end the war quickly?where was japan going to go?they had no oil and no resources......no metal to rebuild if they wanted to,stuck on an island,their navy was crippled.......there was no rush to go anywhere,the japs couldnt do anything if they wanted to.........so why the nuke?the russians have always been the critical factor.....
the russians were at japans doorsteps......they took manchuria in barely two months and demolished the 1 million japanese kwungtung army........all that nonsense about losing half a million US life was just that nonsense.......it would have been a cakewalk for russia after their experience at stalingrad and kursk and leningrad........civilians putting up a resistance?lol.........
to be honest US's army was never really tested the way stalin's forces were........those skirmishes on jap islands were nothing compared to the battles on the eastern european front......8 million russians fought against 3.4 million germans in 1942 to 1943...........compared to normandy where USA and allies landed barely 200k soldiers in france......