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To get back on track....
My feeing has always been that air power is just a singular component of a military force - you still need feet on the ground. If I can use a recent example, Desert Storm had total air power and destructive force but it still took the grunts to complete the operation.
So to the question: Could they defeat Germany? No, but air power could have created a situation where Germany would sue for peace. I guess it boils down to the definition of 'defeat' and what you would consider success.
Absolutely correct. If you look at Vietnam and Korea, air power was thought to be able to bring about the end of the war as well. It is one additional tool in the toolbox. Air power can certainly be a great tool to soften things up before the boots hit the ground. But taking and holding territory is what decides the outcome.
But air power in VN and Korea was severely restricted in what it was able to do by politicians.
But air power in VN and Korea was severely restricted in what it was able to do by politicians.
What about the Afgan-Russian conflict. The Russians definitely had air superority, but lost, or were just outlasted.
What about the Afgan-Russian conflict. The Russians definitely had air superority, but lost, or were just outlasted.
Exactly. Air superiority was there and even with boots on the ground, they could not contain the Afghans. We are now in the same HOLE.
Fixed that for you
Would Hitler have unconditionally surrender if the B29's had delivered A bombs on the strongholds of Nazi Germany?
It took the Japanese 2 to get the message.
How many would it have taken Hitler?
If this would have worked think how many allied lives would have been saved.
This is very hard to speculate! But he wasn't very interested at the german people.
Many orders at 1945 showed that he wanted to destroy germany completely.
His argument was that the german people had failed against the enemy and were weak.
And weak people had not the right to life!
That was his credo!
Also it is possible that he (Hitler) would escalate the war with A4 (V2) armed with Tabun warheads.
He has always denied the escalation with toxic gas, but after an A-bomb, I'm not sure what he was doing, because he knew no mercy even with the german people.
Col. Tibbets and a crew were back in the US to pick up the third bomb when Japan surrendered. And more bombs were in production.
I'm not that convinced, that the Allies would drop an A-Bomb at germany.
Germany was at the middle of europe and many things can happen to friendly states that would be near the drop zone.
Where do you want to drop that thing, when even your own troops are on the ground at germany?
Also I think the german chemical weapons in conjunction with the V2, that could deliver this chemical weapons till england, was one major point, that japan was the goal and not germany.
Both the V1 and V2 had a certain % of launch pad failures, one of the disadvantages of using slave labor in their manufacturing I guess. Using either as a system to disperse poison gas would probably result in some releases over Germany.