Iron Cross

At 7:57, the air battle was basically over. The Axis fleet won with a score of 18:98. The remaining US military aircraft poured into Colombia in twos and threes. The Axis fighters also returned to the mothership to replenish oil bombs, but they did not expect it. Several B-25s have left the battlefield in advance to conduct reconnaissance...

"The fifth attack wave failed. No enemy aircraft carrier was found. Instead, it was attacked by enemy fighter units. Colonel Brooke disappeared..."

"Our surviving aircraft landed in Colombia, and the B-25 took advantage of its range to continue searching for the enemy aircraft carrier formation."

"B-25 reported that the enemy battleship fleet was determined to be no longer in the canal area, and its approximate location was 260 kilometers north-northwest of Barranquilla, Colombia. After comparing the composition of the fleet with previous reconnaissances, it was found that there was a lack of Nagato-class battleships. One King Kong-class battleship, and a larger number of heavy cruisers and destroyers... Based on the reports from the Panama defenders and the paralysis of the canal zone, it is analyzed that the above-mentioned missing battleships have actively sunk and blocked the Panama Canal. "

Although the actual photos of the paralysis in Panama have not been seen, it is not difficult to speculate on the current situation as long as multiple factors are considered together. After hearing that Horikichi used two battleships with a tonnage of up to 80,000 tons to block the canal, everyone fell down. Take a breath of air - the original intention of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was to damage the enemy warships as much as possible in order to slow down their movement. Fortunately, now, this order prompted the enemy to make up his mind: the Japanese directly blocked the canal with injured warships.

“Approximately how long will it take to repair the canal?”

"It depends on the on-site assessment and could be between 24 and 36 months."

Hearing this number, Roosevelt instinctively frowned: "This takes too long and will delay a lot of things. Is there a simpler way to clear it? Even if the battleship cannot pass, it would be good to resume navigation of 10,000-ton transport ships."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to take less than 24 months - the ship lock is the narrowest and most easily damaged part of the canal. Now the enemy has not only completely destroyed the ship lock, but also blown up the canal. Dredging this section means that this section needs to be dug again. "

“Or do we find another place to dig the canal, like the Grand Canal of Nicaragua?”

The Nicaragua Grand Canal was envisioned to be larger than Panama. The Navy Department had made an assessment. If it were the Nicaragua Canal, then warships of the Montana class could go directly through it. However, Admiral Kim shook his head like a rattle: "This is even more impossible. , even if we can work overtime to speed up construction by adding more manpower, we can’t save time on exploration, design, and planning—it takes more than two years.”

"Okay, let the professional construction department evaluate the Panama matter." Roosevelt sighed and asked, "Is it reliable that the enemy has seven aircraft carriers?"

"It's basically reliable... The Japanese originally had five aircraft carriers. Our intelligence system in Italy reported that Italy still has two aircraft carriers, one called Skyhawk and one called Harrier - the Skyhawk is controlled by the Germans. Currently not in the harbor, it may be in the enemy fleet this time. In order to obtain this information, we lost 5 intelligence officers."

Roosevelt nodded: "Their sacrifices are always worth remembering, so what about another one?"

"It's probably a tanker or the Commander Test that Germany got from the French. They just look like aircraft carriers, but they can't actually play the role of an aircraft carrier." Admiral Kim added, "This can explain why The Japanese and Germans have so many aircraft, especially fighter jets.”

The Americans still do not understand that the aircraft loss exchange ratio between themselves and the Axis is 1:5 or 1:6. They think that it is at most 1:3 (excluding ground damage and losses due to accidents), and the pilot's The loss-to-exchange ratio gap is even greater, exceeding 1:10—so far, the number of Axis pilots lost has not exceeded 50 people (groups)! Originally, the proportion of this number was slightly lower. However, when the Marine Brigade violently attacked the Panamanian defenders and the people were panicked, three more He-218 aircrews who were captured after parachuting took advantage of the defenders' unpreparedness to sneak out and were surprised. Tsukahara took back the mobile fleet. For the combined fleet, it cannot afford to lose even 50 people now.

"But where is the enemy's aircraft carrier formation?" Roosevelt asked distressedly. "As this battle has progressed, we have lost nearly 700 aircraft and more than 500 pilots (groups). Even the commander of the team has been killed twice in succession. position, and lost most of the Panamanian garrison and a canal, but the results were very limited, only two battleships and some small warships were sunk. This kind of performance is difficult to explain to the people, and these aircraft carriers must be sunk. "

In fact, everyone knows that Roosevelt's figures are only reduced and not exaggerated. In order to speed up the transportation of fuel and ammunition to Nicaragua in recent days, many transport aircraft have almost continuously attacked. Although the material supply can barely be guaranteed, due to personnel fatigue, aircraft malfunctions, operational errors, and accidents, Factors and so on, more than 20 transport aircraft were lost alone - the loss rate exceeded the Hump Route. Since there was no enemy intervention, this kind of loss was only classified as an accident and not a combat loss.

Everyone was dejected by this, no one was speechless, and their faces were burning - everyone didn't know that the Japanese and German fleets were so capable, let alone that the Japanese and German pilots were so powerful.

"The Atlantic Fleet is passing through the Windward Strait (between Cuba and Haiti), currently advancing at a speed of 23 knots... The fleet has found nothing in the enemy's reconnaissance, and General Fletcher sent a message to inquire about the enemy's location."

This news was like a shot of adrenaline injected into the venue, and everyone was immediately excited. Admiral King looked at the map again and again, and finally reported: "It is expected that the enemy fleet will enter the strike range of the Atlantic Fleet this evening. The problem now is to find the enemy."

According to his analytical logic, Fletcher's aircraft carrier formation will be able to reach the waters between Jamaica and Haiti around 16:00 today. Even if the enemy's bombardment formation retreats eastward, the actual distance between them will be controlled at about 700 kilometers. Based on this position and judgment, and in view of the heavy losses of the Nicaraguan base, the top leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed to postpone the launch of the sixth attack wave until the afternoon, and to launch an attack with aircraft carriers as much as possible. He planned to send 120 aircraft from the Nicaraguan base and 230 aircraft from the aircraft carrier formation, forming a total of 350 aircraft formations to destroy the main force of the Axis fleet.

This plan and strategy are very good, and both sides reached a consensus: regardless of the enemy battleship formation, the 7 aircraft carriers should be attacked first, but the question is where are those aircraft carriers?