Axis Showdown: Germany would have annihilated Japan.

My opponent has made a good point. Perhaps 'annihilate' was not appropriate wording for the title. 'defeat with unconditional surrender' would have been a better option. Nevertheless, Nazism would accept nothing less than complete domination and control over Japan in the case of such a showdown. As such, if Germany did conquer, they would completely subjugate the the Japanese peoples. They demonstrated this time and again with the territories they conquered. Ukraine, Poland and the sections of Russia given due to withdraw particularly felt the effects of such cruel policiees as the Gestapo and Nazi party held. Now, on to the issue at hand. Firstly, the German Kriegsmarine was inferior to that of the Japanese Imperial Navy in style of numbers, but the Japanese lacked one very important tool - Radar! A lot of good the beastly huge Yamato (largest battleship in history) is going to do if it can not locate the enemy! The Japanese fleet depended upon spotters (often airplanes) for its eyes - thus, they were trying to pick out periscopes or submarines riding the waves by the eye (with the aid of telescopes etc.) The same applied with ships. This is why they were always one step behind the United States in the war. The United States had been working on radar technology (which was upgraded by English experiences) before the war, and was using it efficiently. Likewise, Germany created its own radar systems even before WWII began. Japan had no concept of radar and didn't introduce it into its fleets until years later. Thus, this means that the smaller but more agile German ships could dodge the large battleships of the Japanese and lay mine traps and submarine ambushes for them. A similar event occurred at the Battle of the Spanish Armada, in which the English danced around the larger Spanish galleons. Obviously, the large expanse of the Pacific would only aid the Germans in their navy guerrilla tactics. Also regarding the navy, Germany extensively used Submarines. With radar, these wolf packs were incredibly dangerous. Japanese submarines never compared. Thus, we see that the Japanese Navy is in severe trouble without the asset of radar. Also, the Germans had a far superior airforce. The German Luftwaffe was one of the most superior and technically advanced Air Forces in the world before the war started (matched only by the RAF, which had been slightly beleaguered between the wars). Messerschmitt Bf 109 is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fighter planes of the war, is it not? It was a supreme fighter. The Japanese Zero could never have hoped to match it. Japan was outclassed in machinery. It did not even develop a decent Main Battle tank before 1944, while Germany's Tiger I and II Tanks tore down much of anything in its path. The Panzers were also incredible. "How does a Churchill kill a Panther?" "You get within 400 meters and bounce a shot off the ground and into the underbelly." "Has anyone ever done it?" "Yes, Davis in C Troop. He's now in the rear trying to recover his nerve." "How does a Churchill kill a Tiger?" "You get within 200 meters and fire a shot through the gunner's periscope." "Has anyone ever done it?" "No." ~ This is a paraphrase from the book 'Operation Overlord' by Max Hastings. It is a conversation between a General and a Lieutenant Colonel on the practicality of the Churchill tank, which was rather powerful. Yet, you can see how much more powerful the German tanks are. The Bushido attitude and brutal training of the Japanese led to such degrees as kamikazes and suicidal charges. But yet, did these things actually accomplish anything? These soldiers were dead. They couldn't be used another day or battle. the Germans, for the most part, were more inclined to retreat and save their soldiers. Soldiers of which they outnumbered the Japanese with. ~ The only citation I need to make thus far is that regarding Max Hasting's account of Operation Overlord. I thoroughly enjoyed that book and urge you to read it. I paraphrased the above discussion from it, as i no longer have the book on hand.