It took a double-whammy of the A-bomb and Ivan crossing into Manchuria and
Korea to end the war. The A-bomb alone might not have been enough. Anything
that prevents OLYMPIC and CORONET from having to be executed had to be done.
Period. The Japanese Cabinet was meeting to discuss Hiroshima and the Soviet
invasion when word reached them of the Nagasaki strike. Next day Hirohito
decides that enough is enough. 14 Aug is the attempted putsch that fails
and the Surrender announcement comes on the 15th. Next probable nuclear strike
date was on 18 Aug with Kokura as the primary. Bomb #3 was about to leave
Los Alamos on 10 Aug when a hold order arrived. Two bombs and a million and
a half Russians in the space of four days forced Japan's surrender. End of
story and of war.




Venik wrote:
Keith Willshaw wrote:

That just whacked a huge number of civilians.



Well no.

Are you saying that a large number of civilians
was not killed in that
bombing?


Hirsohima was not only the home port for much
of the
Japanese Navy it was also the home of 2nd
Army Headquarters,
which commanded the defense of all of southern
Japan.
There were large numbers of troops based there.
At
least 3 divisions IRC

The bombing did not target any specific military
facilities. According
to the Japanese figures, military casualties
from the attack accounted
for less than 3% of the overall casualties.
Thus, for every Japanese
soldier killed in the Hiroshima bombing there
was 97% of "collateral
damage." So, no, it was not the greatest strategic
air mission.

Getting the enemy to surrender unconditionally
is about as
strategic as it gets.

The Soviet advances were the primary reason
for the fact that the Japs
were even considering a surrender. They figured
maybe Stalin won't stop
with the Kurils. Same situation as with the
Germans trying to surrender
to the Americans and nobody nuked them.

--
Regards,

Venik

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