@Cohacq: I am still formulating the plot over how the next war will come about, but I am pretty confident it will not be over China.
@everyone else: thanks for the comments!
US forces launch another massive offensive to break through Japanese defenses at Kanazawa, unlike the last attempt, US forces are able to overcome Japanese in-depth defenses and force their retreat, a major victory in the home islands campaign.
230,000 Japanese soldiers and militia make their final stand in the northern half of Kyushu island, as US troops led by General Wainright clear out all remaining resistance. After about 3 days of bitter fighting, Japanese forces on the island surrender.
Tokyo. The capital of the Japanese empire now comes under siege by General Stillwell's sixth army and hundreds of thousands of other US troops. Defending the capital are 250,000 of Japan's best remaining soldiers, which fight US troops ferociously for every street and building in the city. Undaunted, US soldiers drive deep into the Japanese capital, facing fierce resistance at every turn.
Finally, US forces enter the Imperial palace and the Japanese Diet buildings, as well as securing the rest of the city. Tokyo is now under complete American control, with whats left of the city's defenders fleeing to the north. However, US forces are unable to find the Japanese emperor, or any members of the Japanese ruling military government. Until their leaders are captured, Japanese forces will continue to resist American forces.
The US army and Marines now begin the painful process of clearing out Japanese holdouts that are hiding in the mountains of northern and eastern Honshu. Many US soldiers are killed or wounded as Japanese holdouts are cleared out of their remaining stronholds, such as here, at Niigata.
Undaunted, the offensive continues, closing in on the remaining enemy forces that are positioned in northern Honshu.
The remnants of the Imperial Japanese armed forces make their final stand at Akita against US forces. By now, many Japanese soldiers have lost their will to continue fighting, simply wanting an end to the war, while their extremist leaders wish to continue the fight through Guerrilla warfare. However, they do not get the chance, as US forces clear out Akita and force the surrender of all of the area's remaining defenders.
As US forces secure the countryside, they make a very important discovery. The Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, is found in a secluded underground bunker north of Tokyo. US forces discover that the Emperor had been secretly shuttled out of the capital just prior to the US invasion of Hokkaido, forced to let the die-hard military government rule in his name and force the country to continue fighting until the bitter end. The Japanese emperor agrees to sign the unconditional surrender of Japan to the United States and its Allies, finally ending the Pacific war on June 2nd, 1951.
At long last, the war is finally over. After over six years of brutal land, air, and sea combat, the United States has emerged victorious.
Peace has finally returned to the Pacific Rim and Eastern Asia, at the cost of many millions of lives. Now, the United States and its allies begin the work of rebuilding Asia from the devastation of the pacific war, hoping to give the people of the region a brighter future.
(I can't believe it took that bloody long to defeat the Japanese and their allies. The war against Japan lasted longer than the war against the Syndies! Then again, I never expected Japan to utterly wipe out the US navy at one point, or hold the lines in Southeast Asia against allied forces there until I was able to invade Vietnam. Oh well, I am glad they at least didn't just fall over on all fronts, makes for a more interesting AAR this way.)