For several days, John was immersed in extreme joy, and the smile on his face could not be concealed. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info every day after work, he was in a hurry to run home, and he didn't have the heart to care about the mess in Europe anymore. Even at the Army Staff's analysis of the German invasion of Scandinavia, he was somewhat absent-minded.

In fact, it was not only John, but many people in the army staff knew that something was going to happen on the Baltic coast sooner or later. In order to cut off the previous iron ore transportation between Germany and Sweden, Britain and France have long been eyeing Norway. During the Soviet-Finnish War, they wanted to send troops to occupy the Norwegian port of Narvik under the pretext of aiding the Finns.

Just a few days earlier, Churchill had convened a supreme military conference in London to persuade the British and French leaders to implement the plan he had put forward a few months earlier -- to lay mines in Norwegian waters and to send troops to land in Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger.

Churchill had also wanted to drop mines on the Rhine at the same time to stop the Germans from advancing westward. However, because the French were afraid of German retaliation and opposed the laying of mines on the Rhine, the two sides disputed for three days. Unexpectedly, while they were still discussing the details of the operation, the Germans preemptively attacked Denmark and Norway before them.

At five o'clock in the morning on April 10, with Major General Dieter's 169th Mountain Division and the 1st Luftwaffe Airborne Regiment as the spearhead, the Germans preemptively occupied Denmark. At the same time, the German Navy assisted General Nicholas von Falgenhorst's troops in landing at several major Norwegian ports, and the bold and rapid airborne and amphibious operations were completely unexpected by the British and French.

Judging by the information obtained by the military intelligence of the Army Staff, the Germans were very successful in their actions in Denmark. Three troop carriers quietly sailed into the port of Copenhagen and, apart from a brief exchange of fire with a lone policeman who resisted the intruders with a pistol, the operation to occupy the entire city met no resistance.

At the same time, the German Airborne Forces also landed at the airfield in Aalborg, and motorized units crossed the German-Danish land border from Flensburg. Soon, the Germans took over the main ports and islands of Denmark and controlled the vital sea lanes - the Skagerrak and Kattegat Straits between Denmark and Norway.

At about 6 a.m., the panicked King Christian X of Denmark ordered a ceasefire. Although the Danish commander-in-chief, Pryor, did not intend to heed this order, and publicly called on the Danish military and civilians to resist the invaders. But at 6:45, the king sent his personal assistant to remove the commander-in-chief from command.

After 12 deaths after just one breakfast, Denmark gave up its resistance and recognized the German military occupation of it. In contrast, the Norwegians were a little more backbone, they persisted in resisting for five days, and King Haakon VII personally went into the mountains to fight a "guerrilla" for a few days.

In contrast to the swiftness and courage of the Germans, the Anglo-French forces were indecisive and much slower. It was not until the 14th that landings began in Narvik in northern Norway and in Namsos and Ondalsnes in central Norway. Because of the lack of air supremacy, the ships transporting troops and supplies were attacked by German Stuka dive bombers and suffered heavy losses. The latter two landing forces were soon forced to withdraw from the sea to the Narvik region, where a stalemate with the Germans was formed.

The officers of the U.S. Army Staff were interested in the new tactics used by the Germans in this operation, and the discussion was very heated from the beginning. Everyone agreed that the suddenness of the campaign was the key to the victory of the Germans who dared to fight across the sea without sea supremacy.

In order to realize the suddenness of the offensive, the German high command carefully planned and implemented the first airborne operation in the history of human warfare. This brand-new air-ground three-dimensional combat method has opened the eyes of the officers of the US Army. Although the Military Intelligence Service has not received much relevant information, this does not prevent everyone from competing to express their views on this new tactic.

If it had been before, John would have thought of the large-scale Allied airborne landing on the eve of the Normandy landings a few years later, and the subsequent "city-garden" operation in the Netherlands, and then summed up the tactical characteristics and principles of this new method of warfare by virtue of the advantage of foresight.

But now, he is bent on going home after the meeting early, how can he have such idle thoughts. It was only after he was named by Arnold Deputy Chief of Staff that he briefly pointed out from the perspective of a logistics officer that airborne operations might pose a threat to the battle support points behind the battle line, such as oil depots, airfields, command posts, bridges, railway junctions, etc.

Although he meant to keep a low profile, his "seemingly ordinary" speech still made the eyes of many officers light up. Jairo and a few other officers who knew him well came over and asked this and that.

John only reacted later, and his head pumped again. What he said casually was not as ordinary as he imagined. Some of them already belonged to the category of special operations in later generations, and at this time in 1940 this was even more cutting-edge than airborne operations themselves.

It was easy to satisfy the curiosity of Jairo and the others, and by the time John got home, it was already more than 7 o'clock in the evening. What made him even more unhappy was that there was another uninvited guest who came to the house to disturb him to enjoy the "family fun". This man is Ponyke.

Since the fall of Denmark, Maersk has been unable to contact his father in Copenhagen. He went directly to John's house, wanting to learn about the situation in Denmark through John's network.

John also didn't know much about the Danish side of the country, and there was not much information about this small country in his memories of his past life. However, he still agreed to ask a friend in the diplomatic system to help Xiaomaersk inquire.

A few days later, John received a telegram from Lieutenant Commander Victor, Navy Attache at the US Embassy in Berlin. In the telegram, Victor's description of the situation after the occupation of Denmark really surprised John.

Don't look at Denmark kneeling an hour after the German invasion, but it caused Hitler far more trouble than Norway, which had resisted for five days. John reckoned that Hitler was also having a headache at this time.

It happened that the Germans did not declare war on Denmark before the invasion in order to ensure the suddenness of the battle, and the Danish government did not resist. So legally, Denmark and Germany were not at war from the beginning to the end, and Denmark remained a neutral country.

Hitler found himself in an awkward position that the Danes had not yet anticipated, and since the Danes had not resisted, they were not defeated, and the Germans had to keep their promise that the Germans had entered Scandinavia to "protect" them from the Allies.

For Germany, the dissolution of the Danish government and direct rule over this small country would be a serious blow to its reputation among neutral countries, causing suspicion and resentment among a host of "neutral" countries such as Sweden, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria (all of which were more pro-Nazi and potential allies of Germany).

In this way, the Germans had to pinch their noses to face a king, a parliament and a recognized democratic government, and even if they were annoyed by the "non-cooperation" of the Danes, they could not dissolve them.

Victor told John that Danes abroad began to flock to the allies in droves, and that more than 5,000 Danish seafarers entered the "friendly ports" with 90% of the Danish ships. In Denmark, the Danes went on as if the Germans did not exist, ignoring them as if King Christian had ignored the salute of the German outposts.

As for Old Maersk, when Victor got the news, there was no problem with the other party's personal safety. But with the loss of all its ships overseas, Maersk Line has effectively closed its doors.