垮台行動是二戰末期盟軍提出的入侵日本本土的計畫。日本在廣島和長崎原子彈爆炸、蘇聯宣戰以及入侵滿洲後宣布投降，原計劃的行動被取消。[ 1 ]此行動分為兩部分：奧林匹克行動與皇冠行動。奧林匹克行動定於 1945 年 11 月開始，旨在佔領日本最南端主島九州的南部三分之一，並將最近佔領的沖繩島用作集結地。 1946 年初，「皇冠行動」爆發，計畫入侵日本本州島東京附近的關東平原。在奧林匹克行動中奪取的九州空軍基地將為皇冠行動提供陸基空中支援。如果垮台發生，這將是史上最大規模的兩棲行動，超過諾曼第登陸。[ 2 ]
| 失敗行動 | |
|---|---|
| 太平洋戰爭的一部分 | |
 | |
| 地點 | |
| 計劃 | 1945 年 8 月以前 |
| 策劃者 | |
| 指揮者 | 道格拉斯·麥克阿瑟 |
| 客觀的 | 打敗日本帝國 |
| 執行者 | 請參閱戰鬥命令 |
| 結果 | 1945 年 8 月 15 日日本無條件投降後取消 |
| 傷亡 | 查看估計傷亡人數 |
日本的地理位置也使得這項入侵計畫對日本人來說是顯而易見的。他們能夠準確預測盟軍的入侵計劃，從而相應地調整他們的防禦計劃，即“結吾行動” （日語）。日本計劃對九州進行全面防禦，為後續防禦行動所剩無幾。傷亡預測差異很大，但都非常高：達到數百萬，取決於日本平民的抵抗程度。[ 3 ]
規劃
編輯
策劃「垮台行動」的責任落到了美國指揮官切斯特·尼米茲海軍上將 、陸軍上將道格拉斯·麥克阿瑟和參謀長聯席會議——艦隊上將歐內斯特·金和威廉· D·萊希，以及陸軍上將喬治·馬歇爾和哈普·阿諾德（後者是美國陸軍空軍）。[ 4 ]
當時，原子彈的發展是一個嚴格保密的秘密（甚至當時的副總統哈里·杜魯門在成為總統之前都不知道它的存在），只有曼哈頓計劃之外的少數高級官員知道（以及蘇聯間諜機構設法滲透特工進入該計劃，或從該計劃內招募特工，儘管該計劃周圍有嚴密的安全保障），而入侵日本的最初計劃並沒有考慮到它的存在。一旦原子彈問世，馬歇爾將軍就設想如果能夠及時生產出足夠數量的原子彈來支持入侵。[ 5 ]
太平洋戰爭並不是由單一的盟軍總司令（C-in-C）領導的。盟軍指揮權被劃分為多個區域：例如，到1945年，切斯特·尼米茲（Chester Nimitz）擔任盟軍太平洋地區司令，道格拉斯·麥克阿瑟（Douglas MacArthur）擔任西南太平洋地區盟軍最高司令，路易斯·蒙巴頓海軍上將（ Admiral Louis Mountbatten ）擔任盟軍最高司令。統一指揮被認為是入侵日本的必要條件。軍種間關於誰應該擔任的人的競爭（美國海軍想要尼米茲，但美國陸軍想要麥克阿瑟）非常嚴重，以至於有可能使計劃脫軌。最終，海軍部分讓步，如果情況有必要，麥克阿瑟將獲得所有部隊的總指揮權。[ 6 ]
注意事項
編輯計劃者必須考慮的主要因素是時間和傷亡——如何盡快迫使日本投降，同時盡可能減少盟軍的傷亡。在第一次魁北克會議之前，加拿大、英國和美國的聯合計劃小組制定了一項計劃（「感謝和擊敗日本的計劃」），直到 1947-48 年才要求入侵日本本土。[ 7 ] [ 8 ]美國參謀長聯席會議認為，將戰爭延長到如此程度對國家士氣來說是危險的。相反，在魁北克會議上，聯合參謀長同意在德國投降後一年內強迫日本投降。[ 9 ] [ 10 ]
美國海軍敦促使用封鎖和空中力量迫使日本投降。他們提議採取行動奪取附近的上海、中國和韓國的空軍基地，這將為美國陸軍航空隊提供一系列前沿空軍基地，可以從那裡轟炸日本，使日本屈服。[ 11 ]另一方面，陸軍認為這種戰略可能「無限期地延長戰爭」並不必要地消耗生命，因此入侵是必要的。他們支持直接對日本本土發動大規模進攻，沒有採取任何海軍建議的附帶行動。最終，陸軍的觀點佔了上風。[ 12 ]
從地理上看，日本製定了一個宏偉的目標，遠離其他陸地，而且地理上適合海上入侵的海灘很少。只有九州（日本最南端的島嶼）和關東平原的海灘（東京西南部和東南部）是現實的入侵區。盟軍決定分兩階段進攻。奧林匹克行動將攻擊九州南部。將建立空軍基地，為對東京灣的攻擊「皇冠行動」提供掩護。[需要引用]
假設
編輯雖然日本的地理位置是已知的，但美國軍事規劃者必須估計他們將面臨的防禦力量。根據 1945 年初獲得的情報，他們的假設包括以下內容：[ 13 ]
- “在這一地區的行動不僅會受到帝國現有有組織軍事力量的反對，還會受到狂熱敵對民眾的反對。”
- 「在奧運行動開始時，大約三（3）個敵對師將部署在九州南部，另外三（3）個敵對師將部署在九州北部。”
- “針對九州行動的敵對部隊總數將不會超過八（8）到十（10）個師，並且這一水平將很快達到。”
- 「在[Coronet]開始時，大約二十一（21）個敵對師，包括補給師，將部署在本州，其中十四（14）個師可能部署在關東平原地區。”
- 「敵人可能會將其陸基空軍撤至亞洲大陸，以保護其免遭我們的壓制性攻擊。在這種情況下，他可能透過嚴格的經濟活動，在該地區聚集2,000 至2,500 架飛機，並且這支部隊可以透過。
奧林匹克
編輯
入侵九州的奧林匹克行動將於 1945 年 11月1日的「X 日」開始。美國有 14 個師和一個「師級」（兩個團級戰鬥隊）[ 14 ]計劃參加最初的登陸。以沖繩為集結基地，目標是奪取九州南部。然後，該地區將被用作皇冠行動中攻擊本州島的進一步集結點。
奧林匹克還包括一項名為「粉彩行動」的欺騙計畫。帕斯特爾的目的是讓日本人相信參謀長聯席會議已經拒絕了直接入侵的想法，而是試圖包圍和轟炸日本。這需要佔領台灣、中國沿海和黃海地區的基地。[ 15 ]
Tactical air support was to be the responsibility of the Fifth, Seventh, and Thirteenth Air Forces. These were responsible for attacking Japanese airfields and transportation arteries on Kyushu and Southern Honshu (e.g. the Kanmon Tunnel) and for gaining and maintaining air superiority over the beaches. The task of strategic bombing fell on the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF)—a formation which comprised the Eighth and Twentieth air forces, as well as the British Tiger Force. USASTAF and Tiger Force were to remain active through Operation Coronet. The Twentieth Air Force was to have continued its role as the main Allied strategic bomber force used against the Japanese home islands, operating from airfields in the Mariana Islands. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, plans were also made to transfer some of the heavy bomber groups of the veteran Eighth Air Force to airbases on Okinawa to conduct strategic bombing raids in coordination with the Twentieth.[16] The Eighth was to upgrade their B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators to B-29 Superfortresses (the group received its first B-29 on 8 August 1945).[16]
Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Koshikijima Islands were to be taken, starting on X−5.[17] The invasion of Okinawa had demonstrated the value of establishing secure anchorages close at hand, for ships not needed off the landing beaches and for ships damaged by air attack.
Kyūshū was to be invaded by the Sixth United States Army at three points: Miyazaki, Ariake, and Kushikino. If a clock were drawn on a map of Kyūshū, these points would roughly correspond to 4, 5, and 7 o'clock, respectively. The 35 landing beaches were all named for automobiles: Austin, Buick, Cadillac, and so on through to Stutz, Winton, and Zephyr.[18] With one corps assigned to each landing, the invasion planners assumed that the Americans would outnumber the Japanese by roughly three to one. In early 1945, Miyazaki was virtually undefended, while Ariake, with its good nearby harbor, was heavily defended.
The invasion was not intended to conquer the entire island, just the southernmost third of it, as indicated by the dashed line on the map labeled "general limit of northern advance". Southern Kyūshū would offer a staging ground and a valuable airbase for Operation Coronet.
After the name Operation Olympic was compromised by being sent out in unsecured code, the name Operation Majestic was adopted.
Coronet
editOperation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu at the Kantō Plain south of the capital, was to begin on "Y-Day", which was tentatively scheduled for 1 March 1946.[19] Coronet would have been even larger than Olympic, with up to 45 U.S. divisions assigned for both the initial landing and follow-up[20] (The Overlord invasion of Normandy, by comparison, deployed 12 divisions in the initial landings.). In the initial stage, the First Army would have invaded at Kujūkuri Beach, on the Bōsō Peninsula, while the Eighth Army invaded at Hiratsuka, on Sagami Bay; these armies would have comprised 25 divisions between them.[21] Later, a follow-up force of up to 20 additional U.S. divisions and up to 5 or more British Commonwealth divisions would have landed as reinforcements.[22][23][page needed] The Allied forces would then have driven north and inland, encircling Tokyo and pressing on toward Nagano.
Redeployment
editOlympic was to be mounted with resources already present in the Pacific, including the British Pacific Fleet, a Commonwealth formation that included at least eighteen aircraft carriers (providing 25% of the Allied air power) and four battleships.
Tiger Force, a joint Commonwealth long-range heavy bomber unit, was to be transferred from RAF, RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF units and personnel serving with RAF Bomber Command in Europe. In 1944, early planning proposed a force of 500–1,000 aircraft, including units dedicated to aerial refueling. Planning was later scaled back to 22 squadrons and, by the time the war ended, to 10 squadrons: between 120 and 150 Avro Lancasters/Lincolns, operating out of airbases on Okinawa. Tiger Force was to have included the elite 617 Squadron, also known as "The Dambusters", which carried out specialist bombing operations.
Initially, US planners also did not plan to use any non-US Allied ground forces in Operation Downfall. Had reinforcements been needed at an early stage of Olympic, they would have been diverted from US forces being assembled for Coronet—for which there was to be a massive redeployment of units from the US Army's Southwest Pacific, China-Burma-India and European commands, among others. These would have included spearheads of the war in Europe such as the US First Army (15 divisions) and the Eighth Air Force. These redeployments would have been complicated by the simultaneous demobilization and replacement of highly experienced, time-served personnel, which would have drastically reduced the combat effectiveness of many units.[citation needed] The Australian government had asked at an early stage for the inclusion of an Australian Army infantry division in the first wave (Olympic).[24] This was rejected by U.S. commanders and even the initial plans for Coronet, according to U.S. historian John Ray Skates, did not envisage that units from Commonwealth or other Allied armies would be landed on the Kantō Plain in 1946.[25] The first official "plans indicated that assault, followup, and reserve units would all come from US forces".[25]
到1945 年中期，當“皇冠”計劃被重新制定時，根據斯凱特的說法，許多其他盟國已經“提供了地面部隊，並且西方盟國政治和軍事領導人之間展開了一場辯論”，“關於規模、任務、裝備、以及對這些特遣隊的支持」。[ 25 ]經過談判，決定「皇冠」將包括一支聯合英聯邦軍團，由澳大利亞、紐西蘭、英國和加拿大軍隊的步兵師組成。這些國家以及英聯邦其他地區都可以提供增援。然而，由於語言、組織、組成、裝備、訓練和條令方面的差異，麥克阿瑟否決了將印度陸軍師納入其中的提議。 [ 26 ] [ 27 ]他也建議該軍團按照美國軍團的方式進行組織，只使用美國裝備和後勤，並在部署前在美國訓練六個月；這些建議被接受。[ 26 ]英國政府建議：英聯邦軍團應由中將查爾斯·凱特利爵士指揮，英聯邦聯合艦隊應由海軍中將威廉·坦南特爵士領導，而且——英聯邦空軍部隊將由澳大利亞皇家空軍主導——空軍指揮官應該是澳洲人。[ 28 ]然而，澳洲政府對任命凱特利等沒有抗日經驗的軍官提出質疑，並建議任命萊斯利·莫斯黑德婆羅洲戰役的和新幾內亞曾參加過[ 29 ] [需要頁面]戰爭在軍團的細節最終確定之前就結束了。
預計初始承諾
編輯| 手術 | 奧林匹克[ 30 ] | 皇冠[ 31 ] |
|---|---|---|
| 人員 | 705,556 | 1,171,646 |
| 車輛 | 136,812 | 222,514 |
| 運送部隊升降機需求 （載重噸） | 1,205,730 [ 32 ] | 1,741,023 |
| 步兵師 | 11 | 20 |
| 海事部門 | 3 | 3 |
| 裝甲師 | 0 | 2 |
| 航空團體 | 40 | 50 [ 32 ] |
Coronet 的數據不包括美國和任何英國/英聯邦軍隊的 3 個師的直接戰略預備隊以及 17 個師的戰略預備隊的值。
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