Japanese civilians were going to die no matter what. They would either,
A) starve to death during the winter whether we invaded or not,
B) die in absurd human wave attacks armed with bamboo spears, if we landed
![[Image: Bamboo_spears5.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=kevinwhiteman.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F07%2FBamboo_spears5.jpg)
Or c) we could have continued the incendiary raids until there was literally nothing left to burn compounding the slaughter we had already unleashed.
Considering that the terms ultimately given to the Japanese ( they would surrender and the emperor would not be harmed) our insistence on unconditional surrender in the abstract seems to have meant very little.
A) starve to death during the winter whether we invaded or not,
B) die in absurd human wave attacks armed with bamboo spears, if we landed
Or c) we could have continued the incendiary raids until there was literally nothing left to burn compounding the slaughter we had already unleashed.
Considering that the terms ultimately given to the Japanese ( they would surrender and the emperor would not be harmed) our insistence on unconditional surrender in the abstract seems to have meant very little.
