The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-12-31
RURRENDER or IAPAN

HUAMENOEA Of JAPAN
 During July the xupeFhombers had steadily increased the scale Of thelr attacks cn the Japanese homeland. Ftom the MArianas bases. the B-1sS averaged i200 scriiea a week. OkinaHa airfelds which nov occupied almost all suit able space on the island began to fin with heavy bombers. mediums and 0ghtsrS which united in the aerial assault on the Japanese is- lands, her positions on the Axlatic mafnlard and what wns left os her shipping. Fsghiers from Two lima swept the air over the Japanese IslAndS. strafec Japanese dromek and communications and gave the superbombers freedom Of operation. The Third Fleet augmented by British units hammered Japan with its planes and guns sailing bodily into Japanese coastal waters. The warShipS repeatedly and efiec- lively sheliec industries along the coasts.
 These mighty attacks met little opposition. Terrific losses during the fierce battles of Japan's inter uefenses had made the enemy desperate. Knowing that invasion was not long off. he husbanded his nov waniLg resources for the final battle. Defending the home land the eneny had an army oi 100000 a remaining air strength Of 2,000 planes Of all types. train ing and combat.
 General MacArthur was mass ing troops anc planes in the Philippines aro in Okinawa and in bases to the south of the Philip pines for the showdown. He. in cooperation with Admiral Nimitz, was preparing to execute two plans for the invasion of Japan: the first known as operation OLYMPIC. provided for a three pronged assault on southern Kyu- shu in the fall of l945 by the Sixth United States Army, con- sisting of the l and the XI Army Corps and the V Marine Amphib- ious Corps. The three groups were to land in the order named at Miyazaki, Ariaka Wan, and on the beaches west of Kagoshima to isolate the southernmost Japa- nese island and destroy the de- lending forces there. Preceding the main assault were to be pre- liminary operations in Koshiki Retto and diversionary feint off Shikouku by the TX Corps.
 Plans for Spring '46
 The second phase of the Japa- nese invasion, operation CORO- NET, was to be carried out in the early spring of 1946. The Eighth and Tenth Armies, consisting of nine infanthy divisions. two arr mored divisions and three Marine divisions were to assault the Kanto or Tokyo plain of eastern Honshu. These two veteran Pa- cif1c Armies were to be followed ashore by the First Army, which had spearheaded our victory in Eu- rope and was now to be rede- ployed for the final battle of the Pacific. In this attack the First <AAiy WOu1u AIdNc COL1JdlLleQ 4U infantry divisions. The three arm- ies had the mission of destroy in the Japanese Army on the main home island and to occupy the Tokyo-Yokohoma area On KyuShu we would have held a one-corps reserve of three infan- try divisions and one airborne From here the plan was to fan out to the north and clean up the re- mainder of the Japanese islands. Supporting the cleanup would ultimately have been an air garri- son of equivalent to 50 groups.
 These were our plans for final victory in World War II should Japan fight to last ditch na- tional suicide. But we had other plans which VIC anticipated might bring much speedier end to the war. For years the full resources of American and British science had been working on the princi- pie of atomic fssion. By the spring of this year we knew that success was at hand. While Pres ident Truman was meeting with the British Prime Minister and Generalissimo Stalin at Potsdam new and terrible bomb was