At 7:57, the air battle was basically over, the Axis group won with a score of 18:98, the remaining US planes poured into Colombia in twos and threes, and the Axis fighters also began to return to the carrier to replenish their fuel bombs, but they did not expect that a few B-25s had left the battlefield in advance to scatter reconnaissance......

"The fifth attack wave failed, no enemy aircraft carriers were found, but it was attacked by enemy fighter units, and Colonel Brooke was missing......"

"The surviving planes of our army went to Colombia to land, and the B-25 continued to search for enemy aircraft carrier formations using the advantage of range. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

"The B-25 reported that the enemy battleship formation was no longer in the Canal Zone, and that its approximate location was 260 kilometers north-west of Barranquilla, Colombia...... Combined with the reports of the Panamanian defenders and the paralysis of the canal zone, it is analyzed that the above-mentioned missing battleships have taken the initiative to sink the Panama Canal. ”

Although the photographs of Panama's paralysis have not yet been conclusively seen, it is not difficult to speculate on the current situation if we combine many factors, and when we heard that Horikichi used two battleships with a tonnage of up to 80,000 tons to block the canal, everyone gasped - the original intention of the joint staff was to damage as many enemy warships as possible in order to slow down their movements, but now it is good that this order has prompted the enemy to make up their minds: the Japanese directly blocked the canal with wounded warships.

"How long will it take us to fix the canal?"

"This depends on the on-site assessment and can be between 24-36 months."

Hearing this number, Roosevelt instinctively frowned: "This time is too long, it will delay a lot of things, is there an easier way to dredge it?" Even if the capital ship cannot be passed, it is good to restore the navigation of the 10,000-ton transport ship. ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to be less than 24 months -- the locks are the narrowest and most vulnerable part of the canal, and now the enemy has not only completely destroyed the locks, but also blew up the canal -- if you want to dredge it, it will be necessary to re-dig this section."

"Or can we find another place to dig a canal, like the Grand Canal of Nicaragua?"

The idea of the Grand Canal in Nicaragua is larger than that of Panama, and the Admiralty has assessed that if it is the Nicaragua Canal, then a warship of Montana's level can go directly, but Admiral King shook his head like a rattle: "This is even more difficult, even if we can work overtime to speed up the construction of the speed during the war, but the time for exploration, design, and planning cannot be saved -- this time is more than two years." ”

"Well, let the professional construction department evaluate the Panama business." Roosevelt sighed and asked instead, "Is it reliable for the enemy to have 7 aircraft carriers?" ”

"Basically reliable...... The Japanese originally had five aircraft carriers, and our intelligence system in Italy reported that Italy also had two aircraft carriers, one called the Aquila and the other the Harrier Eagle - the Aquila was under the control of the Germans and was not currently in the harbor, probably in the enemy fleet this time, and we lost five intelligence officers in order to obtain this information. ”

Roosevelt nodded: "Their sacrifice is always worth remembering, but what about another one?" ”

"It's probably an oil tanker or the Commander Turst that Germany got from the French, they just look like aircraft carriers on the outside, but they can't actually play the role of aircraft carriers." Admiral Kim added, "This would explain why the Japanese, the Germans, had so many planes, especially fighters." ”

The Americans still do not understand that the ratio of aircraft loss exchange between themselves and the Axis is 1:5 and 1:6, thinking that it is at most 1:3 (excluding the ground damage and the loss caused by accidents), and the difference in the loss exchange ratio of pilots is even greater, exceeding 1:10 -- the number of Axis pilots has not exceeded 50 people (groups) so far! Originally, the proportion was slightly lower, but when the Marine Brigade was fiercely attacking the Panamanian defenders and the people were panicking, three more He-218 crews who were captured after parachuting took advantage of the unpreparedness of the defenders to sneak out, and then were taken back to the mobile fleet by the overjoyed Tsukahara, and for the combined fleet, even 50 people could not afford to lose.

"But where is the enemy's aircraft carrier formation?" Roosevelt asked distressedly, "This battle has progressed so far that we have lost nearly 700 aircraft, more than 500 pilots (groups), and even the commanders who led the team have lost two in succession, and we have also lost most of the Panamanian defenders and a canal, but the results of the battle are very limited, only 2 battleships and some small warships have been sunk, this kind of record is difficult to explain to the people, and these aircraft carriers must be sunk......"

In fact, everyone knows that Roosevelt's figures have only shrunk and not exaggerated, and in order to step up the transportation of fuel and ammunition to Nicaragua in the past few days, many transport planes have made almost continuous sorties, and although the supply of materials can barely be guaranteed, due to personnel fatigue, aircraft malfunctions, operational errors, accidents, and so on, more than 20 transport planes have been lost alone -- this loss rate has almost caught up with the Hump route, and this kind of loss is only included in the accident because there is no enemy intervention, and it is not regarded as combat losses.

Everyone was gloomy at this, and no one was speechless, and their faces were hot -- they did not know that the Japanese and German fleets were so capable of fighting, let alone that the Japanese and German pilots were so strong.

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

This was like a shot in the arm that had been injected into the venue, and everyone immediately cheered up, and Admiral King looked at the map again and again, and finally reported: "It is expected that the enemy fleet will be able to enter the range of the Atlantic Fleet this evening, and the problem now is to find the enemy." ”

According to Admiral King's analysis logic, Fletcher's aircraft carrier group will be able to reach the waters between Jamaica and Haiti at about 16:00 today, and even if the enemy's artillery formation retreats eastward, the actual distance between them will be controlled at about 700 kilometers. Based on this stance and judgment, and in view of the heavy losses at the Nicaraguan base, the top level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed to postpone the launch of the sixth attack wave until the afternoon, and to launch an attack together with the aircraft carriers as much as possible, and he planned to send 120 planes from the Nicaraguan base and 230 planes from the aircraft carrier group, a total of 350 planes to destroy the main force of the Axis Fleet.

This plan and strategy are very good, and the two sides have reached a unified opinion: regardless of the enemy's battleship formation, the first attack on those 7 aircraft carriers, but the question is, where are those aircraft carriers? (To be continued.) )