At 16:35, the Nagamon main gun was launched as the pilot, and the artillery formation carried out an unprecedented artillery bombardment on the canal area at a distance of about 18,000 meters. Before that, several US shore defense turrets had been destroyed. While the artillery was bombarded, the attack aircraft group was dispatched on a large scale and opened fire at the beachhead positions and fortifications. Although the momentum and scene were huge, Hori Teiki knew that the US military had prepared for defense, and now it could only destroy the shore defense fortifications at most, the airport and some frontier positions. If the enemy's casualties could exceed 1,000, it would be a major result. After the air strike, the US ground forces would still wait in depth for themselves to be where the naval gun could not be shot.

As for the Panama lock, he didn't believe that relying on carrier-based aircraft bombing could completely destroy this key hub. It was completely not enough for only 3-6 months to paralyze it. The Americans could repair it soon, and I was sorry for the efforts of his planning.

Of course, this is just his consideration from his own position, which is completely different for the US military: after the Pearl Harbor Incident, the US military fought wars for nearly a year and a half. Although they didn't fight with the German army, they had many bloody battles with the Japanese army on the Pacific battlefield, and never had a frustrating moment of only being bombed and unable to fight back. As for Guadalam's night artillery bombardment, it was a legendary thing, and no one witnessed it with his own eyes, so these officers and soldiers felt that the end of the world was coming. Not to mention resisting tenaciously at the beachhead, they were trembling even when they avoid shells in the rear defense line.

If Lieutenant General Ross had not known that his troops were all untested and had wisely adopted the policy of retreating from the enemy, the troops would have collapsed. But even so, the large-caliber naval shells that fell like rain still hit him. The telegrams for help were sent to Washington like snowflakes, which made Marshall and General King sigh repeatedly, but they could not order retreat easily. Once such an order was issued, the Battle of Panama would be really irreversible. They could only keep cheering Ross and demanding him to withstand: on the one hand, comforted him that the Axis Fleet could not land, and that his troops would be fine as long as they stayed away; on the other hand, they told him that hundreds of planes had been mobilized for the Nicaragua Air Force Base, that there would be enough planes to cover him tomorrow morning, and on the third and fourth day, there would be continuous reinforcements from the local planes, which would be his strong backing.

When saying these words, Marshall and Admiral Jin were mobilizing their troops with gritted teeth. Today, the combat loss rate of up to 60% is really terrifying. They were asked to mobilize 1,000 aircraft without frowning at all. But the pilots were not Dacai after all. Most of the most combat-effective pilots of the US Army Airlines were in the UK, while most of the most combat-effective troops of HNA (land-based) were in the Far East. In addition to flight instructors and carrier-based aircraft pilots, they could undertake long-distance search, long-distance flights and combat.

There are not many pilots fighting. Today, more than 80 pilots (groups) have been transferred to the past. They have transferred all qualified pilots from air bases in seven states in the southern East Coast, but they have to continue to fill in the flesh mill. Tomorrow, Igherson, a pilot from 11 states in the northeast of the East Coast, will report that it will take at least three days for him to arrive in Panama. Everyone has no expectations for keeping the canal. The biggest motivation for the Joint Conference to persevere is to annihilate the main force of this Axis fleet.

After nightfall, Hori Teiki of Commander Tari looked at the map blankly, and fell into deep thought. This was the first time that Kura Lu Renyi saw that he had such a dilemma, and his expression was very nervous.

"Have the pilots been rescued?"

"All those who can be found have been rescued. The comet attacked last night last night has rescued a total of 4 crews. Today, the zero-war battle in the sky during the day has been rescued a total of 5 people..." Caolu Renyihui reported, "The pilots rescued are not bad. They can be put into battle after resting for a night. Last night, there must be some pilots (groups) who fell into the hands of the US military after parachuting, but most of the pilots who were not found in the air combat this afternoon have been missing."

On the vast sea, disappearance is a euphemism for the death. Hori Teiki sighed. This was the best result: as fierce as the afternoon air battle, a total of 8 planes were shot down, and only 3 pilots were lost. The US military suffered far more losses than it did. Although the casualties of the attack on the night last night were a bit large, it was completely worth it from a tactical perspective. If the airport in Panama was not paralyzed, there would be more planes facing today.

The overall casualties are still within a bearable range, but it is difficult to fight him in the next battle. I received two messages 15 minutes ago:

The first one was sent by the landing force. The report reported that due to the speed of the landing ship, the first wave of landing will not start at 4:30 am tomorrow, and it will take at least 5 hours to complete the landing. The second one was sent by water reconnaissance. The report found that a large number of aircraft landed at the US military airport in Nicaragua, located about 635 kilometers away from the Panama Canal area. The specific deployment of the airport is unknown. In order to avoid disturbing the enemy, the water reconnaissance has returned.

Based on these two messages, there were several ways before him, but after thinking about it, he couldn't find the most preferred item, so he fell into deep distress:

The first road is to let the mobile fleet approach Nicaragua tonight and launch a night attack on the US military airport, striving to paralyze the airport for 6-8 hours. However, Tsukahara Nishiso San strongly opposed it, believing that pilots would lose more than one-quarter or even one-third of the losses to implement the plan, with two o'clock. One is that a night attack on the Panama Canal area last night, and the same tactics enemy must be prepared, increasing the difficulty of the raid; the second is that the Panama Canal area is at least a world-renowned landmark, and the relevant situation is open and there are photos for reference. The night attack troops can better grasp the direction and target. Now, except for roughly knowing the location of the US military base in Nicaragua, they are completely blinded to the rest of the situation, and the air strike effect will definitely not be good. Hori Teki can't bear the loss of one-quarter, let alone one-third, so the road is blocked.

Tsukahara proposed the second route, without night attacks, and landing troops landed normally, so that the artillery fleet would take another round of air strikes tomorrow morning, but a staff immediately raised a question: What if the US bombers did not come to the air strikes the fleet and specifically raided the landing troops? This is almost impossible to avoid, and the landing troops on the beachhead are still second, what if the spearhead is aimed at the transportation fleet? Today, the transportation fleet was far away from the US military and did not find it. It was on the beachhead tomorrow morning, and if you don’t see it, you will be blind. So this road was put on by Hori Teiki.

Some staff members proposed a third way: to take advantage of the current firepower advantages of the artillery fleet, and secretly send dozens of engineers to blow up the locks at night, and then the fleet retreated overnight, without risking landing or exposing the fleet to the air strikes of the US military the next day. However, most staff members expressed opposition that the US military stationed tens of thousands of troops in the canal area, and the locks were the top priority. Although they are temporarily retreating, it does not mean that the US military has completely given up combat and defense. It is impossible to penetrate in just dozens of engineers. Taking a step back ten thousand steps, what if it infiltrates? Dozens of engineers can carry hundreds of kilograms of explosives at the top of the sky, which is not enough to deal with the canal and ship locks.

The German general led by Maschel proposed the fourth way: find two ships to sink in the canal, bombard the locks and canal areas with guns, drain at least half of the ammunition, and then withdraw them overnight. Horitiki knew that this was the relatively easiest choice to succeed, and it would be able to paralyze the canal for at least 9-12 months if it was properly operated. But he didn't want to let the Americans go so easily. He had to paralyze the canal for two or even three years to make the Americans think that the canal could not be repaired before the end of the war.

He raised his head, showed a bitter smile, and said to Kura Ren: "Now I finally understand the difficulty of Yamamoto's face in Midway Island. Isn't it the same with Panama now?"

Cao Lu Ren comforted him: "Sir, don't put such great pressure on yourself. We can fight Panama for the first time, and we will fight the second time in the future..."

"There is no second chance!" Horitiki shook his head and pointed his finger at the circle of islands around the Caribbean Sea and sighed, "Now the Americans have airports in Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Panama, and then they were caught off guard and two were taken by us. I dare to bet with you that if you come back next year, all the islands here will have American planes and troops. In the future, the Caribbean Sea will be a big cage, and you can't get in or out."

The metaphor of "cage" is so vivid. He frowned even though he considered the amazing construction speed of Americans on Gua Island. He had to admit that this concern is real. The Caribbean Sea is so close to the United States!

After thinking hard for three minutes, Hori Teiki suddenly made a decision: "Send a telegram to General Mashar and the German Land War Brigade, asking: If the landing troops will have to bear half of the casualties to complete the task tomorrow, will they accept it? Send a telegram to Tsukahara again. I plan to consider the second plan and ask him what strategies to reduce air strike losses."

"This..." Cao Lu Renyi was shocked, "Sir, don't you think about it anymore?"

Hori Teiki looked at the wall clock: "There is not so much time, I have to make a decision as soon as possible. Indecision will only lead to greater losses."

Three minutes later, Mashar's call came back: "If necessary, you can accept it."

Five minutes later, the telegram from the Land War Brigade came: "This brigade will fight to the last person to complete the mission!"

Fifteen minutes later, Tsukahara Nishiso's telegram came: "There is a strategy. If the enemy aircraft's single attack wave can guarantee landing air supremacy within 120 aircraft, but the shelling fleet needs to share some of the risks and may lose 1-2 main battleships."

In the evening, everyone was waiting for the final order to be issued. Should they fight, wait, or run? The shelling of the canal area gradually became loose, and only a few heavy cruisers still fired a few shots from time to time.
Chapter completed!