this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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That's a post facto justification. Reading over the notes of the people doing the strategic planning for it all, it's quite clear they expected the war to continue. For example, there was a debate on if they should drop the nukes as they become available (which would have been a few a month), or if they should store them up and drop a whole lot on invasion day.
The Japanese had already fought on through the firebombing of Tokyo. That killed a comparable number of people to the atomic bombings. It just takes a lot more bombers to make it happen compared to dropping a nuke.
Honestly I feel like we really missed something when we passed on the bat bombs. Those things would have absolutely annihilated any significant concentrations of Japanese structures. I feel like weaponizing nature could be done a lot better
Thanks for this incredible bit of knowledge.
And I thought the anti-tank dogs on the soviet front were cruel... This is even worse.
Oh great
Just makes me think that the Japanese probably should've surrendered way earlier to save those lives