The Third Reich in Desperation

In February, Hans' 2th Infantry Division had been rebuilt.Reinhardt carefully selected a large number of fighters recruited from Austrian mountainous areas for them, and added a 30t assault gun (stalker) self-propelled artillery battalion that is good at mountainous movement, so that this meritorious division can be used in mountainous areas in the future. Norway, playing a beautiful result.

And this elite division, who is full of combat experience and known for being good at fighting evil and hard battles, is all the combat power that Reinhardt is going to devote to Norway.Once the British and French allied forces invaded Norway according to Churchill's plan, Reinhardt could use the 30th Division to replicate the tricky strategy that Britain used to fight in the coalition war by relying on a small number of local elites and all the manpower of other countries.

From a strategic point of view, it would be great if the 30th Infantry Division could defeat the British and French forces that were three times larger than itself, but if the British and French expeditionary forces could not be destroyed, Reinhardt would not force Commander Hans to fight.

For the German army that sent troops to Norway as a rescue, all combat operations are just a small ring in a series of combat plans in the future "Yellow Plan".They only need to cooperate with the five weak infantry divisions in Norway to fight and entangle the British and French expeditionary forces as much as possible.

The real decisive battlefield is the peak duel of European powers on the land of France in the future.Only by winning the war that included the main forces of France and Germany, and the elite of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, can the Third Reich truly win the overall victory of the Western European continent.

As for the British and French troops trapped on Norwegian soil, if they can use one-third of their forces to cooperate with the Norwegian Defense Forces to contain them, why bother to beat them to death.After the war on the European continent is over, the local war in Northern Europe is almost a snap.

As far as the current analysis of the military strength of European countries is concerned, the pure paper combat effectiveness of the French Army can definitely compete with the German Army.If it hadn't been for the large amount of national power spent on the Maginot Line over the years, France's huge army would definitely be an offensive force that is not as aggressive as the German army.

Of course, the training level and combat quality of these troops are far lower than those of the German troops who have experienced war.The backward combat thinking of the French generals and the incompetent top command headed by Gan Molin are also the reasons for the greatly reduced combat effectiveness of the French army.

And this army, which has been tossed by countless detours and lost to the German army, can only rely on the British Expeditionary Force provided by its allies, the Belgian Army, to expand its own strength, and rely on the Maginot Line to confront the German army.

However, because Spain and Italy are politically closer to Germany than in history, the French commander-in-chief Gan Molin, who was the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, had to leave 5 divisions to guard against the 10 Spanish German armored divisions assembled on the Spanish-French border.Although Franco declared that Spain was a non-belligerent country, the 10 divisions under his command were cunningly labeled as volunteers and classified as civilian combat forces.

There are 10 divisions in the southwest, and the command authority is in the hands of the German government's "civilian combat forces", which makes Gan Molin have to guard against it.

On the other hand, in the face of more and more Italian troops on the front line of the Alps, Gamelin once again divided 10 divisions for defense.Italy is the fourth veteran power in Europe in terms of military strength. Facing the orthodox successor of the Roman Empire, Gan Molin did not dare to relax in the slightest.

From the point of view of Gan Molin and even the British allies, whether Italy sends troops will directly affect the direction of the future war situation.Once Germany and Italy jointly attack France, the chances of winning the coalition are slim.

Therefore, no matter how much benefit is paid, it is better to allow Italy to benefit from the neutrality of the two sides of the wall than to let it fall to Germany.Gan Molin left 10 divisions, and he didn't really expect them to be able to block the attack of the Italian army.Instead, I hope to use this to put a little pressure on Italy and push Mussolini to choose a more relaxed policy of sitting on the fence.

It can be said that Gan Molin is also playing a game of chess.Of course, Reinhardt had already been informed of all his deployments through the Gestapo's intelligence network.

"My head!" Knowing that he would soon receive a bigger task than the Battle of Denmark, Hans raised his hands excitedly and stood at attention, saying: "The rebuilt 30th Division has fully recovered its combat effectiveness. fully capable of taking on new tasks.”

"Don't worry, I'll tell you the mission in a few days." Reinhardt smiled and waved his hands, raised his eyebrows at the new love he discovered and said: "You just finished a big victory, and the four Completed the feat of annihilating the country in less than an hour, of course we must commend it first."

"I personally shot two copies of the Nordic Combat Bravery Medal with different patterns," Reinhardt smiled meaningfully: "I will send one to all officers and soldiers of your 30th Division first."

Text Chapter 288 The Glory of the German Navy

1940 April 4, Narvik Hill, Norway.

This military port located in the province of Nordland, Kingdom of Norway, is the northernmost ice-free port and the northernmost port city in the world.Here, Germany can continuously transport the iron ore bought from Sweden back to the mainland and turn it into a steady stream of aircraft and cannons.

Through this natural and good harbor that is not frozen all year round, Norway has earned a lot of foreign exchange from Germany-and Germany is all directly paid with gold obtained from the Spanish Civil War, an absolutely reasonable and cost-effective transaction!

Reinhardt attaches great importance to such an important material transfer military port.For this reason, he even expressed to Quisling, who he didn't like very much, that as long as he could control Narvik, he would use the power of Germany to fight for a higher status for Quisling - the prime minister who is nominally second only to the king of Norway Title, plus actual control of Norway!

In order to show his loyalty to Reinhardt, which could not have existed, Quisling used his authority as the Minister of Defense to arrange his most trusted confidant, Colonel Sundro, as the commander of the garrison of Narvik Post.

The Royal Norwegian Army's 5th Infantry Division (actually only the size of an infantry brigade) under Colonel Sundro's command is not high in combat effectiveness.And Reinhardt didn't expect them to be able to block the landing of the British and French expeditionary forces alone and successfully defend Narvik.

The combat effectiveness of the Norwegian Army has passed the test of history. Reinhardt is very convinced that if you want to rate them with the Italian Army as the reference standard, the Italian Army is [-] points, and the Norwegian Army can barely score [-] points. , One point counts as encouragement, one point counts as expectation, and one point counts as fear that they will be discouraged and give more.

Looking at the history of World War II, the real starting point for Norway is their coastal defense force and navy.

If Reinhardt followed the historical process and let the German army launch the Norwegian campaign, the Imperial Navy would be severely damaged by the Norwegian coastal battery, a light cruiser "Genigsberg" and an auxiliary ship.A German torpedo boat was sunk by the Norwegian minelayer "Olaf Trygverson", and the light cruiser "Emden" was damaged.Finally, about 1 miles south of Oslo, it was bombarded by Norwegian shore artillery forces and naval torpedoes, and lost a fleet flagship, the brand new heavy cruiser "Blücher".

The foundation of the German navy was already weak, but it could not afford to lose it.

Not only did Reinhardt not want to lose naval ships in Norway, but he hoped that the Royal Navy of the British Empire could make a small change in Norway.

The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole follows behind!When the British fleet was entangled with the Norwegian navy and coastal defense forces to cover the landing, he only needed to quickly put the imperial navy originally scheduled for the Norwegian campaign into interception to cause secondary damage to the British Royal Navy that was fighting the Norwegian army.

This time, the empire will dispatch all the main forces to eat up all the fleets sent by the United Kingdom to escort the expeditionary force.

4艘“齐柏林”级大型航空母舰已经形成战斗力，8艘仅15000吨的“飞鱼”级小型航母也一道编入了航母舰队。理论上，这12艘航母将可以搭乘共计632架改造后的ME109舰载机。不过实际上因为各种因素，“齐柏林”级航母的实际搭载量只有105架，“飞鱼”级航母也只有堪堪20架的实际搭载辆。

But if they can accomplish all their merits in one battle, put all their strength into the Norwegian naval battle, suppress all the foundations of the entire Third Reich Navy in one fell swoop, and form a local advantage over the British squadron dispatched this time.Coupled with the early consumption of the Norwegian coastal defense forces and the Norwegian Navy, this changed beyond recognition Norwegian naval battle may not be impossible to win.

"My Führer!" In the office of the Reinhardt Führer's Mansion, Raeder, who has always been cautious, bit the bullet and said: "With all due respect, if you want to deal with the Norwegian Navy, the strength of the Imperial Navy is more than enough. But if you want to Fighting against the British Royal Navy, even as you said, coupled with Norway's naval combat power, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve strategic goals... I still recommend abandoning this action plan."

After all, the entire World War I was suppressed by the British Empire. The German Navy once showed unprecedented excellent fighting qualities and fighting courage, but the result was only the infinite regret after Operation Rainbow.Although they kept shouting that they would regain their status as a world naval power, some kind of inferiority complex had already taken root in the hearts of the handful of German naval commanders left behind in the last World War.

Reinhardt understood that what he had to do now was not only to strengthen the physique of the Imperial Navy, but also to find their souls more urgently.

"Raydell, can I ask you a question?" Reinhardt didn't scold Raedl who was against him.On the contrary, he was looking at Raedel with very sincere eyes.

"Of course no problem, my head of state." After all, he just refuted Reinhardt just now, and Raeder seemed a little cautious: "This subordinate must know everything."

Reinhard smiled lightly, and asked a question that seemed to have nothing to do with the current atmosphere: "Don't be nervous, my marshal. I just want to confirm, how old are you this year?"

"Huh?" Raeder obviously didn't hear Reinhardt's words.Although he heard it clearly, he still had some doubts whether he heard it wrong just now.

"It's 64 years old!" Reinhardt answered his own question without waiting for Raeder to speak.

"64 years old, 64 years old..." Raedel repeatedly chewed on his own age that Reinhardt specially emphasized, and seemed to understand something.

"My marshal, I hope you will not be unwilling to listen to my next words." Reinhardt said slowly and deeply: "At 64 years old, your physical strength and energy are already in a decline stage. Maybe in a few years, You should take a back seat and hand over the heavy workload to newcomers."

When Reinhardt said this, his tone was to the point and serious.So Raeder also understands that the current head of state is very serious!

"Don't you want to take advantage of the time when you still have enough energy to make changes yourself and complete the regrets that your ancestors didn't complete?!"

"It's rare that you want to stand in front of the command platform of the Navy Command and lead the army, but watch the once brave and fearless imperial navy slip into the abyss of cowardice and incompetence. Let the rest of your life be spent in pain and regret Pass?!"

"My teacher, General Sickert. He is the person I admire the most and the fighter who has the greatest influence on me. In my opinion, the biggest regret in his life is that he did not see the day when Germany regained strength. "

"I don't want you to be the same as my teacher..." Reinhard covered his face in pain and said: "At least, you now have a chance to turn around, you have the first batch of German teachers ever Aircraft carrier, with brand new battleships and cruisers, with me who supports you in your attack and can bear all the consequences for you!"

"... But my teacher... had nothing at the beginning."

Text Chapter 289 The Glory of the German Navy

Raedel took a deep breath, then closed his eyes.

As of today, he has led the German Navy for 12 years.In the past 12 years, the situation in Europe has been changing, one ebbs and the other ebbs and flows.Germany is no longer the weak country when he first led the navy.And the imperial navy has also become plump again from being poor and empty at the beginning.

Until today, Reinhardt's instructions to him have always been to protect himself wisely and avoid getting involved in the war.

But today, but at this moment, for the first time, the head of state ordered himself to prepare for battle—a big battle!

Whether the 12-year struggle is meaningful or not, and whether all the 12-year efforts will turn into water will be decided in this battle.

Raeder's body trembled a little because of tension.He slowly opened his eyes, and met Reinhardt's gaze again.

"My head of state," Raeder said sincerely, "it has been 21 years since our representatives signed the surrender agreement in the special compartment of the Forest of Compiègne. For the only time in these 21 years, the navy The performance is still the Rainbow operation planned by you. Before that, the weapons on our warships were dismantled by the British, and they did not have combat effectiveness at all. Our fleet has not been replenished for a long time, and it has been under the control of the British for a long time. under surveillance."

"We were short of ammunition, fuel, maintenance parts, food, and water. It can be said that everyone had nothing but morale that was useless."

"However, even so. Everyone still rebelled against the powerful British Empire at that time because of your words."