We know all that world wars 1 and 2 only leave destruction, not only life but also economic destruction, do not ask the victims of living beings is very, very, very horrible. So the military of each country used a variety of deadly weapons to destroy its opponents, but not only the soldiers who became victims, civilian martyrdom was also sacrificed. That is the war of all kinds of ways permitted. Here I will discuss the war in the Asian region, and what is the main weapon that destroys the joints of life there.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced it
After the victory at the European war theater with the unconditional German knees in front of the Allies through a ceremony at Rheims (France) on May 8, 1945, the United States prepared to finish the Japanese in any way. Although America feels heavy doing it because it must fight alone in the war theater Pacific. Luckily the Soviet Union then offered help, ready to jointly fight against the Japanese empire. Although the offer of assistance is then viewed with full suspicion and is considered to have a veiled purpose. Unlike the Soviets, America was not interested in occupying the lands of the Japanese occupation before attacking its motherland.
This is a direct invasion of the major Japanese islands of amphibious war style. He tried to imitate the success of Operation Overlord in the European theater. Overlord was a massive Allied troop landing on the coast of Normandy (France) since June 6, 1944, which continued with ground attacks to German positions in France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The ground attack eventually led to a direct invasion of Germany especially to its heart: Berlin. The victory was achieved faster after the Soviet Union invaded to the west so that Germany is clamped both from east and west.
Well, Downfall will try to replicate it. Downfall consists of two parts. First, the Olympic invasion to subdue the island of Kyushu, which will be held on November 1, 1945. And the second invasion Coronet, which will be executed on March 1, 1946, with the aim of conquering the island of Honshu as well as control of Tokyo. If all goes according to plan, Japan will be forced to surrender around May / June 1946.
America needs a quick win. For that Operation Downfall will be implemented with an abundant army, to no less than 39 divisions. But the forecast of the fallen victim is horrified. Like Germany in the face of Overlord, Japan has long been looking forward to the presence of Downfall. But the scale of his battle is believed to be more fierce. If the Germans established a solid but preparatory Atlantic wall but tended to underestimate their opponent's ability, then Japan was much better prepared by designing defenses through Operation Ketsugo. The Battle of Okinawa shows how America should pay for every inch of Japanese land it captures. In the bloodiest battle of the Pacific theater, America has lost 20,000 troops out of a total of 541,000 troops deployed to capture Okinawa. In addition, there are still 55,000 people injured. If this result is extrapolated into Operation Downfall, the casualties will reach nearly half a million people and a million others injured. This prediction certainly does not please American generals. Includes McArthur.
The ultimate weapon
When the generals were dizzy with the preparation of Operation Downfall as well as reducing the few possible victims, an unexpected (and joyful) solution came from General Leslie R. Grooves. This is the head of the super-secret Manhattan Project on the American mainland, which has been going on since 1942. Their hard work has been fruitful, the United States succeeded in building a new kind of weapon called a nuclear bomb. A test was conducted in Alamogordo (New Mexico) on July 16, 1945, at dawn. The Trinity-coded nuclear bomb made of 6.5 kilograms of Plutonium and made up in a perfectly-detonated ball. The result is satisfying, as well as aiming. Trinity releases energy no less than 20 kilotons of TNT, equivalent to 20,000 tons of dynamite sticks. This enormous ability opens up an American opportunity to destroy the infrastructure and morals of the Japanese nation without having to carry out Operation Downfall.
The Manhattan Project has provided at least three ready-made nuclear bombs. The first two bombs were sent to the island of Tinian, a small island in the midst of the western Pacific Ocean that was captured and became the main basis of intensive bombing into Japan. Once assembled and loaded into the belly of a specially prepared B-29 Superfortress bomber, the first bomb, titled Little Boy (4 tonnes in weight, containing 64 kilograms of Uranium) was flown to the main target of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, in the early morning. Three days later it was the second bomb shift named Fatman (weighing 4.6 tons containing 6.5 kilograms of Plutonium) prepared and flown to the main target: the city of Kokura. If the first bombing went smoothly, not the second one. Kokura was completely covered with clouds making it difficult for the bombing. The B-29 plane switched to Nagasaki as a reserve target. Initially, Nagasaki was covered with clouds, but suddenly a crack in the way. In that gap, Fatman dropped, then exploded.
The end is terrible
We know how the end of this nuclear bombing story is. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated, after being blown apart by 15 kilotons of TNT and 20 kilotons of TNT. No less than 140,000 Hiroshima civilians became victims and so did 74,000 Nagasaki civilians. Coupled with no fewer than 300,000 civilians across Japan who were killed by strategic bombing campaigns (with conventional bombs and then firebombs/napalm), no less than half a million Japanese civilians were killed by air strikes. Both non-nuclear and nuclear bombing.
The death toll of the soul did not destabilize the heart of the imperial army of Japan. They are still reluctant to give up. They remain obedient and prepare with Operation Ketsugo to fend off amphibious assaults and large landing on the east coast. But not so with Emperor Hirohito. Thrilled by a large number of civilian casualties in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and horrified to read American propaganda ready to crush other Japanese cities with nuclear bombs (where the stock remains a grain), the emperor acted. Especially after the Soviet Union also declared war on Japan and began to sweep the land forces of the Japanese imperial army in Manchuria. Emperor's radio speech also ordered the cease-fire shoot and ensured Japan surrender unconditionally. American generals rejoice because Operation Downfall is practically void. And America does not need to lose more soldiers anymore. As for Hirohito, faced with an equally uncomfortable choice, it is better if Japan surrenders to America because the imperial system will remain intact. On the contrary, if they were to bow to the Soviet Union, their revolutionary style would remove the imperial system entirely from the face of the earth.
We can suppose. If nuclear bombs had never existed in the World War 2 arena, the Japanese empire was still very strong in mid-1945. Operation Downfall was inevitable must be implemented, with all the consequences. If it went smoothly, the Japanese could only be conquered around mid-1946. The one-year span (post-German surrender) allowed European countries to recover their powers and participate in the Pacific war theater.
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REFERENCE :
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history
http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii
https://www.historyonthenet.com/what-was-operation-overlord/
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/world-war-two-in-western-europe/d-day-index/operation-overlord/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/general-dwight-d-eisenhower-launches-operation-overlord
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/the-pacific-war-1941-to-1945/operation-downfall/
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2013/11/06/the-campaign-to-conquer-japan-would-have-dwarfed-the-d-day-landings/
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq8.html
https://www.britannica.com/event/Manhattan-Project
I dont know if you know but there is a man who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Thanks for sharing it was very informative.
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