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81 years ago Imperial Japan dared to wake the sleeping giant.
Admiral Yamamoto warned against such an action and only survived the decision by less than a year and a half.
Once woken, the US invented an entirely new form of weapon and used it to end the war. In less than four years.
Since then we've not bothered to wake up for a war.
An often over looked point. The Japanese military had decided that American Fire weapons were virtually useless where "wood" areas that had already been burned (most cities) and were not particularly useful against cleared intallations and airfields. The "new" atomic weapons provided blast and fire and were useful against anybtarget. That convinced the Japanese military that the Americans could destroy any and all facilities without being vulnerable to savage Japanese counter attacks. No matter how limited the nuclear weapon production facilities were, the Americans could eventually beat Japanese resistence into rubble, eventually. The tactic of suicidal defense was useless. Once "Nazi" Germany collapsed, the production of nuclear weapons would be unrestricted. The Empiror opted for a surrender that preserved the core of Japanese Society. Japan had enough scientists and engineers to understand the end game. Smart decision by Japan.
ReplyDeleteAfter Hiroshima, Japanese scientists confirmed it was indeed a nuclear weapon that hit them, but they estimated the US only had the means to make just two or three of them in total. In reality, the US had the capability to make three per month. I think Japan realized the game was up when they they understood they were looking at three atomic bomb hits per month, EVERY month, until they surrendered. -JKing
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