"Your Excellency, telegram from Gibraltar, the headquarters orders us to send the aircraft carrier Sedlitz, the missile cruiser Emperor Fitre III, and the reconnaissance cruiser Warsaw to follow the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet to attack. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Hearing the report of Colonel Mayer, chief of staff of the Eastern Squadron of the European Combined Fleet, Colonel Simmens, the commander of the fleet, who was reading the report submitted by Hersman Jr. on the "windboat bombs", frowned.

"Follow the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet to attack? Where are the Japanese going? Simmons asked.

"They didn't say," replied Colonel Mayer, "I guess it was to attack the Panama Canal." ”

"Attack the Panama Canal?" Vice Admiral Simmons shook his head, "At least 4,000 nautical miles, right?" ”

Japan's plot to attack the Panama Canal was no secret to someone of Colonel Mayer's level.

"Almost," Mayer said, "would have sailed at least 4,000 nautical miles if an attack was carried out by carrier-based aircraft...... This is still a straight line, if you want to take an anti-submarine route, then it is at least 6000 nautical miles. ”

"Let's count it at 5,000 nautical miles," Simmons pondered, "and it would take more than 550 hours to come and go, and 18 knots would take more than 550 hours, or 23 days, and at least 24 days, including the time to attack." After coming back, we still have to repair and replenish, and the next attack will be in early April, and when we arrive in the North Pacific, it will be almost mid to late, and I don't know how many tons of supplies will arrive in Vladivostok safely!

And the Japanese are not willing to help us deal with the American and Soviet fleets in the North Pacific, I really don't know when we will be able to cut off Stalin's lifeline? ”

Vice Admiral Simmons had a slight opinion on the fact that the Japanese Navy had always been unwilling to cut off the lifeline of the Soviet Union in the North Pacific. In particular, the Americans' aircraft carriers sometimes doubled as escort aircraft carriers, which caused great trouble to the German aircraft carriers' tactics of breaking diplomatic relations.

The Japanese side did not know what its intentions were, and it turned a blind eye to this. The German side's request to send Japanese aircraft carriers to attack the American fleet escorting the Soviet fleet (in fact, most of them were American ships) was completely ignored. As a result, the Eastern Fleet struggled in the North Pacific, and the admirals at the top of the fleet also complained about Japan's approach.

Therefore, after receiving the request for joint operations from the Japanese Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Simmons shirked and did not want to help. Unexpectedly, the command of the European Combined Fleet gave him an order from Gibraltar to "follow the Japanese fleet out", which was obviously not the intention of Marshal Lütjans, but from a higher level.

Lieutenant General Simmons sighed and said to his chief of staff, Mayer: "Go and tell the Japanese that we can dispatch, but the V3 missiles used by Emperor Frederick III have not yet arrived." The FW-190T on the Sedriz was also insufficient, with only 26 capable of flying. ”

……

"26 FW-190T? Enough. Jizaburo Ozawa looked up at the clock hanging on the bulkhead, and it was 7:35 a.m. on March 4, 1943.

"Furumura-kun, can you complete the supply before noon today?" Jizaburo Ozawa asked the chief of staff next to him, Keizo Furumura.

The scale of the first mobile fleet is very large, except for the 4 air teams (the 1st to 4th air battles, each air team has jurisdiction over 2 aircraft carriers of the same class, the 1st air battle is Akagi, Kaga; 2. The air battle is the dragon and the flying dragon; 3. The air battle is Xianghe and Ruihe; In addition to Zuiho and Shoho), there were also the 3rd Sentai of the Combined Fleet (2 fast battleships such as Kongo and Haruna), the 5th Sentai (2 heavy cruisers including Myoko and Haguro), the 10th Sentai (3 light cruisers such as Kuma, Tama, and Kitagami), the 4th Sentai (3 destroyers including Nobun, Yamaun, and Mitsushio), the 10th Sentai (3 destroyers including Akigumo, Fuyu, and Asakumo), the 17th Sentai (5 destroyers including Urakaze, Isokaze, Tanikaze, Hamamaze, and Yukikaze), and the 61st Destroyer (Akizuki, 4 destroyers such as Cool Moon, First Moon, and Shiyu).

In addition, there are four Kawasaki 10,000-ton tankers with a maximum speed of 19.79 knots, including the fast refueling ship Nippon Maru, Genyo Maru, Toei Maru, and Kokuyo Maru.

If you add 1 aircraft carrier, 1 missile cruiser and 1 reconnaissance cruiser of the Germans, the entire 1st Mobile Fleet will include 40 ships of various types. With so many ships, as long as they are dispatched, the fuel consumption per day is at least 3,000 tons (if the entire combined fleet is dispatched, 10,000 tons a day is not enough), and this does not include the consumption of carrier-based aircraft!

And this time the operation is estimated to last 30-45 days, taking into account the consumption of aircraft, it is necessary to carry 14-150,000 tons of various fuels. So it took a lot of time to load so much fuel onto the ship.

"Your Excellency, Commander, it can be done by 12 o'clock." Furumura Keizo replied.

"Very well, at 12 o'clock the ships began to ignite, and at 12:30, the first mobile fleet attacked." Jizaburo Ozawa nodded and gave the order to attack. "The target sea area is...... Near Clipperton Atoll. ”

Clipperton Atoll is a French territory located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 2,900 kilometers from Panama, with an area of only 5 square kilometers. Now stationed there are a handful of U.S. Marines and is an outpost for water and airplanes. It is part of the U.S. system for protecting the Panama Canal.

The importance of the Panama Canal to the United States is self-evident, even before the World War, it was heavily guarded, not to mention that the Great War has been fought for so long.

According to the information available to the Japanese Combined Fleet, the current U.S. defense on the west bank of the Panama Canal (the east bank cannot be penetrated at all, because the United States has deployed heavy forces in Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico) is mainly based on bases in the Panama Canal area and bases on the Galapagos Islands (belonging to Ecuador).

The United States has built airfields in the Panama Canal Zone and the Galapagos Islands, deploying a large number of shore-based and seaplanes (mainly PBY-5 Catarina seaplanes). Combined with the deployment of seaplanes at Clipperton Atoll, a large reconnaissance network is formed, covering 2,000-3,000 kilometers of water on the west bank of the Panama Canal.

In addition, the Americans stationed a 9th Fleet and a Southeast Pacific Command in Panama City. Plum. Vice Admiral Gormley served as commander of both the 9th Fleet and the commander of the Southeast Pacific Command.

All U.S. garrisons in the Panama Canal Zone, the Galapagos Islands, Clipperton Atoll, and all ships under the Ninth Fleet are under the unified command of Vice Admiral Gormley.

"Lieutenant General, San Diego's telegram." Chief of Staff of the Southeast Pacific Division and Chief of Staff of the 9th Fleet, the name of the very German Ralph Brown. At noon on March 4, Rear Admiral Henkel walked into the office of Lieutenant General Negomli of the Southeast Pacific Command in the Panama Canal Zone and looked very nervous.

"Is it to transfer the plane to California?" Lieutenant General Gormley had long heard the news of the bombing of California by balloons -- not just one bombing, but hundreds of balloons carrying bombs and incendiary bombs every few days, causing panic throughout the West Coast.

So, since the end of February, the U.S. Army and Navy have been deploying large numbers of aircraft and anti-aircraft guns from the East Coast to the West Coast, and there are rumors of aircraft being drawn from the jurisdictions of the Southeast Pacific Command and the Caribbean Command (the commander is Eisenhower, who has returned from the United Kingdom, and is headquartered in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago).

"No, it's not." Major General Henkel frowned, "It was ordered to strengthen our vigilance. ”

"Increased vigilance?" Lieutenant General Gormley asked, "Is it the Japanese who are coming to attack the canal?" ”

From the day of the fall of the Hawaiian Islands, the Americans feared an attack on the Panama Canal by the Japanese Navy. The main purpose of the establishment of the Southeast Taiji and the deployment of the 9th Fleet was to protect the canal from Japanese attacks.

"It's not Japan," replied Major General Henkel, "it's Germany!" The Germans established the South American Front Command, and the commander was the former Chief of the General Staff, Air Marshal Kesselring! ”

"What? Marshal Kesselring came to South America? ”

Hearing "Marshal Kesselring is coming," Lieutenant General Gormley's expression also became nervous.

That was the most powerful air force in the world, and he also led the Wehrmacht to defeat the Soviet Union and subdue the British Field Marshal Kesselring! Now in the world, except for the Marshal of the Hesman Empire, he is probably the best at fighting.

Now that he has personally become the commander-in-chief of the German South American Front, this news is really terrible.

When President Roosevelt and his military aides heard the news, they were all scared into a cold sweat!

Compared to Kesselring, the Japanese balloon bombs were not a threat at all. Therefore, no one immediately mentioned the matter of transferring planes from the Caribbean theater and the adjacent Southeast Pacific theater to California.

The Caribbean Theater and the Southeast Pacific Theater, which originally seemed to be very powerful, seem to be a little weak now.

"Commander, should we ask for help?" "We have too few ground forces, there are not enough anti-aircraft guns, and there are no close-fire fuse shells." In addition, the number of aircraft is too small...... Including bombers, reconnaissance planes, and fighter planes, the total number is less than 600. Moreover, more than half of the fighters are old P40 and F4F, and the engine of the P38 is prone to accidents at high altitudes. The ones that can really fight are the P51, P47 and F4U (shore-based models) of the three brigades, and the strength is obviously insufficient. (To be continued.) )