History would have been very different if the Army fire eaters in Japan took Roosevelt's deal to end the stalemated war in China proper, keep their oil supplies, and looked north to Siberia to deal a death blow to the Soviet Union in the fall of '41 preventing Stalin his reinforcements that blocked the Germans at the gate of Moscow.
This was always the army's preference, but before the Battles of Khalkin Gol, when they were roundly humiliated by Soviet armor & tactics.
They lost so much prestige on account of these skirmishes that when the decision was made on overall war strategy war the Navy's preferred move south was selected, which of course culminated in the Pacific War.
Its funny to think that an obscure mongolian calvary unit seeking a place to graze their horses could have such a significant and far reaching result.