[dfwgator]

What if the Soviets beat us to Tokyo?

[laplata]

The Soviets didn’t have the capability to land that many troops on mainland Japan. The Soviets were mad as hell when they were not allowed to occupy any part of the mainland. But they still have a huge Japanese island to the north.

[DesertRhino]

Imagine north and south Japan...and likely all of Korea. We only landed there after the downfall of Japan. We wouldn’t have gone there first had Japan not surrendered.

[Seruzawa]

Soviets had no chance. They had no sealift capacity. You need ships. Big ones configured for sealift. This is still true today. Airlift will not bring in enough heavy gear, supplies, etc.

[Antoninus]

What if the Soviets beat us to Tokyo?

Do you know what Soviet sea-lift capability was in late 1945? Practically nil. They could not have gotten there without our help.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

With what?

[ansel12]

The Russians didn’t have the experience with amphibious operations like the history of and the WWII experience of the U.S. Army did they, nor the massive navy the Army had in WWII, and with access to and backup from the U.S. Navy?

[Ditto]

What if the Soviets beat us to Tokyo?

I’d say with their tiny navy, the Soviets would have had a hard time even getting to Japan.