Chapter 802: Decisive Battle of Panama—Aircraft Carriers Gathered Together

The decision made in the Oval Office of the White House soon turned into a huge fleet that quickly moved south along the Mexican coastline - the 16th Task Force commanded by Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance!

2 Yorktown-class aircraft carriers (Enterprise, Yorktown), 1 Independence-class aircraft carrier (Independence), 2 Northampton-class heavy cruisers (Northampton, Chicago), 2 Pensacola-class heavy cruisers (Pensacola, Salt Lake City), 2 Brooklyn-class light cruisers (Brooklyn, Phoenix), 2 Cleveland-class light cruisers (Cleveland, Columbia), and a 16.4th Destroyer Division including 19 destroyers.

A total of 30 warships of various types, in terms of the number of ships, is equivalent to 75% of the Japanese First Mobile Fleet that is rushing to the waters near Clipperton Atoll. And this is not all the forces of the US Navy in the waters near Panama (including the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific).

If we count the 9th Fleet stationed in Panama City, the 11th Task Force composed of the main force of the 2nd Fleet, which is coming from the Mayport Naval Base on the Atlantic coast, and the 3rd Fleet led by Admiral Halsey.

The number of American warships near the Panama Canal must have exceeded all the warships owned by the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the total number of aircraft carriers of various types is as high as 16!

As the world's number one industrial power, the US shipbuilding industry is finally beginning to show its powerful power.

After a series of naval defeats in 1941 and 1942, the size of the US Navy fleet has not shrunk, but has expanded rapidly! Aircraft carriers, light cruisers and destroyers are all launched from the slipway like dumplings, becoming the new main force of the US Two Oceans Fleet!

However, what makes Vice Admiral Spruance, commander of the 16th Task Force, most satisfied is not the new warships like dumplings, but the cutting-edge carrier-based fighters such as F4U and F6F.

Although they may not be able to fight against the legendary German jets, the Japanese Zero fighters are definitely not opponents - the many air battles that took place in the Pacific battlefield since the winter of 1942 can definitely prove this. Whether it is the Japanese Zero or the German Fw-190 carrier-based model, the F4U and F6F can fight evenly.

So Spruance is very sure that as long as the United States can implement the "Pacific First" strategy and concentrate 30-50 aircraft carriers of various types (including escort aircraft carriers) and more than 2,000 F4U and F6F fighters, then the goal of counterattacking the Hawaiian Islands can be completed within 1943!

But just when the United States was about to launch a major counterattack in the Pacific, the Germans on the other side of the Atlantic jumped out first, which was really abominable.

"Any news from the Caribbean?" Spruance turned around and asked Captain George Murray, the captain of the 16.5th Carrier Group, who was looking down at the war report, and he was also the chief of staff of the 16th Task Force.

"Another fight over Guyana, this time we lost 4 B-17s... But the German jets are not invincible!" Colonel Murray answered while handing the battle report to Spruance.

He was talking about a test operation, using the loss of 4 B-17s to confirm the power of German jets, and also tested the advantageous airspace of this type of aircraft - this time the B-17 fleet broke into the airspace over Guyana from 5,000-6,000 meters, and 4 German jets launched a dive attack on them from high altitude, using the hit-and-leave tactic to shoot down 4.

But then these 4 German jets were chased by the P51. If it weren't for the Fokker Zero that gave the P51 a headache circling in the airspace below 5,000 meters, 2 of the 4 German jets would have been shot down by the P51 (this was because the jet engine was accelerating a little slowly at this time).

Obviously, the German jet aircraft's advantage in the airspace is at high altitude and very high altitude, and the applicable tactic is to strike and leave. There is no advantage in the airspace below 7,000 meters, and even the Fokker Zero needs to provide cover.

...

"Has the American fleet reached the Panama Canal?"

When Spruance's attention was attracted by the Me262, Ozawa Jisaburo was worried about the missing US Third Fleet.

Before entering the Caribbean Sea, the US Third Fleet had been tracked by German seaplanes and submarines, but once entering the Caribbean Sea, the German seaplanes dared not enter, and the submarines sent to track lost contact a few days ago (killed by American destroyers).

Then Halsey's Third Fleet seemed to evaporate. The Japanese and Germans didn't know where this big fish went?

However, Ozawa, who was rushing to the waters near Clipperton Island, was not worried about not finding the US fleet at first. Because Ozawa thought they were going to the Panama Canal, and the German intelligence agency had already deployed many spies in the canal area - if such a large fleet were to pass through, those German spies would definitely be able to discover it.

So what Ozawa was really worried about was that his First Mobile Fleet would not be able to reach the Panama Canal in time and miss the best time to launch an air strike.

But now it is March 16, and Ozawa's fleet has passed the waters near Clipperton Atoll last night, but the missing American fleet still has not appeared - if the distance and time are taken into account, they should have arrived now.

"We haven't arrived yet," Furumura Keizang shook his head, "I guess the time should be here..."

While he was speaking, Captain Hersmann, the liaison officer of the German Navy, quickly walked into the bridge command center of the Akagi aircraft carrier, holding the telegram he had just received in his hand.

"Mr. Commander, Mr. Chief of Staff," he reported in English, "an American fleet of two Independence-class aircraft carriers and three Borg-class escort carriers has probably left the Mayport Navy in Jacksonville. base."

"What? Five more aircraft carriers?" Ozawa Jisaburo heard the news, and his scalp couldn't help but feel a little numb.

The American fleet that left the Norfolk base and entered the Caribbean before was likely to have 5 aircraft carriers. The Americans also had a fleet in the Panama Canal and 3 escort aircraft carriers. Plus the fleet departing from Jacksonville...that's 13 An aircraft carrier!

And these 13 aircraft carriers are certainly not all the American aircraft carriers... There are really many American aircraft carriers!

"Your Excellency, Commander," seeing Jisaburo Ozawa's "grandma's face" wrinkled, little Hersman should definitely say some comforting words, "According to intelligence, the American Independence-class light aircraft carrier and Borg-class escort aircraft carrier are There are not many aircraft carriers, only 30 for the former and 28 for the latter. Although the Americans are likely to have 10-15 aircraft carriers concentrated near the Panama Canal, most of them are light aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers, with 100 aircraft. There are only three Essex-class aircraft carriers on board.”

100 carriers!

Hearing the number of Essex-class ships, Ozawa Jisaburo couldn't help but want to sigh. The three Essex-class ships have 300 aircraft on board, and the remaining 10 light aircraft carriers (escort aircraft carriers) have at least 290 aircraft. That is 590 aircraft on board. How can there be 530 aircraft in common use?

And how big is the First Mobile Fleet? There are only 496 aircraft in common use among the nine aircraft carriers, which is 34 fewer than the Americans.

Moreover, the Americans have deployed at least 600 commonly used aircraft in the Panama Canal Zone. If the "sailboat attacks on the United States" these days did not force the United States to dispatch Panama aircraft, then the number of aircraft between Japan and the United States in the Battle of Panama would be The ratio will be at least 1:2!

What worries Ozawa even more is not the comparison of the number of aircraft in the upcoming Panama Battle - although the First Mobile Fleet has only half the number of aircraft of the enemy, it has top-notch ace pilots. These elite pilots accumulated since before the war broke out are enough to make up for about 1 times the numerical disadvantage.

But the huge gap in the number of commonly used aircraft between Japan and the United States is what worries Ozawa Jisaburo most. Due to tight oil supplies, the scale of Japanese pilot training has never been able to increase.

Therefore, the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force is less than 7,000, while the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries is said to be more than 28,000, and it is still growing!

Ozawa Jisaburo knew that at this stage of the war with the United States, Japan's first-mover advantage had basically been exhausted. The United States has completely entered a wartime state. If Japan cannot achieve another great victory in the Battle of Panama, the war between Japan and the United States will soon enter a stage of competition in national power.

"Your Excellency Commander, the radar has detected an enemy plane!"

Just when Ozawa Jisaburo was worried about the prospect of war, the radar officer on the Akagi aircraft carrier suddenly loudly reported: "Bearing 74, quantity 1, distance 120, altitude 2000..."

"Your Excellency, Commander, it must be an American seaplane!" Furumura Keizo immediately said to Ozawa, "Let the helicopter eject it."

"Send 4 Zeros." Ozawa ordered in a low voice.

He didn't show any panic. Considering the position of the First Mobile Fleet, it was normal for him to be discovered.

"Commander, we are still 1,300 kilometers away from the Galapagos Islands and 2,200 kilometers away from the Panama Canal." Gucun Qizang added, "We can attack the Galapagos Islands first, and then bomb the Panama Canal. "

Ozawa Jisaburo shook his head and said: "There is no need to attack the Galapagos Islands. As long as we keep a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers from the Galapagos Islands, the aircraft there will not pose a threat to us. We... continue to Panama Canal forward!”