Replies

They had actually put weapons & amunition at critical points through-out the Rocky Mountains, at key passes where they hoped to stop the Imperial Japanese Army.

Can you give me some more information on this or a source?

It is my understanding that with the Pacific Fleet decimated our plans were to cede the beaches, bloody the Japanese in the inland valleys and hold them at the three great passes of the Sierra Nevada until we could marshall enough force for a drive from the south.

The most aggressive Japanese plans of which I am aware had them taking the port cities, rolling to the western slope of the Nevadas and forcing the United States to sue for peace.

If the Rocky Mountain passes were fortified that means a Japanese breakthrough was anticipated and we were one step from complete surrender. I don't think that it was ever contemplated by either side. I do not see any advantage from a Japanese point of view for a war of maneuver on the high plains. If what you say is correct it adds a complete new dimension to my understanding of the war plans.

Only my father having seen the guns at El Paso-sitting atop Anthony Mountain, over-looking the pass. My mother's uncle was Commander at Bliss ( '43 & 44 I think ) & he gave my father a courtesy tour after dinner & answered in regards to the artillery, "We expected them to sweep the West Coast & then to come across the Southwest & we were planning to stop them right here". Being from Houston,Tx, my father was shocked that a full bird was revealing such a circumstance & that the drama might have been played out there. Obviously, 'we' were planning fall-back positions everywhere ( I persume ) & this was likely one of many, not really 'the' plan-just part of much larger, multi-faceted 'what-if'. Maybe, too, our now long-gone uncle was just creating a little drama for his niece's new husband-to the army, every facility is a fort & artillery in the most likely places around a fort, given other, larger circumstances, might be taken with a grain of salt.