At 10 a.m. on March 17, in the conference room of the Naval Command in Kiel, Raeder held a naval operations meeting.

Although the details of the "Thanksgiving Plan" have not yet been perfected, Raeder still issued two combat readiness orders with his years of command experience.

The submarine forces under the command of Rear Admiral Dönitz immediately set up a cordon near the British mainland to closely monitor the movements of the British Royal Navy's home fleet.

The German High Seas Fleet Command immediately drew up operational plans to intercept British supply convoys on the British mainland's routes to the Norwegian ports of Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger.

After giving the order, Raeder said: "In the original plan for the Weser River Exercise, my greatest concern was that after escorting the Army to complete the landing operation, the British Royal Navy would cut off the retreat, especially the destroyer fleet heading to Narvik. In order to gain the strategic position of Norway, I was even mentally prepared to lose half of my combat ships in the Norwegian campaign.

But now, my biggest concern is how to sink more British ships in the Norwegian campaign, so that the German Navy can gain more merit. Here, I would like to thank General Rosen, who single-handedly formulated the "Thanksgiving Plan" to turn the German Navy from a prey to a hunter and gain the initiative in the battle, and I am proud to have such an outstanding subordinate as you, thank you. ”

・・・・・・

With joy, Chen Dao returned to the HNA headquarters. Sending people to call Garland and Leibniz, Chen Dao said: "It is expected that at the end of March, I will be away for a while." After I leave, you will be solely responsible for the work of naval aviation. There are three priorities: first, to supervise the construction of the aircraft carrier Zeppelin; the second is the training of pilots, which is the most important work; The third is to urge the Junkers company to complete the test work of the Ju-89 four-engine bomber as soon as possible. ”

"Where are you going?" Garland asked curiously.

"Norway, I'm going to investigate the fighting power of the British and French at close range." Chen Dao said, "There is no slaughter without investigation, we will soon go to war with France, and getting a first-hand investigation report on the combat effectiveness of the British and French in Norway will make the operation of the troops under my command in France smoother and reduce casualties." So, I had to go. ”

Seeing that Chen Dao had made up his mind, Leibniz swallowed the words of dissuasion back into his stomach, "You must pay attention to safety and don't get too close to the front line." ”

Chen Dao thought to himself, if I don't get too close to the front line, how can I investigate? How do I get first-hand information?

Immediately thinking that Leibniz cared about himself after all, Chen Dao nodded perfunctorily and said: "Don't worry, I'm not going alone, I will bring a force to protect my safety, after all, I don't want to die young yet." ”

After arranging the work for Garland and Leibniz, Chen Dao called Captain Bach and Captain Lorenz, as well as his four orderlies.

"From today onwards, you will go to the training ground every day to conduct physical training and combat training, as soon as five days, at most half a month, you will follow me to participate in the battle."

Captain Lorenz asked excitedly: "Commander, are we going to France?" ”

"The destination is kept secret for the time being," Chen Dao smiled and said to Captain Lorenz: "They have all participated in the Polish campaign, and you are the only one among us who has not participated in actual combat, you have to learn more combat experience from them in the past few days, I think it will be good for your life safety." ”

A blush rose on Captain Lorenz's fair face, and he said confidently: "Commander, don't worry, I won't drag you down." ”

・・・・・・

At noon on March 18, a plane from Oslo, the capital of Norway, arrived in Berlin. Stepping off the plane, passengers from Norway got into the cars that were already waiting at the airport and appeared at the Chancellery less than an hour later. The visitor was the leader of the Norwegian National Unity Party and former Minister of Defence, Vikunde Guisling.

Two days later, at the same airport, Gisling jumped aboard the same plane and flew back to Oslo in high spirits.

In the afternoon of the same day, the completed "Thanksgiving Plan" was signed by Hitler and sent to the headquarters of the army, navy, and air force.

Chen Dao was practicing marksmanship with Captain Bach and others at the training ground when he received the plan, and since he became commander of naval aviation, Chen Dao has spent most of his time in an office chair, not an ordinary lack of exercise. With the idea of grinding the gun in the battle, Chen Dao consciously joined the training team on the eve of the battle.

After a quick glance at the "Thanksgiving Plan", Chen Dao's eyes were fixed on the implementation date of the plan - March 31, which was exactly ten days to prepare.

After four days of frantic training, on March 25, Chen Dao led six of his men to get on a military vehicle bound for Hamburg.

On the afternoon of March 25, 1940, there was a chaotic scene in front of the Hamburg Platz Hotel, which was crowded with Wehrmacht cars, and Air Force officers walked into the hotel between Darmstor Station and Binnan Aalsta. A few weeks ago, it became the headquarters of the newly formed Fifth Air Force of the Luftwaffe.

The Fifth Air Force was a newly formed air force of the Luftwaffe in response to the Norwegian campaign, commanded by General Stumpf, under the command of Lieutenant General Geisler of the 10th Air Force and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Gabrinz.

After the cancellation of the Dutch campaign, the entire strength of the 7th Parachute Division and the 22nd Airborne Division was added to the strength of the Fifth Air Force.

Not only that, but Goering, fearing that the Fifth Air Force would not have enough manpower, sent a battalion-sized unit called the Field Investigation Mission of the Air General Command to Stumpf.

Chen Dao's arrival announced the official completion of this field investigation team.

In a military camp in the southeastern suburbs of Hamburg, Chen Dao met with Mandolfer, who had just arrived yesterday, and after greetings, Mandolfil handed Chen Dao the establishment of the field investigation team.

Chen Dao took a closer look through the light: a tank company with 22 Type 4G tanks, an Panzergrenadier Company with 21 Type 251 half-tracks, a No. 4 assault gun platoon, four No. 4 assault guns, and a baggage company. There are also armored reconnaissance platoons, engineer platoons, anti-aircraft platoons, maintenance platoons, and communications platoons under the direct jurisdiction of the battalion headquarters.

Seeing this compilation table, Chen Dao couldn't help but burst into tears, and said in his heart that the bandits had finally changed their guns.

Mandolfil asked casually, "Did you go to Norway to investigate, or to go to war?" ”

"Do research in the middle of a war." Chen Dao said.

"I'll try to come back and join you before the first of May, you have to hurry up and train during this time, we don't have much time." Chen Dao admonished.

"I'll hurry, and you have to be safe." Mandolfil said.

Seeing Mandolfil away, Chen Dao asked Major Schumacher, the deputy head of the field investigation team, "Where is my special car?" ”

Schumacher hurriedly led Chen Dao to the two Type 251 half-tracks, Chen Dao pointed to one of the half-tracks and said with a smile: "Skoda can actually put the KWK40 tank gun on it, I really underestimate them." ”

Chen Dao initially received two special vehicles, one was a Type 251-10 half-track vehicle equipped with a 37-mm anti-aircraft gun, and the other was a Type 251-1 armored transport vehicle.

Naturally, the mere 37mm anti-aircraft guns and MG34 machine guns could not meet Chen Dao's violent needs. Under Chen Dao's most brutal orders, the Skoda Arsenal modified the 251-10 half-track and installed a KWK40 75mmL48 tank gun used in the No. 4G tank on the roof of the cab.

The Type 251-1 half-track was mounted on an 81-mm mortar and renamed the Type 251-2 self-propelled mortar launcher.

Looking at the two modified half-tracks, Chen Dao nodded with satisfaction, and casually took out a piece of paper from his chest pocket and handed it to Major Schumacher.

"That's the name I gave to these two cars, spray the first line on this car and the second line on that car." Chen Dao said.

"Colonel, there's a Type 251-1 halftrack over there that transports ammunition to you, does it need a name?"

"Absolutely." Chen Dao took out a pen and filled in three big characters on the paper.

Major Schumacher looked at the piece of paper and found that he only knew two Arabic numerals 1 among the eleven words on the paper, and the remaining nine mysterious square words were completely unrecognizable.

The next morning, Chen Dao looked at the three half-tracked cars parked side by side in front of his door, and said in his heart that with the help of Bandit No. 1, Bandit No. 2 and Humvee, this bandit could definitely educate the British and French invading troops in Norway and let them know how to write the characters.

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