The decision made in the Oval Office of the White House soon turned into a sprawling fleet moving rapidly south along the Mexican coastline -- led by Raymond Brown. Task Force 16 under the command of Vice Admiral Spruance!

2 Yorktown-class aircraft carriers (Enterprise, Yorktown), 1 Independence-class aircraft carrier (Independence), 2 Northampton-class heavy cruisers (Northampton, Chicago), 2 heavy cruisers USS Pencra (USS Pensacla, USS Salt Lake City), 2 Brooklyn-class light cruisers (USS Brooklyn, USS Phoenix), 2 Cleveland-class light cruisers (USS Cleveland, USS Columbia), and a 16.4 destroyer detachment of 19 destroyers. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

There were 30 warships of all types, equivalent to 75% of the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet, which was rushing to the waters near Clipperton Atoll. And that's not all the U.S. Navy's forces in the waters off Panama, including the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific.

If you include the 9th Fleet stationed in Panama City, the 11th Task Force, which is the main force of the 2nd Fleet, and the 3rd Fleet, which is headed by Admiral Halsey, which is arriving from Mayport Naval Base on the Atlantic coast.

The number of American warships near the Panama Canal must have exceeded the entire number of warships owned by the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the total number of aircraft carriers of various types is as much as 16!

As the world's number one industrial power, the shipbuilding industry in the United States is finally beginning to show its might.

After a series of naval defeats in 41 and 42 years, the size of the US Navy fleet has not shrunk, but has swelled rapidly! Aircraft carriers, light cruisers, and destroyers have all been launched from the slipway like dumplings, becoming the new main force of the American two-ocean fleet!

However, the most satisfying thing for Vice Admiral Spruance, commander of Task Force 16, was not the dumpling-like new warships, but the cutting-edge carrier-based fighters such as the F4U and F6F.

While they weren't necessarily up against the legendary German jets, the Japanese Zero were certainly no match – as evidenced by the many aerial battles that took place in the Pacific theater from the winter of 1942 onwards. Whether it is the Japanese Zero or the German FW-190 carrier-based version, the F4U and F6F can fight on par.

Therefore, Spruance is very sure that as long as the United States can implement the strategy of "first in the Pacific" and concentrate 30-50 aircraft carriers of various types (including escort carriers) and more than 2,000 F4U and F6F fighters, then the goal of counterattacking the Hawaiian Islands can be completely completed in 1943!

However, just when the United States was about to launch a major counteroffensive in the Pacific, the Germans on the other side of the Atlantic jumped out first, which is really hateful.

"Any news on the Caribbean?" Spruance turned to Colonel George Murray, the leader of the 16.5th Carrier Group, who was also the chief of staff of Task Force 16, who was also the chief of staff of Task Force 16.

"Another fight was fought over Guyana, this time with the loss of 4 B-17s...... But the jets of the Germans are not invincible either! Colonel Murray replied as he handed the report to Spruance.

He was talking about a tentative operation that confirmed the power of the German jets with the loss of four B-17s, and also tested the superior airspace of the aircraft - this time the B-17 group burst into the sky over Guyana from 5,000-6,000 meters, and four German jets launched a dive attack at them from a high altitude, and four were shot down with a one-and-go tactic.

But then these 4 German jets were chased by the P51, and if it weren't for the fact that there was a Fokker Zero circling in the airspace below 5000 meters, which was also a headache for the P51, 2 of the 4 German jets would have been knocked out by the P51 (this is because the jet engine acceleration at this time is a bit slow).

It is clear that the superior airspace of the German jets is at high altitudes and extremely high altitudes, and the applicable tactic is to leave with one hit, and there is no advantage in the airspace below 7000 meters, and even the Fokker Zero is required to provide cover.

……

"Did the Americans' Grand Fleet get to the Panama Canal?"

While Spruance's attention was drawn to ME262, Jizaburo Ozawa was worried about the missing U.S. Third Fleet.

The U.S. Third Fleet had been under the radar of German seaplanes and submarines before entering the Caribbean, but as soon as it entered the Caribbean, the German seaplanes did not dare to enter, and the submarine sent to track it had lost contact a few days earlier (allowing the American destroyer to take out).

And then Halsey's Third Fleet seemed to evaporate, and neither the Japanese nor the Germans knew where this big fish went?

However, Ozawa, who was rushing to the waters near Clipperton Island, was not worried about not being able to find the American fleet at first. Because Ozawa believed that they were going to the Panama Canal, and the German intelligence agencies had already laid a lot of eyelines in the canal zone -- so a large fleet had to pass through, and those German spies would have been able to find out if they were not blind.

So what Ozawa really worried about was that his first mobile fleet would not be able to reach the vicinity of the Panama Canal in time and miss the best opportunity to launch an air attack.

But now it was March 16, and Ozawa's fleet had passed through the waters near Clipperton Atoll the previous evening, and the vanished American fleet still hadn't appeared—and if you counted the distance and time, they should have arrived by now.

"Haven't arrived yet," Furumura Keizo shook his head, "It's time to count......"

As he spoke, Captain Hersmann, the liaison officer of the German Navy, walked briskly into the bridge command center of the aircraft carrier Akagi, holding the telegram he had just received.

"Mr. Commander, Mr. Chief of Staff," he reported in English, "an American fleet of 2 Independence-class aircraft carriers and 3 Borg-class escort carriers may well have left Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville. ”

"What? 5 more aircraft carriers? When Jizaburo Ozawa heard the news, his scalp couldn't help but tingle a little.

It is likely that the U.S. fleet that left the Norfolk base and entered the Caribbean Sea before had five aircraft carriers, and the Americans also had a fleet in the Panama Canal, as well as three escort carriers, plus a fleet from Jacksonville...... That's 13 aircraft carriers!

And these 13 aircraft carriers are certainly not all the aircraft carriers of the Americans...... There are so many aircraft carriers for the Americans!

"Your Excellency Commander," seeing Jizaburo Ozawa's "grandma face" wrinkled, Little Hersman should definitely say something comforting, "According to intelligence, the Americans' Independence-class light aircraft carriers and Borg-class escort aircraft carriers do not have many carrier-based aircraft, the former has only 30 aircraft, and the latter has 28. Although the Americans most likely have concentrated 10-15 aircraft carriers near the Panama Canal, most of them are light carriers and escort carriers, and the Essex-class aircraft carriers with 100 carriers are at most 3. ”

100 carriers!

Hearing the number of ships carried by the Essex-class, Jizaburo Ozawa couldn't help but sigh. There are 300 carrier-based 3 Essex-class, and the remaining 10 light aircraft carriers (escort carriers) also have at least 290 carriers, that is, 590 carrier-based, how can there be 530 carriers?

And how much is the first mobile fleet? There are only 496 aircraft on the 9 aircraft carriers, which is 34 fewer than the Americans.

Moreover, the Americans have deployed at least 600 commonly used aircraft in the Panama Canal Zone, and if the "windboat attack on the United States" these days does not force the United States to draw Panamanian planes, then the ratio of the number of planes between Japan and the United States in the Panama battle will be at least 1:2!

What worries Ozawa even more is not the comparison of the number of planes in the upcoming Panama Campaign, where the First Mobile Fleet, although only half the enemy's aircraft, has top-notch ace pilots. These elite pilots, who had been accumulating since before the outbreak of the war, were more than enough to make up for the numerical disadvantage of about 1 times.

However, the huge gap in the number of aircraft commonly used by Japan and the United States is what Ozawa Jizaburo is most worried about, and due to the tight oil supply, the scale of training of Japanese pilots has never been able to rise.

So now the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the Japanese army and naval aviation is less than 7,000, while the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the United States, Canada and Australia and other countries is said to be more than 28,000, and it is still growing!

Ozawa Jizaburo knew that at this stage of the war with the United States, Japan's first-mover advantage was basically exhausted. The United States has completely shifted to a wartime state, and if Japan does not achieve another great victory in the Battle of Panama, then the war between Japan and the United States will soon enter the stage of national strength competition.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the radar has detected an enemy aircraft!"

Just when Jizaburo Ozawa was worried about the prospects of the war, the radar officer on the aircraft carrier Akagi suddenly reported loudly: "Azimuth 74, number 1, distance 120, altitude 2000 ......"

"Your Excellency Commander, it must be an American seaplane!" Keizo Furumura immediately said to Ozawa, "Let the Nao-Cover Machine expel you." ”

"Send 4 Zeros." Ozawa commanded in a low voice.

He didn't show signs of panic, and given the location of the First Mobile Fleet, it was normal to be spotted.

"Commander, now we are 1,300 kilometers from the Galapagos Islands and 2,200 kilometers from the Panama Canal." "We can attack the Galapagos Islands first, and then bomb the Panama Canal. ”

Jizaburo Ozawa shook his head and said, "There is no need to attack the Galapagos Islands, as long as we maintain a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers from the Galapagos Islands, the planes there will not pose a threat to us." We...... Continue towards the Panama Canal! (To be continued.) )