The sudden German invasion of Denmark and Norway and the massacre of the Glücksburg dynasty attracted the attention of the Politburo, and an emergency meeting was convened to discuss countermeasures, the most active of which was Trotsky.

Why? Lao Tuo felt that this was a good opportunity, Germany was so brutal that even neutral countries did not let go, this does not mean that sooner or later they will also knife the Soviet Union, which has just declared neutrality, since it is impossible to avoid being stabbed, it is better to start cutting the Germans as soon as possible.

Such a concern is indeed justified, because Germany is indeed too frustrated, having just wiped out West Poland and is still at war with Britain and France, and even attacking Denmark and Norway regardless of it, is it too rampant and too unsightly?

What if this cargo is excited, and suddenly moves on East Prussia and East Poland? And what about the USSR? To fight or not to fight?

Trotsky naturally advocated fighting early, but Sverdlov was adamantly opposed: "The Red Army is not ready for war, our war readiness plan has just been carried out at the most critical moment, and it is a very bad choice to suddenly enter the war at this time." I tend to be on the safe side, continue to prepare, and wait until the preparations are basically over before I go to war! ”

"What if Germany suddenly attacks us before that?" Trotsky asked angrily.

Sverdlov replied lightly: "With East Prussia and East Poland in front, we cannot be crushed by a lightning attack by the Germans." As soon as the Germans attacked East Prussia and East Poland, the Red Army would immediately enter a state of war, and according to the estimates of the General Staff, East Prussia and East Poland would be able to buy us at least 10 days! ”

Sometimes Trotsky wished there were two unfortunate countries, East Prussia and East Poland. It is precisely because of their existence zài. The USSR had a wall against German attacks. There are a lot of risks that can be avoided. But it is precisely because of the existence of this wall that the aggressive combat plan led by the director zhì cannot be passed.

Anyway, Lao Tuo couldn't wait to tear down this wall immediately, otherwise his plan would have been solved long ago. However, this was impossible, so he could only cling to Denmark and Norway to make a fuss: "I must remind the Politburo that once Denmark and Norway are occupied by Germany, it means that our access to and from the Baltic Sea will be completely blocked by Germany." Moreover, after the occupation of Norway, the Germans can already directly threaten Murmansk, and then our main import and export trade channels will be completely cut off by Germany! ”

The Politburo has to pay attention to this. With the Germans in the west and the Japanese in the east, as soon as these two ends are strangled, the Soviet Union will become a huge island and will be completely isolated, and this is definitely a situation that the Politburo does not want to see.

But Sverdlov said unhurriedly: "This situation is indeed cause for concern, and isn't that what we are meeting today?" After a pause, he continued: "On how to deal with the Norwegian problem, Comrade Andrei has proposed a good proposal, which I think can be done perfectly! ”

Li Xiaofeng immediately continued: "My advice is that we must not sit idly by and watch Norway be occupied by Germany. Norway should be given the necessary assistance. Of course, at the same time, we must not overstimulate the nerves in Germany. So as not to fall into the whirlpool of war prematurely. My idea was to send a peacekeeping volunteer army into Norway to take control of Norway north of Narvik. In this way, if Germany declares war on our country, we can directly threaten Narvik and cut off the German iron ore import channel. ”

Trotsky scoffed at any plan of battle that did not confront Germany head-on, and he snorted coldly: "Do you think that every time you can solve the problem with the Volunteer Army?" Even if we send volunteers, we have to find a name, Norway begged us to send volunteers? ”

"This is very easy to do," Li Xiaofeng replied unhurriedly, "The KGB has already had some contact with the Norwegian Social Democratic Party, and I think they will be happy to ask us for help on the premise that we guarantee Norway's sovereignty and territorial integrity." And, now that Norway is completely paralyzed, we say it has a mandate, and who can object to it? ”

Trotsky gritted his teeth and added: "What about Germany's reaction?" What if they don't accept it? ”

"As I said, our target is limited to northern Norway, and the bottom line of the Germans is probably to ensure the safety of the source of iron ore, and I don't think they will jump over the wall if we don't directly threaten the bottom line of the Germans." Saying that, Li Xiaofeng said: "And when launching this operation, the Red Army should enter the highest level of combat readiness to deal with any contingencies!" ”

Trotsky actually wanted to oppose it, but after thinking about it, he still acquiesced in Li Xiaofeng's plan, for the simple reason that it was better to interfere in Norway than to continue to wait. And who can say for sure how the Germans reacted? What if the Germans have another convulsion?

Trotsky was desperate for German convulsions, and if a conflict really broke out, it would only be in his favor! So he acquiesced to Li Xiaofeng's plan and instructed Tukhachevsky: "Immediately formulate a contingency plan for the outbreak of a full-scale conflict between us and Germany, well, can we organize a large-scale exercise between the three armies in the west?" ”

Tukhachevsky immediately understood why he was not trying to provoke the Germans by conducting large-scale exercises on the three fronts of the Western Army, and that if Germany had miscalculated, the situation that Trotsky had hoped would have happened.

Therefore, he immediately put forward a military exercise plan codenamed Total Storm-1940 at the Military Commission, under the pretext that it was to inspect the combat readiness of the three main battle fronts in the west.

However, Trotsky was shrewd, and Sverdlov was not stupid, and he saw at a glance that this was a drunkard's intention not to drink, so without saying a word, he kicked the drill into the second half of the year. In Xiao Si's words: "The troops have just started combat readiness, what effect can be achieved by rushing to conduct exercises at this time?" Let the comrades be more prepared, and then conduct the assessment. ”

Tukhachevsky still wanted to fight on the basis of reason, but the Trotskyists and the Military Commission were really an out-and-out minority, and there was no doubt that Lao To's plan had gone bankrupt again. At the same time, the British finally reacted and began to panic to intercept the German warships.

From May 9. The Royal Navy's home fleet was massively sorted. The most famous of these is the ramming of the destroyer USS Firefly on the Hipper. At that time, the Firefly's main mission was actually to mine the mouth of the Westfjord. Due to bad weather, one of the crew members of the Firefly was swept into the sea by a huge wave, and in order to search for the crew, the Firefly broke away from the formation and collided headlong with the German Navy's destroyers Z11 and Z18 in a dense fog.

The three destroyers immediately scuffled into a ball, and from the later descriptions of the German Navy, the Firefly was quite heroic. Undeterred by one-on-two, even when the Hippert arrived on the battlefield, Captain Gerald Murphy. Led by Lieutenant Commander Rupp, the Hippel rammed heroically.

Although the Firefly was eventually sunk, the British's bravery was highly respected by their opponents. Admiral Hayer sent a letter to the British Navy to the British Navy through the International Red Cross, praising the bravery of the British ship. This led to Rupp being posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military honor.

However, in Li Xiaofeng's opinion, fireflies are brave, but they are too reckless. The ship was supposed to monitor the movements of the Germans from a slightly greater distance and inform the upper echelons of the Navy of relevant information in a timely manner. But this Captain Rupp was carried away, and insisted on fighting hard with an opponent whose strength was not at the same level at all. This bravery was brute bravery and did not help the British to carry out the next military operation in Norway. And his recklessness directly led Admiral Pound, the First Sea Lord, to deviate in his judgment. A fatal decision was made to order the British destroyers blockading Westfjord to withdraw southward, so that the gates of Westfjord were opened, allowing the German fleet to pass through and occupy Narvik without difficulty.

Therefore, it is meaningless to say that the courage of the moment is meaningless, and the talent who judges the situation and makes the right choice is even more worthy of admiration. After the Royal Navy let go, the German fleet went straight to Narvik. At this time, the sky was dark, the sea was full of fog, and the wind and snow were dancing in the sky.

Entering the fjord, the Germans captured three Norwegian patrol boats, but one of them sent an alert to the harbor in time. At this time, the Norwegian Navy's main force in Narvik was two coastal defense ships commissioned in 1901 - the Edswald and the Norwegian. Both ships have been in service for 40 years, but after receiving the alarm from the patrol boat, the two ships were immediately ready for battle, all guns were loaded, and the entire crew was also distributed life jackets.

At 4:15, when the Edswald saw the German ship approaching the port, it immediately sent out a light signal, demanding that the German ship immediately identify itself and its intentions. To this the Germans did not respond in any way. So the two Norwegian coastal defense ships immediately fired warning shots, and a shell passed through the bow of the German ship and exploded in the sea.

Commodore Bont, the German admiral in charge of the capture of Narvik, had previously been instructed to occupy the target as peacefully as possible, and ordered the Heidenkamp to halt the ship, while signaling that negotiations were ready to take place. However, the so-called negotiations of the Germans were actually unilateral demands, demanding that the Norwegians hand over their warships and weapons and then get out, to which the Norwegians naturally would not agree.

As soon as the German negotiators left the Edestswold, a red flare was fired to inform the Norwegians of Bont that they were determined to resist. At the same time, the captain of the Edswold, Colonel Willow, immediately shouted: "The artillery is in position!" Lads! We're going to fight! ”

The old coastal defense ship immediately rushed towards the German ship and began firing with three 150mm guns, but the Norwegians were obviously unlucky, and after only one shell, they were hit by four torpedoes fired head-on, and the two torpedoes that hit instantly detonated the ammunition depot, and Ederswold was quickly cut in two, and 174 officers and men, including the captain, were killed, and only 8 survived.

The Norwegian was also unlucky, in the darkness and fog, after firing at the German ship indiscriminately for a while, it was attacked by three waves of a total of 7 torpedoes, and like the friendly ship, it was also capsized and sank with two mines, killing 101 people.

The sinking of the two coastal defense ships meant that Norway's last resistance had failed, and contrary to the heroic indomitability of the Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian Army stationed in Narvik surrendered without firing a single shot. The reason is also very simple, because the local army commander Condra. Sandro was a pro-Nazi Quisling who did not hesitate to betray his homeland.

However, the Germans were not smooth sailing, and a funny thing happened after the capture of Narvik. In the morning, when the German destroyer entered the port of Narvik. The German cargo ship Bockenheim, which had been anchored in the harbor earlier, thought that a British destroyer had killed it. In a hurry, he ordered the crew to seize the beach and scuttle it, and when the situation was clarified, it was ridiculous.

Of course, it was the turn of the British to counterattack, and the sudden German attack completely confused the British, and the commander of the home fleet, Charles, who did not know what was really going on on the battlefield. Admiral Forbes ordered a "daredevil" to go to Narvik to find out the situation. That man was Warburton. Colonel Lee.

When Colonel Lee was about to break into Narvik to reconnoiter the situation, Churchill, who had always wanted to take Norway in the wind and rain, also sent a telegram informing Colonel Lee, who had a bit of a "two-pole" spirit, that the German army that occupied Narvik had only one ship and a small number of land forces, and asked Colonel Lee to exercise his judgment. Lead your men into the fjord, destroy enemy ships, and retake the port.

It has to be said that Churchill's judgment on some general direction issues is accurate, but the specific details are coarse, and sometimes it seems to overemphasize the so-called Nelson spirit and appear very aggressive. It was this supreme directive he sent to Colonel Lee that directly guided the adventurous actions that followed.

As mentioned earlier, Colonel Li was originally a "stupid and bold", and after having Shang Fang's sword, his courage was naturally greater. Even if the preliminary reconnaissance found that the situation in the harbor was far from the Admiralty's estimate, this Colonel Lee was not afraid.

Because Colonel Lee belonged to the new force among the destroyer commanders of the Royal Navy, he was extremely dedicated and enterprising. In a letter to his wife before going to sea, he wrote: "The battle is likely to begin, and I will fire the first shot!" ”

With the cooperation of the same group of enterprising colleagues. Colonel Lee immediately made the decision to risk the attack. I won't say much about the exact course of the battle, but the result was that in this "dog fight", known as the First Battle of Narvik, the British risked total annihilation to raid Narvik, sinking two German destroyers and 11 merchant ships. However, during the retreat, it was bombarded by German naval reinforcements, and lost two destroyers and Colonel Lee.

Now, of course, we are not going to talk about these, but the story after the death of Colonel Lee. Later, the British mobilized their main forces to launch the Second Battle of Narvik, completely destroying all German warships in the fjord in one fell swoop, and it can be said that it achieved an unprecedented victory.

By mid-May, the British had gathered an army of 24,500 men in Narvik, including Britain, France, Norway, and Western Poland, while the Germans were only 5,000 against them, and 2,600 of them were German sailors who had lost their warships. In this disparity of strength, the Germans were quickly driven out of the city of Narvik, but they held out in the mountains.

Funnily enough, the British buried this hard-won victory in a daze. The British, believing that they were in control of the situation, soon moved the main force of their forces to central Norway in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Trondheim. As a result, after the sudden blitzkrieg of the German army on France, the British expeditionary force had to flee from Norway without losing its armor. It can be said that the British won a naval battle and lost a battle.

Of course, this is history, and this situation in time and space has changed, and at the same time as the outbreak of the First Battle of Narvik, the Soviet Red Army suddenly appeared in the waters of Norway. According to the official version of the Soviet government, at the invitation of the Norwegian government, he went to protect the Norwegian people from the war.

On 10 May, the Red Army aircraft carriers Leningrad, Moskva, and Raider, as well as four battleships and four battlecruisers, eight other cruisers and 16 destroyers, which had been anchored in Murmansk, suddenly went to sea and headed for the waters north of Norway at a very high speed.

At the same time, more than 100 Li-2 transport planes, under the cover of 24 Pe-2 long-range escort fighters, flew towards the northern Norwegian city of Tromsø. At 11 a.m. that day, two battalions of paratroopers easily occupied Tromsø, and soon a steady stream of Red Army troops rushed to Tromsø in various ways. On May 11, the local Red Army had already exceeded 3,000 people.

At the same time, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Polar Infantry Divisions of the Red Army, which had been on standby on the border between the USSR and Norway, also began to cross the border and enter Norwegian territory from the north.

This series of changes stunned Britain, France and Germany, and they all had an idea: I'm going to it, this is neutrality? Nima, Maozi, you are teasing us!

Litvinov's explanation for this was: "The Soviet Union had no intention of getting involved in the war, but given that the Soviet Union and Norway had always been good neighbors and good neighbors, we could not stand idly by while Norway was attacked. ”

Moreover, Litvinov also said in a high-sounding manner: "The military operations of the Red Army are exclusively for the purpose of maintaining peace, and are not directed against any third party." All the actions of the Red Army in Norway were carried out for humanitarian and peaceful purposes. ”

When asked when the Norwegian Government had made a request to the Soviet Government, he replied: "His Majesty Haakon VII personally telegraphed Trotsky, Chairman of our Council of People's Commissars, before he was killed, in the hope that the Soviet Government would provide peace guarantees for Norway." Chairman Trotsky responded positively at that time, and now all the actions of the Red Army are officially fulfilling this promise! ”

Well, everyone knows that this is nonsense, Haakon VII is dead, and the authenticity of this so-called telegram is simply impossible to verify. But whether it is Britain, France, Germany, or even Norway, it is clear that it does not matter whether there is this telegram or not, what matters is what the hairy bear is doing this. (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Ma Shen Bobo, cjsky, the long journey into the night, the dog playing with frogs, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 2, agz00025 and Comrade Juventus!