Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

The secret report, entitled “Survey of National Resources as of 1–10 June 1945,” was presented on June 6. The conclusions were spelled out with culturally atypical directness—not only was defeat inevitable, but the national economy was headed toward a crackup, and the Japanese people were losing faith in their leaders. Statistics told the story of shipping losses, production declines, depletion of oil stocks, disruption in rail transportation, and a worsening food situation. With the pending loss of Okinawa, sea communications with the Asian mainland would be severed, and entire industries would have to suspend operations. Shortages of consumer goods would cause skyrocketing inflation, and the food situation would reach the point of crisis by the end of 1945, with the “appearance of starvation conditions in the isolated sections of the nation.” As for the military situation, all remaining warplanes would be deployed as kamikazes, but critical shortages in aviation gasoline loomed. Even assuming that the suicide planes and submarines managed to sink one-fourth of the U.S. invasion fleet, “it would be difficult to defeat American plans through annihilation on the sea.” The report detailed the overwhelming power of American fleets and air forces, and warned that “about one-half of the approximately 60 divisions assigned to the Western European Theater of Operations have been redeployed against Japan.”