Western Allies vs. Red Army (WWII)

[Stravo]

I'm sure this has been done in some form or another, but I'm tired and need some entertainment.

Western Allies, 1942, Germany has invaded Poland but never invades France. In fact France and Britain have formed a secret cabal with Hitler in order to topple Stalinist Russia and allowing Germany to seize that vital jumping off point is part of the plan. June 1942 they prepare. The Western allies have been sharing technology, money, intelligence and Germany helps France smuggle as many divisions as possible into prepositions in Poland. Britain will be using amphibious landings in the Baltic states and Leningrad areas to open up its own front.

The Bulk of the French and British Airforce have slowly been positioned at airfields in Poland and Germany.

The British are also helping Rommel's Afrika Corps to get into position in Palestine for the big push into the Caucauses for the oil fields. Rommel and Montgomery will be leading that assault.

The US has vowed not to interfere in the fight but they will also not help. No lend lease, no money, no arms.

Pearl Harbor happens and the US is busy taking on Japan which the Brits unfortunately must deal with as well so they cannot open up a front in Siberia or India.

Assume that the Germans, French, English and Russians have the same men and equipment that they fielded in June 1942 historically.

Assume Stalin can tap his Siberian reserves because Japan is way too busy getting ass raped by the US to start any trouble in the Far East.

Assume the same level of total surprise on the Russian part as achieved during Operation Barbarosa.

Can Stalin withstand the onslaught of the German, British and French war machines?

Also as a sidenote how badly does the US curbstomp Japan since they are no longer involved in the war in Europe?

[Big Phil]

Russia falls - with the Germans, French, and English allied (assuming I understood this correctly), they have sufficient forces to reach Moscow before wintertime and defeat the Soviet Union.

The Pacific War takes much less time than it did historically, although with some luck the Japanese could do reasonably well for a while. Does Pearl Harbor still happen, or does the war start without the surprise attack? It makes a big difference in the tactics used...

[Stravo]

Russia falls - with the Germans, French, and English allied (assuming I understood this correctly), they have sufficient forces to reach Moscow before wintertime and defeat the Soviet Union.

The Pacific War takes much less time than it did historically, although with some luck the Japanese could do reasonably well for a while. Does Pearl Harbor still happen, or does the war start without the surprise attack? It makes a big difference in the tactics used...

Assume Pearl harbor happens historically. The only difference being the US declares war solely on Japan and focusses all its efforts on Japan since it will stay completelty out of the European campaign.

[Nephtys]

Well, for a more detailed, in-depth analysis of what would happen, please refer to Command and Conquer Red Alert. Final Analysis: The Allies would get their butts kicked hideously from having no units of vague worth.

[Trogdor]

Very interesting question. Many factors would come into play, such as how well/poorly the Nazis get along with the Brits and the French, and who gets to lead which army and the like.

Off hand I'd say that it could be done, provided the western alliance holds. The Germans wouldn't have as much territory to occupy at this point as they did when they conquered most of Europe so more of their forces would be free. If they've all been sharing tech, that would make the British and French tanks better as, IIRC, the Panzers were some of the best tanks in the world at the time.

Speaking of tech, it's possible that in this situation the Nazis may be the first makers of the atomic bomb, since Hitler was very interested in it and might've gotten it first if not for the continual sabotage from the allies. IIRC, most of that sabotage was done by the US and the British, and I doubt that Stalin could've been as effective.

And just because the US government doesn't help, that doesn't mean US corporations won't be eager as hell to do buisness with the western allies, so long as they can pay. But then again, the same would probably go for the Soviets.

Of course, there's always good old General Winter to consider, not to mention the stubborness the Soviets displayed in the real WWII. It would still be a total bitch to pull off, no doubt, and if the Russians are smart enough they could probably thwart such an invasion.

All in all, I say the west takes it. It would require fucking brilliance on the part of the Soviets to repel the invasion, and I don't think they had it.

Oh, and what's Italy up to in this scenario?

Nephtys, that's true, but in the next war the allies will unleash such monsters as a tank with so much range it's practically arty and lightning storms that make nukes look weak.

[Adrian Laguna]

Well, for a more detailed, in-depth analysis of what would happen, please refer to Command and Conquer Red Alert. Final Analysis: The Allies would get their butts kicked hideously from having no units of vague worth.

I beg to differ. The Allies own the sea (while the Soviets own the Air). Not to mention that I happen to like the irony of using historical Soviet tactics against non-historical Soviets (tank swarms). Plus, Tanya is a unit, and she rocks. No other unit in an RTS made me laugh like a maniac as I ordered her to hurt people and break things.

BTW - I think the Soviets are screwed in the OPs scenario. No US lend-lease. Means they have to manufacture their own trucks, means they manufacture less tanks, means they are fucked.

[Nephtys]

Well, for a more detailed, in-depth analysis of what would happen, please refer to Command and Conquer Red Alert. Final Analysis: The Allies would get their butts kicked hideously from having no units of vague worth.

I beg to differ. The Allies own the sea (while the Soviets own the Air). Not to mention that I happen to like the irony of using historical Soviet tactics against non-historical Soviets (tank swarms). Plus, Tanya is a unit, and she rocks. No other unit in an RTS made me laugh like a maniac as I ordered her to hurt people and break things.

BTW - I think the Soviets are screwed in the OPs scenario. No US lend-lease. Means they have to manufacture their own trucks, means they manufacture less tanks, means they are fucked.

What's the point of owning the sea if it's a land map? No fair! Tank rush!

[skotos]

Russia falls - with the Germans, French, and English allied (assuming I understood this correctly), they have sufficient forces to reach Moscow before wintertime and defeat the Soviet Union.

Emphasis added.

Would Moscow falling necessarily end the war for the Soviet Union? It didn't end the war for Russia when Napoleon managed it, and the Soviet Union certainly has plenty of ground to fall back on. The Russian winter will still kick the allies' asses - despite popular opinion, the effects of winter were not the result of Nazi incompetence (see Martin van Creveld's Supplying War for reasons why).

As for Japan, it gets owned even worse than in history. Yes, it can divert forces from fighting the UK, but that's nothing compared to the air power that the US can devote to crushing Japan.

[SirNitram]

Well, for a more detailed, in-depth analysis of what would happen, please refer to Command and Conquer Red Alert. Final Analysis: The Allies would get their butts kicked hideously from having no units of vague worth.

Pfffft. The Allies win by using the 'Q trick' and shelling the Soviet construction sites to bites. Or teleporting their huge-ass cruisers into lakes to shell Soviet bases.

[Nephtys]

Well, for a more detailed, in-depth analysis of what would happen, please refer to Command and Conquer Red Alert. Final Analysis: The Allies would get their butts kicked hideously from having no units of vague worth.

Pfffft. The Allies win by using the 'Q trick' and shelling the Soviet construction sites to bites. Or teleporting their huge-ass cruisers into lakes to shell Soviet bases.

In this case, we can't tell who loses this battle between the Soviets and Allies... just who wins: Kane.

(Kane lives in death)

[Surlethe]

Remember, the whole point of US strategy in WWII was Hitler] was public enemy #1, and the Japanese cabal only rated second on the list. Without lend-lease, the US has not only freed up millions of dollars worth of equipment which no longer goes to England to fight, it also has the shipyards which were busy manufacturing transports and ships for the Atlantic fleet to start working on warships and transports which will go through Panama to the Pacific fleet.

On the other hand, the US wouldn't have been mobilizing for two years to help England, so it wouldn't be as "warmed up" for war. I don't know how greater lack of preparedness will stack up against the lack of cost of sending ships to the Pacific to fight. Also, will the US open up a front against the USSR when Japan goes down and the US has occupied Manchuria and northern China and is starting to fight against Mao's rebels?

PS- I don't know that Hitler would have nuclear weapons; IIRC, the top German physicists defected to the United States.

[Trogdor]

In this case, we can't tell who loses this battle between the Soviets and Allies... just who wins: Kane.

(Kane lives in death)

Kane and the technology of peace!

Ahem, back on topic now, if memory serves the Nazis developed a jet propelled fighter near the very end of WWII. Assuming this also happens in this alternate scenario, and that the western allies continue to share tech, then it's safe to say that the allies would have total air superiority if the war drags on (and they don't have it already, which they probably would).

[Trogdor]

PS- I don't know that Hitler would have nuclear weapons; IIRC, the top German physicists defected to the United States.

True. I'm not sure if the lack of sabotage on the Nazi's attempts at figuring out how to split the atom would've compensated for this.

[Stravo]

Aside from Shermans and Grants did the Brits have home grown tanks? That could prove disastrous for them in the fight if they lose their supply of tanks from the US? When the T-34's start swarming I wouldn't want to be a Tommy on the Leningrad front.

[The Grim Squeaker]

The Russian winter will still kick the allies' asses - despite popular opinion, the effects of winter were not the result of Nazi incompetence (see Martin van Creveld's Supplying War for reasons why).
.

how was Hitler not giving the soldiers any winter clothing not incompetence.

True. I'm not sure if the lack of sabotage on the Nazi's attempts at figuring out how to split the atom would've compensated for this.

Any effects of sabotage were minimal if they even existed, the Nazis were nowhere near making an A-bomb, they were'nt even researching on the right track.
Them getting a A-bomb in a reasonable time period without the US is ludicrous.

[Trogdor]

True. I'm not sure if the lack of sabotage on the Nazi's attempts at figuring out how to split the atom would've compensated for this.

Any effects of sabotage were minimal if they even existed, the Nazis were nowhere near making an A-bomb, they were'nt even researching on the right track.
Them getting a A-bomb in a reasonable time period without the US is ludicrous.

Yeah, I did a little research just now. Never mind my ramblings about a Nazi A-bomb.

[thejester]

June 1942 they prepare. The Western allies have been sharing technology, money, intelligence and Germany helps France smuggle as many divisions as possible into prepositions in Poland.

The French Army was a joke in 1940 and even two years of heavy reform (and where the drive for this reform comes from is unclear) it will still be decidedly second-rate. The Germans would do better to use them as a garrison troops in Poland.

Britain will be using amphibious landings in the Baltic states and Leningrad areas to open up its own front.

The only person who could possibly beat the Royal Navy into submission to this plan is Churchill, and he's not going to be PM in this scenario. Even then, I highly doubt the RN coul actually undertake this operation. It didn't have any particularly good amphibious capability pre-war and what it did develop relied heavily on doctrinal need to assault fortress Europe. The approaches to Leningrad, IIRC, are extremely heavily mined and Soviet coastal forces are not inconsiderable. Chances are the RN would provide token support but concentrate its effort on the war with Japan.

The Bulk of the French and British Airforce have slowly been positioned at airfields in Poland and Germany.

The French airforce might be of more use, but again I'd expect the RAF to be sending most of its gear to Malaya.

The British are also helping Rommel's Afrika Corps to get into position in Palestine for the big push into the Caucauses for the oil fields. Rommel and Montgomery will be leading that assault.

Not only is that the most mis-matched combination in history, Monty almost certainly won't get it; he made his name reforming the Army in the wake of Dunkirk and even then was repeatdley overlooked for overseas posts until Gort died.

The US has vowed not to interfere in the fight but they will also not help. No lend lease, no money, no arms.

That is going to seriously hurt the Soviets, though if this occurrs in 1942 there resistance might be enough to scrape through.

Can Stalin withstand the onslaught of the German, British and French war machines?

I'd think he'd look for a negotiated peace in 1942 and Britain and France would push Germany into accepting.

Also as a sidenote how badly does the US curbstomp Japan since they are no longer involved in the war in Europe?

Hard to say - probably the biggest advantage could come from trying to pump a lot more men and planes into the CBI and taking on the Japanese there.

[SirNitram]

Aside from Shermans and Grants did the Brits have home grown tanks? That could prove disastrous for them in the fight if they lose their supply of tanks from the US? When the T-34's start swarming I wouldn't want to be a Tommy on the Leningrad front.

IIRC, we had homegrown tanks. The Churchill is the one springing to mind, whose namesake once said: "This tank even has more flaws than me myself!". Not the most ringing endorsement, but the design was apparently good enough for a number of specialist vehicles to be built on the same chassis. Without the U-Boats gutting the British industry, production might even speed up.

[thejester]

Aside from Shermans and Grants did the Brits have home grown tanks?

Yes, the Matilda, Valentine, and Cruiser/Crusader series would all be available. Both Matildas and Valentines saw service with the Russians as a result of Lend-Lease and neither did particularly well - their cross-country mobility in particular was found wanting. In particular, one incident springs to mind: the Afrika Korp at El Alamein had a Russian 76.2mm gun which they'd picked up along the way and used to great effect, tearing to shreds a force of Valentines.

That could prove disastrous for them in the fight if they lose their supply of tanks from the US? When the T-34's start swarming I wouldn't want to be a Tommy on the Leningrad front.

The British Army suffered from a serious deficit in AT firepower throughout the entire Desert War (the Grants and Shermans only arrived in mid-1942 and most were losty anyway due to atrocious British tank tactics) yet still prevailed - Tobruk in particular comes to mind as an example of how troops with minimal tank support and little in the way of AT weapons defeated the panzers (25pdrs in AT role for the win!)

[Ace Pace]

True. I'm not sure if the lack of sabotage on the Nazi's attempts at figuring out how to split the atom would've compensated for this.

Any effects of sabotage were minimal if they even existed, the Nazis were nowhere near making an A-bomb, they were'nt even researching on the right track.
Them getting a A-bomb in a reasonable time period without the US is ludicrous.

Yeah, I did a little research just now. Never mind my ramblings about a Nazi A-bomb.

There's a rather nice story by Stuart Slade on the German nuclear research project.

Every so often, the proposition that Nazi Germany was on the verge of deploying a workable nuclear device comes up (recently we had the rather risible suggestion here that the Germans could have had a nuclear device in 1946 - why that was so daft will become obvious in due course). Usually, these claims are in the context of how if the Nazis had only done this or that they would have won the Second World War. I thought it would be interesting to look at the reality of the German nuclear weapons program since not only does it show that German scientists in WW2 couldn't find their ass with both hands and a roadmap but the story itself has a low humor that is quite irresistible.

A word on where all this comes from. The primary source was an operation called Alsos. Alsos was an intelligence operation run between 1942 and 1946 that attempted to discover who else was working on nuclear devices and how their work was progressing. Hence the name, looking at who also were developing nuclear technology. Alsos-A looked at Germany, Alsos-B at Japan and Alsos-C at the USSR. A putative Alsos-D would have looked at other possibilities. The joke is that the name itself also became a significant security breech since General Groves got to hear of the name and immediately noted that Alsos is Greek for Groves. He threw a fit but changing the name would have drawn attention to it so it stayed put. The other source is the Farm Hall transcripts - the German nuclear scientists were held at a place called Farm Hall between July 3, 1945 and January 3 1946 for interrogation. Their rooms were wired of course so their private conversations were recorded as well as their formal interrogations. The results can basically be summed up by the succinct comments of one of the Manhattan District engineers "Who are these clowns?"

The German nuclear weapons development program started in 1938 with a program to develop nuclear physics being started under the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Research Department). On September 26th 1939, Werner Heisenberg was conscripted into this department which now had the unofficial nickname of Uranverein (Uranium Club). Although Heisenberg was a brilliant theoretician he was a very poor experimentalist and an even worse administrator - a combination of traits that was to have dire effects on the program. Through 1940 and 1941, German scientists focused on two lines of research - how to make a chain-reacting pile and how to separate U-235. These were carried out at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin (under Heisenberg) and the Army Research Laboratory at Gottow (under Kurt Deibner).

The second of these research aims failed completely. German scientists were unable to devise a means of separating U-235 from U-238 and were thus unable to produce weapons-grade enriched uranium. Thus, any German nuclear device would have to use plutonium, produced by bombarding U-238 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. Thus, the Deibner group was terminated in June 1942 and all the efforts concentrated on Heisenbergs group. The task was now defined; first make a reactor that could produce plutonium from U-238, then design and build a device from that Pu-239.

In order to make a reactor, it was first necessary to design it. Reactors require a moderator to slow down the neutrons so they can then be captured by the target nucleus. The most suitable moderators are very pure graphite or heavy water (deuterium oxide). Enter Walther Bothe, the scientist assigned to select the most suitable moderator. Bothe was incredibly careless and/or stupid (he was hopelessly in love with Ingeborg Moershner at the time and described his days in a letter to her as "speaking physics and thinking of you"). He failed to notice that his graphite samples were heavily contaminated with boron and cadmium, both ravenous neutron absorbers. As a result, he concluded that graphite was useless as a moderator and he opted for the use of heavy water. The next year was spent in a dance over heavy water supplies.

The only source of heavy water in Europe was the Norsk Hydro plant in the Rjukan Valley, about 75 miles west of Oslo. This has been built in 1934 and was seized by the Germans in 1940. By 1942, it was shipping approximately one ton of heavy water per year to Germany for use in reactor experiments. News of this quickly reached the Allies who took it as proof positive that the Germans were working on a reactor that could produce Pu-239. The plant would have to go. The British tried a commando raid on November 20 1942. Both the gliders used to deliver the commandos crashed in bad weather, many commandos being killed and most of the rest badly wounded. They surrendered without a fight expecting medical treatment for their wounded. Instead General von Falkenhorst had them all summarily murdered (he was sentenced to death for this after the war but, sadly, was reprieved in 1953). However, a second commando raid in February 1943 was much more successful; nine commandos infiltrated the plant and blew up the heavy water cells and six months production of heavy water. The plant was out of action until August 1943 but had barely resumed work when 174 B-17s plastered the factory with bombs. Although damage was slight, the Germans decided to dismantle the plant and rebuild it in Germany. In effect, heavy water production ended in Europe with this decision.

This left 14 tons of heavy water in Norway. The Germans loaded it into 49 drums, took them by train to Mael where they were to be loaded onto a rail ferry across the lake. The Norwegian resistance placed a mine on the ferry and sank it half way over the lake; 45 drums went to the bottom, only four partially-filled drums were salvaged. One of the saboteurs discovered that his (cantankerous) mother in law planned to take this ferry. On the pleas of his wife, he stopped her by mixing business with pleasure and feeding the old lady a huge dose of laxative (she had to be really, really ill because the Germans would look with great interest at everybody who was supposed to be on the ferry and wasn't). Sure enough, the gestapo arrived and interviewed the family. The mother in law spent the whole time being obnoxious, foul-tempered and accusing her son in law of poisoning her. The investigator was much touched by the devotion of this young couple in looking after a sickly but horrendous old harridan and, as he left, put his arm around the young husband's shoulder and said confidentially "you know, I would have quite understood if you had poisoned her"

Almost all the precious heavy water was irretrievably lost. That left just the supplies already in Germany. Or, rather, had. Heisenberg was a dreadful administrator; the work schedules he organized frequently left the laboratory in the charge of unqualified staff - or completely unattended. On June 23, 1942, the heavy water in an experimental reactor leaked into the uranium, liberated hydrogen and the reactor exploded. The laboratory, all the heavy water and the research documentation was all destroyed. German research was set back two years at least.

In fact it was much worse than that. It quickly became obvious that there were years of research work and engineering needed before a reactor could be built. A year later so little progress had bene made that the German atomic bomb program was canceled in July 1943. All the Uranium supplies in Germany were transferred to a German Army program aimed at using the material in armor-piercing shells for tanks (note; the natural uranium including the precious U-235, not the depleted uranium used now by the US). At that time the allies were plotting various means of stealing said uranium and/or destroying the source of supply. Little did they know the Germans literally intended to throw the stuff at them gratis. Thus, from mid-1943 onwards the German nuclear weapons development program was dead. No work on weaponizing nuclear research continued past this point. Hence the idiocy of claiming the Germans could have had a nuclear device in 1946.

However, some research on reactors did continue. A small atomic pile was built in a place called Haigerloch (near Hechingen) for neutron-multiplication calculations. This facility used all the remaining heavy water supplies in Europe (1.5 tons). This work showed that the reactor would have to be doubled in size before a sustained chain reaction could be maintained - and, of course, there was no more heavy water to moderate it. So that work to was abandoned. The pile, the scientists, the heavy water and all the uranium ore (still sitting in Army sheds waiting to be turned into tank ammunition) was captured by the US Army by February 24th 1945 and shipped to the USA.

And that was it. The Germans hadn't even begun to produce the tools needed to produce the equipment needed to produce the material needed for experiments in designing a workable device. The Germans didn't have the resources to follow all the possible routes to a workable device so they had to pick one and go with it. They picked the wrong one. Then, their poor scientific method and base incompetence meant that they blew that (in the case of their laboratory pile, quite literally).

[/quote]

[Gandalf]

Would Moscow falling necessarily end the war for the Soviet Union? It didn't end the war for Russia when Napoleon managed it, and the Soviet Union certainly has plenty of ground to fall back on. The Russian winter will still kick the allies' asses - despite popular opinion, the effects of winter were not the result of Nazi incompetence (see Martin van Creveld's Supplying War for reasons why).

When the Germans invaded in 1941, all major government offices had been moved to Kuibyshev before the Germans arrived.

I think the biggest loss there would be that of it being a major transport hub.

[Lazarus]

I'm not so sure that Germany would be able to create a nuclear weapon on its own even without sabotage. IIRC, the chief German nuke scientist researched into the idea, and found that to create one would take about half the uranium available on the entire planet or somesuch. Obviously, he was wrong, because he had made a mistake in his calculations so was about an order of magnitude or two off.

The Russians would probably get owned on the air front again at the beginning of the war, the same way they got caught with their pants down in the real event. German forces were only 18 km from Moscow before they were forced to retreat, so I don't think reaching Moscow is much of a problem, its a question of whether the Soviets would pull back and keep running until the Allied supply lines got overextended and they froze.

[Mr Bean]

Ok, so we have the British Airforce, it's tank cruiser forces(Crusaders, Valantine's Matildia's, Churchill's) and assuming the french get off their ass we MIGHT see an upgunned Soma and Char-1B. The french infantry is just fine and I do think the Germans could use them to great effect in securing their rear from paritsans.

Meanwhile the Germans are of course going in there with Tigers, Maruader's Panzer III/IV's. Some of the best tank and tank destroyers of the world.

The Germans have a tank advantage in 1942(Late) with the Tigers up aginst KV1's and T-34's(Both of which stomp the earily British/Frence tanks) but are even matches or lose to the German armor.

The biggest thing is how many divisions of it's British and Frence allies the Germans can chuch at the Russians, combined with the airpower(Make no mistake, the new "allies" will control the air since the Germans squandared most of their planes on the Eastern front bombing Britian). So basicly your looking at what the allies did to Germany in 1944 airforce wise when four nation's airforces were fighting just one countries airforce.

Other things to consider, will the Britis keep building super-heavy slow underguned tanks or start building some British Tigers, or hell Panthers like they built American shermans?

[WyrdNyrd]

Would the Germans even bother making tank-destroyers in this scenario? I was under the impression that the TD was a bit of a desperation measure, because you can build more TDs for the same amount of resources.

Without Allied bombing damaging their industry, wouldn't they just build more proper tanks and forget about TDs entirely?

[K. A. Pital]

Western Allies, 1942, Germany has invaded Poland but never invades France. In fact France and Britain have formed a secret cabal with Hitler in order to topple Stalinist Russia and allowing Germany to seize that vital jumping off point is part of the plan. June 1942 they prepare. The Western allies have been sharing technology, money, intelligence and Germany helps France smuggle as many divisions as possible into prepositions in Poland. Britain will be using amphibious landings in the Baltic states and Leningrad areas to open up its own front.

Can Britain really make a landing in Leningrad?

The Bulk of the French and British Airforce have slowly been positioned at airfields in Poland and Germany.

The majority of the Russian AF would be decimated anyway, the consequences would just be more severe.

The British are also helping Rommel's Afrika Corps to get into position in Palestine for the big push into the Caucauses for the oil fields. Rommel and Montgomery will be leading that assault.

How the hell is there an Africa Corps if the Allies are in secret treason?

Assume that the Germans, French, English and Russians have the same men and equipment that they fielded in June 1942 historically.

Russia owns their sorry ass. And it's not the equipment, it's the ORGANISAION. By 1942, the RKKA had been totally reorganized. Make it 1941, and you can crush Russia. Make it 1942, and you can't - by Stalingrad, Russia had all the knowledge and tactics to defeat it's enemies. Besides, the logistics would not be getting any less atrocious.

Assume Stalin can tap his Siberian reserves because Japan is way too busy getting ass raped by the US to start any trouble in the Far East.

Essentially, that's true. But Stalin needed reserves in 1941 only, when our forces still lacked the tactical and operational skill. In 1942, it was clear to everyone already that "Barbarossa" is a disaster.

Can Stalin withstand the onslaught of the German, British and French war machines?

Essentially, we're widely overpowered in 1941, but in 1942 we could stand our ground.

Also as a sidenote how badly does the US curbstomp Japan since they are no longer involved in the war in Europe?

Um... just the same. The Pacific Front is a naval front, and the US was involved in Europe with a minor (compared to the general course of operations) force, and that in 1944 even. So the Pacific War goes just as it does.