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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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A
Very Different Pacific War The
allied campaigns in the pacific were not driven by expediency, but by political
struggles and imperial interests. As
an example, the British had to launch an invasion of Burma and liberate Hong
Kong, while the Americans wasted thousands of lives by island hopping.
I’m now proposing something different.
There
are three places of serious importance to the allies, India/Singapore, Australia
and Pearl Harbour. The other places
are not important in the grand scheme of things.
Therefore, we want the Americans to change plans as soon as the war
begins with the strike at Pearl Harbour. The
Americans abandon the Islands as far back as Australia and remove most of the
troops from the Philippines. Macarthur
and most of his forces pulled back to Australia.
Native forces can fight or can come out with the Americans.
British induced to abandon Hong Kong and build up at Singapore.
The
allied naval submarines attack Japanese shipping as much as possible.
The Japanese paid very little attention to anti-submarine warfare and
therefore the allies have a massacre. The
Japanese get an even worse case of ‘victory-disease’, though and launch an
invasion of Australia, which is a failure.
The allied navy attacks the Japanese fleet and the
Anglo/American/Australian ground forces defeat the Japanese army.
The
Americans launch the really big attack in 1943.
The allies have hundreds of new carriers while the Japanese can barely
build up to their pre-war levels. The
Americans crush the Japanese and invade Okinawa from the US and Australian
bases. The Japanese have not had
time to dig in properly and the submarine campaign is hitting the Japanese
shipping hard. The allies capture
the island and start building up to bomb Japan.
In
mid-1943, the Japanese have lost the war. They
may be stubborn enough to fight to the finish, or they may surrender.
It does not matter. Point is
that the allies can hold the Japanese down as long as needed.
Japanese civilians die by the thousands in bombing raids and the Japanese
have no way to retaliate. Japanese
outposts starve for lack of food and supplies.
Americans bomb them occasionally, but the pacific is no longer the
important theatre of war. Even the Chinese have won a few victories with the Japanese
so demoralised. The
Japanese surrender after the bombing starts to wipe out whole towns.
In the absence of atomic bombs, would FDR invade or use poison gas?
I am presuming that the allies saw sense and used gas instead of a
massive and costly invasion. As
Japanese die by the millions, the emperor surrenders.
So,
what are the consequences of this early defeat?
Chieng has a few dozen divisions that were destroyed in 1944.
He may well defeat the communists or give them a harder fight.
The British do not have to face an invasion of India and can keep control
over most of India for a long time, probably not affecting independence, but
making it a more peaceful and united India that leaves the Empire.
The Indochina nationalists may seize control before the French can get
back, as might Burmese and Philippine activists.
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