Chapter 701 The Wind rises in Panama

Panama.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, 11 large ocean-going cargo ships drifting in the Caribbean Sea for a day began to slowly dock in the port of San Lorenzo. While looking at the sky nervously, the officers loudly urged the new soldiers to disembark quickly. Dozens of trucks with anti-aircraft machine guns gathered around with vigilance. The locals began to accelerate the unloading of supplies from the shipyard.

There is nothing we can do. During the day, it is the world of Xinhua aircraft. Everyone shudders at the thought of bombs that would fall overhead at any time, so the U.S. military can only use the night to supply and transport personnel.

Seven or eight cruisers and destroyers slowly sailed into the canal from the fortifications of San Lorenzo. They were ordered to go to the west coast to defend San Diego and San Francisco. In fact, even if they drilled out of the canal and arrived in the Gulf of Panama, it was doubtful whether they could reach San Diego, because outside the Gulf of Panama, there was a new one. Hua and their South American fleet are on patrol. More than 20 warships and transport ships have been damaged in the bay this month, half of which have been sunk by the seemingly ubiquitous Xinhua submarines.

The fortress of San Lorenzo is located east of the Panama Canal, on the north shore of Limon Bay, in the rainforest next to the Caribbean coast, including a series of fortresses, fortresses and walls built around the bay. There are the Castle of San Philippe de Sotomayor, the Fortress of Santiago, the Fortress of San Girosino, the Fortress of San Fernando, the Castle of Santiago de la Glia, the Fortress of Farnicio, etc.

These fortresses and fortresses are located in the corners of ports, hills and cities, and the center is the largest fortress of St. Philip. It was built in 1564 and was mainly used to defend against pirate attacks. Later, King Philip II of Spain ordered it to be rebuilt, and the fortress was named after him.

The arrival of the Americans, especially after the beginning of the war, it became the U.S. Panama Command. Not only has the defense of the fortress been greatly strengthened, but also added a lot of cement and steel structures on the basis of the original granite. Semi-buried tunnels connect the largest fortresses in the Caribbean, facing the sea and In the large half-moon fortress on the side of the canal, dozens of fortresses converted from naval guns are particularly powerful, and the surrounding jungle is full of mines and cannons. The wide Jiatong Lake is full of mines and small gunboats, which is geographically easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it very difficult for anyone to take it.

Dozens of long antennas, some messyly inserted everywhere in the central fortress of St. Philip's castle, the endless sound of telegrams made the officers as if they had become mice under the flute, busy.

Telegraphs are always intermittent. The special rainforest environment leads to unstable signals, and these American imitation radio stations are far less than the enemy's original goods, so that communication officers always complain that they should buy more before the war.

No one dares to complain. Xinhua has completely cut off the export of foreign high-tech products. Their parliament also passed a legal document called the High-tech Export Control Act before the war. Now it is difficult to get it even for Germany, let alone the United States, and the style of the war has changed. Wire and electricity have become the only means of long-distance communication. If they are lost, many people don't even know how to deal with them.

Tonight's communication signal translation is particularly messy, because the communication is closed to adapt to the new password manual. Many people don't even remember that this is the first time to change the password. As long as a warship is sunk, it will be nervous for a long time and then change the password, not to mention the total destruction of the soldiers stationed in Australia. Later. It's

The busier you are, the more impatient you are. The sultry night made everyone extremely irritable. They pulled off their collars and unbuttoned their buttons. Just when many officers wanted to roll up their sleeves and ignored their manners, a crisp sound of horse boots broke this rhythm, making the fortress hold their breath in an instant. The officers and staff subconsciously began to check. Check your appearance.

Lt. Gen. John Joseph Pershing and his new assistant, Major George Marshall, walked into the headquarters.

As we all know, Lieutenant General Pershing is a traditional soldier. No matter when and where he is, he always has a straight waist, his clothes are straight, and his boots are bright. Even when he is in commanding operations, he is not only strict, but also strict with the officers and military appearance around him, which is almost unbearable. So everyone quietly gave him the nickname "Horrible Jack".

But if you think he is a stubborn person based on these, then you are wrong. In the recent deep battle in Mexico, I don't know how many Mexicans died under his iron-blooded orders. He also paid special attention to the pre-war training of the army. He did not like passive and negative trench warfare, and admired the mobile tactics used by Xinhua, so He would rather send fewer soldiers to the front line than let them do enough training here first. Moreover, he was also the first to propose that the U.S. Army should learn from Xinhua and use tanks and trucks to form special armored divisions to improve the troop's mobility and strike capabilities.

Originally, the United States was going to send him to Europe, but he failed to catch up with the concept of going to the Great Plains of Europe to realize and study its own mobile operations. Instead, he was sent to the Panamanian battlefield.

Smour heat, mosquitoes, diseases, poison gas and explosions!

There is only one word to describe the current Panama rainforest, meat grinder!

There are two major meat grinder battlefields in Europe, and there is also one in the Americas. Compared with Australia's heavy losses, the U.S. military has suffered a lot of losses in Panama in the past six months. It has not only killed as many as 170,000 soldiers, but also injured more than 200,000 people, and at least there is no end at present.

Xinhua is also uncomfortable. Although there are no specific figures, Pershing is very clear that they have paid at least 100,000 casualties, more than half of whom are infected with tropical diseases such as malaria. According to intelligence agents in Bogota, a large number of soldiers return to Colombia for treatment every day.

No one likes such a bad war. Compared with the straightforward fight against Russia and Australia, Xinhua is actually equally uncomfortable, so he believes that Li Mo doesn't like to fight like this, but at this time, neither side has room for manoeuvre. The rainforest is naturally not suitable for mobile warfare. Everyone must grit their teeth and strangle in the rainforest. Go down.

The United States has the advantage of supply and geographical advantages. Xinhua has the advantage of weapons and equipment. After mixing them all into the rainforest, they are actually equal. The reason why the United States has a large number of casualties is mainly because Xinhua has mastered the sky, but the sky can't win the war, especially in this dense rainforest area, unless they cut down all the trees. Otherwise, everyone can only suffer together in the mud and sultry until the end.

What's more, from a military point of view, the canal and the lakes and islands around the canal are the best natural barrier in themselves. It is impossible to cross the river without paying a huge price, so he is willing to see this meat grinder, but the problem is that the upper layer has recently swayed. The huge pressure inside began to make many people join the anti-war ranks.

"Those idiots!"

After entering the office and closing the door, Pershing's expression not only did not relax, but also became more solemn. Giving up Panama means that the United States will become an Atlantic country from now on, not a two-ocean country!

After reading a few war reports, Pershing walked to the map and asked, "George, how long do you think we can keep it?"

George Marshall was stunned when asked, how long did he stay? He didn't know that. He was just a newly transferred major, in charge of logistics, and was not a front-line officer at all.

But since Lieutenant General Pershing asked, he immediately said, "Middle General, I don't know how long I can stay, but I know that Panama City is the area we must defend."

Pershing nodded. He was very satisfied with the meticulous major. Although his answer was vague, he said the key. Panama City was the last stronghold of the United States on the south bank of the canal. Without there, the canal was cut off.

The Panama Canal is really too important for the United States. The important thing is that this is the area that must be defended. Even Britain and France, which had nothing to do with it, did not dare to give up easily, so they took the initiative to send the fleet to guard the mouth of the Caribbean Sea. But the problem is that they did not dare to get too close to the canal, because at this time, the sky has been renewed. Hua mastered that their planes could easily cover most of Panama, and even here had been bombed many times. If it hadn't been for the rainforest, it might have been razed to the ground.

But there is no way to continue such a passive defense. Xinhua's strike force has advanced to the horse stool lake, which is only one step away from the canal. In addition, dozens of planes are bombarded every day. There are more telegrams of garrison for help there than Canadian snowflakes!

What should I do? How can we break this situation?

It is foreseeable that as Australia enters the later stage of stability, a large number of troops will be transferred to South America and the west coast, especially the number of troops stationed in the Hawaiian Islands is said to have exceeded 500,000. This force has become a sword hanging over the head of the United States and Panama.

And Xinhua has recently sent additional troops to the Cologne Islands and Ecuador. It is expected that it can enter Colombia from two places after a month of adaptation training. At that time, Panama will face a more serious threat!

Pershing frowned and his eyes slipped through the south of the canal over and over again. Suddenly, his eyes began to move slowly down. When he saw Colombia, a bold idea suddenly flashed in his mind, but before he could continue to think more, the staff officer had knocked on the door.

"General, I just received a message from Washington, Romania." After a pause, the staff officer handed the telegram to Pershing: "There was a revolution!"

Pershing quickly took the telegram, and Marshall next to him couldn't help but stare his eyes, and an indescribable feeling surged in his heart, as if something had been dug up in his body.

Romania is going to quit!

In fact, Romania's withdrawal is not without warning. A revolution broke out in Russia. After the stupid land for peace withdrew from the war, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria began to attack Romania. Because the strait could not be opened, the Ally could not support the Black Sea at all. It was only a matter of time before the fall of a small Romania. .

In fact, the senior management is very clear that Romania, Serbia and even France have shown signs of revolution. Originally, Austria-Hungary also had a revolutionary trend, but with the opening of Baghdad's iron force and the continuous transportation of physical resources, it has been under preliminary control. In addition, now that Australia has failed, the chances of the Allies to win have become more and more. The smaller it is, the darker the tide begins to become more and more turbulent.

Marshall sighed in his heart, but he thought General Pershing would be furious, but he didn't expect that he seemed to turn a deaf ear to the major news and seemed to have known that it would be the result.

After putting the telegram on his desk, Pershing suddenly raised his head: "George, how long will it take for the British fleet to arrive?"

"Two prestige-class battlecruisers have arrived in Miami and are waiting for the seven subsequent battleships there. It is expected that all of them will arrive in 10 days."

"10 days!"

Pershing slowly raised his head and his eyes became full of expectation, but he did not know that at the same time, 12 Xinhua freighters had quietly arrived at the port of Buenaventura in Colombia at the same time as the U.S. reinforcements arrived.

A large wooden box was carried from the truck from the cargo ship, then covered with a thick oilcloth, and headed for Panama under tight protection.

(to be continued)