The Third Reich in Desperation

As time passed, the distance between the main forces of the two sides also gradually shortened.Hans was looking forward to the drama that would happen when he defeated the Anglo-French coalition forces with more than twice his strength with one division.

Although the head of state only needed him to help the Norwegians hold the last line of defense in the capital, now that they had the opportunity to achieve better results, why stick to the original policy of being passively beaten!

A tentative attack by a battalion, and a regiment of the British army that was still able to fight easily lost its armor and armor.It is entirely possible for the entire division to mobilize and wipe out the exhausted British and French troops that have been fighting for many days!

The best defense is offense. As long as you can completely defeat all the British and French allied forces on the Norwegian battlefield, it is not just as simple as holding back a large number of enemy troops for the main battlefield on the Western Front.

Originally, after Reinhardt’s army expansion, the ratio of the German troops on the western front to the troops of the Anglo-French-British Allied Forces was close to one to one. Hans used one division to cooperate with the Norwegian army to contain more than two divisions of the British and French troops. Absolutely a bargain.

After all, the total troops invested by Britain and France on the Western Front are not superior to the troops dragged in by the Germans. If every German army, the British and French allied forces have to use twice as many troops to deal with it, then the remaining half of the German army will not be able to find opponents. .

Therefore, Hans did plan to fight this battle according to the standard of defensive warfare at first.

But now... an opportunity to completely wipe out the enemy in front of us, liberate the 30th Infantry Division from the northern front, and replenish another division for future operations on the western front is right in front of us!

"Reporting to the division commander, the Norwegian 5th Division north of Lillehammer has just received news that their entire army is advancing southward and is expected to reach the periphery of the battlefield within 3 hours. The leader, Colonel Sundloh, sent us an inquiry and asked for joint guidance .” The voice of the staff officer was filled with unconcealable surprise.Since he came to Norway with the division headquarters, it was the first time he saw news that the Norwegian troops had launched an attack on the British and French allied forces.

These days, the battle reports sent back from the Norwegian army to the capital are either that the defense line cannot be defended, or it cannot be stopped along the way.The 30th Division of the German Army in Oslo almost accompanied the Norwegian royal family to witness the entire process of the defeat of the Norwegian Army.

Hans smiled slightly.He knew that the Norwegian army was far less cowardly than he had guessed.In the critical battle to drive away the invaders, they are not willing to just be a bystander and do some small tasks such as feints.

They also had courage. They dared to launch an attack on an enemy that was many times stronger than themselves. Most importantly, they believed that the 30th Division of the German Army would definitely win, and they placed all bets on it.

For Germany, losing this battle is nothing more than the loss of a division's strength, or, maybe less than a division's strength, and the remnants of the 30th Division can still be rushed back to the country.

But for Norway, this is a battle of national destiny, a key battle that determines fate.They tied the fate of a country to the success or failure of the 30th Division of the German Army!

"Order the whole division to speed up. We must reach the battlefield within an hour and a half. As the main force of this battle, we must launch an attack first to ensure that the Norwegian friendly forces will not be defeated by the concentrated force of the British and French forces. Only we can fight enough in the south Only the subsequent northern assault of the Norwegian 5th Division will be effective."

..................

Oliver stood at his frontline headquarters in Lillehammer, raised his chin with his right hand, and looked at the standard map with his brows locked.

The two British divisions in his hands, except for one regiment which was defeated by the Germans, did not suffer much losses in the many days of engagement with the Norwegian troops.

However, no loss does not mean no loss.The continuous long-distance raids have exhausted the troops to the extreme.By the time they arrived at Lillehammer, a division from Narvik could barely lift their guns.

As for the other division, its combat effectiveness was also greatly reduced due to exhaustion.Otherwise, a dignified regiment would not be so easily defeated by a German battalion.

Oliver looked at the red arrow marked on the map with some anxiety. It was the attack arrow of the 30th Division of the German Army!

The confrontation of the vanguard can only be regarded as the first trial of Oliver and Hans.Although I lost, it didn't hurt my muscles.What is really important is the next duel between the main forces of the two sides.

"Report!" The anxious voice of the staff officer interrupted Oliver's thoughts: "The outlying positions of the [-]st Regiment of the [-]nd Division of our Expeditionary Force were raided by the German army, and we are urgently asking for help from the military headquarters."

The Germans are here so soon? !Oliver was shocked: "How many enemies have come, are they confirmed to be German troops?"

The staff officer wiped his sweat and replied nervously: "One regiment did not report the exact strength of the enemy army, but I think at least they should not mistake the opponent. Apart from the German army, I don't think the Norwegians can pose a threat to our position." .”

At this time, Colonel Bernard, the commander of the relatively short French Alps Regiment, suddenly said: "The position of your second division and first regiment is in the south, so you should encounter the German army going north. There is no problem with this."

Oliver looked at the calm Bernard, and said slowly: "Why, do you have any countermeasures?"

"Repel them!" Bernard said with a confident smile, "Our French Alpine Regiment did not participate in the battle these days, and the soldiers are full of energy, so we can go out to meet the enemy at this time."

Yes, there are still French allies, and Oliver feels a sudden sigh of relief.

The French have the best army, and it will be no problem to leave the war to them.After your troops have rested and regained their strength, they can go into battle and annihilate the German army in one fell swoop by relying on their superiority in strength!

Body 3 Chapter [-] Flanking (Tenth update)

On April 1940, 4, the Norwegian campaign, which gathered various forces, finally ushered in its climax.

The rhythm of the war, which had been completely dominated by the British and French allied forces, became confusing again because of the decisive attack of the German 30th Division.

The combined forces of the British and French Expeditionary Forces exceeded two divisions, and they were only separated by a German division from the capture of the Norwegian capital!

Although as long as this last obstacle is broken, the expeditionary force will be able to win the final victory in Norway, but no one is optimistic about the result of this duel.

The war has entered a fierce part, and both sides have also shown their full strength.

The war has changed from a mutual test of the vanguard at the beginning to a decisive battle that overwhelms the entire main force.

The tired British soldiers, dragging their heavy steps, were constantly mobilizing on the main roads of Lillehammer, and then rushed to the front line.Although the outer positions were slightly consolidated due to the addition of the French Alpine Infantry Regiment.However, the main force of the 30th Division of the German Army, which arrived on the battlefield one after another, once again put the defense line on the verge of crumbling.

Although the battalion that the German army launched a surprise attack earlier had strong combat qualities and coordinated in an orderly manner, they had not used heavy weapons after all, and their firepower was basically at the same level as that of the British army.

At that time, the expeditionary force could still rely on the French infantry who were also good at land warfare to contend with it.

But now, the main force of the German army brought not only more enemies, but also more powerful weapons.They poured artillery fire on the defensive positions of the expeditionary army round after round, giving full play to their firepower advantage.

Everyone knows that an expeditionary force without heavy weapons should never go head-to-head with the German army, which has no less than one self-propelled artillery battalion as artillery support.As long as the German army still has shells, even if they use shells to plow the land one by one, it will sooner or later grind down the defensive force of the expeditionary force.

The officers who went to the headquarters to request a retreat were all driven back to their positions in disgrace.Hearing from them who returned to the position, Lieutenant General Oliver of the British Army and Colonel Bernard of the French Army in the headquarters both looked anxious as if they were facing a big enemy.Colonel Bernard is fine, at least he can communicate normally with the officer who went to ask for instructions.But Lieutenant General Oliver, with almost no color on his face, just kept chanting "I can't retreat, I can't retreat..."

In this battle, Lieutenant General Oliver, as the supreme leader of the expeditionary force, has been forced into a dilemma.

In order to support them in their operations, the British Admiralty lost a squadron and all the supplies on the fleet transport ship at Narvik Hill, and specially dispatched a second fleet to transport supplementary supplies for the expeditionary force.The purpose is to enable the expeditionary force to finally win the battle.

The huge amount of supplies required by two British divisions and a French regiment was not easy to transport from sea to Norway.Minister of the Navy Churchill, in order to protect the safety of the transport fleet, specially dispatched a large number of warships from other routes to escort.For this reason, the frequency of attacks by Doenitz wolves on the transport teams of British imports has more than doubled in the near future!

It can be said that Churchill was fighting for huge losses on other routes in exchange for abundant supplies of the Norwegian Expeditionary Force.

If you have made a huge sacrifice, you must get enough rewards. This is the message conveyed by the British Admiralty to Oliver.

If Oliver wasted the great sacrifices made by the Admiralty, the battle was lost.It is conceivable how terrible the situation he will be in after returning to China!

And Hans is a famous German general who grew up in the war. He is famous for his steady use of troops and his watertightness.Under the premise that such a cautious and famous general has the superiority in firepower, it is almost impossible to defeat him solely by relying on the superiority of the number of troops.

Oliver originally hoped that relying on the French Alpine Regiment with excellent individual quality as the guide, he would break through the German firepower line with offensive and offensive, and go straight to the rear of the 30th Division, thereby offsetting the German advantage created by self-propelled artillery.

However, when he discovered that the German army was not inferior to the French infantry, which is known as the world's number one army, in terms of individual combat quality in addition to its powerful firepower, Oliver realized that his strategy had failed.

Even if it is difficult to stabilize the defense line under the German offensive, let alone counterattack and attack the German attack position, that is simply a dream!

Speaking of which, Lieutenant General Oliver and Colonel Bernard looked down upon Major General Hans, his German counterpart, at first.

Ten days ago, they were still full of contempt for the German division huddled in Oslo, not daring to move.

Compared with the rapid advance of the British and French allied forces, the commander of the German army seemed a little too cowardly.

At that time, Oliver and Bernard naively thought that this German army might just be a spiritual symbol of Germany to the Norwegian faction, and it was only used to inspire the Norwegians to resist.Once the entire Norwegian army is wiped out, the German division should probably flee back to the country in despair to avoid confrontation with the expeditionary force.

But now, when the British and French allied forces were exhausted and exhausted on the way to attack and rush, the Germans took action!

At this time, Oliver remembered that in order to achieve the goal of a quick battle, the expeditionary force gave up carrying heavy artillery that was difficult to pass through the Norwegian mountains, and gave up the advantage in firepower.

In the face of the Norwegian troops under the same firepower, this weakness was temporarily covered up by the excellent combat quality of the British and French allied forces far surpassing the Norwegian soldiers.