock were drawn on a map of Kysh, these points would roughly correspond to 4, 5, and 7 o'clock, respectively. By August, they had 14 divisions and various smaller formations, including three tank brigades, for a total of 900,000 men. Outside the government, well-informed civilians were also making guesses. By September 1944, those plans . An email sent by a whistleblower at FSB . Estimated troop strength in early July was 350,000,[59] rising to 545,000 in early August. During the Soviet-Japanese War in August 1945, the Soviet Union made plans to invade Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan 's four main home islands. They proposed operations to capture airbases in nearby Shanghai, China, and Korea, which would give the United States Army Air Forces a series of forward airbases from which to bombard Japan into submission. [citation needed], Fears of "an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other"[64] encouraged the Allies to consider unconventional weapons, including chemical warfare. Zaloga, Steven (2011). The invasion was not intended to conquer the entire island, just the southernmost third of it, as indicated by the dashed line on the map labeled "general limit of northern advance". Over the next four months, the Imperial Japanese Army transferred forces from Manchuria, Korea, and northern Japan, while raising other forces in place. [24] This was rejected by U.S. commanders and even the initial plans for Coronet, according to U.S. historian John Ray Skates, did not envisage that units from Commonwealth or other Allied armies would be landed on the Kant Plain in 1946. [29][pageneeded] The war ended before the details of the corps were finalized. Russia was preparing to attack Japan in the summer of 2021, months before President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an email featuring a letter from a whistleblower at. The estimated casualty figures later became a crucial point in postwar debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [6], The primary considerations that the planners had to deal with were time and casualtieshow they could force Japan's surrender as quickly as possible with as few Allied casualties as possible. The plans for war with Japan may have been related to a longstanding territorial dispute concerning the strategically. Japanese holdouts, especially on . [5], The Pacific War was not under a single Allied commander-in-chief (C-in-C). [100] [43], The Navy trained a unit of frogmen to serve as suicide bombers, the Fukuryu. [49][50] One mobilized high school girl, Yukiko Kasai, found herself issued an awl and told, "Even killing one American soldier will do. Admiral Chester Nimitz agreed with MacArthur. From the middle of May, when fighters based on the island of Ie Shima first attacked targets on southern Japan, the scale of. However, Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations, was prepared to oppose proceeding with the invasion, with Admiral Nimitz's concurrence, which would have set off a major dispute within the US government. The casualty rate on Okinawa was 35%;with 767,000 men scheduled to participate in taking Kyushu, it was estimated that there would be 268,000 casualties. Answer (1 of 4): When Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan, he presented the US with a considerable wish list of Lend-Lease materials. 13 . In February, with the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow. The Soviet plan of attack called for an invasion of Hokkaido from the west. For the failed Mongol invasion attempts, see, "Soviet invasion of Japan" redirects here. To attack the ships off Okinawa, Japanese planes had to fly long distances over open water; to attack the ships off Kysh, they could fly overland and then short distances out to the landing fleets. Korea 247,000 The Japanese would have lost at least 12 million men killed, due to the enormous losses fighting, from the nuclear bomb, and the mass of Kamikaze attacks. The US had successfully tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico 10 days earlier. [97] [41] Despite its inability to conduct large-scale fleet operations, the IJN still maintained a fleet of thousands of warplanes and possessed nearly 2 million personnel in the Home Islands, ensuring it a large role in the coming defensive operation. Courtesy of the US National Archives. The Japanese High Command instigated a massive defence plan, Ketsu Go (Operation Decisive) beginning with Kyushu that would eventually amount to almost 3 million men with the aim of breaking American morale by ferocious defence. At 11 pm Trans-Baikal time on 8 August 1945, Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed Japanese ambassador . General Umezu Yoshijiro signs the surrender on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Army onboard the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay, 2nd September 1945. Airbases would be established, which would give cover for Operation Coronet, the attack on Tokyo Bay. At Potsdam the Soviets informed their Allied counterparts that they would be ready to move against Japan in mid-August. In addition to fighters and bombers, they reassigned almost all of their trainers for the mission. On 9 August, the Soviet Union repudiated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact and launched a full-scale invasion of Manchuria in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. As the war raged, the leaders of the Allies met several times to direct the course of the fighting and to begin planning for the postwar world. The Chief of the Army Operations Division thought them "entirely too high" under "our present plan of campaign. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945 the Allies agreed to the Soviet conditions which included restoration of her special rights in Manchuria after their defeat during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5. An Army estimate in May was 3,391 planes; in June, 4,862; in August, 5,911. [26] The British Government suggested that: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Keightley should command the Commonwealth Corps, a combined Commonwealth fleet should be led by Vice-Admiral Sir William Tennant, and thatas Commonwealth air units would be dominated by the RAAF the Air Officer Commanding should be Australian. Yalta Conference, (February 4-11, 1945), major World War II conference of the three chief Allied leadersPres. Historians and the public continue to debate if the bombings were justified, the causes of Japan's surrender, the casualties that would have resulted if the U.S. had invaded Japan, and more. It should be noted that this invasion occurred 2 days after the United States atomic bombing of Hiroshima. A World War II history many have seemed to have forgotten - Russia was getting ready to invade Japan: On April 10, 1945 a Soviet freighter slipped up to a quay at a frozen military base on a remote tip of Alaska aptly named Cold Bay. [41] However, the IJN lacked enough fuel for further sorties by its capital ships, planning instead to use their anti-aircraft firepower to defend naval installations while docked in port. Giangreco argues that the alternative, a land invasion of . In 1939, the armies of Japan and the Soviet Union clashed . In the last days of World War II, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as Stalin secretly agreed at . Japan's rejection of the demand led to final order to proceed with atomic bombing. The provinces of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi were taken and by October 1944 Sichan was the last large province still held by the Chinese Nationalists. While some totals (particularly for items such as swords and small arms) may be inexact because of the problems of collection and the activities of the black market, the amount of military equipment available to the Japanese in and around the Home Islands by August 1945 was roughly as follows: "Invasion of Japan" redirects here. The same day, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Initially, US planners also did not plan to use any non-US Allied ground forces in Operation Downfall. The Americans lost 36 ships. [74] Attacking northern Honshu would have the advantage of a much weaker defense but had the disadvantage of giving up land-based air support (except the B-29s) from Okinawa. [12], Physically, Japan made an imposing target, distant from other landmasses and with very few beaches geographically suitable for sea-borne invasion. Stalin had agreed to enter the war against Japan at the Teheran Conference in 1943. Victory over JapanDay marked the end of the Second World War in August 1945. By the time the war ended, the Army was still trying to determine the optimal dispersal height to cover a wide enough area. Soviet-Japanese War During the Soviet-Japanese War in August 1945, the Soviet Union made plans to invade Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan 's four main home islands. This would require capturing bases in Formosa, along the Chinese coast, and in the Yellow Sea area. Herbert Hoover, in memorandums submitted to Truman and Stimson, also estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 fatalities, which were believed to be conservative estimates; however, it is not known if Hoover discussed these specific figures in his meetings with Truman. Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Koshikijima Islands were to be taken, starting on X-5. Asada argues that the atomic bombs provided a greater shock to Japanese policymakers than the Soviet entry into the war because (1) the bombing was a direct attack on the Japanese homeland, compared with the Soviet Union's "indirect" invasion in Manchuria; and (2) it was not anticipated. The race to produce the first atomic weapon before Germanywas headed by the Manhattan project. The combined Allied naval armada would have been the largest ever assembled, including 42 aircraft carriers, 24 battleships, and 400 destroyers and destroyer escorts. Figures for Coronet exclude values for both the immediate strategic reserve of 3 divisions as well as the 17 division strategic reserve in the U.S. and any British/Commonwealth forces. However the reality of the atomic bomb made some US leaders question whether Soviet intervention in Asia was indeed needed or even desirable. In it, they estimate that during the 18 month period after June 1945 (that is, through December 1946), the Army would be required to furnish replacements for 43,000 dead and evacuated wounded every month. Only Kysh (the southernmost island of Japan) and the beaches of the Kant Plain (both southwest and southeast of Tokyo) were realistic invasion zones. Initially, they were concerned about an invasion during the summer of 1945. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, plans were also made to transfer some of the heavy bomber groups of the veteran Eighth Air Force to airbases on Okinawa to conduct strategic bombing raids in coordination with the Twentieth. [citation needed]. [47], The Japanese did not formally decide to stake everything on the outcome of the Battle of Kysh, but they concentrated their assets to such a degree that there would be little left in reserve. They and their soldiers had endured three years of harsh captivity. While the US had promised never to initiate gas warfare, Japan had used gas against the Chinese earlier in the war. [55] Ketsu plans for Kyushu envisioned committing nearly 9,000 aircraft according to the following sequence:[56], The Japanese planned to commit the majority of their air forces to action within 10 days after the Allied fleet's arrival off Kysh. ", "That total hostile forces committed against Kyushu operations will not exceed eight (8) to ten (10) divisions and that this level will be speedily attained. The entire island of Okinawa is 464sqmi (1,200km2). However, the Japanese forces in those islands resisted quite fiercely although some of them proved unwilling to fight after Japan's surrender on 15 August. The rise in . Plan Your Visit Current Exhibitions Calendar of Events . An inventory of mines was anchored to the sea bottom off each potential invasion beach for their use by the suicide divers, with up to 10,000 mines planned. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet declaration of war, and the invasion of Manchuria. [9][10], The United States Navy urged the use of a blockade and airpower to bring about Japan's capitulation. ", "That the enemy may withdraw his land-based air forces to the Asiatic Mainland for protection from our neutralizing attacks. A July Navy estimate, abandoning any distinction between training and combat aircraft, was 8,750; in August, 10,290. In comparison, the Soviet Union had about 11 divisions available, comparable to the 14 divisions the US estimated that it would require to invade southern Kyushu. With the British Pacific Fleet, August 1945. These were responsible for attacking Japanese airfields and transportation arteries on Kyushu and Southern Honshu (e.g. Apr 30, 2023, 2:37 PM PDT. It is unknown to what extent they could have opposed Soviet landings in the far north of Japan. In addition, the Japanese had organized the Volunteer Fighting Corps, which included all healthy men aged 15 to 60 and women 17 to 40 for a total of 28 million people, for combat support and, later, combat jobs. Then in February 1945, US Marines assaulted the tiny island of Iwo Jima, midway between the Marianas and Japan. Stavros Atlamazoglou. The first firebombing attack was on Wuhan, the Imperial Japanese Army headquarters in China, on 18 December 1944. Prior to the First Quebec Conference, a joint CanadianBritishAmerican planning team produced a plan ("Appreciation and Plan for the Defeat of Japan") which did not call for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands until 194748. Tiger Force was to have included the elite 617 Squadron, also known as "The Dambusters", which carried out specialist bombing operations. Also, by the end of that year, the United States entered the war after Japan (an ally of Germany) attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The entry of the U.S. into the Alliance meant the scope of the planned cross-Channel invasion would grow. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock. Dropping or spraying the herbicide was deemed most effective; a July 1945 test from an SPD Mark 2 bomb, originally crafted to hold biological weapons like anthrax or ricin, had the shell burst open in the air to scatter the chemical agent. Remaining major warships numbered four battleships (all damaged), five damaged aircraft carriers, two cruisers, 23 destroyers, and 46 submarines. Russia in 2021 was preparing to attack Japan just months before Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new leaked letters from the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), the successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB accessed by Newsweek revealed. This area would then be used as a further staging point to attack Honshu in Operation Coronet. It consisted of more than 120,000 people working on 37 different sites across 19 states in the US and in Canada, at a cost of more than $2 billion. [84] From analysis of the replacement schedule and projected strengths in overseas theaters, it suggested that Army losses alone in those categories, excluding the Navy and Marine Corps, would be approximately 863,000 through the first part of 1947, of whom 267,000 would be killed or missing. [90] A study done by General MacArthur's staff in June estimated 23,000 US casualties in the first 30 days of Olympic and 125,000 after 120 days, fighting an assumed Japanese force of 300,000[91] (in actuality some 917,000 Japanese troops were on Kyushu,[92]). [citation needed], In March 1945, there was only one combat division in Kysh. [33], While Japan no longer had a realistic prospect of winning the war, Japan's leaders believed they could make the cost of invading and occupying the Home Islands too high for the Allies to accept, which would lead to some sort of armistice rather than total defeat. [25] Following negotiations, it was decided that Coronet would include a joint Commonwealth Corps, made up of infantry divisions from the Australian, British and Canadian armies. According to Edward J. Drea, the strategic use of chemical weapons on a massive scale was not seriously studied or proposed by any senior American leader; rather, they debated the tactical use of chemical weapons against pockets of Japanese resistance. 372-374, 391, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, U.S. Army, Sixth Army Field Order 74, 28 July 1945, Staff Study Operations "Coronet" 15 August 1945, Combined Arms Research Laboratory: Downfall, "USSBS Report 62, Military Analysis Division, Japanese Air Power | PDF p. 25", "Okinawa, Harry Truman, and the Atomic Bomb", "By any means necessary: the United States and Japan", "World War II plan to poison Japanese crops revealed", "America Nearly Attacked Japan With Chemical Weapons in 1945", "Did Hiroshima Save Japan From Soviet Occupation? [46] Although the Japanese were able to muster new soldiers, equipping them was more difficult. The Japanese planned an all-out defense of Kysh, with little left in reserve for any subsequent defense operations. On 5 Apr 1945, the Soviet Union informed Japan that the Soviet Union would . You must aim for the abdomen. The main attack was carried out by the Fourteenth Army, comprising 340,000 Indian troops, 100,000 British and 80,000 African soldiers, which defeated the Japanese defending forces in central Burma. The remaining Imperial Japanese Navy was wiped out at Leyte Gulf off the Philippines, which was liberated in early 1945.
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