The fall of Denmark was shaken by the Kingdom of Norway to the north.

As a result, Denmark, which had served as the first buffer between Germany and Norway, disappeared completely. Now the Germans could use the Danish military ports, annex the Danish fleet, use the Danish airfields, and attack on any day they wanted to attack.

As the king of Norway, Haakon had to beware of the "forcible borrowing" of the British and French forces on the one hand, and the "forcible protection" of the German army on the other hand. He had to further divide the already weak military force into two.

The current Norwegian Wehrmacht was partially fortified in the important southern ports of Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim and Narvik to defend against Germany. The other part was far north in Narvik, and in the center of Namsos and Ondalsnes were guarding against the British.

Haakon VII was not a faint king, and the reason why he dispersed the shore defense forces so much was indeed to the point of necessity. Moreover, he has a small offshore fleet that he can use to increase his vigilance. Once the navy is the first to spot the enemy's traces, the coastal defense units will be ready to respond to the enemy in advance and ready to attack.

Although Norway's army is notoriously untrained and vulnerable. However, Norway's coastal defense formation has a rare title of the strongest coastal defense force in Northern Europe.

With the coastal defense guns of various ports, as well as the coastal support of patrol ships, coastal defense ships, and torpedo boats, a small number of land forces fighting desperately may be able to repel the enemy's landing force.

In order to ensure that the unreliable army under his command can fight tenaciously, Haakon VII has thought of a lot of means. He asked the pro-German Secretary of State for Defense, Quisling, to arrange the defense of Britain in the northwest, and then asked the prime minister who leaned towards Britain to ensure that preparations for the defense of Germany in the south were in place.

It's just that Haakon VII didn't know that everything he was doing now had actually been calculated by Reinhardt early.

Yes, Haakon VII was playing chess, but Reinhardt was also playing at the same time. In Reinhardt's chess game, the whole of Norway is just a pawn. Moreover, he didn't care how the defense work of this chess piece was arranged.

Reinhardt's real backhand will not be taken out until the Anglo-French forces break through the Norwegian defense forces and penetrate deep into the territory of Norway.

"How? Major General Hans, please be satisfied with the amount of troops and weapons and equipment I have compensated you. Sitting in the conference room of the Kingdom of Denmark, Reinhardt, enjoying the fruits of his victory, summoned the commander of the lightning march, Major General Hans.

The forced march in Denmark was Reinhardt's last chance to train Hans after rebuilding his troops. Soon, he would give Hans a task that was a hundred times more difficult than the battle for Denmark.

By February, Hans's 30th Infantry Division had been rebuilt. Reinhardt carefully selected a large number of fighters recruited from the Austrian mountains for them, and added a new 38t assault gun (Stalker) self-propelled artillery battalion that is good at mountain movement, so that this meritorious division can make a good performance in the mountainous Norway in the future.

And this elite division, full of combat experience and famous for fighting good and evil battles, is the entire combat power that Reinhardt is ready to put into Norway. Once the Anglo-French forces launched an invasion of Norway according to Churchill's plan, Reinhardt would be able to use the 30th Division to replicate the strategy that Britain had used to use in the Allied War to rely on a small number of local elites and all the manpower of other countries to fight.

From a strategic point of view, it would be good if the 30th Infantry Division could defeat the British and French three times its size, but if it could not destroy the British and French expeditionary forces, Reinhardt would not forcibly order Hans Division Commander to fight.

For the German troops, who sent troops to Norway as rescuers, all combat operations were just a small link in a series of battle plans of the future "Yellow Plan". It was enough for them to cooperate with the five weak infantry divisions of Norway to fight and entangle the British and French expeditionary forces as much as possible.

The real decisive battlefield is the summit showdown of the European powers that will unfold on the soil of France in the future. Only by winning the war, which encompassed the main forces of France and Germany, the elite of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, could the Third Reich truly achieve a complete victory on 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 Wehrmacht to contain them, why do they have to fight to the ground. After the war on the European continent is over, the local war in Northern Europe is almost a snap of a finger.

As far as the analysis of the military strength of European countries is concerned, the purely paper combat effectiveness of the French army can definitely compete with the German army. Had it not been for the vast expendum of national strength spent on the Maginot Line over the years, the French army would have been an aggressive force that would not have been overwhelmed by the Germans.

Of course, the training level and combat quality of these units were far lower than those of the German army, which had been tempered by the flames of war. The backward operational thinking of the French generals and the incompetent top command headed by Gammerin are also the reasons for the great reduction in the combat effectiveness of the French army.

And this army, which has been tormented by countless detours, is now only relying on the British Expeditionary Force and the Belgian Army provided by its allies to expand its own forces and rely on the Maginot Line to confront the German army.

However, because Spain and Italy were politically closer to Germany than in history, the French commander-in-chief, Gammerin, as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, had to leave five divisions behind to guard against the 10 Spanish German divisions assembled on the Spanish-French border. Although Franco declared Spain to be a non-belligerent, the 10 divisions under his command were cunningly labeled as volunteers by him and classified as civilian combat forces.

There were 10 divisions in the southwest, and the command was in the hands of the German government, which made Ganmalin have to defend.

On the other hand, in the face of the growing number of Italian troops on the Alpine front, Gammelin once again divided 10 divisions for defense. Italy, the fourth oldest military power in Europe, did not dare to relax in the face of the rightful successor to the Roman Empire.

In the view of Gammelin, and even of the British allies, whether Italy sends troops or not will directly affect the course of the future war. Once Germany and Italy combined to attack France, the chances of victory for the coalition were slim.

Therefore, no matter how much benefit is paid, it is better to let Italy reap the benefits of neutrality on both sides of the wall than to let it fall to Germany. Ganmarin left 10 divisions, and he didn't really expect them to be able to hold off the attack of the Italian army. Rather, it was hoped that this would put some pressure on Italy and push Mussolini to opt for a more relaxed wait-and-see policy.

It can be said that Gan Molin is also in the next game of chess. Of course, Reinhardt had already gotten the news of all his deployments through the Gestapo's intelligence network.

"My Führer!" Hans, who knew that he would soon receive a task greater than that of the Danish battle, raised his hand with excitement and saluted: "The rebuilt 30th Division has fully recovered its combat effectiveness, and we are fully capable of handling the new tasks. ”

"Don't worry, I'll tell you about the mission in a few days." Reinhardt smiled and waved his hand, raised his eyebrows at the new love he had discovered, and said, "You have just finished a big victory, and you have completed the national destruction in less than four hours, of course, you must be commended first." ”

"I personally shot two copies of the Nordic Medal for Valor in Combat with different patterns," Reinhardt smiled meaningfully, "and I will send one to all the officers and men of your 30th Division." ”