While the main force of the Imperial Navy's Pacific Fleet was making trouble on the west coast of the United States, the fleet consisting of the Imperial Navy's 11th Carrier Strike Group and the 12th Carrier Strike Group was on its way to Central America. The two aircraft carrier strike groups www.biquge.info Pen, Fun, and Pavilion have two main aircraft carriers, four escort aircraft carriers, and a total of 300 carrier-based aircraft. At a time when aircraft carriers have already shown their formidable strength in naval warfare, such a fleet is already very strong.

On the aircraft carrier USS Mane Ridge, the flagship of the Imperial Navy's 11th Carrier Strike Group, Vice Admiral Lin Xiangjin, chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, was reading a telegram. This was sent by the main fleet, and after the main fleet had taken out the San Diego naval base, a telegram was sent to several other carrier strike groups. The remaining warships of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet have been almost eliminated, which makes the Imperial Navy much less of a threat when operating in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

"Haha! Commander, they're doing a good job! At such a small cost, the entire San Diego naval base was destroyed, and the American aircraft carriers USS Langley, battleships Washington and West Virginia were destroyed. By the way, several hundred fighters of the US Army Aviation were also killed. Such a loss is undoubtedly painful for everyone. Lieutenant General Lin Xiangjin said with a smile.

"Yes, Chief of Staff. After this battle, it is impossible for everyone in the entire Pacific Ocean to threaten us anymore. Cai Junbao, commander of the 11th Aircraft Carrier Strike Group, said with a smile.

"Of course, this time the empire is unintentional. How can everyone be an opponent of the Empire. The entire Pacific Ocean is destined to become the inner lake of the Empire. Lieutenant General Lin Xiangjin said. It has always been the goal and dream of the Imperial Admirals to make the entire Pacific Ocean and the world's seas the territory of the Empire. Now, they are working towards that goal, and that seemingly unattainable goal seems to be on the verge of being achieved.

"How long do we have to get to Panama?" Lieutenant General Lin asked. This time, the target of the two aircraft carrier strike groups he led was the canal in Panama. Since the Panama Canal was officially opened to navigation in 4618 AD, the canal has become an important transportation artery. Americans, in particular, use this canal to save a lot of time from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. Although, the United States consists of the Pacific Railroad that runs through the east and west coasts. However, it is clear that the capacity of rail cannot be compared with that of sea freight. What's more, if the U.S. Navy's warships want to travel from the east coast to the west coast, they must pass through the sea! You can't pass by land, can you?

In the Imperial Navy's planned operation against the United States, there is also a special plan C for the Panama Canal, the purpose of which is to cut off this communication artery, so that the US Navy cannot pass through the canal and quickly travel from the east coast to the west coast. In this way, even if the United States can use the shipyards located on the Atlantic coast to quickly produce more aircraft carriers. However, they could not send these aircraft carriers to the Pacific coast in time. If you make a detour to South America, on the one hand, the distance is too long, which will have a great impact on the performance of the warship. On the other hand, the Imperial Navy could have waited for an opportunity to ambush the U.S. Navy on a long route, once again making the U.S. Navy pay a heavy price.

Therefore, the destruction of the Panama Canal is very advantageous for the Empire, which will give the Empire a greater advantage in the Pacific Ocean. None of the Americans will be able to pose a threat to the empire in the Pacific Ocean for the next two years. Two years is enough time for the empire to sweep the entire Pacific Ocean, and use these small islands in the Pacific Ocean to build a strong defense line, so that the Americans will forever lose the possibility of competing with the Chinese Empire for the Pacific Ocean. After losing the Pacific Ocean, what will the United States use to compete with the Chinese Empire? At that time, the United States will inevitably decline and become a second-rate country, no longer able to compete with the Chinese Empire.

"Chief of Staff, we can enter Panama Bay tomorrow." Major General Cai Junbao said.

"Well, order the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carriers, get ready. Tomorrow, after entering the predetermined waters, they will launch an attack, destroy the Panama Canal, and immediately leave and return to the waters of Hawaii to stand by. Lieutenant General Lin Xiangjin ordered.

"Yes, Chief of Staff." Major General Cai Junbao nodded.

Although, Panama is a neutral country, and the Panama Canal is an important waterway. An attack on the Panama Canal would have caused the empire to be condemned by the international community. However, the empire does not care about any of this at all now. Everything the Empire does is to be able to win this war. Besides, the Panama Canal has always been under the control of the Americans, who in turn are enemies of the empire. Naturally, then, the empire will not let go of this important canal.

The Americans did not expect the Chinese Empire to take the Panama Canal, and they were being exhausted by the main force of the Imperial Navy's Pacific Fleet on the west coast of the United States. The main force of the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet has continuously dispatched carrier-based aircraft to attack cities in the western part of the United States, causing the United States to pay an extremely heavy price. A large number of Americans fled from the West Coast to the East, which caused great turmoil in American society. The support of the Roosevelt administration is also declining. In order to appease the people and at the same time prevent China from landing on the western coast of the United States, the U.S. government had to send a large number of troops to the west coast and build a defense line called the Pacific Iron Wall, in order to tell the American people that the United States is safe. Although the US Navy was temporarily defeated. However, the U.S. military* is still capable of protecting the lives and property of the American people.

The United States is in the Panama Canal and does not have too strong military power. Even so, the Panamanians have always wanted to reclaim the canal. However, the Panamanian government is simply a puppet supported by the Americans, and how can it oppose the United States if it regards the Americans as its backers? As a result, the United States deployed only a small number of troops in Panama to protect the canal from the Panamanians. In addition, there is an airfield in the Panama Canal Zone, where more than a dozen old P-35 fighters are deployed. Such a military force is simply weak for the two aircraft carrier strike groups of the Imperial Navy. Not to mention the main aircraft carrier of the Imperial Navy, even if it is an escort aircraft carrier, it can defeat them in one fell swoop.

At 6 a.m. on September 10, 4637, the Imperial Navy's 11th and 12th Carrier Strike Groups had arrived less than 100 kilometers from Panama. On the two main aircraft carriers and the four escort aircraft carriers, the ground crew is also starting to get busy. They need to refuel carrier-based aircraft and refuel them. On the periphery of the fleet, sonar-mounted destroyers and cruisers are closely monitoring the underwater situation. After all, once the aircraft carrier begins to take off carrier-based aircraft, if the enemy submarine slips in this process, the consequences will be unimaginable. The Panama Canal is so important that no one dares to guarantee whether the Americans have deployed submarines here.

The pilots were being briefed, because this time the attack was mainly aimed at fixed targets on land, so the carrier-based aircraft that were dispatched were mainly dive bombers.

"The main targets of our attack this time were several locks in the Panama Canal. Because this canal is a lock-type canal. If we blow up these locks, the canal will be finished. If you want to repair it again, it is impossible to do it for more than a year. Therefore, we have to make some trouble for the Americans. The co-commander of the 11th Carrier-based Aircraft Wing was speaking to the pilots.

"Half an hour later, 12 fighters and 12 dive bombers will take off from the aircraft carrier 'Russian Manling', and the same number of aircraft will also take off from the aircraft carrier 'Emeishan' for an attack on the Panama Canal. Each dive bomber carried a thousand kilograms of heavy aerial bombs. Therefore, when dropping bombs, it is important to ensure that they hit the target accurately. Otherwise, you'll have to replant your bombs. Of course, theoretically, if a bomb hits a target, a sluice gate is destroyed. The co-captain continued.

Several locks in the Panama Canal are the same, with the same length, width, and depth. Each set of locks is in pairs, and boats can pass through both directions at the same time. Each gate has two, 20 meters wide and 2 meters thick, fixed to hinges. The height of the door varies from 14~25 meters; The door leaf is driven by an electric motor mounted in the recess of the gate wall. The opening and closing of the door leaves is controlled by the control tower located on the wall of the pair locks, and the filling and discharging of the lock chamber is also controlled by the control tower. The lock chamber is 300 meters long, 33 meters wide and 12 meters deep.

"Okay, do you all understand? If there are no objections, then go ahead and prepare. The Wing Commander ordered.

"Yes, sir." All the pilots replied.

To be able to become a pilot of carrier-based aircraft, every pilot is the elite of the elite. This attack on the Panama Canal is a piece of cake for them, isn't it an attack on a fixed target on land? It's just too easy. You know, when they are training, they are all attacking warships moving at high speed on the sea. Even high-speed moving warships can hit, let alone stationary dead targets.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, carrier-based planes took off one after another from the aircraft carriers "Russian Manling" and "Emeishan," and each of the two aircraft carriers took off 12 fighters and 12 dive bombers. After completing the formation in the air, fly towards the Panama Canal. And for this operation of the Chinese Navy, the Americans did not know at all. (To be continued.) )