Chapter 592 Collision 2

"How many ships have passed?"

In the dense jungle on the left bank of the Panama Canal, three pairs of eyes stared at the passing American cargo ships in the dark while driving away mosquitoes.

This work is really not done by people. Mosquitoes in the dense jungle of South America can almost kill people. In the construction of this canal in front of me, nearly 10,000 people and workers from other countries died here. Even if I was well prepared, I specially trained to adapt to surnames. In the past year, there have been seven intelligence agents who have not returned after carrying out their tasks here. Go, no one knows that they died in this jungle.

"About 20 ships." The eyes responsible for observation blinked, and the United States was probably fierce. In the past few days, the number of ships passing through the canal has reached hundreds, especially after dark. It can be seen that this is their means of containment against people like themselves, because in this environment, even if they have high-power telescopes, they can only faintly after dark. It's really inconvenient to distinguish the types of ships.

"What if you think it would be better to send a few submarines to block the Gulf of Panama? It also saves us trouble."

"It's not that simple." The investigator rubbed his eyes, temporarily put down the telescope and said, "The Gulf of Panama is now full of mines arranged by the U.S. military. Who dares to rush in without an exact channel map? And the American minelayer will be adjusted every few days. We also had a reconnaissance ship sinking there last week. I heard that none of the more than 40 people on it escaped.

"Then you can't wait far away from the bay?"

"I've been waiting for a long time." The investigator said: "Last month, the submarine force sank a total of 17 cargo ships there, but recently, I don't know what happened. Our submarine force seems to have gone back, and the United States has learned to be obedient. Every time, it gathers a large fleet in the bay, and then when the escort warship arrives, it rushes out collectively during the day. The team has learned how to deal with Germany.

"Forget it, the navy will solve this matter. We don't have to worry about it, as long as we don't miss the number of passes." The investigator rested for a moment. As soon as he thought about whether to smoke a cigarette in a place to relieve his fatigue, he suddenly saw several more shadows in the canal.

After he adjusted the telescope, several large ships like warships slowly passed through. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see clearly at all, and it was not a cage mast, and there was no shadow of a cannon on the deck. Is it a new cargo ship?

In the doubts of the investigators, the three Maine-class battleships and two armored cruisers in the canal channel in the distance were already tense. The sailors hid in the dark and looked at both sides of the strait warily. Except for the anti-collision lights, all the lights were strictly turned off.

For this voyage, the five warships were specially camouflaged. In addition to adding a fake chimney, all the guns were covered with wooden boards. From the outside, it seemed that the whole deck was several meters high. Most importantly, the special cage mast was removed and replaced with a traditional mast!

In the scout's frown, the five shadows had gradually faded away. When he wanted to think carefully about the type of cargo ship with a deck obviously higher than that of an ordinary ship, a brightly lit transport fleet behind him attracted his attention, and he had to quickly write down five "special large ships" in a small notebook. The new fleet was inspected.

Five hours later, when the three investigators returned to the camp and sent back the number and total categories of ships that passed within 24 hours, a huge fleet accelerated out of the Gulf of Panama under the protection of a large number of warships under the protection of a large number of warships in the morning. Pacific Ocean -

"Fed!"

Located in the Xinhua Royal Naval Command in Dalian, Long Guozhang slapped the table and scolded several intelligence staff officers. If Cheng Biguang hadn't stopped him, it would have been estimated that the famous flying foot would have reappeared the navy.

Several scolded intelligence staff officers can only pout their mouths and dare not reply. In fact, they are also quite wronged. There is a procedure for military intelligence sorting. The most important thing is the enemy's strategy, followed by military mobilization, followed by all kinds of auxiliary intelligence.

What's more, the enemy also made a careful camouflage this time. If the S21 submarine had not sunk a cargo ship and threatened the center of the fleet, the five ships were shelled by the other party, which were squeezed in the center of the fleet, covered the deck with wooden boards, and only exposed the chimneys and masts, perhaps no one would have noticed that they were going to Australia. There are five more warships in Dali's U.S. military support fleet.

So this news mixed with three types of intelligence was delayed for a day and a night!

Five large warships, with a displacement of more than 12,000!

This is very easy to guess. All the new battleships in the United States, including heavy cruisers, are big guys of more than 20,000 tons, while only 10 old armored cruisers have reached this tonnage, of which four Tennessee-class armored cruisers have been confirmed in the support fleet by S21, and the rest are It is six old Pennsylvania-class armored cruisers. Its first ship, the Pennsylvania, was decommissioned two months ago. At present, only West Virginia, California, Colorado, Maryland and South Dakota are left.

The first three are still in Chesapik Bay, and the remaining two have gone with three Maine-class to escort fleets from South America to Australia, so this tonnage can only be found in the old battleships.

Five Virginia-class and six Connecticut-class appeared in San Diego, and two Illinois-class S21s were also identified in the support fleet, so there were only three 12,846-ton Maine-classes left. Combined with previous analysis, it is certain that these five were disguised and chose late at night. Through the Panama Canal, it also used the rear fleet, and the large warships that were carefully camouflaged themselves were the three Maine-class battleships and the armored cruisers Maryland and South Dakota that should have escorted the South American transport fleet!

Although they are all old guys, five more ships will go to Australia at once, which will greatly enhance the strength of the Australian fleet. More importantly, they have been carefully disguised, which shows that there may be other purposes!

But where is the goal?

Is it to attack Colombia, or to set off a storm in the southwest?!

Standing in front of the map, holding the information urgently sent by the Admiralty Department, Li Mo and Chen Ping both saw the surprise in each other's eyes. It is reasonable that the United States does not need to be so careful. The speed of the five capital ships is more than 18 knots, and it is impossible for the submarine to catch up with them and launch an attack.

Using merchant ships to cover, it must be aimed at something!

Since the shelling of New York, Xinhua has been considering the retaliation of the United States. From the perspective of American temper and morale, the counterattack will definitely come. So where will the United States choose?

Colombia is a target, but the navy alone can't defeat Colombia. What's more, after Xinhua entered the port of Buenaventura, it readjusted its defense and arranged a large number of mines. A few old warships alone can't be killed.

So the two of them patrolled around Australia and the southwest Pacific over and over again. Judging from the route, it is unlikely that the United States will bypass Hawaii and go straight to Guam and the Ogasawara Islands. The Maine-class battleships are too old to meet this requirement. They can only rely on the Allied islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Opportunity, are Britain and the United States ready to continue to attack Nauru?

The two couldn't help shaking their heads. Now Nauru is different. Not only has 48 Falcons of an aviation squadron been stationed, but also taking advantage of the empty opportunity of the British and American retreat after the counterattack, the 22nd Army Division has set out from Guam and stationed there, plus two Jinghai-class cruisers and many destroyers, as well as just arrived. With the support of the Truk base, it is almost impossible to raid.

Britain and the United States will not be unaware of such a big mobilization. In this case, a raid is impossible. Since it can't raid, there is no need to disguise it.

So where is the goal?

Looking at the map, Li Mo was suddenly attracted by a place in the corner of his eyes. When he turned his head, Chen Ping's eyes had also looked at each other, and both of them saw each other's inner thoughts.

Colon Islands (now the Galapagos Islands)!

Li Mo took a breath. The Cologne Islands is the only route from Panama to Australia, which is of great strategic significance. However, because Ecuador is currently neutral, Xinhua's name was only a leased investigation at that time, so there was no way to really use this base. We could only do it in the name of scientific investigation. In order to provide logistical support for the refueling transit places of warships.

The United States also knows this, so although it hates this place to the bone, it has not made up its mind before, because it is useless to fight down. If the troops are not stationed in the Cologne Islands, it will always be a big threat, and the garrison will declare war on behalf of Ecuador.

It is a very serious strategic decision to declare war on the current neutral South American countries, because it is very likely to completely push all South American countries along the Pacific coast to the side of Xinhua!

This political consequence must be considered. Even if Li Mo decides to go to war against a neutral country, it is not so easy. Otherwise, his army can set foot on the vital island of Sumatra on the first day of the declaration of war, but in that case, the British and American troops can land directly from the Netherlands to intimidate Germany.

But after the Gibraltar Conference, the whole agreement has realized that if we do our best, it is impossible to win this battle, so the political factor has completely disappeared. What's more, after New York was shelled, the United States needs a victory. When it is unable to immediately attack important areas of Xinhua, it will take some Xinhua troops stationed in neutral countries to start. A knife is a good idea!

As long as the Cologne Islands are taken, the waterway to Australia will be smooth. As for Ecuador, even if it has a few old warships, it is impossible to threaten the United States.

"How many troops are there?"

"Originally, there were three submarines, but they had sent a telegram to intercept the American transport fleet. Now there are only 13 fleets operating in that area. There is only one marine battalion on the island and an electronic intelligence reconnaissance company." After Chen Ping finished speaking, he added with a solemn face and added, "They are all light troops."

"Is there time to retreat?"

Facing Li Mo's eyes, Chen Ping shook his head: "It's too late. One day and one night is enough for the U.S. fleet to move nearby."

Many things can't be avoided. After all, the Cologne Islands are too far away. At the moment when Ecuador did not join the alliance, large-scale troops were stationed to bring the war to neutral countries, and political factors need to be considered. It seems that this bloodshed is inevitable.

"Tmend a telegram to Ji Rushan and let him." Before Li Mo finished his words, Zhang Zuolin suddenly pushed the door in and interrupted him, saying, "Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, General Ji sent a telegram, he said."

Zhang Zuolin looked at the telegram again before raising his head.

"The fleet has set off!"

(to be continued)