In fact, Trotsky and Tukhachevsky did not intend to resign, but only verbally threatened to force the palace. But who would have thought that Sverdlov would directly flip the table, and then Tukhachevsky had no choice but to continue to work on the battle plan in the dark.

Although the General Staff has not reached a conclusion on how to deal with this world war in the future, the relevant mobilization is being carried out in an orderly manner. In November 1939, the Supreme Presidium of the Soviet Union amended the Military Service Act, extending the duration of compulsory military service from three to five years and beginning the conscription of reserve officers under the age of 45 to return to active duty.

At the same time, major military academies have also carried out a round of enrollment expansion, attracting a large number of aspiring young people to join the army. In particular, the technical arms, such as engineers, automobile, tanks, and pilots, have expanded to an astonishing extent.

By May 1941, Triandafilov, who was in charge of the expansion of the army, proudly declared: "In just over a year we have trained 100,000 qualified auto and tank crews, and 5,000 pilots." That's almost as efficient as the previous five years. Only the great Soviet Union could accomplish this miracle. ”

Of course, after the United States entered the war and completely mobilized, such an achievement was so-so, but after all, the industrial base and national quality of the United States were higher, and it was easier to complete such mobilization.

However, just when the Soviet Union was in full swing from top to bottom, the international situation was surging. Hitler, of course, would not be satisfied after eating the not-so-fatty cake of East Poland, for which East Poland was just one of the appetizers before a big meal. And a few more appetizers. The mustache has also been chosen. Denmark and Norway were put on the plate.

The Norwegian campaign, which predates the start of the French campaign in history, should have already begun. But to Li Xiaofeng's surprise, the mustache didn't move until the beginning of May, did he really accept it when he saw it?

Of course, this was not the case, because the Soviet Union did not have a non-aggression pact, which made the mustache quite nervous, and after annexing Western Poland, he waited and watched for a while, until he found out that the Soviet Union was really neutral before making up his mind to take Denmark and Norway. That is, the famous "Weser River Exercise" program in history.

On 9 May, the day Tukhachevsky's plan was again rejected, Germany made a surprise attack on Denmark and Norway on the grounds of preventing British and French interference in the internal affairs of Denmark and Norway and effectively maintaining their neutrality.

Of course, this is simply a disguise, and everyone knows what really makes the mustache pay attention to it - iron ore, and of course molybdenum ore. However, at the time, iron ore was more important. Because Germany relies on Sweden for 40% of its iron ore every year, a considerable part of which is shipped from Narvik in Norway. Once Norway fell into the arms of Britain and France. Or simply Britain and France blockade the Norwegian waters, and the German warplanes may not be able to start.

This is entirely possible, for example, Churchill, then Minister of the Navy in Chamberlain's cabinet, proposed to lay a large number of mines in Norwegian waters to completely block Germany's access to iron ore from Sweden. Unfortunately, the British government at that time did not have the courage to reject Churchill's offer.

Speaking of which, Churchill is also a bad embryo, seeing that it is impossible for the cabinet to agree to a direct blockade of Norway, he changed to another trick and began to constantly shout at Norway in public, demanding that Norway give up its neutrality and join the big family against Germany.

Of course, Churchill knew that the Norwegian government would probably not agree to his proposal, and he did so for two purposes: first, to make the Germans nervous, and to create the possibility that Britain was ready to drag Norway into the water in order to cut off Germany's important source of resources for the war. Second, using Germany to exert pressure on Norway will shake Norway's confidence in neutrality from the side and force Norway to move closer to Britain and France.

Churchill was indeed a scheming man, but just a few words from the air made the relations between Norway and Germany tense. Don't underestimate these damned Brits, who have been working together on the continent for hundreds of years, so they know how to schem.

In fact, Churchill in history was also quite crazy, and he came up with a lot of bad moves on the Norwegian issue. For example, when the Winter War broke out, Churchill proposed that under the guise of assisting Finland in resisting Soviet aggression, he could directly send troops to land in Narvik and enter Sweden along the railway line to occupy the Kiruna iron ore mine, so as to achieve the goal of containing Germany and the Soviet Union at the same time. At that time, even the French agreed with Churchill's plan and were ready to send a British and French volunteer army to Norway.

What about this plan of Churchill? It can be said to be whimsical, it can also be said to be a risky move, and it can be said to be gambling. Leaving aside the diplomatic wowel that would lead to the diplomatic wowel of the two neutral countries by sending troops directly, let's just say that the possible reaction of the Soviet Union and Germany would directly destroy Britain.

With Churchill's approach, it is really possible for Germany and the Soviet Union to move from a seemingly incompatible non-aggression pact to a real alliance, and then the vested interests represented by Britain and France will be strongly challenged by two emerging groups. In the case of Britain and France at the beginning of World War II, the probability of being exploded is more than eighty percent.

Thanks to the timely truce between Finland and the Soviet Union, Churchill had no excuse to scrap the plan. At that time, however, he did not give up, and put forward another idea, that is, to provoke the Germans to force Germany to first destroy Norway's neutrality, and then Britain could take advantage of it.

Soon, Churchill found an opportunity, and that was the trigger for the German invasion of Norway in history, the Altmark incident.

Comrades may not be familiar with this incident, so I will briefly introduce it. The Altmark was a supply ship of the German Navy. He has been accompanying the Earl of Speer in the maritime operation to break diplomatic relations. On December 17, 1939, when the Earl Speer chose to sink under siege, the Altmark mysteriously disappeared.

With 299 British sailors on board, the ship evaded the Royal Navy's search and circumnavigated the waters north of the British Isles in February 1940. Attempt to return to Germany.

On February 14. The Altmark was stopped by the Norwegian Navy three times and raided. At that time, the British prisoners on the ship made noise in an attempt to attract the attention of the Norwegian Navy, but the Norwegians were not stupid, and the Germans were now menacing, and if they were not handled well, they would cause trouble for their own family. Therefore, even if he noticed that the Altmark was abnormal, he only did not see it, and only asked the Altmark to leave the Norwegian waters as much as possible.

It was at this time that the British diplomat in Norway (who was actually a spy) was overjoyed to learn of the whereabouts of the Altmark. Immediately ordered several destroyers, including Cossacks, Sikhs, and Nubians, to intercept Artmark.

After discovering that the British were blocking the way, the Altmark naturally did not foolishly break in, and immediately turned around and sailed to the Jochenfjord in Norway to seek refuge. At that time, the British destroyer Cossacks pursued the Norwegian territorial waters all the way and tried to force boarding, but was stopped by the Norwegian Navy.

That's where things get interesting, because it's happening in Norwegian territorial waters, and Norway is an important neutral country (it's like sitting in the middle of nowhere). It should be said that Britain could achieve the goal of rescuing the crew through diplomatic means. But this time, with the direct intervention of Churchill. The well-mannered English gentleman threw away the so-called etiquette.

On 16 February, Colonel Vian received a direct order from Churchill. Norway and the United Kingdom were asked to jointly escort the Altmark to Bergen for further inspection, or to board the ship for inspection. In case of refusal, the British side will act alone and force boarding. If Norway obstructs the operation, a warning will be given, and if the Norwegians open fire, Vian will be allowed to return fire to defend his own safety.

Armed with the Admiralty's sword, Vian naturally let it go, and on 16 February, despite Norway's refusal, he forced his way onto the Altmark, killed six German sailors, and took all 299 British sailors from the cabin.

It seems that this matter is not particularly big, but the influence cannot be underestimated, no matter how the British later publicized it, how they packaged Colonel Vian, let's go back to the incident, at that time, the British really only had one way to go by forcibly acting alone?

Obviously, this is not the case. With Norway's cowardly nature of urine, as long as Britain threatens a few words, Norway is afraid that Norway will have to urinate, and the final result is likely to be that the Norwegians will return the British crew on board to Britain, and then let the Altmark return safely to Germany, and it will not be offended at both ends.

If the final result is like this, Hitler may not be so angry with Norway, you must know that the Führer was not very interested in Norway at the beginning, and was ready to ensure its neutral status. However, the British's forcible boarding of the ship to save people and go away is tantamount to throwing off a face-saving mustache, during which Norway is too much to ride on the wall, which makes Hitler suspicious - even such a big fart, the Norwegians can't bear it, and when Lao Tzu really fights with the British, Norway can't bear the pressure and breaks the iron ore.

During this period, Dreyer went to Hitler's ear to talk about how important Norway was, and constantly fanned the flames, and suddenly Hitler was in a hurry and put Norway and Denmark on the table together.

Let's put it this way, Norway's misfortune certainly has its internal causes, who made it extremely important in terms of geographical location and weak strength? But more importantly, we must see the scheming of the British, these people are really bad embryos, full of bad water, in order to protect the interests of the country, they do not hesitate to use means and methods, even if you are a neutral country? Get you in the water in minutes.

At one point, the British even had the idea of occupying Norway first, so as to solve the problem once and for all, and Churchill was an active supporter of this idea.

After Churchill's incessant instigation and provocations, Hitler finally made up his mind to settle Denmark and Norway and launched the Weser exercise program. According to the operational objectives of Norway set by the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW): first, to obtain a base for the German Navy in Norway in order to break through the blockade of the British Navy, and second, to ensure a smooth supply of iron ore.

The offensive operation will be divided into two phases, first of all, the seizure of ports and airfields along the coast, the creation of bridgeheads. After success, they attacked inland and occupied all of Norway.

However, there is still no small controversy about OKW's plan. For example, Dreyer, who had been advocating an attack on Norway, knew very well that this was a difficult and difficult task, because German troops would land at the same time on the Norwegian coast, which stretched for 2,000 kilometers. The Royal Navy firmly controls the vast majority of the North Sea. The weak German Navy could not possibly confront the Royal Navy head-on.

Other words. The risk will be very high during the voyage. After research, though. The Germans believed that if they did just one thing, they would be able to guarantee victory in the battle. Which point? Velocity!

Yes, the Germans believed that if the attack could be sudden, not only would the Danish and Norwegian armies not only be unable to effectively organize resistance, but the Royal Navy would also be unable to react. In order to achieve this, the Germans decided that it was not feasible to use the traditional slow transport ships for landing operations, and that it was better to use high-speed warships instead, so as to shorten the transit time and avoid being intercepted by the superior forces of the Royal Navy.

But even so. In his report to Hitler, Dreyer also admitted: "This is an out-and-out gamble, contrary to all orthodox theories of naval warfare." "As for Dreyer's deputy, Rolf. Vice Admiral Kars was even more pessimistic, predicting the loss of more than half of the naval forces.

According to Dreyer's plan, the Weser exercise will involve the army, navy, and air force, and the ground forces are the 21st Army and the 31st Army, including nine divisions and one brigade, with a total of 120,000 troops. Of these, 7 divisions were used to attack Norway, including the elite 3rd Mountain Division. The division commander Edward. General Dieter was in charge of the first assault mission.

In addition to the army, the navy will be poured out, including two battle cruisers, three heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and 14 destroyers, as well as a large number of small ships. There are more than 370 ships in total.

As for the Air Force, more than 1,000 warplanes of the 10th Air Force will provide air support for the operation. At the same time, paratroopers will be airborne in Stavanger, seizing the local airfield.

From the very beginning of its formulation, the Weser exercise plan has attracted the attention of intelligence agencies around the world, and MI6 has followed the whole process. Interestingly, the reaction of the British cabinet was rather strange. At the beginning of April, the British War Cabinet received information from all sides that the Germans were massing their forces and that the sudden surge in radio communications in the direction of Wilhelmshaven was not normal.

On May 8, before the operation began, a German troop carrier sank off the coast of Norway, and soldiers in German uniforms swam ashore on board, claiming to have come to help Norway defend its homeland against the British invasion.

In fact, as early as 3 May, some German ships carrying equipment and supplies had set sail, and three days later the German formations set sail from Wilhelmshaven and Kiel to their respective targets. On 9 May, the Norwegians were surprised to find a large number of German ships loaded with troops on the long coastline stretching from Narvik in the north to Oslo in the south.

It stands to reason that so much information has proved that Germany has already attacked Norway, but the British warrior cabinet table is quite speechless, for example, on May 9, when learning the news of the German occupation of Narvik, Chamberlain actually said to the House of Commons: "The news about the German landing in Narvik is not true, the so-called Narvik is a misinformation of Larvik...... but by the evening of the same day, all the illusions of the British were shattered, and the Germans were the first to receive this small gift package in Norway.

Let's turn the clock back 24 hours, and on the night of May 8, while the British were still ignoring the danger signals, the KGB's Vympel special forces had secretly infiltrated Copenhagen and Oslo, secretly monitoring all the vital dignitaries of the two countries.

This was a highly secret operation organized and carried out by Li Xiaofeng himself, so to speak, this action was not even known to the Politburo, and it was simply privately instructed by Li Xiaofeng. Why did Li Xiaofeng take such a big risk to carry out this operation, and what exactly did he want to do?

In the early hours of May 9, Germany launched a surprise attack on the grounds of maintaining the neutrality of Denmark and Norway. German ground forces crossed the Danish Jutland defense line, paratroopers landed at strategic points in Copenhagen and Oslo, and land forces landed in major ports. King Christian X of Denmark ordered the troops not to resist. The Germans occupied all of Denmark in just 4 hours.

According to Hitler's orders, the Danish royal family will be closely guarded, and the historical Christian X chose to refuse to take refuge abroad, and this time he still made the same choice, but this time he really made an extremely wrong choice, because he was targeted by a certain immortal!

At the same time that the German army landed in Copenhagen, the Vympel special forces in the uniform of the German airborne troops broke into the residence of Christian X, and easily captured the entire Danish royal family, and a few minutes later, fierce gunfire was heard in the palace, and by the time the real German troops arrived at the palace, the entire Danish royal family had fallen in a pool of blood.

Of course, Christian X's second son, now King Haakon VII of Norway, was also killed. Overnight, the Glücksburg dynasty was severed, and the thrones of Denmark and Norway were vacant.

This astonishing change shocked the world, and the princes and nobles all over the world lashed out at the Nazi brutality, especially the British royal family, and the king of Lianba scolded Hitler with dirty mouths.

Of course, only Hitler himself knew that he really did not do this, and although he gave the order to control the members of the Glücksburg dynasty, he absolutely did not order a mass killing. At that time, the furious Führer lifted the table: "Check! Check it out now! Let the Gestapo do all its best to solve this case, and be sure to find those fools who disobey my orders! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the glorious Charter, kuzhu, goldenson, hermit Liu Jun 123, Bao Heizi, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 2 and Comrade Juventus!