North Japan

From Turtledove

North Japan was the state the Soviet Union established on the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu at the end of World War II. In 1948, the Red Japanese Army invaded South Japan, the client of the United States, beginning the Japanese War. While the south's military was initially sent into retreat, the Red Army's invasion was halted by United States Marines at Utsunomiya. A year of bloody fighting followed until August, 1949. On August 6, the United States destroyed the North Japanese capital of Sapporo with an atomic bomb. Three days later, the Soviet Union destroyed the South Japanese city of Nagano with an atomic bomb of their own. The Japanese War was called a draw, and the status quo ante bellum was restored.