"Reporting to the division commander, Lieutenant Hoffman's lead battalion has arrived outside Lillehammer and is building an attack position." The staff officer's report rang in the ears of Major General Hans.
The 30th Division has moved across the board. Under the guidance of the Norwegian Royal Guards Battalion, there was basically no delay along the way. As the staff said, the Hoffmann Battalion, as the vanguard, has now reached the side of the British and French troops.
, and it won’t be too long until the entire division arrives.
"This allows them to launch a tentative attack." Hans said with a faint smile: "Since the Stalker Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion that we were worried about at the beginning did not fall behind, our speed was much faster than expected. There will be less than two more
In an hour, the main force of the division should arrive at their place."
The Stalker self-propelled artillery is far more suitable for driving in the complex terrain of Northern Europe than Hans expected. And the accompanying Norwegian Royal Guards Battalion, although its combat effectiveness does not seem to be very reliable, at least it has played a good role in leading the way for the 30th Division.
function, leading the entire division onto a relatively easy shortcut.
As time continued to pass, the distance between the main forces of the two sides gradually shortened. Hans was looking forward to how dramatic it would be when he used one division to defeat the British and French forces whose strength was more than twice his own.
Although the head of state only needs him to help the Norwegians defend the last line of defense of the capital, now that there is an opportunity to achieve better results, why stick to the original policy of being passively beaten!
A tentative attack by a battalion can easily defeat a British regiment. It is entirely possible that the entire division will be dispatched to wipe out the exhausted British and French troops who have been fighting for many days!
The best defense is to attack. As long as you can completely defeat all the British and French forces on the Norwegian battlefield, it will not be as simple as containing a large number of enemy forces for the main battlefield on the Western Front.
Originally, based on the fact that after Reinhardt's expansion, the ratio of the German forces on the Western Front to the forces of the British, French and Belgian Allied Forces was close to one to one, it would have been a simple matter for Hans to use one division to coordinate with the Norwegian army to contain more than two divisions of the British and French armies.
Absolutely a good deal.
After all, the total forces invested by Britain and France on the Western Front are not superior to the forces dragged in by the German army. If the British and French allied forces have to use twice the number of troops to deal with each German army, then the remaining half of the German army will not be able to find an opponent.
.
Therefore, Hans was indeed initially prepared to fight this battle according to the standards of a defensive battle.
But now...the opportunity to completely annihilate the enemy forces in front of us, liberate the 30th Infantry Division from the northern front, and add another division to the future battlefield on the Western Front is right in front of us!
"Reporting to the division commander, news has just arrived from the Norwegian 5th Division north of Lillehammer, saying that they are advancing south as a whole and are expected to arrive at the outskirts of the battlefield within 3 hours. Colonel Sundlo, who is leading the army, has asked us for instructions on joint coordination.
." The staff officer's voice was filled with surprise that could not be concealed. Since he came to Norway with the division headquarters, this was the first time he saw news that the Norwegian troops had launched an attack on the British and French forces.
In the past few days, the battle reports from the Norwegian army back to the capital were that either the defense line could not be defended, or it could not be stopped along the way. The German 30th Division in Oslo almost accompanied the Norwegian royal family to witness the entire process of the Norwegian Army's defeat.
Hans smiled slightly. He knew that the Norwegian army was far less cowardly than he had guessed. In the key battle to drive away the invaders, they were unwilling to be just bystanders, doing small tasks such as feints.
They also had courage. They dared to attack an enemy many times more powerful than themselves. The most important thing was that they believed that the German 30th Division would definitely win, and they put all their bets on this.
For Germany, losing this battle would only mean the loss of one division, or perhaps less than one division. Many of the remnants of the 30th Division could be shipped back to the country.
But for Norway, this is a battle for national destiny, a key battle that determines destiny. They tie the fate of a country to the success or failure of the German 30th Division!
"Order the whole division to speed up the advance. We must reach the battlefield within an hour and a half. As the main force in this battle, we must launch an attack first to ensure that the Norwegian friendly forces are not defeated in advance by the British and French allied forces. Only we can fight enough in the south
Only the Norwegian 5th Division's subsequent northern attack will be effective."
..................
Oliver stood at his frontline headquarters in Lillehammer, raising his chin with his right hand and looking at the standard map with a furrowed brow.
The two British divisions in his hands, except for one regiment that was defeated by the Germans, did not suffer much losses in the multi-day battle with the Norwegian troops.
However, the absence of losses does not mean the absence of attrition. The continuous long-distance attacks have exhausted the troops to the extreme. When they arrived at Lillehammer, a division troops arriving from Narvik were almost ready to lift their guns.
Not moving anymore.
As for the other division, its combat effectiveness was also greatly reduced due to fatigue. Otherwise, a dignified regiment would not be so easily defeated by a German battalion.
Oliver looked at the red arrow marked on the map with some worry. It was the attack arrow of the German 30th Division!
The confrontation between the vanguard troops could only be regarded as the first test between Oliver and Hans. Although they lost, it did not hurt their bones. What was really important was the subsequent showdown between the main forces of both sides.
"Report!" The anxious voice of the staff officer interrupted Oliver's thoughts: "The outer positions of the first regiment of the 2nd Division of our expeditionary force were attacked by the German army, and we are urgently seeking help from the military headquarters."
The German troops arrived so soon?! Oliver was shocked: "How many enemies are coming? Are they confirmed to be German troops?"
The staff officer wiped his sweat and replied nervously: "The first regiment did not report the exact strength of the enemy, but I think at least they would not have mistaken their opponent. Apart from the Germans, I think the Norwegians are also unlikely to pose a threat to our position.
.”
At this time, Colonel Bernard, the relatively short commander of the French Alpine Regiment, suddenly said: "The positions of your 2nd Division and 1st Regiment are in the south, so what you encounter should be the German troops heading north. There is no problem with this."
Oliver looked at the calm Bernard and said slowly: "What, do you have any way to deal with it?"
"Repulse them!" Bernard said with a confident smile: "Our French Alpine Regiment has not participated in these days of fighting. The soldiers are full of physical strength and can attack the enemy at this time."
Yes, there were French allies here, and Oliver felt like he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
The French have the best army, so they will have no problem leaving the war to them. After their troops have rested and regained their strength, they can go into battle and rely on their superior strength to annihilate the German army in one fell swoop!