[Aktungbby]

Post one's surmise is moot: WWII was the 'wizard war'

The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (about $26 billion in 2016 dollars). Over 90% of the cost was for building factories and producing thefissile materials, with less than 10% for development and production of the weapons

The US had the best wizard who wrote FDR the letter to start the project (in addition to his work on faulty American torpedo triggers) = "money is the sinews of war" and we simply got more 'bang for the buck'... "numbers have a cachet of their own": Throw in FDR's successor, Truman: Just Two of these put paid to the Japanese Empire and kept the Cold War, arising out of 'Uncle Joe Stalins WWII 'Iron Curtain' land aggrandizement essentially in-check for half a century.