Chapter 443: Hornet's Nest (Part 2)

15 minutes later, the Caribbean, a 5,200-ton dual-purpose ship for both passengers and cargo, followed suit. Two minutes later, the Bahamian freighter in front of it, the Gratitude, a 6,500-ton ship, also failed to escape the bombs. Only the Tropical, flying the Brazilian flag, somehow escaped the disaster nearby - the Japanese bombers had already swooped down, but it turned out that the Brazilian ship had leveled off and flew away.

Just when the crew of the ship thought that the Holy Father had appeared and they had survived the disaster, and they knelt on the deck and made the sign of the cross to express their gratitude, the German bombers arrived and dropped the bombs without hesitation. The declaration of war by South American countries is very strange. Most Caribbean countries followed the United States in declaring war on Japan, but not on Germany, because Germany's political system and products have always been attractive to Central and South American countries, and Germany had close economic and trade exchanges with countries in the region before the war. Only Brazil declared war on Germany, but not on Japan, so Japanese planes had to invite German planes to attack.

Of course, the reason why Japanese planes did not attack was not because the Japanese were merciful, but because there were 3 million Japanese immigrants and their descendants in Brazil. Japan did not attack Macau, China, which was close at hand, for the same reason - Portugal was Brazil's former colonial master, and they had close relations and were easy to talk to. But now Portugal can make demands with confidence - after Salazar decided that Portugal was inclined towards the Axis, the tension between Japan and Portugal was eased by Germany's mediation.

Before the battle, the senior officers of the fleet reached a unified opinion: for those whose nationality can be clearly identified, they will strictly follow the declaration of war and will not use force against countries that have not declared war; those that cannot be clearly identified will be bombed as usual. Anyway, after the war started, South America's shipping with the Axis was basically cut off. These ships were either transporting supplies to the United States or the United Kingdom, and there would be basically no wrongful convictions.

The only ship that was not sunk was a tanker flying the Brazilian flag and with a displacement of up to 9,800 tons. It was called the Brasilia. Judging from its track, it was sailing from the United States to Brazil. It had a heavy draft and was estimated to be fully loaded. So they were reluctant to sink it. The German bombers circled over its head and asked it to sail northeast with a clear-code telegram, otherwise it would be sunk immediately. After considering it, the captain decided to do so. After receiving the news, Marshal immediately ordered the fastest destroyers to capture it - although the fleet brought tankers with them, no one would complain about too much oil.

The combined fleet used its unique shrewdness to the extreme in the attack. The planes carried all 250 kilograms of bombs, and a He-218 could carry two bombs. To deal with these cargo ships with only a few thousand tons and less than 10,000 tons, this level of bombs was enough to reimburse them. The only regret for everyone was that they failed to catch the refrigerated ship - even though a long time had passed, Marshal and others still missed the refrigerated ship full of eggs and steaks.

By the afternoon, the total tonnage of cargo ships killed by the Axis Fleet reached 70,000 tons. Although half of them were empty, it was still a remarkable achievement. Aircraft destroyed 55,000 tons of them, while the huge fleet only destroyed two ships, 15,000 tons - the efficiency of destroying the trade was simply incomparable.

The news that the Axis Fleet appeared in the Caribbean and killed people quickly spread throughout America through telegrams, and of course it soon reached Washington.

"What? They didn't come to the East Coast?" Roosevelt asked in surprise.

"Yes, we were misled by the "Notice." Admiral King was so angry that his teeth itched, "Today, more than 10 ships sent out distress signals, saying that they were attacked by Japanese or German planes, and almost all of them were sunk."

"Asshole!" Roosevelt cursed angrily. He has been very angry recently, and he has cursed more in the past few days than in the past few years. The doctor has repeatedly reminded him to control his emotions.

After a long while, he gradually calmed down: "Where is the enemy fleet now? What other military forces do we have in that area?"

"The exact location is unclear. Judging from the location where the ship was attacked, the enemy fleet is about 1,300 kilometers south of the Bermuda Islands."

"Can the planes on the island bomb them?"

"Theoretically, the B-25 can, but the distance is too far, and the efficiency of horizontal bombers is very low, so bombing has no practical significance. The enemy has 5 aircraft carriers, and we have only 12 B-25 bombers deployed on Bermuda Island, which is useless."

"Are there no other bases available?"

"There is also an air force in Puerto Rico, which is close to The enemy fleet is about 400-500 kilometers away, but the planes on it are very old, mostly F2A, Hawk and other models, and they can't play any role. "Admiral King sighed, "The United States still has too little military force in South America."

While talking, new news came. The Puerto Rico Air Force Base reported that it was attacked by Japanese and German aircraft in the afternoon. The entire army was destroyed, and the airport, radar station, and coastal defense fortifications were destroyed. 7 F2A Buffaloes took off forcibly during the air raid, but they were all shot down. The rest of the planes were destroyed on the ground. The enemy suffered almost no losses - in just one day, 70,000 tons of ships and an air force base were destroyed.

Roosevelt looked at the Central American and Caribbean countries on the map and said nothing for a long time: Almost none of the Central American countries have strong military forces. On the one hand, these countries are too small to support large-scale military construction. On the other hand, The United States has always regarded this region as its own backyard. How can it tolerate them becoming stronger and bigger in national defense? But now it is the turn of the United States to bear these hardships alone. Not to mention that they cannot deal with this Axis Fleet, which is so large that even the United States is frightened. Even if it is only one-third or even one-fourth of the force, it will not be possible. Central American countries can compete with it.

There are a few countries in South America that still have some strength. Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are all moderately developed countries, but with their aging and outdated navy and air force, they are no match for the Germans or Japanese. The fleet is now completely in an overwhelming advantage and can move sideways in South America. Moreover, Roosevelt knew that Chile and Argentina had always been ideologically inclined to Germany and were not very interested in U.S. policies. There were many German descendants in Chile. Except for Brazil, which was willing to stand with the United States in the fight against the Axis, the other countries wanted to Don't even think about it - maybe they're still waiting to see America make a fool of themselves.

But even Brazil, which has the largest body and largest army in South America, in his eyes is a place that can be bulldozed by 3-4 German armored divisions. If you want to deal with the Axis Powers, you cannot rely on these countries. You have to rely on the United States. Come on your own.

He sighed and asked with concern: "If they continue to break ties south, what measures can we take to stop them? Do we need to let Admiral Ingersoll lead the fleet to pursue them?"

"It is too late for the fleet to pursue them. The Atlantic Fleet is still at least 1,500 nautical miles away from them, and it will take four days to advance at full speed." Admiral Jin thought about it carefully and said, "We still have some military power in Brazil, which may be able to play a positive role. It works, but it’s still far away from the Axis Fleet.”

As a reward for Brazil's joining the alliance, the United States established a military base in northeastern Brazil and helped the country train its army. It also canceled some of its debts, allowing Brazil to obtain US$200 million in benefits (Author's note: Historically, Brazil has An expeditionary force was sent to participate in the war in Italy, and the results were very mediocre). Although Roosevelt did not know the scale and capabilities of the military base in Brazil, from General King's tone, it seemed that he did not think Brazil could do much.

"Okay. Let the merchant ships of the Allied countries hide immediately to prevent them from being needlessly sunk by the Germans or Japanese. Then send the telegram to the Atlantic Fleet to ask for their operational opinions."

Admiral Jin frowned and looked at the map again, and said to himself: "Oh, we still have..." In the middle of the sentence, he suddenly couldn't continue and looked directly at the map. Not to mention how scary that look was, it made Roosevelt feel nervous.

"What's going on?" Seeing the other party's face becoming more and more solemn, and then almost livid, Roosevelt was very nervous - Admiral Jin was a man who had seen the world, even if he heard that the Japanese were coming to attack the East Coast, he was very nervous. It's not that rude. The current situation can only mean that something serious has happened.

"It's broken!" Admiral Jin suddenly exclaimed, "The Japanese are probably heading towards the Panama Canal..."

"What?" Roosevelt was stunned, and everyone else in the office was also stunned, and they were all petrified in an instant. Everyone knows the importance of the canal to the United States. It is the real hub that maintains the operation of the U.S. Navy. Otherwise, the United States would not go to Panama to seize the canal zone and build a state within a state. Once the canal is destroyed, it means that the Pacific, The two battlefields in the Atlantic Ocean are separated. If warships want to support the Far East battlefield, they must go around South America. The time will be much longer and the combat efficiency will be greatly reduced.

"What should we do now? Can we hold it there?" Roosevelt also panicked. However, thinking that Panama is where the US military's Southern Command is located, with more than 10,000 troops stationed for a long time, he felt a little more at ease - the Axis Fleet could not get ashore no matter how capable it was.

However, Admiral Jin still called on the spot to inquire in detail about the defense situation and troop equipment. He was told that in addition to more than 10,000 army troops, Panama also had more than 80 aircraft, a number of coastal defense facilities and radar stations, and more than 50 tanks - - Putting it elsewhere would be a good idea, but everyone was thinking, can Panama be defended with this small force?

"Today we will mobilize troops to Florida, and tomorrow we will set off to reinforce the Canal Zone. We will go there by plane. If we are lucky, we will have two days to strengthen the defense." Admiral Jin's mind turned quickly and he made a decisive decision. Nicaragua suddenly came to mind. There is also an airport with relatively complete facilities available, and he added, "We must find a way to immediately mobilize a group of Army attack aircraft to the Nicaraguan airport to assist in the defense."