Bergen, a historic port city founded in the 11th century, is also the second largest city in Norway – with a population of around 110,000.

Such a population size is not enough for the Ming Dynasty in the East, and it is not as good as some county seats.

January 17 was a Tuesday and the next day was still a working day, so the citizens did not relax.

Not many people felt anxious that night, and everyone didn't even think about the "war". Tomorrow's work seems more important than a distant war?

Despite the gloomy news about the situation in Europe on the radio and in the newspapers this month, optimists do not think that these events will have much of an impact on them, and they should not go away as usual.

Since the "breakup" with Sweden thirty-four years ago, the Norwegian-Swedish alliance that had existed for nearly a hundred years ceased to exist, and Norway gained its independence and remained independent in the European war without getting involved in the war.

In this era, the small countries and the widows did not have any significant advantages, and they were completely incomparable with the large countries in terms of living standards and social welfare.

For such a small country, the huge cost of defense construction is naturally a low-priority investment.

Just after 9 p.m., most of the lights in the residential area were already off, and it was another uneventful cold night.

The bitter cold wind was howling, the damp snowflakes were starting to fall, and more and more people were falling asleep.

At high latitudes, the sun sets at around 3 p.m. in winter and does not rise until 9 a.m. the next day.

"Really? Send the light signal again, and I'll now go and observe. ”

In the brightly lit headquarters of the Bergen Naval Base, the burly and tall Major General Manus put down the microphone and quickly left his office and headed straight for the observation post in a higher position.

The Coast Lookout and the guards at the lighthouse have spotted something unusual - an unidentified fleet is approaching!

Accompanied by several officers, Major General Manus, who had hurried to the observation post, took a closer look through the large-magnification telescope here, and his heart suddenly cooled.

The ships that had not responded to it had finally signaled their lights, and the meaning was very simple and straightforward - we were the Royal Navy and were approaching.

Do you make this your home?

"Your Excellency, this is an illegal invasion!" The lieutenant colonel next to him said angrily, "We have to respond." ”

"Send a light signal warning to get them to leave immediately."

"Yes."

Oslo was instructed not to engage in substantive conflict with the British and French, but to resist as appropriate in the event of a German encounter.

Obviously, Admiral Manus did not have the courage to disobey the order, and he also knew that in the coming turmoil, disobeying the will of Britain and France was definitely the next policy, even if he could not stay out of the situation, then he had to not be the enemy of Britain and France.

Later, after returning to his office, phone calls poured in, and several coastal defense units and the army were calling for instructions.

Most of the ships anchored at the Bergen naval base are old, and the most "advanced" ship is a minesweeper that was commissioned ten years ago. Some ships don't even have a radio, so much so that you have to go ashore and find a telephone to communicate with the command, otherwise you have to use light signals or flags.

At first, the Fair, Leyry, Helen, and Harard shore torpedo pads also used searchlights to illuminate the British fleet approaching the harbor, but were ordered to turn off the lights to avoid misunderstanding.

The old 210mm howitzers and 450mm torpedoes were created about thirty years ago, and they were the products of their grandfathers, but that didn't stop them from being powerful enough.

It's just that the ammunition is in worse condition than the weapons, and the Norwegian artillerymen were surprised to find that the fuses of the shells taken out of the warehouse were made twenty years ago, and they didn't know if they could detonate if they really started.

The British completely ignored the light warning signals from the Norwegian army.

Just a dozen minutes later, a destroyer laden with Royal Marines stopped at the berth at the Bergen Naval Base.

Subsequently, heavily armed British soldiers quickly disembarked under the light of searchlights in the port area.

The Norwegian officers and soldiers watched in silence, and most of the soldiers were relieved in their hearts compared to the officers who felt shame and helplessness.

After dawn the next day, the citizens felt as if they were still dreaming — a line of British soldiers in khaki uniforms and Tommy helmets and trucks towing artillery pieces were marching through the streets.

It was only then that people finally realized that the flames of war were about to reach Norway.

Berlin learned in the morning that the Anglo-French expeditionary force had officially landed in Norway, which was exactly what the General Staff had estimated.

So do you start acting now, or do you have a delay of 24 hours or even 48 hours?

Naturally, the generals wanted to act immediately, which was the most advantageous, but some thought it should be two days late.

Otto, for example, thinks that it is more reasonable to wait for things to ferment a little before implementing the plan, because there is not even the slightest friction between the two sides, and it is very inconvenient to make a fuss.

[This Otto-Braun is not Li De, but SPD. 】

After considering the generals' advice, Ernst finally decided to launch the operation in thirteen hours later – such a long dark night as an effective cover for the navy and landing force to enter the Oslo Fjord.

In the evening of the same day, on the quay of the port of Kiel, a neat line of army officers and men began to board the ship under the supervision of the naval corps.

What kind of strategic needs to build what kind of navy, what kind of navy to order what kind of warship, the Pique heavy cruiser is a typical German-style ocean-going ship, with a fairly high speed.

With the slightest negligence on the part of the Royal Navy, she could quickly rush out of the North Sea at a speed close to 34 knots, shake off the British pursuers, and then crisscross the Atlantic, easily destroying any merchant ship with her 203mm naval guns.

More than 1,600 officers and men of the 76th Mountain Infantry Regiment, including the regimental headquarters, the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, the Mountain Artillery Company, and the Reconnaissance Company, will be deployed directly on the Navy's warships rather than transports—they will serve as pioneers to establish a solid foothold for the follow-up troops.

The Germans believed that the slow transport ships could not keep up with the high-speed warships, so they made this arrangement in order to land and land in the fastest time.

More than 600 of them were on board the Peake, and the remaining 1,000 were divided into several destroyers.

Lieutenant Colonel Finn, the first officer, made a very careful inspection, and the officers and men of the army were asked not to go on deck without permission to prevent accidents.

The landlubbers were given a small lifebuoy each, and they were told that if something happened, they had to swim as far as possible after abandoning the ship and jumping overboard, otherwise they would be pulled into the abyss by the whirlpool.

At midnight that day, in the heavy snow of goose feathers, the fleet, uniformly painted in low-visibility dark paint, sailed away from the dock.

The target of the first group was none other than Oslo, the capital of Norway, under the command of Rear Admiral Broad, and the battle formation consisted of the heavy cruisers Pique, the light cruiser Rothenburg, as well as three destroyers and two torpedo boats.

In addition, the support formation has nine minesweepers, two barges, two tankers, and eight transport ships.

A fleet of dozens of ships plunged headlong into the deep darkness of the night, and soon disappeared at the end of the hazy horizon.

After leaving the port, the fleet sailed eastward, then turned north, bypassing Denmark and plunging into the Oslo Fjord.

After leaving the port, the fleet sailed eastward, then turned north, bypassing Denmark and plunging into the Oslo Fjord.

Out of political considerations, the German Society did not take action against Denmark, but deployed tens of thousands of troops at the border, carried out large-scale exercises, and at the same time constantly put diplomatic pressure on them, hoping that the Danish side could be captured obediently so that both sides would be decent.

On the 19th, at 12:47 noon Oslo time, the temperature was -10°C and the sky was fine.

Less than forty nautical miles from the fjord, the lookout post of the destroyer "Dynenberg" was holding a telescope to observe the sea conditions in the distance.

He immediately opened his eyes wide to find the place where the flash was, and then locked onto something about a kilometer away that was reflecting the sunlight.

What is that? It won't be a periscope for a submarine, right?

According to the memorized briefing, the Norwegians did have three submarines deployed in Oslo's 1st coastal defense district. It's old, but if you can fire a torpedo, it's deadly enough – a rusty knife can kill just as much!

The battle alarm sounded, and the sailors hurried to their respective positions.

"Knock Knock Knock ———"

Someone was nervous from a high degree of nervousness, misheard what the officer said, and poured a string of 20mm shells into something that reflected in the distance.

"Ceasefire! Cease fire! What are you doing?! ”

The fleet continued to sail in a zigzag, but the speed was reduced to 14 knots so as not to interfere with the detection of active sonar.

Several destroyers reported that active sonar had found no suspicious targets, and as the distance closed, the sailors realized that it was nothing more than a floating piece of broken metal.

War is always full of oolongs and accidents, and shortly thereafter, the destroyer Detlingen reported an unexplained drop in pressure in its No. 3 boiler and a suspected leaking pipeline.

She had to break away from the fleet and stop the ship for urgent repairs, and Rear Admiral Broad naturally did not delay the fighter for this - surprise was the key to victory, so the fleet continued to move north, heading straight for Oslo.

At this very moment, the commander of the 1st Coastal Defense District, Major General Gosta, was anxiously pacing back and forth in his headquarters that had just been renovated.

Just an hour and a half earlier, a Swedish merchant ship sailing in the North Sea had encountered the German fleet, so it hurriedly sent a telegram back to Stockholm, and the news quickly reached Gosta.

The fleet was even larger, setting sail from Wilhelmshaven to a series of port cities in western Norway, and as they went, they would divide their forces and capture Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik.

"The British and French are so shameless! They will definitely bring the Germans in, this is an excellent excuse! Major General Gosta, who was usually kind, now had a sad face.

The German fleet has already appeared in the west, but what about your own side?

The Oslo Fjord is a long and narrow bay that runs vertically from north to south, and the firepower of the east and west shores can effectively block the enemy ships that intrude into the bay.

A series of batteries built on both sides of the bank formed two lines of defense, and the outer defense line was deployed with small and medium-sized artillery, with mines and mines as auxiliaries, to cover the main batteries.

The inner defensive line is centered on Fort Oscar, where powerful 210mm howitzers and 305mm howitzers are deployed.

On paper, the Norwegians had a decent defense here, but the problem was that because of the small number of people, the Norwegian army simply did not have enough manpower, and many of the batteries were in a state of severe shortage.

A week ago, in order to improve the situation, Gosta simply removed the two batteries and scattered those officers and soldiers to replenish the other batteries, but this was essentially just a demolition of the east wall to make up the west wall.

The Major General realized that he had to do something, and the complete lack of reaction was really a bit ...... Clumsy.

He ordered: "We cannot ignore any red flags, the Germans are likely to invade." Knut, issued an order for combat readiness, let the Huoyu and Mokliu batteries lay mines in their minefields, all officers and soldiers returned to their posts, and minelayers laid mines to block the strait. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Knut, who was standing tall, raised his hand and saluted, "Yes!" Your Excellency, do we still need active reconnaissance? A portion of the aircraft of the Air Wing is available for dispatch. ”

"Okay, let them search south of the fjord."

Is it too late to make amends?

No, it's too late, it's too late.

After receiving the order, the Norwegian officers and soldiers began to perform their duties.

The sappers came to the preset minefield in four-wheeled wagons, wielding shovels and laying mines one after another; At the docks, sailors use booms to lift mines onto rails at the stern of the minesweepers.

This is obviously very time-consuming, and how can it be possible to cramm?

A seaplane and biplane service aircraft of the Air Wing took off one after another and began to fly south along the strait.

However, it was already sunset, and the pilots, who lacked night flight and search training, could not do the job, and they did not want to risk their lives, so they flew back to the airport in the setting sun.

The sun slowly sank into the horizon, and the world was once again plunged into darkness.

There was a certain risk in carrying out minelaying missions in the dark of night, so the Norwegian sailors on the three minelayers were cautious.

Despite wearing thick winter clothing, it was so cold in Oslo at night in winter that everyone outside was freezing and the temperature in the cabin could barely maintain around 18°C.

"No, no, it's too cold, I went in for a while, and my hands were already unconscious."

A tall, lanky sailor shuddered, exhaling clouds of white vapor as he spoke, and as he turned around, he seemed to see a dark shadow moving in the night in front of him.

"Ensign, do we have ships at three o'clock? I saw a shadow. ”

The searchlight on the bow of the boat was pointed to that side, and the round white light suddenly illuminated a "small boat" out of its original shape.

Slender hull, integrated torpedo tubes, fluttering flags......

Grass! This is a torpedo boat of the Germans!

"Alert!" The lieutenant shouted.

"Whoa—"

A red signal rocket roared into the air, like a retrograde meteor piercing the night.

On the bridge of the heavy patrol of the USS Peake in the distance, the commander, Rear Admiral Broad, lowered his binoculars and said calmly: "The whole ship is ready for battle, close the watertight door, suspend the radio silence, and check the communications." ”

(End of chapter)