The Greek and British expedition was quite shocking to the Japanese, but very effective in securing a beachhead.
Meanwhile in the Pacific…
While the war raged in Europe, the Pacific grew quiet as U.S. operations slowed to a crawl in the middle of 1944. While the island-hopping campaign had been a great success and Japan was now blockaded, Allied intelligence feared that an invasion to retake China would be an abject disaster. After all, China and India had all but fallen to the Empire of Japan, so it was assumed that most of the enemy would be trapped on the mainland.
In response, General Douglas MacArthur recommended a holding action until additional reinforcements could be brought over from Europe. The plans soon changed when British and Greek forces launched a daring raid to liberate China and Southeast Asia.
A look up close.
Much to the surprise of MacArthur and his command staff, most of mainland China was deserted, which gave the Greeks a chance to establish a firm beachhead. Rather than wait to see the next moves of the Japanese Empire, President Roosevelt ordered almost all of the U.S. forces in theater to assist the liberation efforts by any means necessary.
The first divisions would arrive soon after the order from Taiwan in October of 1944. Although there was very little opposition, FDR and the Generals saw it as a means to end the war as quickly as possible, especially since the Allies’ secret weapon was about to come online.
Give Those Krauts & Commies A Hug.
Did you say we should encircle the entire line, sir?!
As winter came rolling in, the Soviets and Axis continued to fight on against increasingly hopeless odds. Although their combined strength was still a threat, Eisenhower ordered another series of piercing maneuvers that drove the enemy into a massive pocket on the southern side of the collapsing Reich. With no reinforcements on hand and Allied soldiers spilling into the continent, the Soviets and Nazis managed to hold out until April.
Once the spring of 1945 passed, the largest military pocket of the war was completed. Ike ordered a full press to overrun the enemy.
The resulting push came from every direction with minimal Allied losses.
It is unknown how many Soviet and Axis soldiers were starved out in that horrific battle, but they were soon overrun from all directions. The pocket completely collapsed by the summer of that year.
Just in time for the coup de grace that heralded the beginning of the end.
The First Atomic Bombs
Moscow lay in ruins on July 2nd, 1945. Although Allied scientists feared the possibility of radiation poisoning, the advance continued.
On July 2nd, 1945, the world watched as a single strategic bomber broke through a storm and sparked the birth of the atomic age with the destruction of Moscow. Although Stalin was able to escape, the blast leveled much of the city’s infrastructure and disrupted communications efforts between the government and the army. Mass panic erupted and spread beyond the control of government agencies like the NKVD.
Although the decision was torturous, President Roosevelt told his staffers that the power to save many more Americans from dying in a cataclysmic war lied within these weapons. In an address to the nation, he called for the unconditional surrender of the Soviet Union and the Japanese Empire, or that “a barrage of destruction would rain down from the sky, the likes of which had never before been seen on this earth.”
Allied engineers reported that one bomb would be available every 22 days, so General Eisenhower capitalized on the assault with new offensives.
Less than a week later, Yugoslavia was secured.
With the opposition falling apart with each passing week, Allied forces organized another series of lightning offensives to trap multiple divisions in pockets. These operations met with limited success, but Ike and his team managed to trap a few divisions along the former border between Italy and Yugoslavia.
After a short wait, the positions were secured, opening the way for a major advance to the east.
In an odd twist of fate…
In the north, Allied forces trapped several Axis divisions near Danzig, cutting them off from all help. With an Allied blockade along the shore and no hope of escape, the enemy surrendered without any extensive fighting. It was hoped that these efforts would lead to further success, especially since the Manhattan Project was about to rear its’ head once more.
This time, the U.S. chose a very symbolic target.
Mass produced nuclear weapons made their debut with the fall of Stalingrad.
With a second nuclear weapon ready for deployment, President Roosevelt ordered the destruction of the city of Stalingrad on July 24th, 1945. With air supremacy over the Soviet Union now all but assured, engineers and scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer were worried that radioactivity may endanger the lives of anyone who tried to advance on the city. However, the President and his staff dismissed such concerns, pointing out that they needed to break the will of the enemy at any cost or risk taking millions more Allied casualties.
But how far will they go to achieve victory?
Continued In Part 6!
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