"From my point of view, I think it's too risky." Tan Renhao honestly reported his thoughts to the chief of staff, "I admit that the Panama Canal is very important. I also admit that as long as the Panama Canal is controlled, the gas of the United States will be exhausted. But we also have to admit that if we want to build the Panama Canal, we can't do it now. ”

"There's nothing that can't be done." Gan Yongxing shook his head, "At the beginning, didn't you think that a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was impossible?" As a result, you managed to do it, and you did it brilliantly, and you pushed the Fifth Fleet to a dead end, how did you do that? ”

"Chief of Staff, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor is not the same as the attack on the Panama Canal." Tan Renhao touched his forehead, he didn't want to have a debate with the chief of staff.

"Who said the Panama Canal was going to be attacked? Also, what's different? Gan Yongxing sat on the chair next to Tan Renhao, "Our purpose is only to make it impossible for the United States to use the Panama Canal, in my opinion, except for the geographical location, the situation of the enemy, this is not fundamentally different from the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor itself." In addition, the defense of the Panama Canal is definitely not comparable to that of Pearl Harbor, and at least in the next few months, it is unlikely that the US military will turn the Panama Canal Zone into another fortress, and it will take time for them to mobilize troops and adjust their defenses. And that's our chance. ”

Tan Renhao still thinks it's unlikely.

"If we take the chance, we can do it." Gan Yongxing patted Tan Renhao on the shoulder, and then stood up, "In this way, let's not discuss the issues that may still be impossible, and deal with some details first, and we will naturally know if we can strangle the throat of the United States." ”

"What does that require me to do?"

"In accordance with the requirements of a surprise attack on the Panama Canal within three months and a successful blockade of the Panama Canal, a rough campaign plan was drawn up." Gan Yongxing assigned a specific task to Tan Renhao, "The first thing you need to do is not to plan a campaign operation, but to determine how many troops we need to invest." What you need to be prepared for. As for the specific combat operations, we will discuss this in two days. ”

Tan Renhao knew that the conversation was over, and he stood up. "Then I'll hurry up and do this first, when will it be completed?"

"Give you two days." Gan Yongxing sent Tan Renhao to the door, "The principal called me last night, and he will be back the day after tomorrow." When the headmaster returns, let the headmaster decide what we do. ”

Tan Renhao didn't say much, and said goodbye to Gan Yongxing. So he went to his office. The room was spotlessly clean, and Duchenne helped him make the tea. After taking care of some basic matters in the office, Tan Renhao went to the reference room to find some basic documents, and then returned to his office. To complete the preliminary analysis of a large-scale campaign operation within two days, the time was quite tight, and Tan Renhao did not dare to delay it too much.

The first thing that needs to be determined is the size of the forces to be committed, which includes both the fleet and the Marine Corps. The number of fleets and marines to be invested is determined by the basic requirements of the campaign site and the specific situation of the enemy. The demands of the campaign had been set, the most basic of which was the blockade of the Panama Canal. And the highest demand is to occupy the entire Panama Canal. If the highest requirements cannot be met. It would be better to destroy the infrastructure in the canal so that it can be paralyzed. The biggest problem is the state of defense of the US military.

The information in this area is relatively limited, and Tan Renhao has to carry out the subsequent work through assumptions. If the U.S. military strength in the Panama Canal Zone is more than 50,000. And if a relatively complete defensive position has been built, and an aviation force that is not too small has been deployed, then it is necessary to invest in a fleet that is not too small. Through the most basic method, Tan Renhao quickly determined that at least two aircraft carrier task forces needed to be invested, and it would be great if one battleship task force could be added, and this was basically the total strength of the First Fleet.

After determining the size of the fleet that needs to be invested, it is necessary to determine the issue of logistical support. And the fleet could not have departed from the rear, if it was from the port of Apra. Only battleships and aircraft carriers reached the waters near the Panama Canal without refueling, and the range of other warships did not meet this requirement. Therefore, the fleet could only depart from Midway, or even from Kauai. Even then, the destroyer still had to be replenished halfway, and the cruiser had a barely endurance. Finally, if we take into account the fact that the battleship retains at least 30% of the fuel, then the fleet will have to refuel at least twice, preferably three, on the way back and forth from the battle. This would ensure that in the event of an eventuality, the fleet would have enough fuel to return to the waters under the control of the Imperial Navy.

It is not difficult to theoretically calculate the amount of fuel that needs to be consumed, but that is only theoretical, and in fact the fuel consumed by the fleet in combat operations is likely to be between one and a half and two times the theoretical calculated value. According to the maximum proportion, then the two aircraft carrier task forces need to consume 150,000 tons of heavy fuel, and if one battleship task force is added, the heavy fuel oil required will exceed 250,000 tons. This amount of heavy oil needs to be transported by 15 to 25 10,000-ton fast supply ships.

In terms of ammunition consumption, in order to ensure that there is no shortage of ammunition in the operation, it is necessary to prepare at least two ammunition replenishments, while an aircraft carrier task force needs 3,000 to 12,000 tons of ammunition for one replenishment. And a battleship task force needs 2,500 to 8,000 tons of ammunition for one replenishment. If calculated on the maximum scale, two resupply would require 32,000 tons of ammunition, which would require at least five fast ammunition carriers to deliver it.

These fast combat support ships can form at least three supply fleets, which means that three supply fleets are needed. Considering that the endurance of the supply fleet itself is also limited, it is necessary to have two additional fast supply ships for each supply fleet. In this way, each rapid supply fleet will be oversized.

The situation on the Marine Corps side is even more uncertain, and if the goal is to destroy, whether or not to commit the Marine Corps is not critical. If the purpose is a blockade, then the Marine Corps is not needed at all. But if the ultimate goal is to occupy, then it needs to be put into the Marine Corps, and it is a Marine Corps that cannot be smaller than the US defensive force, and it is best to reach twice the US defensive force, then there must be at least 7 or 8 Marine Divisions!

If calculated according to the maximum input, six large landing ships are needed to transport a division of marines, that is, its equipment, and another four 10,000-ton cargo ships. Then 8 marine divisions will need 80 landing ships and 10,000-ton ships. That's enough to form two large landing fleets and transport fleets.

Ammunition and supplies are needed for Marine Corps operations. And all this had to be transported from the rear. If the battle lasts for a long time, then it is also necessary to consider the heavy equipment that will be used to replenish the losses. Coupled with the large amount of ammunition and supplies consumed, this supply problem is even more tricky. Tan Renhao has no way to estimate the time of the battle, he can only measure the combat operation of attacking Panama Islands by the difficulty of attacking Kauai, according to this standard, 1 Marine Division needs to consume 12 to 150,000 tons of combat materials in one month of fighting, then 8 Marine Divisions need 100 to 1.2 million tons of combat materials, which requires a large transport fleet of 50 ships to run back and forth at least twice!

Logistics is not so simple. If the blockade is to be carried out, it is necessary to consider the replacement of the lost combat aircraft for the fleet. If the loss rate of fighters of a fleet aircraft carrier in combat is one and a half percent, then an escort aircraft carrier can only replenish fighters for two aircraft carriers, and a total of three escort aircraft carriers need to be arranged to form a supplementary fleet. And in order to make the replenishment uninterrupted, it is necessary to arrange for at least three such replenishment fleets to travel between the front and the rear. This requires a total of 9 escort carriers, and each escort carrier must be equipped with at least 2 destroyers and 1 fast tanker, which requires 18 destroyers and 9 fast tankers.

Also, taking into account the fact that wounded will occur in battle. The medical setup on the battleship is not enough to complete all the salvage work. Therefore, it was necessary to arrange a hospital ship. In addition, combat units will be rotated to the rear to recuperate. In the Panama Canal Zone, there were no military bases belonging to the Imperial Navy, so these personnel had to return to the rear ships to rest, which necessitated other ships, such as requisitioned cruise ships, and several recreational boats specially adapted by the Navy.

Anyway, there are still many issues to consider, Tan Renhao was busy until midnight, and he has not yet figured out the logistical problems. The next day, Tan Renhao went to the data room again and found a lot of information, and basically solved the big problem of logistics support. But because most of the parameters are estimated by Tan Renhao. Most of the possible scenarios were also predicted by Tan Renhao, so there are still many problems in logistics that have not been solved.

Actually, the biggest problem is not logistics. After the end of the battle on the Australian mainland, the Imperial Navy has been able to draw a large number of logistics support ships, so it is not a big problem to mobilize dozens or hundreds of ships to carry out logistics support tasks. War materials are not a problem, the price of weapons and ammunition has been reduced a lot, and the Imperial Navy has a large surplus in military spending in 27 years, and spending more ammunition will not make the Navy shy. The biggest problem is intelligence, especially the basic situation of the US military's defense forces in the Panama Canal Zone. Whether the United States will strengthen the defense of the Canal Zone or not, these are blank questions.

This is also a problem that Tan Renhao can't solve, and the land information he has in his hands is quite limited. As a result, he went to Gan Yongxing that afternoon.

"You mean intelligence?"

"Yes, Chief of Staff, without the support of enough intelligence, it is impossible for us to complete the campaign planning work, and we don't even know how many troops to invest, how much supplies to consume, and when to launch the campaign." Tan Renhao sighed, "This is not a problem we can solve, it seems that we have to let you come forward and put some pressure on the intelligence department." ”

"I'll consider this." Gan Yongxing brought the teacup over, "Other than that, are there any other questions?" ”

"The main thing is time, the three-month preparation time is too hasty, and now the fighting in the Hawaiian Islands is not over, if the troops are directly drawn from the front line, it will definitely directly affect the combat operations of attacking the Hawaiian Islands." Tan Renhao took the teacup, "And now the first task force and the second task force need time to repair the damaged battleships, the third task force will definitely have to rest, and almost all battleships and cruisers will have to replace their gun barrels, even the entire artillery, which also takes time." There is also the mobilization of marines, targeted training, stockpiling of supplies, the assembling of transport fleets, and the deployment of landing fleets, all of which do not take time. ”

"But they can be done at the same time."

"Yes, then our preparation time is determined by the one that takes the most time." Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, "Now it seems that the biggest problem is the landing fleet, as well as the maintenance work of the second task force. ”

Gan Yongxing thought for a while and said: "I will be responsible for the affairs of the landing fleet, and in addition, I will contact the logistics department, and the maintenance work of the second task force will be ranked first." Plus, your fleet will also be prioritized. Tomorrow, I will contact Liao Hanxiang and get the Third Task Force to withdraw as soon as possible. ”

"In that case, we will need at least two months to complete the preparations. If we were to attack Panama in three months, we would have to get the fleet out in two and a half months, perhaps two months later, and the time would be quite tight, and any of the preparations would be affected by the operation. ”

"Don't worry, I'll take care of these things myself. And it also allows us to get more information, doesn't it? ”

Tan Renhao nodded, more than two months is enough time for the intelligence department to collect intelligence.

"Now, do you think we have a chance to get the Panama Canal?"

Tan Renhao laughed. "Chief of Staff, I still feel that it is unrealistic to attack the Panama Canal, but according to the current situation, I think that the blockade of the canal is not a big problem, and if the conditions are sufficient, we can even destroy some important facilities at the southern end of the canal and paralyze the canal, but it is still quite difficult to capture the canal zone."

Gan Yongxing also laughed. "Well, I'll think about that. The principal will be back tomorrow, so you go and get ready, and we'll discuss it with the principal when the time comes. ”

"That's what the headmaster meant?"

Gan Yongxing nodded. "Okay, let me leave this report here for the time being, you go get a more complete one, remember to come early tomorrow, you know, the principal is a very punctual person, he doesn't want his students to be late."

Tan Renhao immediately said goodbye to Gan Yongxing, and it seemed that he still had to work overtime tonight.