Chapter 456 Paralysis (Part 2)
Ps: I arrived in Xi'an this morning, went to the History Museum in the afternoon, and went to Hui-Min Street in the evening to experience snacks and shadow puppetry...
Shortly after Brooke led the fleet to set off, General Ross's emergency telegram arrived again, telling him that the defense line in the Canal Zone was in danger: the German army resumed the offensive after the American attack fleet retreated. The early morning air strike caused more than 300 casualties to the beachhead troops and the loss of 7 tanks. The casualty rate Slightly less than 15%, far lower than pre-estimated. Those Marine Brigade officers and soldiers who lay down and pretended to be dead soon regained their high fighting spirit and vented all their anger from the air attack on the Panamanian defenders - Reimer, hurry up Time advanced in depth, and at the same time, an amphibious infantry battalion and an artillery battalion were allowed to land and advance in depth.
Now it is the turn of Ross's ground forces to bear the wrath of the Axis attack fleet: since the Panamanian defenders do not have a single aircraft, Tsukahara only symbolically assigned 6 escort fighters to the attack group, and the other 218 or Ju-98 - cautious Tsukahara always maintained a high degree of vigilance against possible enemy fleets and had a strong reserve of attack power on hand. With the continuous advancement of the German Marine Brigade and the extensive coverage of air strikes, the casualties of the Panamanian defenders continued to increase. Although Ross had four times more troops than the Germans, his troops not only lacked heavy firepower and basically had no actual combat experience, they were outnumbered. The Marine Brigade, which was far smaller than his own but composed of experienced elites, pressed and fought, and the M4 Sherman tank he gritted his teeth to use was no match for the Tiger. One after another, one after another was destroyed by 88mm tank cannon remotely. Or be destroyed by a He-218 dive attack.
Cohen wanted to help Ross, but he agreed to Brooke first to send all B-25s to perform reconnaissance missions, and then obtained Washington's clear order to anti-ship, and the air raid group had already set off, so he had no choice but to do nothing, and finally sent a telegram to tell him If Brooke still has some remaining strength after the air attack is completed, ask him to provide appropriate cover for the ground troops. He comforted himself - the heavy casualties suffered by the Panamanian defenders and the Nicaraguan naval and air forces were all sacrifices that had to be made to hold back the Axis Fleet.
After Brooke set off with a fleet of 128 aircraft, Cohen immediately sent 24 B-25s to perform a search mission—preparing to thoroughly investigate the 400-kilometer radius of the Panama Canal Zone. As he watched one plane after another take off into the sky, his head froze and tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. He didn't know how many planes would come back alive in the end.
The Marine Brigade's attack was fierce, and the fleet's artillery support was also very vigorous. After the Mutsu was decorated, Horikichi instinctively realized that the situation was not ideal. The enemy's land and aviation attacks were getting stronger and stronger, but he had to persevere: The hub of the Panama Canal lies in the locks. Only complete destruction can ultimately paralyze the canal for a long time. There are three locks in the canal, two of which are located in the Pacific direction, and only one is located in the Atlantic direction - the closest is the Gatun lock, which is also the US military's lock. The focus of ground force defense.
The ship lock is more than 40 kilometers away from the left beach where the Marine Brigade landed. The covering fire of the artillery fleet cannot reach it. If we must force the bombardment, we must move closer to Limon Bay at the exit of the canal. Theoretically speaking, the fleet can attack However, the water depth there is limited, the main channel is narrow, and there is insufficient room for maneuver. If it is attacked by aircraft midway, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, the lock must rely on the cover of the Marine Corps and attack aircraft groups to hope to capture it.
In view of the critical significance of paralyzing the canal, after careful consideration, he decided to give Remer a daylight period. If the German army could not effectively control the locks before dark, he would use the fleet to risk rushing into Limon Bay for bombardment after nightfall. Just when he was thinking about what method he should use to carry out artillery fire if the Marine Brigade could not complete its mission, Caolu Renyi reminded him with a solemn face that the enemy's second wave of air strikes was about to launch, numbering about 130 aircraft.
This attack was dominated by the U.S. Navy's forces. The composition of the force changed significantly and became a combination of 48 F4Us, 36 SBDs and 48 TBFs. There were very few types of aircraft. In addition, the TBFs were all equipped with torpedoes. Although Brooke was very confident in his troops, when faced with the densely packed Axis planes coming to intercept, he couldn't help but sigh: There were really many enemy planes, in his opinion, at least more than 70, which showed that the rear The estimate of the total number of aircraft in the enemy fleet, at least the total number of fighters, is wrong - instead of only having 50-60 aircraft left, they should have at least 100 more aircraft.
He has good eyesight and can see what is real at a glance. There are 72 interceptor aircraft in total. There are 16 fighter jets serving as the last barrier over the fleet. There are 24 direct cover aircraft in the mobile fleet. They are sent to protect the ground attack aircraft group and have just returned to resupply. There are 6 fighter jets, and Tsukahara now still has a reserve of 10 aircraft - hardly leaving much behind.
Ryunosuke Kusaka asked strangely: "Sir, why don't you continue to implement the shock wave tactic?"
"It's enough to use the same tactic once, and the enemy will be aware of it and take precautions."
The large fleets of both sides fought fiercely in the continuous battle. Brooke adopted a new tactic this time: using fighter jets to surround all the attack aircraft, and clearly stipulated that even if the enemy aircraft encountered a head-on interception, they should not leave the formation, forcing the enemy aircraft to attack. Fight head-on.
The new tactics caught the Japanese and German pilots a little off guard. They did not want to fight enemy fighters, but they could not attack the SBD inside without fighting the F4U. In the midst of hesitation and entanglement, the American fleet flew forward for a long distance. Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf, who was in command, saw that something was wrong and ordered the fleet to attack head-on, regardless of whether the opponent was a fighter or an attack aircraft.
After 10 minutes of interception and delaying operations, the Axis fleet lost a total of 11 aircraft, and the US military was shot down 45 aircraft, including 19 F4U, 14 SBD and 12 TBF. The exchange ratio further decreased, which on the one hand reflected the effectiveness of the US new tactics, and on the other hand, the Axis fleet consumed too much power on F4U, resulting in a decrease in combat efficiency. A large group of US aircraft arrived over the fleet and prepared to disperse the attack.
The fleet's anti-aircraft firepower fired desperately, but the effect was very general, only shooting down 2 SBD and 1 TBF.
It seemed that as agreed, the US military fleet first dispersed on a large scale. Just as the Japanese and German aircraft fleets dispersed to meet the attack, the US military turned around and focused its fire on the Mutsu - more than 40 attack aircraft flew up and down around the ship and attacked wantonly. Although the Axis fighters tried their best to protect it, the formation just now had been dispersed, and coupled with the desperate fighting of the US fighters, it was difficult to cover the defense in place.