YEah, but really what could the USSR do about it? They were busy with the Japanese allies the Germans and they couldn't fight the imperial navy and airforce to get it back. And your argument that it was far from enough bla bla bla is nonsense. Nothing on its own is enough but every bit helps. And those oil reserves seemed pretty important in your arguments in the USA vs USSR thread. All of a sudden they're next to immaterial. (I hadn't even heard of them before I saw them mentioned here, I admit, you're more knowledgeable than me. I'm just going on what I read here and using logic, my only tool.)

And when did the USSR thump Japan, twice no less? From what I recall Japan beat Rusia solidly, sinking their navy and stuff in the prevous war, invading Manchuria and beyond in this one, the only instance of Japanese defeat by the Russians I recall is the 1945 huge push of the Soviets, after they took care of the Germans. We're talking about much earlier here, Pearl Harbour timeline, or even before that.

And about whether Japan would get any economic benefits or not it doesn't really see the big picture. What if the Japan invasion allowed Germany to beat USSR and let USA out of the war for far too long. Japan could take care of South Asia later. And then the USA. Now the question is would Japan's contribution help the Germans in the East, not whether they gain eco benefits alone. Sometimes, grand strategy can bring better rewards than short-term planning. You did make a good case about how the Eastern Russian forces were pretty strong and would resist successfully and even repel Germans at the western front without the Siberian transfer, but who knows? Maybe that was all that was needed to tip the balance and if not allow the Germans to beat the Russians outright or at least take out the resources of the Caucasus, it would perhaps create political problems for the USSR that would cause it to collapse and prove Hitler right. I'm not saying it's likely, but this is a what-if after all.

[ 10. July 2005, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: Komninos ]