Editing Operation Downfall (section)

===Olympic===
[[File:Operation Olympic.jpg|thumb|Operation Olympic was planned to attack southern Japan.]]

Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyūshū, was to begin on "X-Day", which was scheduled for November 1, 1945. The combined Allied naval armada would have been the largest ever assembled, including 42 [[aircraft carrier]]s, 24 [[battleship]]s, and 400 [[destroyer]]s and [[destroyer escort]]s. Fourteen U.S. divisions and a "division-equivalent" (two [[regimental combat team]]s){{Sfn |Giangreco|2009|p=40}} were scheduled to take part in the initial landings. Using [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] as a staging base, the objective would have been to seize the southern portion of Kyūshū. This area would then be used as a further staging point to attack Honshu in Operation Coronet.

Olympic was also to include a [[Military deception|deception]] plan, known as [[Operation Pastel]]. Pastel was designed to convince the Japanese that the Joint Chiefs had rejected the notion of a direct invasion and instead were going to attempt to encircle and bombard Japan. This would require capturing bases in [[Taiwan|Formosa]], along the Chinese coast, and in the [[Yellow Sea]] area.{{sfn|Skates|p=160}}

Tactical air support was to be the responsibility of the [[Fifth Air Force|Fifth]], [[Seventh Air Force|Seventh]], and [[Thirteenth Air Force]]s. These were responsible for attacking Japanese airfields and transportation arteries on Kyushu and Southern Honshu (e.g. the [[Kanmon Railway Tunnel|Kanmon Tunnel]]) and for gaining and maintaining air superiority over the beaches. The task of strategic bombing fell on the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific]] (USASTAF)—a formation which comprised the [[Eighth Air Force|Eighth]] and [[Twentieth Air Force|Twentieth]] air forces, as well as the British [[Tiger Force (air)|Tiger Force]]. USASTAF and Tiger Force were to remain active through Operation Coronet. The [[Twentieth Air Force]] was to have continued its role as the main Allied [[strategic bombing|strategic bomber]] force used against the Japanese home islands, operating from airfields in the [[Mariana Islands]]. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, plans were also made to transfer some of the heavy bomber groups of the veteran Eighth Air Force to airbases on Okinawa to conduct strategic bombing raids in coordination with the Twentieth.<ref name= "usafhra1">{{Cite web|title=Document Detail for IRISNUM= 00219137|url= http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/219/137.xml|website= Air force history index}}</ref> The Eighth was to upgrade their [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es and [[B-24 Liberator]]s to [[B-29 Superfortress]]es (the group received its first B-29 on August 8, 1945).<ref name="usafhra1"/> In total, General Henry Arnold estimated that the bomb tonnage dropped in the Pacific Theater by USAAF aircraft alone would exceed 1,050,000 tons in 1945 and 3,150,000 tons in 1946, excluding the blast yields of nuclear weapons.<ref>[https://oneworld.fas.org/fulltext.pdf One World Or None: A Report to the Public on the Full Meaning of the Atomic Bomb]. Article "Air Force in the Atomic Age" by General H. Arnold. Retrieved January 29, 2024</ref>

Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of [[Tanegashima]], [[Yakushima]], and the [[Koshikijima Islands]] were to be taken, starting on X−5.{{sfn|Skates|p=184}} The invasion of Okinawa had demonstrated the value of establishing secure anchorages close at hand, for ships not needed off the landing beaches and for ships damaged by air attack.

Kyūshū was to be invaded by the [[Sixth United States Army]] at three points: [[Miyazaki, Miyazaki|Miyazaki]], [[Ariake, Kagoshima|Ariake]], and [[Kushikino, Kagoshima|Kushikino]]. If a clock were drawn on a map of Kyūshū, these points would roughly correspond to 4, 5, and 7 o'clock, respectively. The 35 landing beaches were all named for automobiles: [[Austin Motor Company|Austin]], [[Buick]], [[Cadillac (automobile)|Cadillac]], and so on through to [[Stutz Bearcat|Stutz]], [[Winton automobile|Winton]], and [[Lincoln-Zephyr|Zephyr]].{{refn|Beach Organization for Operation against Kyushu; from COMPHIBSPAC OP Plan A11-45, August 10, 1945. {{harvnb|Skates|loc= pictorial insert}}.}} With one [[corps]] assigned to each landing, the invasion planners assumed that the Americans would outnumber the Japanese by roughly three to one. In early 1945, Miyazaki was virtually undefended, while Ariake, with its good nearby harbor, was heavily defended.

The invasion was not intended to conquer the entire island, just the southernmost third of it, as indicated by the dashed line on the map labeled "general limit of northern advance". Southern Kyūshū would offer a staging ground and a valuable airbase for Operation Coronet.

After the name Operation Olympic was compromised by being sent out in unsecured code, the name Operation Majestic was adopted.