Arthur was well aware of the news that the Central American United Forces and the American army had already exchanged fire near the Panama Canal.
To Arthur, the victory in this small-scale battle was of little importance; it was the subsequent large-scale deployment of the United Forces that was the main event.
However, with only a few thousand American soldiers stationed near the Panama Canal, facing an imposing force of about fifty thousand soldiers from the Central American United Forces, victory seemed unlikely.
With no time to focus on the war in Central America, Arthur turned his attention entirely to the war strategy for Australasia.
The scale of the Australasian deployment was around one hundred thousand soldiers, and the numbers from any single army were insufficient.