High above the pitch black waters of the Baltic Sea the droning of transport aircraft and their escorts fighters filled the air and might have warned the soon-to-be-invaded Swedes if anyone had been there to hear and report the ominous sound. Invisible against the starry cloak of night wave after wave of heavy transport aircraft and small agile fighters moved steadily northward towards the Swedish coast.
As the first waves of German aircraft approached the coastal city of Malmo thousands of young soldiers began preparing to make their leap into the abyss. Theirs was the first operation of this kind in the history of warfare and all remained focused on their primary goal. Get onto solid ground alive. Then hope you have landed in the right place and move on to the mission.
The first wave passed over the city without incident. No enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire, no enemy planes to resist them in the air. Nothing but the howl of wind over a cold and unsuspecting Swedish city. Sweden, after all, was not at war and the people of Malmo had no reason to believe otherwise.
The few people awake and on the streets looked and pointed in curiosity as dark smudges seemed to descend from the heavens. That Sweden was now at war did not cross their minds, not until the first gunshots rang out around the city after sunrise did the people of Malmo know they were under attack. And by then it would be too late.
Germany launches operation "Nordic Hammer", the invasion of Sweden. German paratroopers land in the center of Stockholm and around Malmo on the southern tip of Sweden. Sweden has been caught totally by surprise and the Swedish government is in chaos with German paratroopers holding much of central Stockholm.
German paratroopers in Malmo manage to secure the city's primary airfield despite the confusion caused when many German paratroopers are lost at sea in bad drops. More German infantry and light artillery units arrive by cargo plane at the captured airfield. Several ill coordinated Swedish counter attacks are repulsed by stubborn German forces with the aid of Luftwaffe planes operating from the newly secured airfield and from Germany and East Prussia.
Norway declares a state of emergency and formally requests British and French assistance in the form of troops to keep Germany at bay. The Alliance considers the request. The British are in favor of the idea but the French are more hesitant.
From the now secured city of Malmo German infantry, with some mechanized support, begin arriving via naval transport. Swedish army units manage to recapture Stockholm but the damage has already been done. The chaos and confusion caused by the raid on Stockholm has allowed German forces to secure Malmo with little organized resistance.
German forces in Malmo, now reinforced with some armor support, begin advancing up the coast towards Goteborg and Boras meeting scattered guerilla-level resistance. The Luftwaffe is smashing any Swedish efforts to mass forces in defense of the German incursion. Transportation routes from Stockholm into the south have been savaged at key points as well.
Goteborg and Osterund both fall leaving Germany in control of much of southern Sweden. Swedish forces begin digging in south of Stockholm. A Swedish request for direct British and French assistance is politely refused but the Alliance agrees to supply the Swedes with arms and supplies to resist the German invasion.
Britain convinces the French that the Alliance must support Norway and preparation for peaceful Alliance landings in Norway begins. The Royal Navy sorties and begins steaming into the North Sea to support operations in Norway.
The first British troops land at Oslo to the outrage of Hitler who briefly considers sending the German Navy to block the British landings. Hitler decides, reluctantly, that he can't fight the Alliance and the Soviets at the same time, not with the invasion of Poland in the final stages of preparation. Not to mention the fact that the Royal Navy still outnumbers the German Navy by about ten to one.
Finland surrenders to the Soviet Union when Helsinki falls after weeks of heavy house to house fighting. German and Finish units trapped in northern Finland cross west into Sweden and begin driving south towards Lulea. Several thousand German soldiers are taken prisoner before German ships or aircraft can evacuate them from southwestern Finland. A Finish government in exile is quickly established in Berlin.
In Axis controlled Romania the Iron Guard party proclaims a new fascist Romanian state with it's capital in Craiova. A completely fascist parliament and president assume power and the new fascist Romania joins the axis powers.
Stalin, in response to the newly proclaimed fascist Romania, props up a communist regime in Bucharest and proclaims the People's Republic of Romania. Romanian communists are put in power but Stalin pulls all the strings. The soviets also formally annex Finland, creating a new Soviet Republic. Romania is now divided between the fascist west and the communist east and the front lines through the eastern part of the country remain stagnant in the harsh winter weather.
The German general staff begins final preparation for the invasion of Poland. The general staff has gotten Hitler to agree to a more limited invasion, with the goal being to take Warsaw and establish a strong front along the Vistula river. Due to the fall of Finland and the stalemate in Romania Hitler agrees to the more limited objectives.
Germany begins final field testing of the Mk4 panzer. Mass production is scheduled to begin in the Summer. It's heavier main gun and thicker armor should be a closer match to the lethal Soviet T-34 model.
Stalin begins planning a Soviet Summer offensive to regain northern Romania in order to protect the Soviet flank north of Chernovtsy along the Ukrainian - Romanian border. The date for the offensive is set for April 20th.
Germany begins quietly pressuring the Turkish government to join the Axis Powers. Turkey seems more interested in staying out of the conflict for the time being. However, Turkish worries that the Soviets intend to drive through Bulgaria into Istanbul convince the Turkish government to leave open the possibility of joining the Axis Powers at some point in the future.
German forces, which have been massing in southern Sweden for several weeks, open an offensive into central Sweden with the objective of taking Stockholm. German and Finish forces in the north have captured Lulea but have been blocked from any further advance by Swedish forces.
The Soviets, busy consolidating control over a still restless Finland, have not yet made any move to cross into Sweden.
German bombers hammer central Stockholm causing an estimated five thousand civilian deaths.
With the aid of the Luftwaffe German mechanized forces manage to cut up the Swedish coast and encircle Stockholm as German bombers continue to rain death on the capital city and other coastal Swedish holdouts.
With Stockholm in ruins the Swedish government surrenders to Germany. The remnants of the Swedish army flee into the mountains in the northern part of the country to continue a guerilla resistance movement. The Swedish government flees to Oslo. Norway signs a defensive pact with the Alliance for Democracy putting a nail into the coffin of Hitler's plans to occupy that country any time soon.
A fascist government, under the thumb of Germany, is established in Sweden and joins the Axis Powers. Sweden becomes, in effect, a province of the Third Reich. Sweden's vital strategic ores are now in German hands.
With his northern flank now secured Hitler turns his full attention back to the Romanian front and the upcoming operations in Poland. Anxious to get more room between Berlin and the Red Army Hitler orders even more divisions committed to the upcoming invasion of Poland. Soviet forces, unaware of the coming invasion, continue their ruthless suppression of Polish Home Army resistance and other "undesirables and enemies of the people".
In Moscow - Stalin, when he is not gloating over his victory in Finland, is questioning the competence of the commanders in charge of operations in Romania. Just when the Red Army had been close to crushing Romania the fascists had stormed in from Hungary and stolen victory away from the Soviet Union. If the Red Army did not still hold eastern Romania Stalin might have considered purging the offending commanders and sending in replacements. As it is he decides to be patient. The new Summer offensive into northern Romania is not far away. And Sweden, now under Hitler's control, presents a tempting target as well.
Meanwhile, the Alliance for Democracy is now beginning to apply pressure to get the U.S. to join the Alliance. In private President Roosevelt would like to do so, but the political reality is that the American people are not ready to get involved in a Europe divided between three great powers. Roosevelt does however have enough clout to force through measures to sell arms to the Alliance. And he does. Despite remaining strictly neutral the U.S. arms industry is about to get a big shot in the arm as "The arsenal of Democracy". Selling arms to the Axis Powers is even under serious consideration. The Communist Soviet Union, after all, seems to be the aggressor and the enemy of capitalism.
From Washington to Berlin, from London to Moscow, from Tokyo to Paris, the world watches eastern Europe. The war between fascism and communism seems likely to have effects on a global scale and the stakes are as high as they can be.
TO BE CONTINUED...