A council of war was held. The commanding officers were called together. The President hastily summoned the Cabinet. There was no minimizing the danger for everyone knew that the ingenuity of Japan had designed a superior fighting plane; that this was to be a war in the air and that all old methods and weapons of war were obsolete; that the United States must move quick and fast to prevent destruction of the Pacific Coast cities. They decided to confiscate the large manufacturing plants and start them on making new inventions and the manufacture of airplanes. Central Steel was confiscated; also Major Motors and Major Electric Co. The war council decided that they should scatter their air forces from Brownsville, Texas, up to El Paso to protect the Rio Grande from attack thru Mexico; that the battle line should extend up the Colorado River on across to Portland and Seattle. The land forces were all rushed to the Coast, forming a battle line from Brownsville, Texas, across to the Northwest to Seattle. It was decided that this line should be held with reserve forces to be sent to support a second line of defense running from San Diego up the Coast to Portland, to protect inland invasion by the foe in case they were successful in capturing any of the coast cities. People in Los Angeles and San Francisco were in a state of turmoil. Thousands were leaving every day by train and airplane, going to the Grand Canyon where there were no cities and they hoped they would be safe from attacks. Others went to the central and eastern parts of the United States because they feared attacks any day.