Operation Cornet and Olympic had the allies landing with 800K to 900K troops and equipment against over 700,000 Japanese who were dug in and had 7 months to get ready. Amphibious assault against well defended position it would have favored the defenders. IN 1945 American citizens were relieved that the war was over in Germany and the challenge was getting everyone to ramp for a war that would take 4 more years (remember we weren’t in the thick of the Europe theater for much more than two years.
Interview with Japanese officers had them saying that they had figured out the strategy and had time to get ready. The knew MacArthur would go island by island like an imperialist. They were afraid of a main island invasion of Tokyo but had figured out our plan.
The bombs worked and still work to this day as a deterrent unless some radical knotheads get ahold of one.
