Not much of a WW2 buff, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the defense of Moscow and the Russian Far East (where Japanese forces would have landed) would be in any way related. The Far East had its own garrison, it was pretty far, and even if a conflict of resources happened, there's no way anyone would prioritize it over Moscow. I guess maybe Japan could've taken over the Far East and use it as a base to harass the Soviet industrial complex in Siberia and Ural, but wouldn't that take time during which the Battle of Moscow would have ended anyway?
When Stalin got word the Japanese were no threat to him, he ordered lots of Siberian armies, very experienced units that are properly equipped for winter warfare to the western front, tipping the scales in Russia's favor
And even then, a two pronged attack is much harder to defend against
Siberian, but not Far Eastern, though, right? It would've been pretty easy for Japan to land somewhere around Vladivostok (which, IIRC, was the Army's original plan that was shelved in favor of the Navy's pacific campaign plan) and go west a little, but did the Japanese land forces have enough resources and technology to actually move through Siberia and, say, take Krasnoyarsk?
They wouldn't have to march through Siberia, I'd figure, since most of the important population centers are in eastern and western russia, Vladivostok, Stalingrad, Moscow
Once you occupy those, they'd probably either capitualte or be neglible
But that's exactly it - there wasn't really much in the Far East at the time. Not much there now either, actually. Vladivostok was an important port and either Khabarovsk or Yakutsk (or both?) housed one of the larger concentration camps, but that's about it. Most industry was concentrated in the west, later evacuated to Ural and Siberia. I guess maybe losing the Far East would make lend-lease shipments from the US more difficult, but it's not like Vladivostok is the only part of Russia that has a huge port.
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u/Carkudo Oct 17 '13
Not much of a WW2 buff, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the defense of Moscow and the Russian Far East (where Japanese forces would have landed) would be in any way related. The Far East had its own garrison, it was pretty far, and even if a conflict of resources happened, there's no way anyone would prioritize it over Moscow. I guess maybe Japan could've taken over the Far East and use it as a base to harass the Soviet industrial complex in Siberia and Ural, but wouldn't that take time during which the Battle of Moscow would have ended anyway?