My understanding is that the Japanese navy was cooked long before either the bombs or the soviets joining the war. The US could have simply waited for the corrosive fuel they resorted to using to finally brick their fleet.
That’s probably true but that’s not what this article is about. The question is what prompted Japan to capitulate when it did. Even without any navy whatsoever Japan could still have held out for a while just using their land forces if the Soviets had not entered the war. The bombing of their cities, as the article explains, did surprisingly little to reduce their defensive capabilities or their resolve to keep fighting.
My understanding is that the Japanese navy was cooked long before either the bombs or the soviets joining the war. The US could have simply waited for the corrosive fuel they resorted to using to finally brick their fleet.
That’s probably true but that’s not what this article is about. The question is what prompted Japan to capitulate when it did. Even without any navy whatsoever Japan could still have held out for a while just using their land forces if the Soviets had not entered the war. The bombing of their cities, as the article explains, did surprisingly little to reduce their defensive capabilities or their resolve to keep fighting.