Chapter 805: Decisive Battle of Panama - The Plan Is Good

On the morning of March 17, the 19th U.S. Task Force, led by the flagship heavy cruiser Wichita, was advancing slowly westward along the coastline of Panama at a speed of 12 knots.

The reason for the slow speed is that there are three Borg-class escort aircraft carriers with a maximum speed of only 18 knots in the fleet. Due to their existence, the 19th Task Force can only move forward slowly. From leaving Panama City at 7 pm yesterday to 10 am this morning, it has only traveled 180 nautical miles in 15 hours, and it has just left the Panama Bay.

"Commander, B24 has discovered the Japanese fleet, in the S1 waters, about 600 nautical miles away from us."

The communications staff of the 19th Task Force reported the intelligence just received to the commander, Major General Smith, at 10:12 am.

"S1 Sea Area?" Major General Smith looked at the sea chart, "We are almost in El Salvador... What do the Japanese want to do? Go to El Salvador to fight the United Fruit Company?"

The Republic of El Salvador is also one of the "banana republics" in Central America controlled by the United States. Although it has joined the Allied Powers, no one in the country really wants to go to war with Germany and Japan, and of course there is no weaponry. If the Japanese land there, only the farms of the United Fruit Company can resist - by the way, the American United Fruit Company owns millions of acres of land in several banana republics, and also operates railways, shipping, docks, telephones, telegraphs, radio, publishing, power generation, beverages, sugar production, wood processing, etc., and there are mercenaries to protect all these wealth. In fact, it is the American version of the "East India Company". If the Japanese want to land there, the one who will fight with them must be this big fruit company. But even if Japan defeats the United Fruit Company, can they still stop the US military counterattack from the Caribbean?

"It can't be El Salvador," said Captain Stanap Lin, the chief of staff of the 19th Task Force, who was a naval pilot and once served as the captain of the carrier-based aircraft wing of the Hornet. "It should be to bomb the Panama Canal... Now they are only 700 nautical miles away from the Panama Canal. The Japanese carrier-based aircraft have a long range, so they should be able to launch an attack."

700 nautical miles is about 1,300 kilometers, which can basically be reached by Zero-52, Comet carrier-based bomber or Tianshan carrier-based attack.

Since the emergence of a bunch of high-performance fighters such as P51, P47, F4U and F6F, Japanese aircraft in the Pacific no longer have any performance advantages. The only thing that can be sure to overwhelm American aircraft is probably the longer range.

In addition, the low-altitude performance of the Zero still has certain advantages. Except for the shore-based P51 and the carrier-based F6F that can fight against the Zero at low altitude, other types of fighters are no match.

"But the Japanese will attack us first!" Major General Smith shook his head, "We are now targets. As long as the Japanese reconnaissance plane finds us..."

I don't know if it was because of the bad mouth of Major General Smith, as soon as Major General Smith finished speaking, the radar officer of the Wichita reported loudly: "Sir, the radar found an enemy plane, one at an altitude of 6000."

Major General Smith and Colonel Lin looked at each other, and Colonel Lin said: "Major General, Japan has a very fast carrier-based dive bomber. Perhaps their attack aircraft group may arrive in 2 and a half hours."

He was talking about the Comet carrier-based dive bomber. After installing the BMW801 series air-cooled engine imitated or produced by the French Land God Company, the maximum speed of this aircraft can still reach more than 520 kilometers/hour when fully loaded with bombs. If the bombs are thrown away, the speed of the Comet carrier-based dive bomber is as high as 580 kilometers/hour, which is only 31 kilometers/hour slower than the American F6F and even 15 kilometers/hour faster than the Zero 52.

Therefore, this high-speed Comet carrier-based dive bomber became another trump card of the Japanese Combined Fleet after the Zero fighter. The Japanese reconnaissance plane that discovered the US 19th Task Force at 10:18 am on March 17 was also a Comet carrier-based bomber (a reconnaissance type).

"Commander, the reconnaissance plane discovered the US aircraft carrier near the Panama Bay, 3 light aircraft carriers, 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers!"

After a good sleep last night, Ozawa Jisaburo, who was now full of energy, showed a disappointed expression when he heard the news.

Although the Battle of Panama has not officially started, unexpected things have happened one after another.

First, an American fleet that entered the Caribbean did not pass through the Panama Canal according to the Japanese schedule.

Then the US military in Panama did not send P51 to escort B-17, B-24 and B-25 to bomb according to the principle of "first discovery, first attack" as Ozawa imagined... at least not yet.

And now, the Comet reconnaissance bomber has discovered three American light aircraft carriers outside the Panama Bay!

"It should be the Borg class, or it could be the Independence class." Keizo Furumura said, "Commander, do you want to send out carrier-based aircraft?"

Jisaburo Ozawa was a little worried. The Americans' behavior seemed a little strange this time!

"Have you found any enemy search aircraft in other directions?" Jisaburo Ozawa sent out not only one Comet, but 18 Comets to conduct a careful search of the surrounding area of ​​hundreds of nautical miles.

"No," Furumura said, "but the Comet aircraft heading northeast and due east was intercepted by US military aircraft and returned without success."

The current location of Japan's First Fleet is relatively close to the Central American coastline, with a straight-line distance of only three to four hundred kilometers. Therefore, the Comet aircraft sent for reconnaissance in the east and northeast were intercepted by US shore-based aircraft deployed in Nicaragua and Honduras.

"What plane was intercepted?" Ozawa asked.

"It's a P40," Furumura replied, "It should be a U.S. Army aircraft. Commander, would you like to send a few more Comets?"

Ozawa Jisaburo was silent for a moment and nodded, "Send two more planes and let the Zeros escort them. We must search the west coast of the Caribbean Sea so that I can rest assured."

Japan's First Mobile Fleet is now located in a very special sea area. The narrow Central American Corridor separates the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Without the Panama Canal, the U.S. fleet cannot travel to and from both sides of Central America. But American carrier-based aircraft can come, so Ozawa Jisaburo sent a Comet aircraft to search this morning.

"Your Excellency, Commander, are we going to send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the US aircraft carrier now?" Furumura Keizang asked again.

"Now sail south for 2 hours at a speed of 25 knots." Ozawa Jisaburo said, "Then the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Forces will send out two attack waves. The first attack wave will be composed of Comet ship explosions and zero attacks. The target is the U.S. aircraft carrier; the second attack wave is composed of the Tianshan attack wave, 45% of the aircraft carry torpedoes, 40% of the aircraft carry bombs, and 15% of the Tianshan attack wave carry flares, and the target is the Panama Canal lock! "

Going south at 25 knots will cover 50 nautical miles in 2 hours. If the U.S. fleet stays put, the distance between the two sides can be shortened to 50 nautical miles at most, and the distance between the First Mobile Fleet and Panama has also been shortened to 50 nautical miles.

In this way, the first attack wave can fly 550 nautical miles (about 1,000 kilometers) to attack the US fleet. The second attack wave can fly 650 nautical miles (about 1,200 kilometers) to attack the Panama Canal locks.

In addition, time and weather are also factors Ozawa Jisaburo considers. It's 10:20 am now. If the second attack wave is released after 3 hours (the first attack wave should start to be released after 2 hours), taking into account the time of takeoff and formation, when the second attack wave flies to the Panama Canal, it will be almost 7 pm .

In the area of ​​10-0 degrees north latitude where day and night are relatively even, it is already dark at this time. Therefore, the attack on the Panama Canal was considered a night attack-it was difficult to find the locks of the canal at night and to drop bombs at ultra-low altitude.

However, in this time and space, the Japanese Navy has not suffered the fiasco at Midway or the attrition of Guadalcanal, and most of the older generation of flying elites are still there. Therefore, such a difficult attack can be completed, and only in this way can the canal lock be blown up by surprise.

Jisaburo Ozawa paused and then said: "Notify Captain Hersman again and ask him to arrange for Ju288 to attack the Panama Canal Zone from high altitude around 6:30 tonight!"

Using the Ju288 to raid the Panama Canal was a long-established plan, and Japan and Germany had already negotiated specific plans. A group equipped with Ju288 bombers has long been deployed to Guyana and can attack the Panama Canal at any time. However, the bomb will definitely not hit the target, because the Americans have deployed night combat models of P47 and P38 in the canal zone. Both of these aircraft have powerful firepower and extremely superior high-altitude performance. They pose a considerable threat to the Ju288 and can often force the Ju288 to throw away its bombs and escape.

Ozawa's request for the Ju288 deployed in Guyana to attack immediately was actually the result of careful calculation.

According to the results of the war game conducted by the Combined Fleet Command, when the Ju288 attacks at dusk and close to night, the U.S. military in Panama will definitely dispatch day-type P47s and night-type P38s to intercept.

When the Japanese Tianshan attack planes attacked, it should be the time when the American P47 returned to land. At this time, most US military airports in the Panama Canal Zone will turn on searchlights to help the P47 land.

In this way, these airports will become targets for Japanese Tianshan attack aircraft attacking from ultra-low altitudes!