Captain Oba continued fighting after the war had ended, dismissing as enemy propaganda the news of Japan’s surrender that were blared via loudspeakers and contained in leaflets airdropped over the jungle. Many Japanese Had Difficulty Believing That Their Country Could Have Surrendered.

But the Soviet factor carried greater weight in the eyes of the emperor and most military leaders. On December 1st, 1945, Sakae Oba marched his charges out of their hideouts, and in a dignified ceremony, surrendered his sword and his command. Washington has believed ever since that the atomic bomb decisively forced Japan's surrender. In the weeks following Japan’s declaration of surrender, communications were patched up with most Japanese in the field, and word filtered down that the war was over. It came as a shock to many. All in all, he held out for 16 months after Saipan had fallen, and for 3 months after the war had ended. Upon returning to Japan, Sakae Oba led a productive life, working in the private sector, before turning to politics. He died in 1992, aged 78. 37. Privately Truman despaired that the Japanese government's failure to surrender meant the only escalation left to him was to order an atomic bomb dropped on the Imperial Palace, as had been repeatedly proposed by several members of the USAAF high command, killing the Emperor and his cabinet in a decapitation strike that would cripple the Japanese military's command and control but …