This is not the first time that Moes has expressed concern about the Panama Canal in front of the president

In October 1913, .u[Gong. The canal cut the distance between the east and west coasts by almost half, making it possible for the U.S. Navy's main fleet to move quickly into Hawaii. It is important to know that the voyage from New York on the east coast to San Francisco on the west coast is more than 15,000 nautical miles if you make a detour through Cape Horn. In this ominous contrast, Russia's [.> voyage to Vladivostok, which was destroyed in the South China Sea in 1904, reached a total distance of 18,000 nautical miles, and it was just when it reached 15,000 nautical miles that it was attacked by the Combined East Asian Fleet and lost all its losses in one day.

Judging from the situation after the Sino-US war, if the canal is destroyed, the sailing time of US ships between the east and west coasts will inevitably double, and this will have an adverse impact on the defense of the west coast and the future counteroffensive in the Pacific region.

Although the U.S. Army and Navy began to build military bases in the Canal Zone in 1903 after the Treaty of John Eldar acquired the Canal Zone 10 miles wide and square kilometer, until the canal was completed in 1914, the Army was only > Cologne+ Barracks, with less than a regiment stationed, and the Navy built only a small number of naval installations in the ports of Colón and Panama with the assistance of civilian companies.

After the outbreak of the European War, the military threat from China became increasingly prominent, and as the main force of the naval fleet moved from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, as the most convenient and efficient reinforcement and supply channel for the fleet, the importance of the Panama Canal could not be ignored, and the strengthening of the defense of the Canal Zone was also put on the agenda.

The Navy's plan was to build coastal defense forts and naval bases on the Pacific side of the Canal Land, deploying heavy artillery, torpedo boats, submarines, and seaplanes. However, due to changes in the situation, the plan for a permanent coastal defense fortress was cancelled and a number of temporary coastal defense batteries were built instead, and the modern naval base, which took more than 10 months to complete, was replaced by the existing facilities in the port of Panama as far as possible.

The Army, on the other hand, drew up an overall plan to control the whole of Panama if necessary and prevent the enemy from outflanking the landing, and planned to enter Colón and Panama City within a week after the outbreak of the war, and to occupy all key points throughout Panama within a month.

By the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Navy had started construction of 5 coastal defense batteries and 2 land defense batteries on the Pacific side of the Canal Zone, and planned to place one twin 14-inch gun. 5 10-inch fortress guns, 8 8-inch naval guns, 7 6-inch naval guns, and Wakaship's guns and 3-inch field guns, only 8-inch guns and 6-inch guns were actually placed. The Army, for its part, increased the garrison in the Canal Zone to three regiments and strengthened it with six artillery and three cavalry companies, while the Panamanian government, which was "protected" by the United States, had no more than a 60-man National Guard and a few hundred policemen.

Immediately after the fall of Hawaii, the Army was "peacefully stationed" throughout Panama and within a month increased the garrison to 7 infantry regiments, 16 artillery companies (including 4 heavy artillery companies) and 6 cavalry companies.

The navy stepped up the construction of fortifications. 4 completed the placement of all 10-inch guns and single-mounted guns, and concentrated a batch of anti-aircraft weapons originally intended for Hawaiian defense—including 24-inch anti-aircraft guns, 12 1-pounder anti-aircraft guns, and 32 anti-aircraft machine guns—near the locks and Gatun Dam.

Furthermore. The Army's 1st Air Force (34 land-based aircraft) under the command of former Army Aviation Superintendent Colonel William Billy Mitchell and the 1st Mixed Wing of Naval Aviation (25 seaplanes) under the command of Brigadier General William Fletcher also completed their deployment in Panama a few days ago.

Even so, Sims couldn't put his mind at ease.

There are three known ways for the other side to destroy the canal: landing, artillery bombardment, and air strikes.

The terrain of Panama is mainly mountainous, the highest peak Chiriqui volcano is 3475 above sea level, the territory is densely covered with rainforests, mountain passes are dangerous, and there are many steep cliffs along the coast.

With the strength of the 3rd Fleet, it was obvious that it would not be able to stop the enemy's main fleet from attacking the Gulf of Panama. But even with the 14-inch battleship guns, it would not be easy for the other side to destroy the 1315-deep, 150-wide canal and waterway dug into the rocky mountains. The weak link is in the two locks connecting the two locks between the Lake and the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 2 meters, but the locks are not built at the mouth of the sea, and the nearest secondary lock on the Pacific side goes deeper than 10 kilometers inland. There is also a mountain to cover it, and even if the battleship risks to the shore to bombard, it may not be able to hit accurately.

Air strikes are the most worrying. If the Gatun dam on the Atlantic side is destroyed and the lake is empty, the entire canal will be paralyzed, and the dam will not be repaired overnight. Fortunately, some experts have argued that in order to destroy the gravity dam-type Gatong dam, it is necessary to explode more than 1 ton of TNT explosives close to the dam body at 510 below the waterline, that is, to use a 35-ton giant torpedo or bomb, and according to the information obtained during the Hawaiian operation, the bomb load of the enemy's carrier-based attack aircraft does not exceed 1,000 pounds and 454 catties). The seemingly weak locks are actually made of steel, each weighing 745 and more than a meter thick, which is stronger than the hull of a battleship, and the width of the gate is only 33 clicks, far more difficult than those battleships in Pearl Harbor that are often 200 long.

There are difficulties, but God knows how many secrets the Chinese still hide.

Before Pearl Harbor, who could have predicted that the invincible battlefleet would be defeated by those inconspicuous little flies?

Sims prefers to believe that the other side is capable of overcoming those difficulties, and since the fall of Hawaii, it has become a habit for Sims to think about the worst in advance.

"What should we do if the canal is destroyed?"

Sims finally made up his mind to ask the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Stimson shrugged indifferently: "What does it matter? Is there nothing we can do when the war is going on? Hasn't the navy all along drawn up its war plan against China on the premise that there is no canal? ”

"After Pearl Harbor, all plans were scrapped." Sims sneered.

"Then reformulate the plan without canals, since the navy has withdrawn from the Pacific Ocean, whether the West Coast is landed, whether Panama is destroyed, these are all possibilities that we must endure." Stimson was clearly still haunted by the retreat of the navy.

Of course, the bigwigs who sit in the White House quarrel can't see it, 200 nautical miles south of Panama City, a huge fleet across the Pacific Ocean is breaking the waves, and the bow of the ship inlaid with dragon patterns is neatly pointed at the American continent, the target - the canal.