Unternehmen Weserübung

DATE: 08/01/2023

TIME (GMT): 19:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Karelia

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Jarvis for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 84 / 94

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RATING: (36)

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Unternehmen Weserübung was the name of the joint German invasion of Norway and Denmark in April of 1940, of which the Norwegian phase would be planned by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW under the orders of Hitler, and commanded by General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. The Operation would be planned in secrecy through early 1940 as the Battle of France took priority for German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, however, the Altmark incident, the interception of a German flagged oil tanker by the Royal Navy while in officially neutral Norwegian waters, increased the amount of resources involved in planning, with the initial invasion plans being approved by Hitler on March 1st.  

A key aspect of Falkenhorst's plan was the reliance on the armed forces of Norway being caught off guard and as a result, be unable to offer an effective resistance to the invasion force, allowing for the capture of the Norwegian Capital of Oslo and subsequently the Royal Family, Parliament and gold reserves. The Kriegsmarine would be divided into several groups and assigned to actioning amphibious landings on key port cities on the Norwegian coast, including Narvik, Bergen and Oslo itself in order to prevent allied landings to support Norwegian forces if the nation joined the Allied Powers in response to the invasion.  

Kriegsmarine Taskforce 5 would be assigned in support of amphibious landings on Oslo on April 9th by the 324. Infanterie-Division. The fleet, consisting of the heavy cruisers Blücher, Lützow and the light cruiser Emden, would sail through the Oslofjord in the early hours of the 9th of April carrying thousands of Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers tasked with seizing Oslo. After initial success subduing Norwegian patrol boats trying to identify the fleet entering the Oslofjord and capturing the forts on the entrance of the narrows, the fleet would be spotted by the Oscarsborg Fortress at the end of the narrows, of which would immediately fire its 15' naval guns at Blücher, crippling the ship and jamming its rudder to port, the fate of the vessel being sealed by the salvo of torpedo's fired by Oscarsborg Fortress's secondary battery causing a catastrophic explosion in the ships aircraft hanger; the subsequent sinking left hundreds of the crew, Gestapo staff and intended invasion force dead or severely wounded. The heavy cruiser Lützow would be under fire from Oscarsborg Fortress's supporting battery next, forcing it to turn around and flee the narrows.

As a result of Falkenhorst underestimating the Norwegian strength and capabilities, the amphibious landings on Oslo would never take place, instead, an airborne force from the 7th Flieger-Division would take off from its newly captured base in Denmark with the task of dropping into the Norwegian countryside and seizing Fornebu Airport.

It is the morning of the 9th of April, 1940, following the failure of Kriegsmarine Taskforce 5 to successfully seize Oslo, the 7th Flieger-Division is airdropped into Norway with the task of capturing Fornebu Airport and completing the encirclement on the Norwegian Capital. Remnants of the German 138th Gebirgsjäger Regiment who have managed to escape capture await the arrival of the 7th Flieger-Division via airdrop.