Iceland is located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland Sea, east of Greenland in North America, across the Danish Channel from the snow-covered Greenland, and about 500 nautical miles north of Scotland in the British Isles. Iceland is sparsely populated due to its natural conditions, and there are more than 200,000 people of Norwegian and Irish descent living in this area of about 100,000 square kilometres. After World War I, Iceland became an independent country from the Kingdom of Denmark. But the country does not have an army, and the police are the only ones to maintain law and order.

After the German occupation of Denmark, the British occupied the Faroe Islands and Iceland in Denmark, intending to use the island chain to limit the activities of the German navy. But after the Battle of the North Atlantic, due to the loss of sea supremacy, the Americans took over the defense of Iceland from the British and began to send troops there.

The U.S. Navy mobilized the vast majority of its maritime forces to the Atlantic Fleet, and did not send reinforcements to the Pacific Fleet even during the difficult period of the siege of the Philippines. Ernest? General King knew that if Iceland fell, the fragile maritime links between North America and Europe would be severed.

Operation Lighthouse was a hastily developed battle plan for the German Navy, and Austria-Hungary did not want a large-scale confrontation with the United States at sea until the Russians had been dealt with. However, the German Navy's operational plan had been completed, and Austria-Hungary finally approved the operational plan to send a naval fleet to participate in the operation.

Due to the urgency of the operation, the preparations were not very sufficient. Major General Ruyt, commander of the German 2nd Marine Division, who was ordered to land in Iceland in advance, did not have much confidence in this battle. The U.S. Army has about a division of land in Iceland, and there is also a wing of the U.S. Air Force on the island, which has about 400 combat aircraft. In addition, the US Atlantic Fleet concentrated four aircraft carriers, compared to which the German Navy did not have much advantage.

On the evening of April 27. Escorted by the German Home Fleet, the 2nd Marine Division left the Norwegian fjords on standby with 43 transports and headed for Iceland. The landing force was escorted by the German 5th Battlefleet and the 3rd Cruisers, which included 4 battleships of the "King class" and 2 heavy cruisers, 8 cruisers and a destroyer alert group, commanded by Vice Admiral Hoffmann. Naval support was provided by two air fleets under the command of Admiral Lukins, consisting of four aircraft carriers, two "German-class" battleships, three heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and 16 destroyers. In addition, there are 4 supply ships and 3 fast tankers and other auxiliary ships.

Naval operations were commanded by Senior General Lukins, while landing operations were commanded by Major General Ruitt.

This huge fleet sailed westward at 12 knots in the early summer rains and fog. The three brigades of the 2nd Marine Division were divided into three parts for the landing, and the campaign was mainly carried out in the north and northeast of Iceland. The Austro-Hungarian North Atlantic Fleet, which had already left the Bay of Biscay ahead of schedule and entered the waters of the North Atlantic in western Ireland, would be responsible for operations in the waters south of the landing site, while Senior General Lukins would be responsible for security in the direction of the Danish Channel and air support for the landing force.

The sea was calm, with light rain for most of the time, and the next day the sky was overcast with low cloud cover. The aerial reconnaissance planes of the US and British Air Forces could not observe the sea surface. Unbeknownst to the enemy, the entire landing convoy approached the north-east of Iceland at about 2:10 p.m. on 29 April. The destroyer at the head could already see the dark shadow of the distant coast in the distance, which was Cape Kodreux, northeast of Iceland.

The entire convoy made a sharp turn to the left and entered the Gulf of Vopna. In an atmosphere of suffocating tension, the landing force advanced towards the intended landing site, the port of Vupna, at the bottom of the bay.

At 4:50 a.m. on 30 April, the two Marine battalions that landed first changed boats and began to set off for the predetermined location, whether at "Red Beach" or "Blue Beach". None of the Germans noticed the movement of the Americans. It is clear that the US military did not deploy defensive forces here. There was nothing wrong with the Navy's reconnaissance report in the early stage.

At the intended landing site, the assault battalions of the 2nd Marine Division swarmed ashore at the scheduled landing site north of the Hops River, and they did not find a single enemy at all, as if it had never been inhabited.

At 6:30, the landing commander on the destroyer L39 signaled: "The landing was successful. No resistance was encountered! ”

An hour later, the assault battalion had taken control of the entire town and port of Vopna, and the troops that had initially landed had been disembarked from this small fishing port as planned. The 11th Marine Regiment went ashore first, then the 1st Battalion was on the right and the 2nd Battalion was in the middle. The 3rd Battalion was on the left, and the three Marine Battalions began to advance in depth and head on head. Their mission was to advance inland and create a line of defense that would ensure that the entire landing site was not threatened by a counterattack by the American forces. This would cover the landing of the follow-up troops, so that there would be a space for the disposal of supplies and equipment after they were disembarked.

It was not until about 1 p.m. that a US patrol plane discovered that a large number of German warships had poured into northeast Iceland, and that most of the German 2nd Marine Division had already gone ashore, and a large number of war materials had also been piled up in this small fishing port. The American patrol plane was immediately shot down by German fighters patrolling the skies, but a telegram calling the police had already been sent.

The German landing on the island of Iceland was a real shock to the American army, which had not been attacked since the beginning of the war, and the wartime General Staff immediately held a meeting and ordered the American air force around Reykjavik to launch an immediate counterattack, and at the same time ordered the Atlantic Fleet to attack with all its strength and stop the German attack.

On the afternoon of 30 April, while the Germans had already completed their landing, 72 fighters and 516 bombers of the US 12th Air Force took off urgently and headed for the northeastern bay where the Germans had landed. At the same time, the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, consisting of 6 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 12 light cruisers, and 4 destroyers, was led by the commander of the 2nd U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Admiral Ingram, under the command of Admiral Ingram, left the Norfolk naval base and urgently sent reinforcements to Iceland.

At this time, due to the alliance between Japan and the United States, and the decline of the British Navy, the United States Navy equipped most of its capital ships with the Atlantic Fleet to deal with possible attacks by the German and Austrian navies. Admiral Ingnorr's forces were unprecedentedly strong, with capital ships including 8 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships, and 12 heavy cruisers.

A year after the United States entered the war, in the waters of the North Atlantic, the two opposing military blocs on the planet launched a "gamble of the century" over the struggle for control of Iceland. (To be continued......)