[Rummyfan]

We had already established air superiority over Japan. Here's a thought: we should have just saturated Japan with conventional bombing runs. Just bomb them back into the stone age. But not drop the nukes yet.

LeMay and Hap Arnold had reported that we would run out of bombing targets in Japan by Septenber 1945. There was literally nothing left to bomb.

Then, at the close of the war, when Stalin demanded Russia take possession of Poland, etc, we say "no." Flat out. And when Stalin started massing troops to enslave Poland, etc, then we drop nukes on Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.

The Soviets already had Poland. They had to go through it to get to Berlin. They paused to let the Germans annihilate any Polish resistance before moving through though.

[LouAvul]

We hadn't yet touched the emperor's palace. There might not have been targets of military importance (factories, etc) but we could have continued bombing them into submission.

The Soviets already had Poland. They had to go through it to get to Berlin. They paused to let the Germans annihilate any Polish resistance before moving through though.

Nonetheless, Patton wanted to continue marching into Russia as we knew Stalin was our enemy, even when he was our ally. If the first time we let him know we had nukes was when we blew him into eternity, it would have saved a lot of lives.