Basically, how can you make sure that the atomic bomb is not developed before the start of X-Day (November 1, 1945) and Y-Day (March 1, 1946)? X-Day is the invasion of Kyushu and Y-Day is the invasion of Honshu. I shouldn't think it would be too hard to delay the production, and I don't think it would much affect the war in Europe. Or maybe the bombs have to be used on Germany and are unavailable before the invasion, but something tells me if we're still fighting Germany at that point there's less of a chance that X-Day goes off on time. So yeah, how can we make it so the atomic bomb is not yet developed when the invasion of Japan rolls around?
AHC: Atomic bomb not developed before X-Day and Y-Day
- Thread starter General Mosh
- Start date
Wasn't there something with a (mistakenly or even purposefully?) wrong equation or wrong critical mass or so during the Manhattan project?
Is there anyone that could be killed to set the project back about half a year? By killed I mean they're involved in a tragic car accident or something.
I don't think the Japanese losing Manchuria and China would have caused them to surrender. I think its a possibility that they surrender after American troops have taken much of Kyushu, by which time the atomic bomb would be completed or very nearly so (assuming a delay of a few months rather than a year or two).
Possibly not, but it's likely that fear of a Soviet invasion and occupation of the Home Islands (which the Red Army was preparing to do) would have been enough.
I dunno. If fear of American invasion isn't enough, I don't think fear of Soviet invasion would be quite enough. By the way, can you provide me a link to some information about a possible Soviet invasion of the Home Islands? Sounds interesting to read about.
Looking quickly on the wiki, it says that the 87th Rifle Corps was setting up for the invasion of Hokkaido post August Storm. I'm having trouble finding more detailed info, although it appears that the Soviet plans were not known to the Americans. Also, I'm not sure if the Soviets had any plans for the invasion of Honshu, which was much more heavily defended than Hokkaido.
I didn't think the USSR had enough boats in the Pacific to land a large invasion force in Japan. I could be wrong though.
The Soviet Union was the primary reason why Japan wouldn't surrender, as it was believed that it was possible to negotiate peace with the US through the Soviet Union. This was a non-starter, but manipulative bastard as he was, Stalin lead them on into believing that. Operation August Storm was a far more decisive factor than the two nuclear bombs in making the Japanese surrender.