Fifteen minutes later, the Caribbean, with a displacement of 5,200 tons and also a passenger and cargo use, also followed in the footsteps, and in two minutes, the Bahamian freighter in front of it, the 6,500-ton Thanksgiving, also failed to escape the bomb, and only a nearby Tropic, flying the Brazilian flag, somehow escaped - the Japanese bombers had already pounced, and it turned out that the Brazilian ship had been reflated and flew away. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Just when the crew of the ship thought that the Holy Father had appeared and that they would not die, they knelt down on the deck and crossed to express their gratitude, German bombers arrived and dropped the bomb without hesitation. Most of the Caribbean countries followed the United States in declaring war on Japan, but not on Germany, because Germany's political system and products have always been attractive to Central and South American countries, and Germany had close economic and trade ties with countries in the region before the war. Brazil was the only country that had declared war on Germany, but not on Japan, so Japanese planes had to call for German planes to come and attack.

Of course, the reason why the Japanese planes did not attack was not because the Japanese were merciful, but because there were 3 million Japanese immigrants and their descendants in Brazil, and the fact that Japan did not attack Macao, China, which was close at hand, was based on the same considerations -- Portugal was the former suzerainty of Brazil, with close relations and a good way to speak. But now Portugal could justifiably make a claim - tensions between Japan and Portugal were eased by German mediation after Salazar had decided on the Portuguese axis of inclination.

Before the operation, the top management of the fleet reached a unanimous opinion: for those who can clearly distinguish the ship's flag, it will be carried out strictly according to the declaration of war, and no force will be used against countries that have not declared war; Anyway, after the start of the war, South America and Axis shipping were basically cut off, and these ships were either to the United States or to Britain to deliver supplies, and there would be basically no unjust cases.

The only ship that was really unsunk was a tanker with a Brazilian flag and a displacement of up to 9,800 tons, named Brasilia, judging from the track that it was from the United States to Brazil, the draft was very heavy, and it was estimated that it was in a state of full load, so it was reluctant to sink, and the German bomber circled over its head, and asked it to sail in a northeasterly direction with a clear telegram, otherwise it would be sunk immediately, and the captain decided to do so after considering it, and Machar, who received the news, immediately asked the fastest destroyers to go and capture them. Although the fleet brought tankers with them, no one would be afraid of more oil.

The combined fleet took its unique shrewdness to the extreme, the planes carried all 250 kilograms of bombs, and a He-218 could carry two, against these cargo ships, which were only a few thousand tons and less than 10,000 tons, and this level of bombs was enough to reimburse them, and the only regret was that they could not catch the refrigerated ship - even after a long time, Machar and the others still remembered the refrigerated ship full of eggs and steaks.

By the afternoon, the cumulative tonnage of the freighters killed in the Axis Fleet's breach had reached 70,000 tons, and although half of them were empty, it was still a remarkable achievement, with 55,000 tons of them killed by airplanes and 15,000 tons of ships killed by the huge fleet.

News of the Axis fleet in the Caribbean was soon spreading by telegram throughout the Americas and, of course, to Washington.

"What? They didn't come to the East Coast? Roosevelt asked in surprise.

"Yes, we were misled by the Notice." Admiral Kim hated it, "Today, more than 10 ships have sent out distress signals, saying that they have been attacked by Japanese planes or German planes, and almost all of them have been sunk. ”

"Bastard!" Roosevelt cursed in a rage, and he had recently become so angry that he had cursed more in a few days than in all the years combined, and the doctor had repeatedly reminded him to exercise restraint.

After a long while, he gradually calmed down: "Where is the enemy fleet now?" What other military power do we have in that area? ”

"The exact location is not clear, and from the position of the ships attacked, the enemy fleet is about 1,300 kilometers south of Bermuda."

"Can the planes on the island bomb them?"

"Theoretically the B-25 could, but the distance was too far, plus the horizontal bombers were inefficient, and the bombing did not make practical sense. The enemy has 5 aircraft carriers, and the B-25 bombers we have deployed on the island of Bermuda are only 12 of them, which is of no avail. ”

"Isn't there any other base available?"

"There is also an air fleet in Puerto Rico, about 400-500 kilometers away from the enemy fleet, but the planes on it are very old, almost F2A, Hawk and so on, and they don't play any role." Admiral Kim sighed, "The United States' military investment in South America is still too small. ”

As he was talking, new news came that the Puerto Rican air base reported that in the afternoon it had been attacked by Japanese and German planes, and that all the troops had been destroyed, that the airfields, radar stations, and coastal fortifications had been completely destroyed, that seven F2A buffaloes had taken off forcibly during the air raid, and that all of them had been shot down, and that the rest of the planes had been destroyed on the ground, and that the enemy had almost no losses -- in just one day, 70,000 tons of ships and one air base had been destroyed.

Roosevelt looked at the Central American and Caribbean countries on the map and did not say anything for a long time: the Central American countries almost do not have any strong military strength, on the one hand, these countries are too small to support large military construction, and on the other hand, the United States has always regarded the region as its own backyard, how can it tolerate them becoming stronger and bigger in terms of national defense? But now it is the turn of the United States to bear these hardships alone, not to mention that they cannot deal with this Axis Fleet, which is so large that even the United States is terrified, even if it is only one-third or even one-quarter of the force, it is not something that the Central American countries can compete with.

There are a few countries in South America that still have a little strength, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are all moderately developed countries, but as far as their aging and outdated navy and air force are concerned, all of them are not opponents of the Germans or the Japanese, and the Axis fleet is now completely overwhelming, and it can go sideways in South America. Moreover, Roosevelt knew that Chile and Argentina had always leaned towards Germany ideologically, and that they were not very interested in American policy, and that there were many people of German descent in Chile, and that except for Brazil, which was willing to stand with the United States against the Axis, the rest of the countries did not even think about it -- maybe they were still waiting to see the United States make a fool of themselves.

But even Brazil, the largest and largest army in South America, is a place that can be bulldozed by 3-4 German armored divisions in his eyes, and if you want to deal with the Axis powers, you can't count on these countries, and you have to come by the United States itself.

He sighed and asked worriedly, "If they continue to break diplomatic relations in the south, what can we do to stop them?" Do you need Admiral Ingersoll to lead the fleet in pursuit? ”

"It's too late for the fleet to pursue, the Atlantic Fleet is at least 1,500 nautical miles away from them, and it will take 4 days to move at full speed." Admiral King thought for a moment and said, "We still have a little military power in Brazil, which may be able to play a positive role, but it is still far from the Axis Fleet. ”

As a reward for Brazil's entry into the alliance, the United States set up a military base in the northeast of Brazil and helped the country train its army, and then forgave some of its debts, which gave Brazil a benefit of $200 million (author's note: Brazil has historically sent expeditionary forces to participate in wars in the Italian direction, and the results were very mediocre), although Roosevelt did not know the size and capabilities of this military base in Brazil, but listening to Admiral King's tone, it seems that Brazil can do much.

"Okay. Let the merchant ships of the Allies immediately hide and not be senselessly sunk by the Germans or the Japanese, and then send a telegram to the Atlantic Fleet for their operational opinion. ”

Admiral King frowned and looked at the map again, and said to himself: "Oh, we still have ...... in Panama" In the middle of his words, he suddenly couldn't say any more, and his eyes looked directly at the map, not to mention how scary that look was, Roosevelt's heart began to hair.

"What's going on?" Seeing that the other party's face became more and more solemn, and then almost turned blue, Roosevelt was very nervous -- Admiral Kim was a figure who had seen the world, even if he heard that the Japanese were coming to attack the East Coast, he had not lost his temper so much, and now this can only mean that something has happened.

"It's broken!" Admiral Kim suddenly exclaimed, "The Japanese devils are probably heading for the Panama Canal......

"What?" Roosevelt was stunned, as were the others in the office, and in an instant they were collectively petrified. Everyone knows the importance of the canal to the United States, this is the real hub for maintaining the operation of the US Navy, otherwise the United States would not go to Panama to forcibly seize the canal zone and build a country within a state, once the canal is destroyed, it means that the two theaters of the Pacific and Atlantic will be separated, and if warships want to support the Far East theater, they must go around South America, and the time will be much longer, and the combat efficiency will be greatly reduced.

"What now? Can we hold there? Roosevelt panicked. However, when he thought that Panama was home to the Southern Command of the US Army, and that there were more than 10,000 troops stationed in it for a long time, his heart was a little more steady-no matter how capable the Axis Fleet was, could not go ashore.

However, Admiral Kim still called on the spot to inquire in detail about the deployment and equipment of the troops, and was told that in addition to the more than 10,000 army forces, Panama also has more than 80 aircraft, a number of coastal defense facilities and radar stations, and more than 50 tanks -- which is very good if it is placed elsewhere.

"Mobilize troops to Florida today, send reinforcements to the Canal Zone tomorrow, take a plane, and if you're lucky, you will have two days to strengthen your defenses." Admiral King's mind spun quickly, and he made a decision on the spot, and his mind instantly remembered that Nicaragua still had a relatively well-equipped airport to use, and added, "We must find a way to immediately mobilize a group of army attack planes to assist in the defense of the Nicaraguan airport." (To be continued.) )