In the early morning of April 17, the huge fleet of the axis gradually passed through the strait and rushed towards the Panama Canal. ([[[[[[[[?(???At the same time, the major airports and aviation bases of Florida were brightly lit, and countless ground crew members were loading supplies and equipment for the aircraft, preparing to rush to the Panama Canal area as soon as the dawn was dawn. According to General Jin's request, the canal area must deploy at least O anti-aircraft guns and 15O aircraft, and all combat readiness must be completed within two days. He estimated that the Japanese army would attack as early as the third day.

It was too late to take a boat at such a tense moment, so the American logistics brand launched all air transport again! However, air transport encountered considerable problems and troubles. Although the United States has enough medium-sized transport aircraft, there are no giant transport aircraft like the German me-3. The latter can carry a complete 88mm gun group (equipped with personnel) at a time. If the United States wants to transport a complete 9mm2 anti-aircraft gun group, it needs to be dismantled and arranged 4-47 transport aircraft. After landing, it will waste another 3 hours for unloading and assembly. Although the performance of 88mm and 9m anti-aircraft guns is close to each other, the former is 4 tons lighter than the latter.

Due to the limited capacity of Panama Airport, for time consideration, the Joint Conference was finally forced to agree to transport only 12 9mm2 anti-aircraft guns, and the rest should be replaced with 4mm1 anti-aircraft guns (Bofors Anti-aircraft guns American copycat version). The 15o combat aircraft has almost reached the airport capacity limit because some of the site has to be left for transport aircraft. The US Southern Command urgently mobilized various materials and personnel. In order to prevent Japanese aircraft from destroying the canal, it is also preparing to deploy smoke devices on both sides of the canal to disrupt the enemy's sight. These materials must also be transported by air.

Neither side knew that the other party had entered the final sprint stage, and they still responded with the fastest and best way they could think of.

At 5 pm, the first day was about to end. The main force of the Axis Fleet had already advanced into the depths of the Caribbean Sea, only about 1 ooo kilometers away from Panama. In the daytime battle, the results were still very brilliant. The aircraft were dispatched continuously and sank a merchant ship of up to 110,000 tons in one fell swoop. The entire Caribbean inland sea was cleared. If Hori Teiki was willing, he could even chase the ports of a small country around for shelling and bombing. But he refused this temptation, just let the fleet aim at the final target, and at the same time let the bomber group clean up all obstacles to the fleet's advance.

One after another, the wrecked ships sent out the distress signal, and they were plucking the hearts of the Panama defenders at every moment. They knew that the enemy fleet was close, but they didn't know that it was so close, because so far, no ship or plane had a complete glimpse of the fleet, and there was no exact location, and the distance was remote, and the reconnaissance aircraft that took off from the Panama Canal area had no gains.

At 5:37, an Ar-372 reconnaissance plane flew to the canal area to conduct close reconnaissance. I thought it was just a quiet glance, but the pilot saw an unforgettable scene after another American transport plane hovering over the airport, waiting for landing, and the ground was full of busy figures. After a few minutes of observation, the observer on the plane saw a scene that was rippling with a high-power telescope: an aircraft rushed out due to a tire blowout when landing.

The scheduled runway hit another plane, which seriously blocked the runway. If you were born in Japan, you must first rescue the person, and then ask the mechanic to enter the field to be responsible for emergency repairs and then drag the plane away with other vehicles, and then try every means to unload the supplies. Unexpectedly, the US pilot just rescued him, and other ground crew members rushed up, cut off several planes with fire axes and chainsaws and pushed them to the side, and then indifferently called for subsequent planes to enter the field and land.

The million-yen aircraft were reimbursed like this? The observer was shocked and asked the pilot to return soon, he took the telegram out. The airport also noticed this guest. The four F4U fighters who had transferred quickly flew up to pursue the target. The fighter pilots were also shocked because they found that this Japanese water reconnaissance aircraft could fly over 45o kilometers per hour, which was not much slower than the F4F carrier-based aircraft. Compared with the slow and chubby Katarina seaplane, they didn't know where to go. However, no matter how fast the ar-372 was, they could not escape the pursuit of the F4U that had been 65o kilometers per hour. After taking the reconnaissance telegram, the observer added another one: "The US military dispatched new fighter jets, which was faster than zero-war change..."

Just as they were about to further describe the appearance of the new aircraft, the "pirates" had unceremoniously shot down the bold reconnaissance aircraft.

"Sir, a water detective was shot down by the US military, but a telegram came before the crash."

Hori Teiki finished reading the telegram in a few seconds and said thoughtfully: "It seems that the US military has fully detected and judged our army's actions. If I guessed it well, now the Panama enemy airport should be full of planes."

"What should we do?" Cao Lu Ren said anxiously, "With the enemy's defense and reinforcements, it will be difficult for us to take action. The longer we delay, the more we will be, the more unfavorable it will be. If we had known that we should have learned Pearl Harbor, and we would not break the relationship, and we would come in quietly..."

"It's useless! There is a circle of island chains around the Caribbean Sea, which is different from Pearl Harbor. No matter which direction we move in, we will be seen by the enemy." Horitiki looked at the time, then looked at the chart, and asked, "How many roads are there to Panama now?"

The staff officer immediately replied after working on the chart: "This ship is about 1015 kilometers away from the Panama Canal..."

Hori Teiki nodded, and after calculation, he issued an order: "The mobile formation mentioned the 27th knot, and took the shortest route to advance, without considering the anti-submarine z-shaped route. The battleships that can keep up with the cruiser provide close-fitting physical cover, and each ship should not worry about fuel loss!"

"Sir, do you want to?"

Hori Teiki nodded: "Since the US military is prepared, we can only take some risks. The sunrise tomorrow will be around 6:10, right?"

"Yes! To be exact, it's about 6:10 o'clock."

"Very good! It should be too late."

After the fighter jets reported that it had appeared and shot down the Japanese water reconnaissance plane, the US military also felt that the situation was serious: on the one hand, it sent a large number of aircraft to search for nearby waters, but at this time the Axis Fleet was still 1 ooo kilometers away and had nothing in the end; on the other hand, it further accelerated the pace of material transportation. The staff officers judged based on the situation that the Japanese army might launch the first attack wave tomorrow morning. Panama would obtain a defense time of less than 2 days, only 1 day.

Finally, Lieutenant General Ross, stationed in the local area, made a decision, made air defense arrangements overnight, released smoke and strengthened vigils, and the radar station was on duty all night, and fighter jets and bombers completed the replenishment of oil bombs in advance to try to release attack aircraft groups tomorrow morning to attack the enemy fleet.

Late at night, the Washington Command had surrendered since Roosevelt, and all the senior officials gathered. Everyone had no intention of sleeping. They listened to reports from the front one by one. While determining Panama's emergency defense policy, General Ingersoll's Atlantic Fleet also headed south as soon as possible. General Jin, Marshall and other generals all had bloodshot eyes to meet the enemy's policy. They continued to dispatch troops and worked endlessly for hours.

"As of 11 o'clock local time, the newly added O-gun anti-aircraft gun has been unloaded and emergency deployment is currently underway. It is expected that the operation can be completed before dawn..."

"All stranded ships in the canal have been cleared, and civilians 50 kilometers around the canal area are evacuated urgently."

"General Ross reported that smoke will be released at 4 a.m. in the canal area, and it is expected that the maximum effect will be achieved at 7 a.m.."

"The air force base currently has 186 aircraft, with more than 20 pilots (groups), of which 154 aircraft can be put into combat immediately, and the rest are in a state of loose parts. They are currently in combat supply, and will adopt the policy of attacking ahead of the enemy tomorrow."

"This afternoon, the shore fire prevention completed live ammunition test. Currently, the staff is complete and ammunition is sufficient."

"The subsequent reinforcements at the Florida base have been prepared, and emergency reinforcements can be issued tomorrow."

"The reinforcements of the 6 Air Force successfully entered Nicaragua Airport. Currently, they have 36 P-47 fighters and 48 bombers of all types."

Roosevelt turned his head and asked Admiral Jin in a low voice: "Can such a deployment resist the Japanese?"

"I'm sure." General Jin didn't say too much. "As long as we can withstand the first wave of enemy attacks, we have a chance to win. As time goes by, our army's energy sources continue to be reinforced, but the enemy will fight less and less."

“Will the canal lock be in danger?”

"It should be subject to a key attack. If a few bombs hit, the overall damage will not be too great. It is estimated that it will be repaired in a few months."

Roosevelt nodded, his heart was half relieved, and he said to General Jin, Marshall and others with concern: "You go down and have a rest first. We fight with the Japanese and Germans for a long time. Even if they destroy the Panama Canal, it will not be said. At most, it will only cause more trouble for us and cannot change the prospect of the United States' victory. I am full of confidence in the future!"

This sentence was both encouragement and relief. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and cast a grateful look at Roosevelt.

At 3:15 am on April 18, 1943, the Axis Fleet had arrived less than 60 kilometers from Panama. On the deck of the flagship of the mobile fleet, the pilots with white cloth strips with the words "Must Win" on their heads lined up in neat rows, watching the z-flag slowly rising on the mast and fluttering in the wind.
Chapter completed!