(PS: I checked it, in 1939, the British naval commander was Cunningham and not Mountbatten, and Mountbatten was not a big official at this time, this error was corrected in the previous chapter)

On 23 January, there was no exchange of fire between the British and German navies.

The German army, which succeeded in raiding the Norwegian capital, made every effort to consolidate the occupation of southern Norway, and the two port cities of Bergen and Molde facing the North Sea northwest of Oslo fell into the hands of the Germans, and the port of Trondheim, further north, was also occupied by the German airborne troops in the afternoon.

The British, on the other hand, were concentrating on consolidating the area around the port of Narvik. Although the British army occupied this area, due to the suddenness of the incident, the landing troops sent ashore with light equipment, not even a few decent artillery, and the total number of troops was only a few thousand.

As for the Royal Navy, they are now wandering about three hundred kilometers from the coastline in the North Sea, with a hesitant attitude.

The specific reason is a lack of confidence.

The Battle of Norway had a profound impact on the future tactical use of the Royal Navy, and after the battle, the Royal Navy suffered from a "phobia of night fighting". Having lost its spirit, the Royal Navy no longer had the courage to risk taking the initiative and the German Navy. After the Battle of Norway, the first thing the Royal Navy did on its return was to collect all the radars that could be mounted on ships and load them on warships. In the past two months, several tests have proved that it can detect warships within 50 kilometers in advance at night when they can't see their fingers. The only problem was that the radar technology at this time was not mature enough, and although it had the effect of seeking the enemy in advance, it was simply impossible to help the naval guns accurately aim and locate like the German Navy did.

During the Norwegian campaign in history. The British Navy once dispatched a destroyer to carry out a successful sneak attack on the German fleet, and finally completely annihilated the German destroyer fleet that had entered the war. However, because of the aftermath of the Norwegian naval battle, the British Navy completely lost the courage to fight at night.

On 23 January, Commander Cunningham, who was wasting time wandering around northern Shanghai, simply demanded from London that more planes be transferred to the port of Narvik in order to facilitate the establishment of a land-based air base there. After the capture of the port of Narvik, the British were desperately trying to build a field battlefield here to facilitate the transfer of domestic fighters here. The port of Narvik is close to the North Pole and originally had no airport. However, the weather here is harsh all year round. Britain even builds an airport here. The time available for aircraft sorties is also limited.

After the occupation of Oslo, the Germans had acquired a large number of land-based airfields in southern Norway. Having learned the lessons of the Norwegian naval battle and seeing the might of the air force, General Cunningham said that he would not agree to transfer the warship to southern Norway to launch an attack on the port.

In real history. Andrew. Brown. Cunningham was one of the few experts in aviation warfare in the British Navy. The importance of aircraft carriers and aviation was realized very early. Historically, it was the Mediterranean Fleet commanded by him that used aircraft carriers to attack the Italian port of Taranto, sinking and damaging half of Italy's warships, and setting a precedent for aircraft carriers to attack large military ports and warships alone. He was an excellent commander of the British Navy, and he was definitely comparable to Phillips's mediocrity. After the Battle of Norwegian Naval Warfare, he was redeployed from the Mediterranean with the aircraft carrier Limited Eagle, and was promoted to commander of the British Home Fleet.

After the Norwegian naval battle, other naval commanders were still obsessed with the prospect of large ships and huge artillery shelling each other, and they were all focused on improving radar and night artillery warfare technology. Commander Cunningham, on the other hand, was eyeing the result of the sinking of the British aircraft carrier by the Zeppelin sister ships on December 2 by means of "no contact".

At present, the Royal Navy has no air supremacy here in Norway. In his opinion, even docking his fleet in Norwegian ports was an extremely dangerous move. After completing the operational objective of sending thousands of British troops ashore and occupying the port of Narvik, he immediately transferred the main force of the fleet away, and at the same time refused the request of his superiors to attack the German fleet in the south.

Not at least on the 23rd, when the weather is good.

Commander Cunningham was informed by the Meteorological Service that the weather in Norway would deteriorate again in 24 days, and that a strong stream of cold air was moving southward, and that there would be a severe snowstorm for several days.

Cunningham's idea was to wait until the weather deteriorated before leading his troops south, taking advantage of the fact that the opponent's planes could not be dispatched and the air force could not support before attacking the German navy.

In Andrew. Brown. In Cunningham's view, while the Germans occupied southern Norway, the British also controlled northern Norway, which was more strategically important than the south.

The port of Narvik in northern Norway is an important passage for Swedish iron ore into Germany. Germany consumes 15 million tonnes of iron ore every year, in fact 11 million tonnes come from Sweden in Northern Europe. The iron ore was transported by rail to the port of Narvik in northern Norway and then to Germany by guò shipping, all of which were within Norway, and the British could not interfere in the past, but now that they were accused here, the Germans could no longer obtain iron ore from northern Europe.

After the Narvik region further north fell to the British, Germany's access to the Norwegian Sea into the Atlantic Ocean was also blocked, and this strategic goal was also achieved.

Commander Cunningham, who came from the navy, believed that Britain had now achieved this strategic goal, and that the rest of its energy should be to consolidate the region.

So Commander Cunningham refused the order to attack the German fleet on the 23rd. On the 23rd, after completing the task of raiding Oslo, Hannah and Linhan also left Osport with the main force of the German fleet and a freighter, and moved the fleet to the port of Bergen in the southwest of Norway, near the Norwegian Sea. It is close to the Norwegian Sea, opposite the British mainland, and it is easier to attack the route between Britain and Narvik. At this time, the main British fleet was hovering at sea about five hundred kilometers from Bergen.

Upon arrival at the port of Bergen, the German Navy unhurriedly dropped the men and supplies it was carrying with the ships to help the Army consolidate its occupation of the area. Although the overland distance from Oslo to Bergen is very close, the transportation of goods is not as fast as that of sea transportation.

The actions of the German Navy were deliberately dragged and not accompanied by radio silence. The day's abundant radio exchange soon made the British discover that their main fleet had reached Bergen.

On the evening of the 23rd, the weather in the Bergen area began to deteriorate, and it snowed heavily. In the coming days, it will be difficult for the air forces of both sides to make sorties.

For General Cunningham, this was the long-awaited moment for a decisive battle. (To be continued......)