Beiyang reactionaries

Although not as crazy as the United States, the Japanese shipbuilding industry is also very strong.Japanese shipyards have also been producing various warships non-stop.There are many factors that have restricted the development of Japan's shipbuilding industry in history, but at least Japan does not lack materials in terms of materials.China can provide all the materials needed by the shipbuilding industry.So the output of the shipyard is still very high.At the same time, Japan spent a large sum of money to purchase warships from China, from destroyers, escort destroyers, and transport ships at the beginning, to light cruisers later, and then Japan began to purchase escort aircraft carriers, and now even large aircraft carriers are also purchased.Even for Japan, there is no need for new warships from the factory.When in a hurry, Japan is willing to buy even the old warships used by the Chinese Navy.

If not, the Pacific War has been fought for a year and a half, and it is impossible for Japan to continue to have an advantage in the Pacific.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet has received many new warships since the beginning of this year.There are large aircraft carriers and battleships that have been newly shipped for several months, as well as many light aircraft carriers and a large number of escort aircraft carriers, and they are beginning to recover again.Therefore, Japan has been gathering troops during this time.China's judgment is that Japan is going to attack Pearl Harbor.Pearl Harbor is the most important place in the US Pacific strategy. It is absolutely impossible for the US Pacific Fleet to watch Pearl Harbor be taken by Japan.Because once Pearl Harbor and the Hawaiian Islands are lost, the United States will really be beaten passively in the Pacific Ocean.Therefore, the Japanese navy's attack on Pearl Harbor is to save it, and the US Pacific Fleet must come up.In this way, the Japanese Navy will once again annihilate the US Pacific Fleet.

But now it seems that it is all strategic deception.

Japan turned out to put its mind on the Panama Canal.

"Chairman, look. Some time ago, the deployment of the Japanese navy was that a large number of naval forces departed from the Marshall Islands and assembled on Johnston Island. Johnston Island has a very complete naval base after the construction of the United Kingdom and the United States. After the Japanese occupied Johnston Island, they expanded the naval base here. Johnston Island is currently a very important naval base for Japan in the Pacific Ocean, and it is the most forward base for Japan to attack the Hawaiian Islands. The other road is the Japanese mainland A large number of naval forces over there are also assembled on Midway Island. The Japanese navy's north-south deployment is completely a look of fighting and launching another round of Pearl Harbor. We judge that the Japanese aircraft carrier that attacked the Panama Canal did not come from The departure from Johnston Island is from Christmas Island. Only in this way can the United States be deceived."

Xu Yongchang stood up and took out a map of the Pacific Ocean.

Japan is currently really very strong in the Pacific Ocean, occupying many important islands.The strategic location of some of these islands is very important and poses a direct threat to the Hawaiian Islands.It is precisely because Japan controls these islands that it can attack the Hawaiian Islands anytime and anywhere.

Especially Johnston Island, although the place is not big, its location is very important.When the British occupied this place in the early years, a naval base was built here.Later, after the United States took control, the naval base here was expanded.Because it is only about 1300 kilometers away from Pearl Harbor, the location is very important.After Japan occupied this place, it further improved it, and even reclaimed it to expand the island.Various aerial battles are currently ongoing between Japan and the United States, mainly at Pearl Harbor and Johnston Island.

"Is there any more specific news? How many aircraft carriers did Japan use? How many planes did Japan use? How about the bombing of the Panama Canal?"

"Neither the United States nor Japan announced the detailed situation. The United States only admitted that the Panama Canal was attacked by air, and Japan did not announce how many aircraft carriers and planes they had participated in the attack. However, Japan stated in the news that they have completely destroyed Panama. Canal, the Panama Canal was paralyzed, and the Japanese Navy won a decisive victory."

"Paralyzed the Panama Canal? Is that accurate news?"

This is what Duan Xun cares about the most.

If the Panama Canal is really paralyzed, it will be a big event, and it can even be said to be a big event that caused a sensation in the world.

So Duan Xun asked immediately.Xu Yongchang nodded and said: "The Panama Canal is indeed closed to navigation. Before I came, I had urgently contacted the Ministry of Commerce and the Material Committee to see if there was any new news from them. The Ministry of Commerce and the Material Committee said , some shipping companies in our country have been notified that some transport ships that were originally scheduled to pass through the Panama Canal have been cancelled. The specific time when it will be reopened has not yet been notified. Therefore, I think the Panama Canal is indeed closed for the time being. We are not sure whether to guard against the Japanese army or because the Panama Canal was really paralyzed.”

Duan Xun and these people present looked at each other in blank dismay.

Everyone here is aware of the importance of the Panama Canal. It should be said that no one in the world is unaware of the importance of the Panama Canal.The Panama Canal and the Suez Canal are two of the most important canals in the world.

Especially for the United States, the Panama Canal is simply an important lifeline, shortening the distance between the east and west coasts of the United States by about [-] kilometers.How many US warships have to pass through the Panama Canal, and how many supplies have to pass through the Panama Canal.After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was almost wiped out.If there was no Panama Canal, how could the US Atlantic Fleet come to support so quickly and fought the most beautiful Midway naval battle on the Pacific battlefield.Once the Panama Canal is really blocked and can no longer be used, it will deal a great blow to the United States.Because of this, in a short period of time, the US Pacific and Atlantic battlefields were completely separated, unable to support each other.The follow-up influence will be very large.

Japan is really bold.

Everyone has always believed that Japan's goal is the Hawaiian Islands, but who would have thought that Japan's goal turned out to be the Panama Canal.Duan Xun kept analyzing in his mind what kind of impact it would have if the Panama Canal could not be restored within a short period of time.How will the direction of the Pacific battlefield change?

"Vice Chairman Li (Li Jishen), let the materials committee and the UK reach a cession agreement as soon as possible. Let the Southwest Military Region send out transportation troops to complete the content of the agreement we reached with the UK."

"Yes."

"Vice Chairman Wang (Wang Jingwei), pay close attention to the movements of Southeast Asian countries. Japan's major breach of the Myitkyina defense line this time will inevitably make Southeast Asian countries waver, and maybe scare them out of courage. We must stabilize them."

"Yes."

"Chief of Staff Xu (Xu Yongchang), from now on we must figure out the situation on the other side of the Panama Canal."

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"how is the situation?"

"The loss is not small. Japan has used nearly a hundred bombers this time, and the Panama Canal has been seriously damaged. Our people have initially estimated that it will take about half a year to repair the damaged places and reopen the Panama Canal. The main lock of the Panama Canal is It was blown up."

Cordell Hull sighed.

This matter is too big, and the United States immediately sent people to check the situation of the Panama Canal.And the organization is all the best engineering experts, and then estimates.After these people estimated, they immediately gave Cordell Hull an answer.

The Japanese bombing of the Panama Canal caused serious damage to the Panama Canal.According to them, it will take about half a year for the Panama Canal to resume navigation.

"Half a year?"

Roosevelt frowned.

I really underestimated Japan.Japan was really taken by surprise this time, and the United States was completely caught off guard.Don't say that the United States is in the middle of the game, I didn't expect it.Those military observers from other countries, no one expected.The result is that the United States is completely defenseless in this regard.

Everyone knows the importance of the Panama Canal to the United States, but no one thought that Japan would dare to attack the Panama Canal.Because a sneak attack on the Panama Canal is a very difficult thing to accomplish militarily.

So no one thought that such a thing would happen.

But Japan just did it, it really bombed the Panama Canal, and it really caused the Panama Canal to be blocked.The blockage of the Panama Canal is a huge blow to the United States.Because for the United States, the current famous shipyards are all on the east coast of the United States.The large aircraft carriers, battleships, light aircraft carriers, and escort aircraft carriers that the Pacific Fleet has just served for a few months were all built in shipyards on the east coast of the United States, and then came to the Pacific Fleet through the Panama Canal.

But now that the Panama Canal is blocked, troop mobilization has become a big problem.Those newly built warships, the warships that were going to serve in the Pacific Fleet, are now suddenly unable to pass through the Panama Canal.

This is a big deal.

"Yes. The preliminary statistics are like this, but this is not absolute. Because the time is too tight, they only inspected the most severely damaged areas, and then made the above judgment. But because of the time is too tight, many places did not check carefully .So it is possible that the situation is more serious than imagined, and it is possible that the re-navigation time will exceed half a year."

Cordell Hull's tone was heavy because the situation was so serious.Half a year is already a very serious matter for the United States. If it exceeds half a year, the situation will become very serious.

"President, half a year is too long."

Hearing Cordell Hull's words, Marshall next to him couldn't hold his breath, and immediately said: "This time it is indeed my responsibility. We did not realize the purpose of the Japanese army. We were deceived by the Japanese army, and I was also deceived by the Japanese army. , let them successfully attack the Panama Canal, I am willing to take responsibility. But the Japanese army gathering is definitely not just to deceive us. Judging from the scale of their assembled troops and the location of their assembly, they are definitely not just for strategic deception. Instead, they are really ready for war. Now that they have successfully blocked the Panama Canal, they can safely and boldly attack Pearl Harbor. Although our Pacific Fleet has strengthened a lot, it is still at a disadvantage in terms of the size of large warships .Japan has always maintained a scale of more than 10 large aircraft carriers on the Pacific battlefield, which is much stronger than ours.”

"General Marshall, don't you say we can't hold Pearl Harbor? You didn't say that last time."

Roosevelt stared straight at Marshall.

After the United States implemented the strategy of "first Asia and then Europe", it has invested a lot of troops in the Pacific battlefield.But the situation has not changed, and the Japanese navy still has the upper hand on the Pacific battlefield.The Japanese navy already controls a large number of important islands in the Pacific Ocean, and the threat to the United States is growing.

The Hawaiian Islands, which is the most important base of the United States in the Pacific Ocean.

If Marshall said that the United States could not defend the Hawaiian Islands, then Roosevelt would have to reconsider the following foreign policy.

"President, we have very complete defenses in Hawaii, and we have deployed enough troops. It is very difficult for Japan to take Pearl Harbor, and it is very difficult to take Hawaii. We also have enough confidence to defend Pearl Harbor and Hawaii. But once The Japanese navy really didn’t care about it, including their army troops must land and take Pearl Harbor, which is really not good for us. Half a year is too long, we can’t bet on it.”

Marshall shook his head.

The Hawaiian Islands not only have the US Pacific Fleet.Moreover, a large number of army units, including army aviation units, have also been deployed.If Japan wants to land, it is impossible to succeed without paying a huge price.

But Marshall really dare not be careless now.

Because the Japanese are really too elusive, they are too crazy, too many risky moves.Many people think that it is impossible to do, but Japan dares to do it, and it is very courageous.Just like this attack on the Panama Canal, it was beyond everyone's expectations.Therefore, Marshall really did not dare to speculate on the actions of the Japanese army at will.Will Japan really ignore it in order to win the Hawaiian Islands, and will not be afraid of casualties.If this is the case, Marshall really dare not talk big about whether the Hawaiian Islands can be kept.

Half a year is too long.

Once any problems arise on the Pacific battlefield, there is no time to supplement them.At that time, the warships produced by those shipyards on the east coast of the United States will have to detour to Cape Horn if they want to supplement the Pacific Fleet.

Then the distance will be longer, more than 4000 kilometers.It takes more than a month, or even two months, to go around in a circle.This delays things too much.

"Ah."

Roosevelt nodded, agreeing with Marshall's words.

Half a year is really too long.If it is later found that there is a bigger problem and it takes more time to fix it, the United States will be more passive in the Pacific Ocean.Japan has already done things that shocked the United States twice.

Last time they bombed the continental United States, this time they bombed the Panama Canal.Both times made the United States very passive.Now that Japan has not controlled the Hawaiian Islands, it is already so bold.Once Japan controls the Hawaiian Islands, the United States really has no foothold in the Pacific Ocean.Then the efforts of the United States for hundreds of years in the Pacific Ocean will all be in vain.