At 2:20 p.m. on April 28, the field investigation team led by Chen Dao arrived in Damelxus.

Melhus is located south of the city of Trondheim, 12 km from Trondheim.

In the south of Melxus, in an inconspicuous gray two-story building, Chen Dao met Lieutenant General Dieter, commander of the German 3rd Mountain Division.

After the greetings, after Dieter's explanation, Chen Dao had a preliminary understanding of the battle situation in the Trondheim area.

Entrenched in the Trondheim area were the 49th Infantry Division of the British Army, as well as the Polish Army's 1st and 2nd People's Brigades, which were made up of an unknown number of Polish Army exiles to Britain.

The British also occupied the town of Schedal, 32 km east of Trondheim, and deployed aircraft at the Varness airfield in the town, where the number of aircraft reportedly did not exceed fifty, both fighters and bombers.

The British also occupied the port of Namsos, north of Trondheim, and had opened up a link between the two places, with occasional cars and trains from Nnassos carrying supplies to Trondheim.

The British were opposed by Dieter's 3rd Mountain Division, 181st Infantry Division and 137th Mountain Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Mountain Division, in addition to an infantry battalion and a motorized artillery battalion of the Norwegian Army.

In addition to the newly arrived field research team, the rest of the 2nd Mountain Division, the 196th Infantry Division of the German Army, is on standby in the Oslo area, and as soon as the fighting situation in the Trondheim area progresses, they will immediately take the train north to reinforce them.

"Look at the terrain near the city of Trondheim," said Dieter, pointing to the map, "it is bordered by the sea to the north, mountains to the east and west, and only five to six kilometers wide to the south facing us. ”

Chen Dao looked at the map for a while, and suddenly asked, "Is there a British ** ship in the port of Trondheim?" ”

"Now that the weather has cleared, our air force stationed in Oslo comes here every day for combat patrols, and any ship that comes close to it is attacked. According to information provided by the Brandenburg forces and the Gisling Resistance that were lurking in the city, no British ships had entered Trondheim for the last three days. ”

"So all their supplies are coming from Namsos?" Chen Dao asked.

"Exactly." Dieter said.

"How is their air force combat power?" Chen Dao asked.

"Vulnerable, not at all an opponent of the Luftwaffe." Dieter said, then adding: "I haven't seen the British Air Force come out in the last two days." ”

"That is, they don't have a navy, they have an air force but they're just putting on a show. They can now only fight us with the army, when did the British become so courageous? Chen Dao asked.

"The British have always been courageous." Dieter said.

"I don't think so. They are inferior in terms of numbers, the logistics are not necessarily optimistic, and there is no air force to support them, so why are they holding out here? I think it's likely that they're planning to flee Norway right now. Chen Dao said.

Dieter frowned and thought for a while, then said: "It's entirely possible, I heard that the British in Bergen have fled back to England. There was no need for the British in the Trondheim region to hold out any longer, no wonder I sent men to surrender them yesterday, and they did not hesitate to say that they would fight to the end. ”

Hearing Dieter talk about Bergen, Chen Dao became as excited as if he had been touched by a sore foot.

"So we must find a way to cut off their retreat, and we must not let go of a single Englishman." Chen Dao said.

Dieter nodded, pointed to the map, and said, "If the British want to escape, they must march along the railway in the eastern mountains, or the road along the coast, and then turn north through Schedal to reach Namsos. These roads were all under the control of the British. I've analyzed the map and there's no road around Trondheim. ”

Chen Dao's gaze stopped on the town of Schedal after a few turns on the map, and asked, "If the British escape, they will pass through Schedal by road or rail." If we could take it, they would have no way to escape, and their supply lines would be cut off. ”

Dieter glanced at Chen Dao and emphasized again: "As I have just said, the road to Schedald is all under the control of the British, and we cannot get around it. ”

"I know." Chen Dao didn't seem to hear Dieter's tone, and then said: "General Dieter, I suggest that we launch an attack on Trondheim today to put pressure on the defenders in the city, and we must not let them plan to escape with peace of mind. As for Schedahl, I'm going to figure it out. ”

After a moment's thought, Dieter said, "Okay, I'll immediately mobilize my troops to attack and contain them." When will your people be able to participate in the battle? ”

"Today I will send people to the front to check the terrain, and after finding the right terrain, my troops will be able to participate in the battle tomorrow." Chen Dao said.

Dieter knew that the main forces of the Norwegian 5th and 4th Infantry Brigades were fighting south of Narvik, and that they could only rely on the supplies airdropped by the Luftwaffe for the time being.

Falkenhorst had ordered him to retake Trondheim as quickly as possible, to open the land lines of communication to Narvik, and to establish contact with the Norwegian defenders in the Narvik region.

Therefore, when he noticed that Chen Dao seemed to have a way to occupy Schedal and cut off the retreat and supply lines of the British army, he did not hesitate to agree to Chen Dao's proposal.

Dieter took the initiative to send a reconnaissance platoon to Chen Dao, and this reconnaissance platoon would cooperate with Chen Dao to familiarize himself with the terrain south of Trondheim.

Chen Dao was just about to leave after expressing his gratitude, when Dieter suddenly remembered something and stopped Chen Dao: "Colonel Rosen, there is something I want to remind you. ”

Chen Dao looked at Dieter curiously.

Dieter continued: "We are now fighting in Norway, and the Norwegians are our allies. There are now about 100,000 citizens in the city of Trondheim, so you should be cautious in the use of heavy firepower when making a battle plan, and try not to hurt a lot of those citizens. ”

Chen Dao was stunned, and then said with relief: "I understand, we must pay attention to political influence. ”

At 4:10 p.m., two Fi-156 reconnaissance planes flew over Melxus and headed straight for the northeast.

Forty minutes later, Chen Dao received a telegram from Oslo.

After reading the telegram, Chen Dao found Dieter again.

After handing the telegram to Dieter, Chen Dao said: "The problem of Schedal has been solved, and we need to cooperate with the air force in a large-scale offensive tomorrow." We had to make a plan overnight, and we must not let a single Englishman go. ”

After reading the telegram, Dieter happily accepted Chen Dao's suggestion.

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