Iron Cross

At 7:15, the American fleet that had dropped its bombs was about to leave the scene, but the shock wave prepared by Tsukahara arrived.

In the continuous confrontation just now, the two sides had an exchange ratio of 71:14. The remaining Axis fighters had exceeded the number of American aircraft. After the fighter reinforcements sent by Tsukahara poured into the scene, the Axis Army, which had received 34 fighter reinforcements, became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The American fleet retreated quickly, and each aircraft almost ran away, no longer caring about any formation or team.

But what frightened everyone was that more than 50 Japanese fighters were tracking all the way, and even the US military's formation was useless. Except for the B-25, every time the other aircraft dispersed, an Axis fighter followed and killed it. Until they flew more than 200 kilometers away, there were still 34 fighters chasing desperately.

These were all the winning moves released by Tsukahara. They carried enough fuel and ammunition when they took off, and if they wanted, they could chase continuously for an hour. If the F4U and P-47 were determined to escape, the Axis pilots would have no way to stop them, and even hoped that they would escape, so that the remaining attack aircraft would all be destroyed.

The fleeing US military found an even more troublesome situation, because the bombing of the beachhead was not effective just now, and most of the planes used machine gun fire to strafe the ground, including fighters, and even SBD and TBF. The US pilots were too happy just now, and used up most of their ammunition at once. In addition, they continued to fire during the pursuit to stop the enemy fighters. By now, most of the planes had run out of ammunition, and all US fighters had almost become lambs to be slaughtered.

Japanese fighter pilots were generally not interested in B-25, but German pilots were different. Many of them had experience in air defense on the Western Front and knew what methods could be used to deal with this type of aircraft. The few SBD, TBF and A-20 that escaped by chance became the targets of the desperate pursuit of Japanese pilots. Even if the P-47 and F4U wanted to turn around to fight, they were powerless. After the ammunition ran out, they had no choice but to hit the enemy. But collision is also a technical job, especially using a bulky P-47 to collide with a light and flexible Bf-219. In the end, only one P-47 successfully perished together with the enemy plane.

The Axis fighters were like hyenas against lions. Each of them bit an enemy plane to fight and continued to bleed the US military. The route from the landing site to Nicaragua was full of A-20s, TBFs and SBDs that were constantly shot down. Those frightened F4U and P-47 pilots had never seen such a tragic chase scene. In the end, they could only use their absolute speed advantage over Bf-219 to escape. As for the rest of their comrades, everyone was on their own.

When Admiral Cohen took back all the aircraft, he found that his hands were shaking all the time. Just like yesterday, the TBF formation became a high-risk industry and was wiped out again. Only two A-20 formations returned, one of which was covered with wounds and no longer needed to fly. The ground crew immediately sent them to the garbage dump. Only four SBD formations returned, one of which was the plane that Commander Fister was riding. He was hit by a 13mm bullet in his arm and abdomen, and was dying. After landing, he only had time to say one sentence to Cohen: "Our army has severely damaged the Mutsu and the landing troops..." before he was killed.

Most of the B-25s returned safely, but most of the crew members were dejected: they knew that their successful return was not because of their strong level, but because the enemy did not bother to fight them. The surviving F4Us and P-47s were trembling and terrified. Many people did not even have the strength to climb out of the cockpit and were helped down by the ground crew. Cohen thought: Those who can survive in this situation are all elites, who have seen the wind and rain and can compete with the elite of Japan and Germany. Unfortunately, there are too few people. There are only two fighter pilots who can come back alive after two consecutive days of attack, and only one SBD can come back alive - that is, the one where Fister is. Unfortunately, the pilot is still alive, but the commander is killed.

There were 124 planes during the attack, but only 31 planes came back, and a total of 93 planes were lost, with a loss of up to 75%. The axis lost a total of 17 planes, but in the mouths of surviving American officers and soldiers, perhaps because of concealment or nervousness, the number of enemy plane losses became more than 40 or 50.

Cohen believes that the number of more than 40 is basically credible - he lost nearly 100 planes, and he couldn’t exchange it for the enemy losing 40 planes?

"Sir, we have won the anti-air raid victory." The planes that initially covered the landing site landed on the aircraft carrier to refuel and replenish ammunition. The Chief of Staff of the Mobile Fleet, Kusaka Ryunosuke, excitedly reported, "The pilots reported that they shot down more than 80 US fighter planes. With the shock wave you prepared, I estimate that at least 100 enemy planes can be shot down."

"Not even close..." Tsukahara Jishisan glanced at the wall clock in the command tower. It was less than 8:30 now. If the Americans wanted, they could launch 2 or even 3 strikes today.

"This..." Kusaka Ryunosuke was at a loss for words. He thought for a long time before finding a reason, "They have suffered such a heavy loss. Do the remaining pilots still have the courage to attack?"

"Don't underestimate the determination of the Americans. In order to deal with us, they can continuously increase their troops and use their troops to kill us - isn't this what they like to do most?"

Tsukahara's guess was correct. The US military planes that took off from Florida in the early morning have arrived in Nicaragua one after another. The base's strength has returned to more than 100 aircraft. It is expected that more planes will arrive in the future, but all the pilots and ground staff are ashen-faced. Fighting here, the life of a pilot is not measured in years or months, but in hours and minutes. The first thing all soldiers arriving in Nicaragua do before departure is to leave a suicide note.

When the battle report came back to Washington, there was silence in the headquarters. 50 planes were lost yesterday and 93 more were lost this morning. Everyone's heart was heavy, but General Kim heard that he had severely damaged the Mutsu and beachhead landing troops and shot down enemy planes. When there were more than 40 aircraft, he stood up and gritted his teeth and said: "We must persist to the end. We are in great difficulty, and the enemy is at the end of his strength! How many such elite carrier-based aircraft pilots can they have? Even if they focus on future sea control and Azov We must fight them off in every battle."

Everyone thought about it carefully and thought that although what he said was a bit cruel, it was very reasonable: the Axis Fleet lost more than 20 aircraft yesterday, and lost more than 40 aircraft today, nearly 70 aircraft were lost, even if it can get nearly 20 aircraft To supplement the reserve aircraft, at least 50 will be lost, and the total number of enemy aircraft carrier-based aircraft will not exceed 300. After deducting the attack group, there will be at most 50-60 remaining fighters. If you try hard to pile them up 1-2 times, the axis will Warships basically have no fighter jets available, right?

"We must grit our teeth and persevere. Admiral Ingersoll sent a telegram. His fleet is still 56 hours away from Panama and is currently moving at full speed. Therefore..." Admiral Jin issued the order with a stern expression, "Strive for the Nicaragua base. Launch a second round of air strikes around noon, this time focusing on naval aviation, focusing on attacking the enemy fleet. Be sure to damage some battleships and delay the enemy's retreat. The primary target is the Mutsu... Another attack will be launched in the afternoon, using land aviation. Strength, try to exhaust the enemy's combat power before the Atlantic Fleet arrives on the battlefield. If that doesn't work, try again three times tomorrow!"

When Marshall heard the decision, he could only smile bitterly: Yesterday, the aviation forces of the 7 states on the southern east coast were basically used up early this morning; what could be used in the afternoon were the forces drawn from the 13 states on the northeastern coast of the east coast. It depends on the posture. They also have to be wiped out; then tomorrow it will be the turn of the 16 central states, and the day after tomorrow it will be the turn of the 12 west coast states - General Jin probably wants to bring down all the combat-effective troops of the Army Aviation.

Henry Harry Arnold, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commander-in-Chief of Army Aviation, said nothing. His mind was now blank. There was only one scene that was replayed repeatedly: moths rushing forward and lining up to rush into the light... He used to think that this scene was Describes the Eighth Air Force, which carried out strategic bombing missions in the UK and suffered heavy losses. Only now did it realize that it was a big mistake. This scene was in Nicaragua! It's in Panama!

Roosevelt was also gritting his teeth and twitching his veins. He hated why he didn't build more bases overseas, why he didn't make the base in Nicaragua bigger, and why he didn't expand the Guantanamo base in Cuba into a standard air force base, so that it has become a standard air force base now. It has become a standard refueling tactic. A maximum of 150 aircraft can be used to attack each time. If 1,500 aircraft attack at the same time, can the Germans or Japanese be so rampant?

Of course, this can only be thought about. Before the war, the United States had a total of hundreds of thousands of troops. Being able to station tens of thousands of troops in Panama was considered a very serious measure. How about using taxpayers to build large and useless overseas bases? Do you still want to balance your finances? After the war started, the focus was all on Great Britain and Australia. Who would think about building and armament in South America, the American backyard?

However, he never hesitated when it came time to make a decision: "I am determined to implement General Jin's suggestion. Do you have any objections?"

Everyone shook their heads: nearly 400 aircraft have been thrown in (the cumulative losses of Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico), and the Panama Canal seems to be unsustainable. If the Axis Fleet is allowed to leave in a big way, the United States will be really embarrassed. There will be more in the future. What qualifications do you have to be a boss in South America? Just like stud, although the cards are ugly, there is still a glimmer of hope. If you give up, all the previous bets will be taken away by the winner.

Rear Admiral Cohen quickly received the order. He frowned after reading the message, and finally announced without hesitation: "Complete combat preparations before 10:30, with naval forces as the main force, TBF torpedoes, and we will go anti-ship this time... …”