Cool story. Let’s hope this gets preserved.
What if japan invaded the Soviet Union (alternative history scenario)?
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@superbattleshipyamato Yes, the IJA would have been under-confident if they had attacked the Soviet Union. But logic isn’t a factor in war, and the Soviet Union wasn’t a perfect military force. Most of their equipment wasn’t the best, but they made it work. They were well-trained and dedicated to victory. Their infantry were great at breaking through enemy lines. Their tanks were deadly, but they were vulnerable. The Red Army was known for using its armor to spearhead attacks, but it had a major weak point: it wasn’t trained to be a tank army. The Soviets didn’t use tanks as a dedicated force, but as a supporting one. They mainly used infantry to take over territory. The tanks would support the infantry to break through the enemy line and to neutralize the enemy’s tanks and artillery. But this wasn’t a hard and fast rule. The Red Army was capable of doing both. If the IJA had invaded the Soviets, the Soviets could have taken advantage of their massive tank armies and used tanks as a spearhead regardless. The tanks could have been used as a decoy to lure the Japanese tanks away from the infantry, and the infantry would have used the tanks as cover. The IJA’s tanks would have been decimated. The Soviets would have then used their other advantages: their planes and their tank troops. The Japanese tanks and troops would have been left defenseless and the Japanese troops would have been crushed. The Japanese troops would have been doomed regardless.
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@barnee With the terrain being remote I see a Far East War between USSR and Japan turning very stationary, after the first few months. Much like the frontlines north of Leningrad and South of Murmansk.
The Russians focusing on the advancements of the Germans and Japan having a war in China to conduct, would have put an strain on both countries.
I could see strong Chinese counterattacks against depleted Japanese positions.
I could also see a Russia Expeditionary Force entering China.
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@superbattleshipyamato We see during the Siege of Odessa in 1941 that the Romanians suffer heavily attacking head on Russia earthwork defenses.
The Japanese were very charismatic in charges that either resulted victories or mass casualties. The Russian infantry strength in 1941 was his ability to hold a fixed position. This he did well, as German infantry casualties tell.
The Japanese didn’t have the German’s artistic ability of infantry, armor and air working together. This force crumbled the Red Army in the summer of 41. Japan would be fighting into the Red Army’s strength.
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@abworsham4 it also would leave the USA Pacific Fleet intact as well as the British in Singapore. The Philippines woulda been a potential nightmare for them.
While I think the japanese navy would have handled itself fine in a defensive roll, especially early in the war, leaving those strong forces intact for the Allies would still be problematic for them.
I would think FDR would manufacture some reason to enter the war at that point regardless of public opinion.
Hard to say. Does Hitler then not DOW on USA ? Makes for an even harder sale for FDR then.
Either way, after adolf attacked Russia, it was game over. Just a matter of time was all. Imo anyway
How you been AB ?
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Thank you for respnding!
I personally think Germany could have won the war with the Soviet Union in and the US out-Germany’s not declaring war on the US.
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Thank you for responding!
I don’ think the Japanese would have done Banzai charges-they were only as a final resort. The Japanese were definitely inferior to the German army in doctrine, but I think Japanese were better than the Romanians and thus would have performed better. I doubt the Soviets would have helped the Chinese-they went to fought each other before the war:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_conflict_(1929)
Support would most likely have been to the communists, in whatever way they were supported through before the war.
The frontline probably would have had the same situation as the Finnish front as you mentioned, but the Japanese would hopefully be able to capture Vladivostok via amphibious assault, like they did against China, cutting lend lease supplies.
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Thank you for responding!
The Japanese would have had air superiority. The Japanese could deploy their best against the Soviet’s worst, as the best of the Soviets are fighting the Germans. And no tank armies would be fighting the Japanese. All the best Soviet tanks, and most tanks overall, were fighting the Germans. Whilst the Soviet tanks (most of which weren’t T-34s or KV-1s or 2s, as there were even very few in the west) were slightly better than the best Japanese ones, the Japanese tanks could have done something and air superiority would have nullified the advantage, as the Germans found out to their horror in 1943-1945.
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I’ve been good, Barnee.
@barnee said in What if japan invaded the Soviet Union (alternative history scenario)?:
@abworsham4 it also would leave the USA Pacific Fleet intact as well as the British in Singapore. The Philippines woulda been a potential nightmare for them.
While I think the japanese navy would have handled itself fine in a defensive roll, especially early in the war, leaving those strong forces intact for the Allies would still be problematic for them.
I would think FDR would manufacture some reason to enter the war at that point regardless of public opinion.
Hard to say. Does Hitler then not DOW on USA ? Makes for an even harder sale for FDR then.
Either way, after adolf attacked Russia, it was game over. Just a matter of time was all. Imo anyway
How you been AB ?
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I recently read a book on the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. This fact left me in deep thought about this question: before the battle of Khalkhin Gol, the IJA brought as much artillery rounds they could find in China and Korea, the IJA had 100,000 rounds for the operation. Meanwhile the Soviet Army had 100,000 rounds each day of the fight.
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A ratio which the Soviets wouldn’t be able to keep up in a full scale invasion and fighting the Germans.
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Found this article interesting.
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I read that, and is one of my sources. Funny enough, KaLeu put a link to Quora asking the same question, and one of the answers just copied and pasted the article you sent me.
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