Closing the Gap
On July 4,1948 Japan entered the war against Russia as its navy & aircraft began bombing Vladivostok & Sakhalin. Three divisions of Japanese forces would land on the island of Sakhalin the next day & would role up Russian defenses over the next three weeks & gaining total control of the island by August. Japans plans were to invade Outer Manchuria by late August & move on into China however, with Russia's surrender on August 15 an invasion was no longer needed. With Russia out of the war Japanese & American forces moved unimpeded into Far Eastern Russia for occupation.
At 0930 on August 9,1948 the Chinese city of Hangchow was engulfed in atomic fire as the 21 kiloton bomb Babylon was detonated over the city center. From the blast & firestorm that followed over 185,000 people would by killed. President Garner gave China's president an ultimatum to surrender unconditionally or more Chinese cities would fall to atomic explosions. Unlike in Russia however China would not yield. The Chinese had called Garner's bluff as the US had no more atomic bombs at the time & the war in Asia would go on.
Even before the atomic bombing occurred the Allies had been planning an invasion of mainland China. Operation Unthinkable as it was called was to be one of the largest invasions in history. As soon as the war ended in Europe preparation began. The US began to divert men to Taiwan & Outer Manchuria to bring its troops level to over 4 million in Asia. The British Empire, excluding India who was already fully engaged in the war against China, pledged to bring their levels in Burma & Central Asia up by an additional 3 million. France & Spain would declare war on China on September 2 & began making an expeditionary force of a million men of which most were planned to be shipped via Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway to lead an invasion into Mongolia. And finally Germany & Italy began preparing 1.5 million men to be sent to Borneo where they'd take place in landings in Indochina.
Such a mass movement of troops however would take some time & Operation Unthinkable wasn't set to begin until February 15,1949 and so the war would go on. With Russia collapsed Allied forces entered Central Asia both as occupation forces & to move on China's flank. Nearly all of the remainder of Afghanistan would fall to Anglo-Indian forces by the end of September & on October 10 the British Empire would be the first of the Allies to take the ground war into mainland China. By the end of the year Allied British forces had managed to push over a hundred miles into China & out of all of India west of Nepal.
The Battle of Monwya raged from July 19 to, coincidentally, August 6. Chinese & Indian forces had fought each other ferociously for control of the city but ultimately India would gain the upper hand. India's goal before the end of the war was Mandalay. While they hoped to spare the city from the bitter fighting that had occurred there during the Great War after the fall of Monwya Allied bomber began targeting Chinese depots & positions within the city. The Battle of Mandalay began on September 5 & bitter fighting would see much of the city leveled once more before the battle ended on October 1. Indian forces continued forward throughout the rest of the year. By January forces in the north were near the Kachin border & in the south a successful flanking maneuver cut over 200,000 Thai & Chinese soldiers off from retreat in the city of Rangoon.
Continuing their war against China Japan continued liberating the Ryuku Islands from the Chinese with the last island returning to imperial control on November 8. After Okinawa however, the rest of the Ryuku Campaign was a sideshow for Japan. Their main focus was on the Korean island of Jejudo. Jejudo was to be vital for any counter offensive into Korea by the Japanese Army as well as made for an excellent airfield location for American & Japanese bombers. At 0300 on October 25 Chinese positions on the island began being bombarded by Japanese aircraft & naval guns. At dawn over 75,000 Japanese soldiers began making landfall to take on the depleted Chinese division guarding the island. For 37 days the Battle of Jejudo raged as the two sides fought ferociously for its control. It wouldn't be until December 2 that the guns would finally fall silent & the battle for Jejudo would be over.
A thousand miles south of Jejudo another major battle was taking place. At 2400 on October 18 Chinese soldiers & civilians on Hainan were thrown from their beds by American naval & aerial bombings. After two days the bombardment stopped & as the new day dawned thousands of Marines began towards the beaches in hundreds of landing craft. The Battle of Hainan was bitter & would last nearly three months as 60,000 Chinese soldiers & 90,000 armed civilians fought desperately against a total of over 210,000 American soldiers & Marines. By the time the battle concluded on January 11,1949 nearly 250,000 Chinese soldiers & civilians had been killed at the cost of nearly 100,000 American dead & wounded.
On December 5 the final Allied offensive of the year would begin as Australian, British, South African, & New Zealand troops invaded Thailand's Malay Peninsula & began moving into Malaya with the goal of liberating Singapore. By the end of the year Allied troops were threatening to break out of the peninsula in the north & were in artillery range of Singapore in the south.
US Marine in Hainan