The speed of the Marine attack exceeded Tan Renhao's estimate, and on the night of the landing, the 27th Division captured the most important port, Balboa Harbor, and allowed the first ships carrying equipment and ammunition to enter the port. A few hours later, the 31st Division captured the U.S. Army Defense Command in Panama City, which was originally the presidential palace of Panama City, announcing the successful capture of Panama City by the Marines. On the morning of the next day, the 1st Division of the 27th Division also laid down the Rodman Military Port on the other side of the canal. What made Tan Renhao unbelievable the most was that the four commandos sent by Han Shaofeng had completed their tasks.

Tan Renhao had to admit that Han Shaofeng's adventurous operation was a success, among the four commandos, the casualties of the two commandos responsible for seizing the No. 3 and No. 4 locks in the south were not very large, but almost all the casualties of the two commandos responsible for seizing the No. 1 and No. 2 locks in the north were casualties, of which only 8 officers and men survived in the capture of the No. 1 lock, and all of them were seriously wounded, and the reinforcements arrived at the ground when the US troops had already entered the camp and were preparing to blast the ground. Twenty-three of Yang Chengfu's troops survived, and all 21 were seriously wounded except for two medical officers, including 54 of Yang Chengfu's officers and soldiers.

If personal feelings are put aside, and in terms of overall effectiveness, the loss of commando land is perfectly acceptable. Tan Renhao didn't know Yang Chengfu, so he thought so too, and with less than 100 casualties, he successfully captured four vital locks to ensure the normal navigation of the Panama Canal. It was definitely a great victory. But it is really necessary to make the Panama Canal able to make Huaxia Chinese Net ¥ Han Shao provide

Use. There's still a lot to be done.

Fighting in the Canal Zone lasted until 23 September. Han Shaofeng also received three reinforcements from the ground marine divisions on this day, and the first five marine divisions were all put into battle. The special geographical environment of the Canal Zone caused a lot of trouble for the attacking marines. The U.S. forces blew up almost all of the bridges and laid a large number of mines to stop the advance of the Imperial Marines. For the Marines, fighting in areas with dense rivers is what they do best. Originally, the Marine Corps was an offensive force from the water to the land. It is precisely because of the special geographical conditions here that the scale of the battle is not very large, and there are very few battles at the battalion level, and almost all of them are fighting between the company and platoon level troops on both sides.

Han Shaofengdi's main task is to take control of the entire canal zone as soon as possible, and then "liberate" Panama. Tan Renhao left the matter of the fleet operation to Hao Dongjue, and he had more important matters to deal with, which was to re-establish a government in Panama. In this way, the Tang Empire's local army could be legitimized to operate in Panama and be supported by the local population.

The previous Panamanian government was more pro-Tang, mainly because Panama had been trying to take back control of the Canal Lands and withdraw U.S. troops from Panama. Before the outbreak of the war, the United States did not attach great importance to the pro-Tang government in Panama, after all, Panama was half a world away from the Tang Empire. Moreover, the influence of the Tang Empire in the American continent has been seriously declining, 20 years ago. The Tang Empire was only symbolically stationed in a few small countries in Central America, with 2,000 people stationed in embassies and consulates in those countries. In the eyes of the United States. As long as the Tang Empire did not return to the Americas, the Panamanian government would not dare to be hostile to the United States, and the canal would not be threatened.

After the United States entered the war, the problem of the Panama Canal Zone came to the fore, and one of the key factors was . Panama wanted to take this opportunity to regain jurisdiction over the Canal Zone and drive out the Americans.25 At the beginning of the 25th, the U.S. military entered Panama City, the only place in the Canal Zone that was not controlled by the U.S. military, and was also the capital of Panamanian Territory. At that time, the U.S. military received information that the Panamanian government had entered into a private alliance with the Tang Empire. Prepare to attack the Canal Zone and blow up the canal so that the U.S. forces can't use it. For the United States. It is unacceptably unacceptable. It is also intolerable. Therefore. Before the Panamanian government did not take any hostile action, the US military brazenly sent troops to capture Panama City, and captured the President Ma president who had no time to flee in one fell swoop, and forced the Panamanian government army to surrender in less than ten days, and the US army quickly controlled the whole of Panama!

At that time, the Panamanian government did want to ally with the Tang Empire, and in exchange, Panama sent troops to destroy the canal. The Tang Empire wanted to recognize Panama's sovereignty over the canal after the war. Just three days before the U.S. military occupied Panama City and captured Panama President Ma, the Panamanian ambassador to Tang secretly met with Xue Xiyue. But the problem was that at that time, the Tang Empire had not signed any secret alliance agreement with Panama at all, and it was impossible for an ambassador to sign a military alliance treaty with the Tang Empire on behalf of Panama. Huaxia Novel Network

Judging from the actual situation, at the beginning of the 25th century, the Tang Empire did not have two sides in the Pacific Theater and fought to the death on the Mariana Islands, and the Panama Canal was thousands of miles away, and the Tang Empire did not have any ability to destroy the canal, nor could it support the Panamanian government army to deal with the US troops stationed in the Canal Zone. It can even be said that at that time, the Tang Empire did not have any plan for the Panama Canal, nor did it have the necessity to do so.

The occupation of Panama by the United States is obviously without any legitimacy, and there will be no Allied Powers that recognize the occupation of Panama by the United States, so Panama is part of the territory of the United States, and even the United States itself has not declared the annexation of Panama. In times of war, this is nothing either. At that time, the Tang Empire did not attach much importance to this matter, and it was only when the Panamanian ambassador came to the door that it announced the aggressiveness of the US military to occupy Panama within the Allied Powers, and accepted the Panamanian ambassador's request. Establishment of the Panamanian government-in-exile in the Don Empire.

The problem lies in the fact that the legitimate government of Panama was already under the control of the US military at that time. And the President Ma of Panama is also under the supervision of the United States. Led by the Panamanian ambassador to Tang, plus a group of government officials who fled from Panama, government military officers established a government-in-exile in the Tang Empire. The Tang Empire naturally recognized and supported the government-in-exile. But the United States will certainly support democratically elected governments in the territories it controls.

Right now. The Tang Empire's local army fought back to Panama. And also defeated the American army. Although the battle is not over yet. But Panama has always been an independent country recognized by all countries, a sovereign state, so the country needs a legitimate government. If only to arrange for the government-in-exile to return to Panama. It would be difficult to get the support of the Panamanian civilian population, because it was only a temporary government-in-exile. If all the government of Panama is used

Collected by Chinese Chinese netizens

The words of the officials are not in line with the fundamental interests of the Tang Empire. Therefore, it is necessary to find a reasonable solution.

The most intractable issue is that Panama's democratically elected president is still under house arrest in the United States. Whereas Panama is a presidential country. The President is the head of state. If the president is not there, then what kind of government is formed? Therefore, the first place to be elected is the new president of Panama, and it is a president who is widely recognized and widely supported. If it is in peacetime, this should be elected by referendum. But it was a time of war, and many Panamanians had gone into exile in neighboring countries. And there are no conditions for holding referendum elections.

This problem was kicked to the Navy by the Imperial Cabinet, and the Navy Command kicked it to Tan Renhao, and asked Tan Renhao to find a way to solve it on his own at the front.

"What does that mean?" Hao Dongjue was very unhappy, "We are not government officials, this is a political matter, how can we let the army deal with it?" ”

Tan Renhao also found it difficult to understand, but he already roughly understood the reason why the government did not come forward to deal with it." Sit down first, don't get so excited, excitement will solve the problem? ”

"Ren Hao. I don't think you'd better get into such a fuss." ■ Dong Kaku sat down, "We are not politicians, we are soldiers. Soldiers shouldn't get involved in politics, right? So you'd better send a telegram back immediately. Let the government send officials to solve it." Huaxia Chinese website ¥ Han Shao provided

"If this trick works, then do we need to give us a headache?" Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "In addition. The government kicked this matter out to us to deal with. The Prime Minister must have meant something else."

"What do you mean?" Hao Dongjue leaned back in his chair and lifted Erlang's legs. Don't say that the prime minister is too busy to deal with every day, and the cabinet officials have important tasks on their hands, so there is no way to send people from other places to let you handle these things, anyway, even if you let the army handle it, it will not be your turn to call the shots."

"You think so?" Tan Renhao also leaned back in his chair, "This can be regarded as a test, and the prime minister is very aware of the importance of Panama, especially the importance of the Panama Canal, from the perspective of imperial interests, we definitely do not want the canal to fall into the hands of the United States again, so we must come up with a foolproof strategy."

■Dong Jue glanced at his brother-in-law in surprise. You mean, the empire wants to annex Panama? ”

"How is it possible, the empire has stopped expanding its territory for more than a hundred years, and if it annexes Panama, it will only give the empire an additional enclave tens of thousands of miles away, and it will also carry a heavy burden." Tan Renhao picked up the teacup, "The territory of the empire is already large enough, there is no need to add tens of thousands of square kilometers. Moreover, the annexation of Panama has no legitimacy, and it will even offend some allies, as well as those countries that may be our allies. Therefore. The annexation of Panama is by no means the most appropriate solution."

"What is the most appropriate way, then?" Hao Dongjue is not much politically minded.

"Dong Jue. Do you think the Panama Canal is important? ”

■ Dongkaku frowned. Of course it's important, otherwise why would we go to such lengths to attack here? "Huaxia Novel Network

"No, I mean, is the Panama Canal important to the Empire?"

This time, Hao Dongjue thought for a moment, and then shook his head. I don't think it's very important compared to the Strait of Malacca and Guam. As far as the Suez Canal, Cape Town, or even the Gibraltar Fortress are concerned, the Panama Canal is not important. At least our fleet rarely makes use of this canal."

"That's right, for the Empire. The Panama Canal is not really the most important, but it is important for many other countries, especially the United States. The Panama Canal is the most important." Tan Renhao leaned on the table, "Therefore, the empire should not seek to control the Panama Canal alone. There is no need for this, nor can it offend other countries and make more countries hostile to the Empire. More importantly, even if we win the war. Even if we were able to return to the Americas, we would not be able to become the true masters of the Americas, let alone control the continent for long. So, for the Empire, it must be more advantageous to have a few more allies in the Americas than to send troops to control the Americas, isn't it? ”

■Dong Jue nodded slightly, in peacetime, the cost of stationing troops overseas for a long time is very huge, which will not only hinder the development of the imperial army, but also make the empire have to invest more military spending on overseas garrisons. And it is also possible to drag down the empire's economy after the war. The empire is definitely prioritizing the restoration of the economy. More importantly, if troops are stationed overseas, then the empire is likely to be involved in regional wars, which will greatly deplete the empire's national power and allow the empire to decline. Eventually, other powers will rise rapidly, challenging the empire, and even threatening the empire's survival. This was proven long before the First Global War, and it can be said that the Empire did not perform well in the First Global War. It's because of the large number of troops stationed overseas before. Resulting in the dispersion of the Imperial forces. The country's power declined, and it was finally caught off guard by the rapidly rising Western powers. After World War I, the Empire was trying to solve this problem by gradually abandoning its overseas territories, which actually helped the Empire accumulate enough strength before the outbreak of World War II, otherwise, the Empire would not have been defeated in this war.

"The best way to do this is to set up an international organization that will manage the canal, and no country can control the canal alone. This would not only accommodate the interests and demands of all the great powers, but also prevent the United States from taking control of the canal again. When the time comes, even if the empire does not come forward. The United States would not dare to take the risk of offending all other great powers to occupy the Canal Zone, right? "hua xia # member letter @ number of contributions

■Dong Jue nodded again, this is indeed a way. Taking out the benefits and distributing them equally to all the victorious countries, on the surface, this is a loss of the interests of the empire, but in fact, it has reduced the empire a lot of trouble, and using other countries to limit the rise of the United States can be said to be a murderous strategy with a sword.

"I think that's pretty much why the Prime Minister asked us to deal with the land. It is much better for the army to come forward than for the government to come forward if we mess up . The government can also step in, and we can also test the attitudes of other countries, and then the government can come up with a solution that is acceptable to other countries."

The two didn't say any more, after all, this was just a guess.