On the night of April 6, the German landing fleet, consisting of one Bismarck-class battleship, two Scharnhorst-class heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers, 14 destroyers, 28 submarines and several auxiliary ships, carried the first wave of landing troops. More than 10,000 soldiers quietly set sail under cover of night and sailed into the Baltic Sea.
At 1:25 pm on April 7, the British Admiralty received a report from a reconnaissance aircraft: "It was discovered that a powerful German fleet was moving north, crossing the Skagerrak, and heading towards the Norwegian coast." However, the British Admiralty However, they did not believe that this German fleet was going to land in Norway, and suspected that its target might be Britain. Full of confidence, the British main fleet set sail from the Spaka Bay base at 7:30 pm, headed north to intercept the German fleet, launched a battle formation on the North Sea, and searched for German ships, in order to annihilate the German fleet in one battle. As a result, the huge British fleet achieved nothing and failed to eliminate the weakly guarded German landing fleet during the voyage at the most favorable opportunity. The German army completed the ferry they were most worried about without any damage.
In this way, at exactly 5:20 a.m. on April 9, 1940 (4:20 a.m. Danish time), one hour before dawn, the German envoys in Copenhagen and Oslo delivered a German ultimatum to the governments of Denmark and Norway, demanding that They immediately accepted "German protection" without resistance.
This memorandum declared that Germany came to aid Denmark and Norway in their resistance to British and French occupation. It said: Therefore, German troops did not land on Norwegian soil as enemies. The German High Command has no intention of using the strongholds occupied by German troops as bases for combat operations against Britain unless it is forced to do so... On the contrary, the purpose of German military operations is entirely to protect the north to prevent British and French troops from attempting to occupy Norwegian bases... In the spirit of Germany In view of the long-standing good relations between the two countries, the German Government declares to the Government of the Kingdom of Norway that Germany has no intention of taking any action to infringe upon the territorial integrity and political independence of the Kingdom of Norway now or in the future. Therefore, the German government expects the Norwegian government and the Norwegian people not to resist. Any resistance will have to be broken by all possible means, which can only lead to absolutely useless bloodshed and sacrifice.
At 4:20 a.m. on April 9, the German envoy in Copenhagen submitted an ultimatum to the Danish government, requiring Denmark to immediately accept "German protection" and giving a response within one hour. The Danes were in a very desperate situation. This is not only because the country is too small and the terrain is too flat, but the most important thing is that the country's government and royal family are in chaos, and they are frightened in the face of powerful enemy attacks. Only the commander-in-chief of the army, General Prior, advocated resistance, but his opinion was rejected by the king and the prime minister. Therefore, the Navy never fired a single shot from its ships or from its coastal batteries, even when German troop carriers passed under its batteries and could be blown to pieces with one shot. ,is also like this. The army made slight contact in Jutland, and the Janissaries fired only a few shots around the palace in the capital. By the time the Danes finished their breakfast, it was all over. The king obeyed the advice of the government, and despite the objections of General Prior, surrendered, and ordered all resistance to cease.
The plan to capture Denmark by deception and surprise was carefully prepared. General Kurt Himmel, chief of staff of the task force responsible for attacking Denmark, arrived in Copenhagen by train in civilian clothes on April 7 for reconnaissance, and made the necessary arrangements for the troop transport ship "Hansstadt Dan". The Zee found a suitable dock and a truck for transporting a small amount of supplies and a radio transmitter. The commander of the battalion responsible for capturing Copenhagen also came to Copenhagen in civilian clothes two days ago to survey the terrain.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the plans of the general and the battalion commander Major were carried out with almost no difficulty. The troop transport ship arrived outside the port of Copenhagen shortly before dawn. When it passed the port fort and the Danish patrol fleet, it did not encounter any trouble. It docked safely at Langerini Pier in the city center, only a stone's throw away from the Danish Army Headquarters. It is far away and very close to the Amalienborg Palace where the king lives. Both places were quickly captured by a single battalion without any resistance worth mentioning.
Denmark was thus conquered. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon that day, General Himmel, accompanied by the German Minister Sissel von Luntfink, visited the Danish king who was no longer the master of a country but he had not yet realized it. The 70-year-old king at the time, although he still pretended to be calm on the surface and maintained absolute dignity during the interview, it was clear that he could no longer support it in his heart. He was shaking all over. He said that he and his government would try their best to maintain domestic peace and order and eliminate all friction between the German army and his country. He wished to save his country from further misfortune and suffering.
At 5:20, the German envoy in Oslo submitted another ultimatum with the same content to the Norwegian government. At this time, the German fleet had forced into major ports in Norway and had launched an attack on Denmark from sea and land. The Danes put up little resistance, the navy did not fire a single shot, and the army only suffered 20 casualties. They accepted the German ultimatum four hours later.
German expectations came true in Denmark; they failed in Norway. The Norwegian government replied to Berlin saying: "We will never surrender automatically. The battle is already underway."
At 10:55, Ribbentrop sent an urgent telegram to Kurt Breuer, the minister in Oslo: "You should once again convince the government there that Norway's resistance is meaningless." This embarrassed man The German minister was not able to convey this sentence. By this time the Norwegian king, government and members of parliament had all evacuated the capital and moved to the mountains in the north. No matter how unfavorable the situation was, they were determined to resist. In fact, with the arrival of German ships at daybreak, resistance had already begun in some places.
Although this situation was expected by everyone, everyone in the base camp still felt humiliated by Norway's ignorance of current affairs. In this case, the national leader of the SS, Lin Wei, expressed his disapproval. The Sixth SS Northern Mountain Division stationed in the Lapland region of northern Finland issued an order. The order was very simple: cross the border and capture King Haakon VII of Norway alive.
This order was transmitted to the Northern Mountain Division as far away as Finland via radio waves. At this time, the Northern Mountain Division had already prepared according to Lin Wei's order. The reason why it did not take action was just waiting for the order from the headquarters.
Michel Gebermeier, who had been promoted to major general, immediately began preparations after receiving the order from the country. The Northern Mountain Division took only half an hour to complete the preparations.
"Prepare to attack!" Following the order from Major General Michel Gebermeier, more than 10,000 soldiers of the Northern Mountain Division jumped down on their sleds, crossed the Haltia Peak, and rushed into Norway.
Narvik is a small city in northern Norway, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with only tens of thousands of residents. It is both a port and a tourist city. It is a ski resort in winter and a good place to enjoy the unique fjord scenery in summer. Moreover, this unique location is on the peninsula at the eastern end of Ofutfjord. Due to the passage of the warm North Atlantic current, it is an ice-free port. The terminus of the electric railway between northern Sweden and Stockholm. It has been Sweden's main export port of iron ore since 1883. The fishery is developed.
Narvik is also the world's northernmost ice-free port and is connected to Kiruna by rail. Narvik is the outlet for Kiruna's ore, and the town also developed due to ore transportation. It is the end point of the iron ore channel between Germany and Sweden. Its huge strategic position has to attract the attention of the German high command. Therefore, from the beginning, this small town is destined to become the focus of competition between the two sides.
At various air force bases in northern Germany, various fighter jets and bombers are constantly being pushed out of warehouses by ground staff, and are neatly lined up next to the runway, as if they are waiting for soldiers to review.
After the Wessey exercise began, all the planes began to prepare to start their operations. A few minutes later, one after another planes rushed into the blue sky with a roar.
At the same time, the base camp is also very lively now. Everyone is talking freely about their thoughts. Hit in high spirits? Le Ye did not stop him at all and listened with interest.
"Generals and ministers!" Lin Wei raised his glass and said, "This battle is the first coordinated battle between the army, navy and air force in the empire. Whether it succeeds or not will mean whether the great empire has started a new battle. mode, now I am not worried about Norway at all, because no matter how they resist, the victory or defeat has already been determined. What I am thinking about is how to make our win more beautiful.”
"I propose that we drink for victory!" Lin Wei said happily.
Lin Wei's proposal received a response. Except for a few generals of the National Defense Forces who looked on coldly, even Redel's navy also had many officers who were in line with Lin Wei's proposal. Navy Commander Redel and Commander-in-Chief Marshal von Blomberg They looked at each other and acquiesced to the officers' actions.
After drinking a glass of red wine, Lin Wei took advantage of the wine and said, "The Narvik landing battle will be a key battle in the Norwegian campaign. As long as we get through the Norwegian campaign here, we will have a chance of victory. To be honest, the advantage of the army in this battle is It’s not very obvious, it just depends on who can decide the outcome, the navy or the air force.” At this point, Lin Wei suddenly fell silent, as if he felt that his words were inappropriate, and apologized, “Sorry, generals, I drank too much.” .
Goering took a few steps back slightly, secretly called to his staff officer, and warned: "Tell the boys in the air force to blow the Narvik area to pieces! Before the navy and army landing troops arrive, I want to get there." Become a ruin."
"Yes, Marshal! Narvik will definitely be reduced to ruins before the navy and army guys arrive!" the staff assured. After saying that, he hurriedly exited the conference room of the base camp.
After Goering delivered the order, he was contented to chat and laugh with everyone, and did not notice Lin Wei's secretly ghostly smile.