The carrier's modern weapons could be used against concentrated military targets rather than a city. Destroying the remaining battleships might reinforce the lesson of a lost carrier force, but the Japanese Army is identified as the more committed war party. The Navy, after losing its carriers and Philippine invasion force, might already be looking for a way out. The operational problem is to inflict damage that also shifts the internal balance between institutions favoring continued war and those willing to stop.
Notable Point · 2:42:45-2:44:04
Targeting forces to strengthen Japan's peace party
The Nimitz counterfactual shifts from destroying cities to attacking military concentrations in order to weaken Japan's war party and create room for a negotiated exit.