The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for another purpose than to force Japan to surrender!
On May 8, 1945, Germany in the European theater surrendered unconditionally, ending its resistance to the Allies. However, Japan, in the Pacific theater, refused to accept the surrender demands of the Allies and still stubbornly continued to fight.
In order to end the war as soon as possible and avoid the consumption of more personnel and resources, the United States, as one of the main participants in the Pacific War, decided to use a new type of ** - the atomic bomb.
The atomic bomb was a secret super** that had just been successfully developed by the United States during the Manhattan Project (the United States successfully tested it on July 16, 1945). Its principle is to use the fission reaction of heavy atoms such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239 to instantaneously release a huge energy of the nucleus**, which is far more powerful than the traditional bomb, usually hundreds to tens of thousands of tons of TNT equivalent, and has huge lethal and destructive power.
There are three conditions for the Japanese cities that the US military is considering to place on them: first, they must be important military or industrial bases, second, they must be cities that have not been attacked by the Allied forces or have not been seriously attacked by air raids, and third, they must have sufficient population density and building density.
Accordingly, the U.S. military finally selected candidate cities for Tokyo (the capital and political center of Japan), Kyoto (the cultural and religious center of Japan), Kokura (an important Japanese military industrial base), and Niigata, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki (all three are seaside and easy for bombers to enter). After careful consideration, the cities were finally decided to be Hiroshima and Kokura.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber "Ennora Gaye" took off from Tinian Island stationed in the Mariana Islands and dropped the first atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. The power of the "little boy"** led to the destruction of a 42-square-kilometer city, the destruction rate of houses reached more than 70%, and 140,000 people died.
Three days later, on August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb, Fatty, was intended to be dropped on Kokura, but due to the poor local weather, it was impossible to lock on to the target, so it was dropped on Nagasaki instead.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the American plane dropped the "fat man" on the harbor city of Nagasaki, which has a population of 270,000, and a huge mushroom cloud immediately rose over Nagasaki40,000 buildings were destroyed and more than 70,000 people died.
Six days later, at noon on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced his unconditional surrender by radio.
In addition to forcing Japan to surrender and end the war, the purpose of the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the latter part of World War II was to force Japan to surrender and end the war
On the one hand, the United States wants to demonstrate its scientific and technological strength and military deterrence and give a warning to the Soviet Union and other countries in order to maintain its hegemony after the war.
On the other hand, the United States also wants to test the actual combat effect of the atomic bomb and provide data and experience for future nuclear development.
The United States abandoned Tokyo precisely because of this consideration: although Tokyo is the capital, it has been repeatedly attacked by the US military, and most of the city has been destroyed by fire, so it is difficult to test the actual combat effect of the atomic bomb.
This move by the United States can be described as a "killing three birds with one stone" policy.