The Northern Fleet and the Pacific fleet had their own problems. The former was blockaded by U-boats and British submarines, the latter confined to its ports by the huge presence of the United States Navy, whose carrier aircraft attacked on a daily basis.
In essence, the Red Navy was a spent force, except for the Black Sea Fleet, whose geographical location meant its ability to influence matters was not high.
In general, forces from Rumania, Bulgaria et al, mirrored those of the Red Army in terms of morale and supply. The exceptions were the Poles who, despite the ransacking of their inventory by Soviet officers keen to resupply the damaged Red Army formations in Western Europe, still enjoyed high morale, possibly because they were, more often than not, garrisoned on home or friendly soil, and were not the subject of heavy air attack.
Mainland Japan was suffering at the commencement of hostilities, and its position has not improved, save that the Allies have lowered the number of offensive bombing missions, simply because there is little of value left to bomb. The nation is slowly starving, despite desperate agricultural measures and rationing that borders on starvation.
In clandestine raids on 6th August 1945, seemingly innocent merchantmen carried the war to the US Navy in a way that the Imperial Navy no longer could. Sneak attacks on US naval installations had been fruitful and damaged Allied efforts in the Pacific area.
At the start of the renewed hostilities, the Chinese-based military forces of Imperial Japan had enjoyed a resurgence and a change in fortunes, ground attacks being generally successful as units equipped with Soviet supplied weapons used their increased firepower to good advantage. Those units equipped with German tanks and vehicles proved extremely effective on the appropriate terrain.
The Communist Chinese, at the behest of the Soviets, and against their better judgement, permitted the Japanese units to advance into contact with the Nationalist forces unopposed.
However, the Chinese Nationalists rallied and managed to halt most of the assaults, and reinforcements started to arrive from the States, bringing large well-equipped formations to the battle, albeit units that had been destined for the Japanese home islands. Soviet units were committed in small numbers, more to maintain the façade of Soviet goodwill and full support, rather than to achieve military success.
Military activity to the south accelerated the advance of the British and Dominion troops, pressing ever northwards to threaten the southern borders of China, squeezing Japanese land forces into a reduced area.
Most of the Soviet military strength assigned to eastern areas was concentrated on opposing any Allied landings on the coast of Mother Russia and in preservation of national boundaries, and Vasilevsky, the Soviet commander, faced enquiry after enquiry regarding forces that could be transferred back to Europe.
Occasionally, an enquiry became an order, and a unit would entrain for the Western Front, leaving the east more and more exposed.
In general, the Japanese soldiers engaged on the mainland were tired and underfed, but still enjoyed good morale, despite some recent reverses.
Similarly, the pilots of the Imperial Air Force maintained their esprit de corps, despite the dwindling supplies of aviation fuel and aircraft spares.
Put simply, there was no Imperial Japanese Navy anymore, and the Allied rode the seas with impunity.
Japanese efforts to produce an atomic weapon had virtually ground to a halt, as scientists moved east to work alongside Soviet colleagues, all for the greater good.
In summary, the Imperial Forces were less supported and less well-equipped than at the start of the new war. The Soviet Union had much less to send in any case, plus Allied bombers also turned their attention to the Chinese infrastructure, causing similar problems to those wreaked in Europe.
There was no reinforcement available for Japanese units, and stocks of munitions and weapons were constantly reduced by fighting or by destruction from the air.
In essence, the Pacific War was already lost, although it would take many months and many more deaths before it was acknowledged by those in power in Tokyo.
The Allies.
At the start of the new war, Allied forces in Europe were singularly unprepared for a restart of hostilities, and early Soviet results illustrated the Allied units’ generally reduced effectiveness, with a few notable exceptions.
The Americans, in particular, had moved back large numbers of veteran soldiers, ready for demobbing or, in many cases, to be sent to the Pacific, earmarked for the Invasion of Japan. This had left their European units short in both numbers and quality.
The flow of men and materiel to their home countries was stopped quickly, and reversed, ensuring that units quickly recovered some of their fighting strength.
The Red Navy’s success with its small submarine force made inroads into the reinforcement efforts during the opening weeks, further assisting the Red Army’s advances.
POWs were absorbed into units, helping to bring numbers up to TOE levels, although the ex-prisoners were often weakened and less fit.
Despite some valiant defensive work, the Soviet advances continued and Allied casualties mounted, with some divisions struck from the order of battle due to combat casualties.
Slowly the Soviet advance was halted, as much by air attack and supply difficulties as by steadfast defence.
Units of the new German Republic gathered themselves and soon became a significant part of the order of battle, taking over the Ruhr and a part of the Italian Front.
Similarly, Spain had committed a number of divisions to the Allied cause.
Other Allies sent men across the Atlantic and, combined with troops from the States, the UK and dominion states, France and the German Republic, the Allied armies started to recover their numbers.
As the supply effort cranked up to higher levels, larger numbers of German POWs made their way to Europe from Canada and the USA, swelling the ranks of the German Republican Army even further.
Equipment-wise, the production lines recently turned over to civilian goods again churned out the chattels of war, and tanks, vehicles, guns and ammunition once more flowed in incessant lines from factory to front line.
New equipment, or variations on old, started to appear in numbers that could make a difference.
Conversions like the T20E2 Garand, which put even more firepower in the hands of the US infantryman. Additions like a regulation issue of Winchester shotguns to infantry platoons, a decision made as a result of the high levels of close-quarters fighting encountered since August 1945.
Other technology started to arrive, such as infra-red sights in numbers that could directly affect infantry and tank tactics.
The need for heavier armed and armoured tanks was quickly identified, as the Sherman found itself at a huge disadvantage, much the same as it had against the late German tanks, except the Soviets seemed to have superior vehicles in greater numbers. Much of the Sherman output that arrived in late ’45, early ’46, was the M4A3E2 Jumbo version, with the 76mm gun and considerably more armour. Production of the Super Pershing was stepped up and, yet again, development projects were pushed along quickly to provide the man in the front line with a weapon of war to do the job.
The Invasion of Japan was put on hold indefinitely, with the Soviet incursion into Europe being made the focus of all Allied efforts, save small numbers of troops sent to reinforce the Chinese Nationalists.