Ah, but wouldn't the whole point of a Japanese attack on the USSR have been to tie up Soviet troops; not to actually drive them back? Wouldn't the Japanese have been safe in assuming that Germany, not Japan, would decide the outcome of this war?
If Stalin had not been able to draw on his Siberian divisions in late 1941 the Germans may well have taken Moscow, and anything similar to the Stalingrad encirclement would have been very difficult to accomplish.
Compared to opening a limited support front against the USSR, the attack on Pearl Harbour seems quite insane. Of course, winning a war against the USSR might not have seemed very important to the Japanese. Still, it makes you wonder whether the Axis powers made any common plans at all...
If Stalin had not been able to draw on his Siberian divisions in late 1941 the Germans may well have taken Moscow, and anything similar to the Stalingrad encirclement would have been very difficult to accomplish.
Compared to opening a limited support front against the USSR, the attack on Pearl Harbour seems quite insane. Of course, winning a war against the USSR might not have seemed very important to the Japanese. Still, it makes you wonder whether the Axis powers made any common plans at all...