"I think it's feasible!" Granval's speech was finally recognized by the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Air Force: "Without our military status, they will not be regarded as Sweden's national army, but a civilian armed force."
Seeing that his idea was supported by his colleagues, Granval clenched his fists excitedly and immediately added: "For the League of Nations, we can publicize it to the permanent members of the League of Nations such as the United Kingdom and even France. This is to mobilize elite personnel from the Swedish Army.
A strong volunteer division formed.”
"As for the Soviet Union, or for public statements, we can declare that Sweden strictly maintains neutrality and has not sent any regular troops abroad. The Swedish Volunteer Division to assist Finland is a civilian armed force, and all its actions have nothing to do with the Swedish government."
"In this way, we have not publicly offended the Soviet Union, but also fulfilled our responsibilities as a founding member of the League of Nations. While killing two birds with one stone, we can also gain the friendship of the Finnish government, and be subtly regarded as a leader by the Nordic countries, increasing regional influence."
Knocking on the table, Grandval looked around the crowd with blazing eyes: "Think carefully, everyone, to get all this, all we have to pay is a downsized division consisting of about 2 reinforced infantry battalions as the main force, plus hundreds of logistics personnel.
.This is simply a great bargain given to the Kingdom of Sweden by God!”
When Grandval got to the key point, he became excited and foamed at the mouth, which infected everyone around him for a while.
"You have to act well! In this case, our Air Force might as well join one. It just so happens that the Air Force still has 12 outdated fighter jets and 5 old bombers. I will transfer 8 more logistics aircraft to make up 25 aircraft. Together we can serve as a volunteer force and lift the
I will send my military membership to Finland." The Air Force Commander-in-Chief was the first to stand up and say: "We have sent a division and so many planes. We have done our best to be benevolent and righteous. Let's see how dare the remaining villains in the League of Nations dare to deal with it.
What did we say?!"
Grandval looked at him, nodded, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, then turned to face the king again and said:
"Your Majesty, if we do nothing, if we accept the British request, then the German army will launch an attack on us!"
"As the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Army, I must explain," Grandval said in a serious voice: "Our Army is not afraid of the old British soldiers, so it can be confident. But if the opponent is the German Army, we may have to consider surrendering.
"
Although Granval's words are unpleasant, they still make sense.
How powerful was Poland back then? They had 200,000 cavalry and 800,000 infantry. With the support of Britain and France, both their economy and military reached their peak in history.
But what happened in the end? After fighting the Germans for only a month, they were completely defeated. Poland, the "cavalry kingdom" that had defeated the Soviet Union, was unable to fight back under the German blitzkrieg! The only major counterattack was fought by the Germans.
Chief of Staff Manstein took advantage of the situation, resulting in a textbook defeat!
Compared with Sweden, Poland has a territory of 388,000 square kilometers, ranking sixth in Europe. That is to say, in Europe, Poland's territory is second only to Sweden, which is fifth.
Poland's population of approximately 35 million is far greater than Sweden's population of more than 9 million, ranking sixth in Europe, second only to the Soviet Union, Germany, Britain, France, and Italy!
Considering its territory and population, Poland is far more like a standard European country than Sweden.
In terms of military strength, Poland is even ranked fifth in Europe. Its allies Britain and France are also known as the first and second in Europe respectively.
But such a powerful combination was swept by the German team, which was originally recognized as inferior to Italy and only ranked fourth in Europe in one month!
Now, Sweden's military strength is definitely not as strong as Poland's at the time. And its only quasi-ally is comparable to Norway. Norway's military strength is only 10 in Europe. Self-protection is difficult, so there is no talk of mutual aid.
?
Admiral Grandval's divergent thinking caused the meeting held in response to British requests to be related to relations with Germany. The atmosphere of the meeting changed from the previous comfortable atmosphere to a somewhat heavy one.
Everyone is not afraid of the British Empire that is far away, but they are quite afraid of the German Third Reich that is so close.
The king pondered for a moment and whispered to Grandval: "If we start to expand our army now, our troops can at least double. In that case, will it be possible to greatly strengthen our military confidence?"
"It's meaningless!" Grandval shook his head and said solemnly: "If the British Expeditionary Force comes from the west, then we only need 100,000 people to intercept them on the continuous mountains at the border with Norway.
But if the German army attacks from the south, even if we expand the army to 300,000, the chance of holding on is less than 10%!"
"Yes," the Swedish Air Force Commander-in-Chief also explained from his own field: "Our southern ports are completely exposed to the bombing range of the German Air Force. And our air force and air defense forces are absolutely unable to stop them.
Germany’s powerful air force.”
Hearing this, the king looked seriously at his navy commander-in-chief, but the other party responded with a wry smile.
"Don't look at me, I haven't said anything since the beginning." The Navy Commander-in-Chief replied with a mixture of laughter and laughter: "Our navy can only be the leader among the Nordic brother countries such as Norway, Denmark or Finland. The British Royal Navy and
The German Imperial Navy is not something we can handle."
The king frowned, clasped his hands, and slowly said with his chin: "In this way, I finally understand. Once we have a bad relationship with Germany, our navy, land and air force will not be able to guarantee national security. So, everything we have now
All actions must be based on the premise that Germany cannot be offended."
Everyone nodded silently without saying a word.
"Okay, I understand!" His Majesty the King finally made the decision: "In short, the British request must be rejected, so as to ensure that there is no stalemate on the German side. As for sending troops to Finland..."
Glancing at Admiral Granval, the king touched his chin and said while thinking: "Granval, you came up with the idea, and you will be responsible for this matter."
"Others, please cooperate with Admiral Granval as much as possible." The king waved his hand and ordered.
"Yes!" Everyone stood up together and answered.
…………
At the same time, the meeting of the Danish royal family also came to an end.
"700 tons of gold as compensation, the German head of state is deliberately trying to make things difficult for us!" The old Danish king said sadly: "Even if I search the whole country, I will never be able to get so much gold."
Unlike other Nordic countries, there is at least a ravine formed by sea water between Norway, Sweden and Germany, through which one can fight tigers.
Denmark, on the other hand, has almost no geographical barriers that can be relied upon.
However, in such a dangerous geographical environment, Denmark took the initiative to attack once. Now, that action has been used as a handle by the German head of state, who insists on seeking justice.
This happened 70 years ago, who can tell how fair this is?!
However, the royal family that now leads Denmark can only hope for this so-called justice.
Where can we seek justice? Of course, the League of Nations! Doesn’t the League of Nations exist to resolve disputes?
The Danish royal family has put a lot of thought into how to please the League of Nations. At least, when it came to the aid to Finland announced by the League of Nations, small Denmark sent thousands of volunteers to assist Finland in response to the call of the League of Nations.
No one would believe that there is no state support behind this large number of Danish volunteer troops.
The reason why the Danish royal family did this was not selfless, but they wanted to devote themselves to the noble cause of aiding Finland.
Their real purpose is, on the one hand, to express their loyalty to the League of Nations in the name of aiding Finland.
After all, Germany has long since withdrawn from the League of Nations. Compared with a non-League of Nations member state, a member state like Denmark that responds to the League of Nations' call will definitely be more favored by the League of Nations.
Therefore, if the League of Nations were to judge this fairness, the result would most likely be biased in favor of Denmark.
On the other hand, and the most important aspect - when Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union today, Denmark actively responded to the League of Nations' call for assistance and joined the League of Nations to assist the Finnish army. This is also in the hope that when Denmark is attacked by Germany in the future, there will be many differences.
Members of the League of Nations can send troops to rescue.
"Let's express our attitude to Britain and France. This is our only hope now. Otherwise, we can only prepare to surrender to Germany."
After leaving these words in despair, the King of Denmark calmly announced: "The meeting is dismissed!"
