Lieutenant General Ross knew that something was wrong when he saw that the enemy planes were not rushing towards the canal locks, as he had first thought, but it was too late to adjust his response strategy, and he could only watch as bombs exploded over the airfield, and occasionally planes hit by anti-aircraft guns fell in the air - even then, the crashed planes also caused damage to the airfield. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At 5:15 a.m., a bomb dropped by a Japanese dive bomber hit the aviation fuel depot, and the scene was like a volcanic eruption, and the pillar of fire soared into the sky, reflecting all the targets clearly, and even half of the sky was reflected red, and it could be seen clearly from a distance of more than 100 kilometers. Relying on the guidance of the fire, the remaining planes all dropped their bombs, and then left the battlefield as fast as they could. Until the first attack wave left the battlefield, the dense anti-aircraft artillery fire below was still firing fiercely.

Lieutenant General Ross's heart was bleeding: after just over half an hour of air raids, the airfields in the Canal Zone were completely destroyed, more than 70 percent of the planes in the airfields and hangars were lost, and the remaining planes were temporarily unusable if they were not lost -- the runway was completely destroyed and could not be used again without maintenance.

Receiving the news, Cao Lu reported excitedly: "Sir, the air raid was successful, and we paralyzed the airport. ”

"What about the damage?"

"I don't know yet, but it looks like most of them are back."

"After 15 minutes, the air defense fighter took off for cover."

At half past six o'clock, the bombers returning from the air raid landed one after another, and the exhausted pilots were still eager to describe the air raid scene to the ground crew, and the deck was full of the sound of "onboarding".

In stark contrast to the cheering scene below, Horiyoshi's face was ugly, and his heart was bleeding: for the surprise attack of the first attack wave, he sent out a total of 78 planes, and as many as 19 planes did not return, including 5 German planes, and the rest were all Japanese pilots - this is not an ordinary pilot, all elite pilots with a bomb hit rate of more than 90%, it is no exaggeration to say that all of them are piled up with gold, and it is extremely sad to have one less. It has been more than three and a half hours since takeoff, and the plane should be close to running out of fuel, and if it can't return, it basically means that it can't return. A quarter of the air damage was lost in a single air raid, and it is not known how much more will be lost next, and the only good news is that the airfield has been completely destroyed, and it will not be possible to take off and land planes in the short term.

"Sir......" Cao Lu Ren looked at him with a bad face and reminded, "The air defense fighter has taken off as required, and the sky has brightened, do you need to send a second attack wave immediately?" ”

"For the time being, there is no need to intensify reconnaissance and searching, let the returning pilots seriously describe the anti-aircraft fire of the canal zone to other pilots, and at the same time step up the promotion of spare aircraft to replenish losses."

"Yes."

"How far is the shelling formation from Panama?"

"There are more than 400 kilometers to go."

"Straight ahead, prepare for shelling, and the first round of shelling must be carried out by this afternoon...... The aircraft carrier formation came to a halt at 200 nautical miles, and also sent anti-aircraft fighters for the shelling fleet. After finishing speaking, he added, "Catapult 2 water scouts to see the situation in the canal area and pay attention to safety." ”

These orders were clearly inconsistent with the battle plan originally formulated by Grass Deer Any: according to his assumption, a second attack should be launched while the iron was hot, rather than just sitting idle, what was the commander worried about? Other enemy aircraft? Enemy fleet?

In the command in Washington, General King and Marshall paid close attention to the dynamics ahead, but the years were really unforgiving, and the two were also in their 60s, and after working for more than 30 hours in a row, they could no longer support the nap, and specially instructed the adjutants to wake up themselves as soon as it was dawn, but they did not expect to receive the bad news from the front before dawn.

After the news that the airfield was destroyed and 70% of the planes were lost, Admiral Kim's face turned pale, he knew that the three-plate axe of the axis was powerful, and he never expected to be cut bloody in the first round. Roosevelt soon got the news as well, and he frowned and asked, "Can we hold off the enemy?" Can the damaged airport be repaired urgently? ”

Marshall hesitated: "I'm afraid it will take at least 6-8 hours for the airport to be repaired, and the problem now is that even if it is repaired, it is useless, and there are less than 30% of the remaining aircraft." ”

"The priority is to find the enemy's fleet, and then allow Nicaragua's ground aviation to attack on the ground - although I am afraid it is a bit far."

"Can you start bombing from the mainland?"

The two shook their heads: although they did not know the exact location of the enemy fleet, the distance from Florida was at least more than 1,500 kilometers, and the range of the B-25 was not enough, and the range of the B-24 was enough, but the 4-engine bomber was really reluctant to deal with the fleet. However, in order not to make Roosevelt worry too much, Admiral King expressed it tactfully: "If the Panama airfield is repaired and the exact location of the enemy fleet is known, we can carry out bombing missions from the mainland, and those bombers can land on the spot in Panama after they are completed." ”

"Gentlemen, don't be too pessimistic, at least the canal is intact." Roosevelt comforted the two.

On the Nagato, Kusaka was also trying to comfort Horikichi, "Sir, what are you worried about?" Wasn't the first attack wave very successful? ”

Horikichi shook his head: "Far from it, you know how quickly the Americans can repair the airport." ”

"I ......" Cao Lu was speechless, and the combined fleet shelled Kuah Island all night, pouring tens of thousands of shells, and as a result, on the third day, bombers took off from the Kuah Island airfield to retaliate against the defenders of Bougainville.

"In that case, shouldn't a second strike wave be immediately dispatched to supplement the bombardment to prevent the enemy from repairing the airfield?"

"I've been waiting for the enemy's counterattack......" Horiyoshi looked up at the wall clock, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "It seems that their situation is not very good, it's half past nine, and the first wave of counterattack hasn't come yet." Cao Lu Yi and a group of staff officers were stunned when they heard these words.

"Send a signal, prepare the second attack wave, and let Murata Shigeji lead the Tianshan attack team to hang bombs and attack ......"

Just when Horikichi ridiculed the delay in the US counterattack, Lieutenant General Ross was also jumping in a hurry: in the early morning, 8 F4U voluntarily took to the air to fight, but one was hit by the fire of its own anti-aircraft guns, and one plane really crashed down an enemy bomber as he said, and he parachuted after the plane was damaged, but the other 6 planes could neither find the enemy plane nor the enemy fleet in the dark night, and finally were asked to hover over the airport to undertake the task of air defense cover, but when the fuel was exhausted, the airport could not repair and land, I had to abandon the plane in a hurry and parachute, and as a result, I lost 6 more fighters in vain.

By this time, only a pitiful 43 aircraft remained intact in Panama. (To be continued.) )