the japanese capitulation

[Alejandro]

Hi, i recently watched some specials about the victory over Japan in WWII by the history channel, in more than one historians sugested that Japan surrendered due to the disaster in Manchuria againts the soviet army and the inminent invation of its islands by the red army instead of the dropping of atomic bombs.
is that true?, if the soviets would had invaded Japan, have they defeated Japan before the american invation?.

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both citizen Alejandro and the community as a whole. In reference to your inquiry of Monday - March 31, 2003 - 3:14pm, I would personally urge you to watch less television and conduct more traditional scholarly research. In August of 1945 the Soviet Union lacked the naval resources to mount ANY sort of serious amphibious assault on the home islands of the Japanese archipelago. The Soviet Navy barely had the naval force to conduct the conquest of the Kuril Island group lying just north of the principal Japanese home island of Hokkaido. The naval strength of the Soviet Pacific Fleet constituted a mere two cruisers, eleven destroyers and seventy-eight submarines. A serious invasion force this is NOT! In my less than humble opinion, the massive Soviet Army operations in Manchuria, Korea and the southern portion of Sakhalin Island had no substantive bearing on the "reception" the Japanese were preparing for the Western Allies on the turf of the home islands. By the time Koba the Terrible decided to involve the Soviet Union in the Pacific War, the Western Alliance already had the Japanese home islands in a tightening maritime strangle hold. In short, the defense of their continental gains from a defacto Soviet land grab was the very last thing on the minds of the Imperial Staff of the Japanese Army. When the time avails itself, I would like to recommend the following work of literature on the subject. The work is entitled as CODE NAME DOWN FALL: The Secret Plan To Invade Japan And Why Truman Dropped The Bomb. The authors are Thomas B. Allen and Norman Polmar. The publisher is Simon and Schuster of New York. The publishing year is 1995. I believe this work will provide you with far more practical information than anything you might glean from watching the History Channel. It's just some food for thought. In anycase, I would like to bid you a wonderful day down in the mystical land of the Incas.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob

[James McBride]

I will probably get the same "less TV, more books", but I will ask anyway. Any way that one of the Japanese planes developed late could have made it to the west coast, dropping some of the chemical agents they used in China against Californians?
James

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both brother James McBride and the community as a whole. Jim, in respect to your inquiry of Friday - April 04, 2003 - 2:05am, the Imperial Japanese Navy had, in fact, launched two air strikes with incendiary ordnance on the forests of the State of Oregon in 1942. The pontoon equiped aircraft was launched and recovered by one of their massive fleet submarines. In 1945, the Japanese released an armada of balloon bombs into the jet stream which carried them into various points of both the United States of America and Canada. In May of 1945 one of these balloon bombs was actually successful inflicting five civilian fatalities in the State of Oregon. So, I would argue that it was theoretically possible to disperse a chemical OR biological weapon of mass destruction upon the territory of the United States of America. The means of delivery was certainly available. Now, with that said, I cannot say with any certainty if the Japanese Government had any operational plan to wage such an insidious campaign against North America. And yes, please stick to the books and kill your television. Oh, and by the way, my niece is employed with K.V.O.N. Radio over in Napa! What a small world. Well, that's my two cents worth on the subject. In anycase, I would like to bid you a wonderful day down in the Bear Republic's exquisite wine country.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob 8)

[Takao]

Alejandro,
some scholars have argued that Japan surrendered because of Soviet invasion of Manchuria and not because of the Atom bombs. IMHO, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. The Soviets had amassed vast numbers of men and material for there invasion, and the Kwangtung Army was only a shadow of its former self. The Japanese had no hope of stopping the Soviet forces. The Japanese possessed neither the strength of numbers or a technological force multiplier to combat the Soviets. As for a Soviet invasion of the Home Islands, that lies only in the realm of fantasy. The American forces were more likely to invade mainland Japan than the Soviets.

Hi James,
For once "Less TV and more books" is not wholly incorrect. The Japanese were working on a design for a multi-engined bomber that could reach the West Coast. What its payload would be is debatable. When the war ended, this design had not gotten beyond the drawingboard, however, the bomber's range was projected to reach the West Coast. The Japanese did use submarine-launched floatplanes and balloon bombs to attack the US directly, but they met with little success.

[James McBride]

Thanks. Before I was all that interested in WW2, I watched a documentary on the History Channel, that was titled "The Secrets of the Axis", or something like that. I didn't remember a lot of the names or a whole lot of the information for that matter, but I was surprised to learn that there was some type of plane had been developed that could reach the west coast. Then, it talked about the weapons testing done on the Chinese, ending in a bomb that could release the plague or some other highly contagious and deadly disease. It even said that it was going to be dropped on San Diego on September 22 or 23. It seemed far-fetched, but it was interesting and I enjoyed it.
James

[Takao]

If you are interested in Japanese Bio-warfare. Enter "Japanese Unit 731" into a search engine (yahoo, MSN, etc.) you should get several sites that give some good info. I have been trying to track down the Japanese A/C, but have had no luck. I saw it on one of the messageboards I frequent, but can;t remember which one.

[James McBride]

I guess what the documentary said was not too far off. I rembered the date and the location correctly, but I think the method they cited was different than what I found at those websites. I bookmarked a couple, and it looks like some interesting reading.
James

[Gott]

China was the reason why Japan surrendered.

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both citizen Gott and the community as a whole. In reference to your statement dated on Wednesday - April 09, 2003 - 11:51am, would you please expand upon your eye opening assertion. This is the first time I have ever heard or read such an assertion. I am VERY CURIOUS to review your point-by-point treatise on the subject. A clarification on your part would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. In anycase, I would like to bid you a wonderful day in the Middle Kingdom.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :roll:

[Gott]

The scale of looting in China done by Japanese soldiers was so great that by early 1940's nothing much valuable were left for Japan. Japan was basically occupying a massive wasteland and yet during all this time, Japan did not consider to pull some if not all of their troops to fight the Americans and British. Japanese intelligence knew already that Nationalist China will not launch any major offensive until the Allies actually reached the home islands of Japan. Their operation in China was bogged down by tougher Chinese reinforcements and terrain. A Japanese general (can't remember who) remarked that the Japanese army will never reach Chungking. Through occupying China it wasted valuable manpower when it could have been used to fight the Americans. It could at least prolong the Pacific War for at least two months.

[megjur]

An intersting sidenote to the baloon bombs over Oregon is that all 5 deaths were from the same family. A preacher and his family were out on a picnic when his wife and kids came across an unusual object which turned out to be an anti-personnel bomblet which exploded killing them all.

[sand digger]

Uncle Bob is correct re the lack of suitable Soviet naval assets for any substantial invasion of Japan. The assertion that the Soviets were available and able to launch such an invasion seems to be some sort of urban myth, it has no basis in fact.

The real situation was that the Western Allies themselves had more ground forces than they had the means to transport and land such forces, including British and Australian forces. MacArthur wanted it to be an all American show, with him at the forefront of course, but the real restriction was limited suitable naval resources.

[Takao]

Another sidenote on the ballon bombs. They were still being discovered well after the war ended. The last one was found, IIRC in the mid-50's. During the war, they were a tightly kept secret, an attempt to keep the Japanese from knowing they were reaching the US coast.

[Cantankerous]

Here's a stunning link regarding the Japanese surrender:

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How ... 177012.php

This article discusses a historiography of the final days of the Pacific theater in World War II by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa arguing that the Soviet declaration of war on August 9, 1945 was the final catalyst for the Japanese to surrender to the Allies. It's quite interesting to note that when the Soviets invaded Manchuria, the Japanese had the unfinished Manshu Ki-98 pusher fighter prototype destroyed to avoid capture by the Red Army (Dyer 2009).

Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-85780-317-4.