XPost: aalt.war.world-war-two, sci.military.naval, soc.history.war.misc
XPost: or.politics
from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle
in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy
(USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island
with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.
Japan knew they could never win.
Their sole goal at that time was to make US victory so expensive
in lives (actually US had more casualties than IJA, but theirs
were mostly deaths, while ours were mostly injuries!)
that the US would be willing to accept a negotiated peace rather
than continue to demand Unconditional Surrender.
April Fool! Indeed, the US chose to not have the massive losses
of invading Japan. They decided to use Atom bombs and continue
to demand Unconditional Surrender.
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