NationStates Jolt Archive

I saw something on the history channel the other day about Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer that didn't surrender until 29 years after the war ended. Your probably thinking, so what? This brings into focus the true dedication of the Imperial Japanese millitary. This man is proof that if the atomic bombs weren't dropped on japan, and we landed on the Japanense home islands, the fighting would have killed far more people than all of the bombing raids on japan before that. I don't think there would be a japan at all. More lives would have been lost on both sides if that it had not been used. We would have been there for decades, making Iraq look like a paper cut, if we could have kept the resolve. We would have had to take troops from europe, which could have lead to a russian expansion against a weakened nato force. The "Iron Curtian" would have pushed it self far beyond Germany and possiblely into france and Scandanavia. This would have lead to a nuclear exchange because no one had seen the true effects of an atomic weapon on a real city, killing far more than the quater of million in Japan.

This would have changed the world far more than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have.

An argument for atomic weapons, well this will be short.
I think i should point out that one man doesn't necessarily prove your point, in fact you could argue that it wasn't the atomic bombs dropped that made Japan surrender, but the Russian forces declaring war, that and not enough oil reserves to continue fighting, i recall the Japanese Emperor was deemed a traitor by much of Japans public when he declared the surrender as they would have fought forever.

The War in the East didn't end until 1947, and is largely forgotten in fact the British fleet over there trying to defend the British takeover of India were known as the "forgotten fleet" according to my Grandad who served in it.

I heard once that, the British forces on the mainland of a part of India faced the large guns toward the sea on the idea that the Japanese navy would go for naval invasion, when much to the defenders surprise they came from the jungle behind, utterly crushing all opposition as most of the force was facing the wrong way, (not sure if this is true, but i remember it being told by my History teacher).

No he just poof how long for the word to get to those in far off forgothen island

That's pretty much the main reason the fortress at Singapore fell.

It probably was that i was describing, trouble is i heard it so long ago i can't remember correctly.

No he just poof how long for the word to get to those in far off forgothen island

Word did reach him long before that. He thought it was enenmy propoganda.

An argument for atomic weapons, well this will be short.
I think i should point out that one man doesn't necessarily prove your point, in fact you could argue that it wasn't the atomic bombs dropped that made Japan surrender, but the Russian forces declaring war, that and not enough oil reserves to continue fighting, i recall the Japanese Emperor was deemed a traitor by much of Japans public when he declared the surrender as they would have fought forever.

The War in the East didn't end until 1947, and is largely forgotten in fact the British fleet over there trying to defend the British takeover of India were known as the "forgotten fleet" according to my Grandad who served in it.

I heard once that, the British forces on the mainland of a part of India faced the large guns toward the sea on the idea that the Japanese navy would go for naval invasion, when much to the defenders surprise they came from the jungle behind, utterly crushing all opposition as most of the force was facing the wrong way, (not sure if this is true, but i remember it being told by my History teacher).

That's pretty much the main reason the fortress at Singapore fell.

It probably was that i was describing, trouble is i heard it so long ago i can't remember correctly.

Aye, tis cool. NSG tends to be a better wealth of information than your standard school, so I don't blame you :)

That's pretty much the main reason the fortress at Singapore fell.

Nuh uh, the guns rotated 360, but they only had armour piercing shell for use against shipping. High explosive was needed against land based forces.

That entire OP was just large leaps of logic. How do we even know that he represents how most Japanese felt? Though I do agree they would have continued to fight on if we did a mainland invasion. However neither were necessary since the japanese were basically asking to surrender after Russia declared war.