This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Batson with Professor Craig Simons.

Nimitz at war command leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.

Ernest King, Cominch, who is always present, 16 times they meet.

King's messages to Nimitz and Nimitz's messages to King.

The professor is quoted throughout the book. Now they're debating in person and also by wire

about what is to be done about the Japanese homelands who will not surrender. The opinion I take it, professor, from

Nimitz and King's point of view is blockade will force them to the peace table.

I think that's true. I think naval officers at almost every level did not believe an invasion

of the home islands was worth the risk. Here we are back to calculated risk.

It would cost so much, and we've all heard the line.

Oh, it would cost 100,000 American killed, very likely, perhaps more.

Fewer consider the fact that it would have cost possibly millions of Japanese to die because Japanese culture was such that surrender

was so obnoxious that no Japanese soldier, no Japanese participant in the war at any level

could honorably surrender himself, therefore you must fight to the death. So if everyone in Japan

fights to the death,

what are the consequences of that? There was literally talk within the combined staff in Japan

of the honorable death of a hundred million. Now, the prospect of that was so horrifying that

both King and especially Nimitz believed that avoiding an invasion

by depending on a strict naval blockade executed mostly by submarines, by the way, as well as bombing

from the air, would create a circumstance where the Japanese would have to accept the Potsdam agreement,

and that is to say, accept an end of the war on terms that the United States would dictate to them.

Now, that did happen, but of course we know there was also an outside influence that we may talk about subsequent.

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