Operation Stalemate: 1944 Battle for Peleliu (WW2 Pacific Military History Series Book 7)

This book is about the battle for the island of Peleliu during World War II in the Pacific. It's somewhat controversial since some hold that the battle should never have taken place and the island should have been passed up while others say it was necessary despite the high cost the Allied forces suffered.

The book describes the battle in considerable detail and notes how fanatic the Japanese troops were about defending the island. Even knowing they were going to lose they fought on with the sole goal of killed as many Americans as they could.

The Japanese soldier's mindset at this stage in the war was to throw away survival and just kill, kill, kill. It actually got worse for American troops as they went from one island to the next. I think the reason this is so important a point to understand is this: if the atomic bombs had not convinced the Japanese to surrender than the Allied forces would have had to attack Japan itself, starting on Kyushu island which the Japanese already knew would be where they Allies would attack.

The fanaticism would have been dialed up and the Allied death toll would have been terrible. Even if Kyushu was eventually taken the Allies would have then moved into the main part of Japan where the civilians had already been trained in the use of spears to kill American soldiers. I think one of two things would have been the only possibilities; first, the Allied countries would have decided enough of their blood had been shed and they would have worked out some kind of settlement with Japan which would have field the Japanese idea that they were superior to everyone else.

The other possibility is that, using new technologies that surely would have been developed, perhaps including the atomic bomb, the Allies would have basically wiped out most of Japan. The Soviet Union would have come in from the north and the discussions between them and the Allies would have been really heated.

Anyhow, this series of books show just how fanatic the Japanese soldiers were

everywhere the Allies went.

In addition to considerable detail on the tables there is a list of references that a person can consult if they want to learn more. This entire series of books is well done.