Had MacArthur not taken away divions and resources from Nimitz due to the liberation of the Philippines, could Nimitz have pulled off the invasion of Taiwan (Operation Causeway)?:https://youtu.be/9cB2HT3czpg
If only Nimitz had divisions and not divions
>>65260247Sure. But China was not America's responsibility to defend.
>>65260328Except that Taiwan was literally the staging point from which Japan launched their invasion of the Philippines and also the attack on Pearl Harbour. That's why Nimitz was so keen on taking It, but since MacArthur took a huge chunk of the ground and amphibious divisions, he had no choice but to take Iwo Jima and Okinawa instead.
>>65260466Would Taiwan invasion be easier or harder than Iwo Jima/Okinawa been irl?
>>65260488I'd say It would be rather similar to the Battle for Luzon due to the large scale urban battles right after the amphibious invasion. But since back in WW2 civilian casualties weren't as big of a deal was compared to modern day, urban warfare was way easier since carpet bombing was allowed. The US took Manila by bombing entire buildings out of existance because the Japanese defenders would defend each building to the death.
>>65260247Timeline and the troop estimation requirements for operation causeway
>>65260968
Since Taiwan was legally seceded to Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War, would an American-occupied, post-Causeway Taiwan still be given to the ROC? I can see it being returned to Japanese control like Okinawa. Or maybe even a US territory as unlikely as that might be.
>>65263846I don't know about territory but like Okinawa with the US already being set up on the island were they to take it themselves they'd probably be more determined to maintain a permanent presence as a garrison as opposed to outright ownership which ties them more closely to the interests of the ROC, meaning they most likely would have put more effort into ensuring they at the very least don't get kicked off the mainland by the PRC
