| Maps: World War II in the Pacific |
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U.S. Plans for Invading Japan, May 1945
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In hard-fought battles during early 1945, American forces take Iwo Jima and Okinawa, obtaining the close staging bases the U.S. needs for an invasion of Japan. General Curtis LeMay continues air assaults on five other Japanese cities with his devastating low-altitude firebombing strategy. Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall is convinced that ground forces need to move in. The invasion plan will continue to evolve in mid-1945, as intelligence reports convey new information about Japanese troop movements.
On May 25 1945, less than three weeks after Germany's unconditional surrender in Europe, President Harry Truman meets with advisors to discuss strategy against Japan. In cooperation with the Navy and the Air Force, General Marshall presents a plan to invade Kyushu with nine military divisions -- roughly 760,000 soldiers -- and establish air and naval bases for a larger invasion.
American intelligence predicts six Japanese divisions will be required to defend the entire coastline of Kyushu. In this scenario, American troops will outnumber Japanese by three to one on Kyushu's southern beaches.
The second phase of Marshall's plan will utilize the newly established Kyushu bases to launch an assault on the Tokyo plain in March 1946.
Hoping to avoid what he calls an "Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other," Truman approves only the Kyushu landing -- and only after all the military branches endorse it. He postpones deciding about further invasion plans.
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