Thw Dutch east Indies

[steverodgers801]

What if Japan had simply decided to deliver an ultimatum to the governor of the DEI to deliver oil or war. Britain was in no shape to intervene and the US would not.

[aghart]

The Dutch like the British were keen to keep the USA on side. They would have ignored the ultimatum, which would have given the Western powers absolute proof that the Japanese were on the verge of war. Who knows how history might have turned out with the extra warning received.

[steverodgers801]

but, what could the British and Americans do if Japan launched an invasion

[Carl Schwamberger]

What to do?

Declare a large "Exclusion or nuetrality zone surrounding the Phillipines similar to that in the Atlantic. So large it hamper Japanese naval operations. This all but guarantees some incident at sea will result in sunk US war ships and aircraft shot down.

Accelerate arms shipments to the Phillipines & declare a emergency there to get around laws hampering war preparations.

Accelerate arms shipments to the DEI.

Continue coordinating war planning with the DEI government. US, Britain, and DEI had been conducting secret war planning meetings for some months. They were also sharing intel, including decrypts & other signal intel on the Japanese military and diplomatic message traffic. i.e.: Adm Phillips had a face to face meeting with MacAurthur and Adm Hart in Manila 6th Dec.

Congress enacts another series of War Acts that allow improvement of industrial mobilization and military preparation in the US.

The US, Phillipine, and Commonwealth military has a few more weeks to train and organize before the shooting starts.