Chapter 1368 It is wise to choose silence
Nowadays, public intellectuals in China are constantly opposing the development of military power and constantly clamoring for the country to be a "neutral nation." Whenever they do so, they always cite countries like Sweden and Switzerland as examples. The general message is: Look at them, they practiced neutrality during the war, and they're doing just fine today, aren't they?
But the truth is: the so-called "neutrality" during the war was a joke! Weren't the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium all neutral countries? They were destroyed just like that.
Why was Switzerland able to avoid war? Because Germany needed them for capital flows. And why was Sweden able to avoid war?
In fact, Sweden was never considered a "neutral country" throughout World War II; it was actually part of the German camp. They were Germany's staunch support: in the first year of World War II, Germany consumed 15 million tons of iron ore, of which 1,100 tons were imported from Sweden! Until the end of the war, Germany's iron ore basically came from Sweden.
If they were truly neutral, they shouldn't have provided iron ore to Germany. Why didn't Germany attack them at the time? This is the most fundamental reason - they were staunch allies! Who would dig the iron ore for them if they attacked them?
The normal shipping route was from northern Sweden through the Gulf of Bothnia, across the Baltic Sea and into Germany. Germany had heavily deployed troops there to ensure the safety of this shipping route, so it was a very safe shipping route.
However, this route also had its problems: the Gulf of Bothnia would freeze over in winter, making it impassable for shipping. Naturally, this route was unusable at the time. The Swedes devised a solution: transporting iron ore to Norway by rail, and then on to Germany via the Norwegian port of Narvik. Even today, Narvik, Norway, has only one railway line, which connects directly to Sweden without connecting to any other city in the country. This was a legacy of World War II.
What if Norway doesn't allow them to transport the iron ore? They strictly abide by the rules of a "neutral country" and don't get involved in the affairs of any warring countries.
It doesn’t matter, as long as Germany occupies Norway!
This is why Germany did not attack the nearby "neutral country" Sweden but instead attacked the further "neutral country" Norway.
Why did Germany attach so much importance to the Arctic route during World War II? It is no exaggeration to say that the Arctic route was basically the lifeline of Germany's material transportation at that time!
Finland, on the other hand, is Germany's "backup plan." While Finland doesn't have as many iron ore deposits as Sweden, it is close to Sweden's largest iron ore mine, Gällivare. Furthermore, the northern region of Petsamo has direct access to the Arctic Ocean. Iron ore from the Gällivare mine can also enter the Arctic Ocean through Finland, providing Germany with an additional Arctic shipping option. Therefore, it's naturally put aside for now.
After all, the Norwegian Narvik Route was not a safe route for Germany. Although they had deployed a large number of troops there, the British Royal Navy was no pushover. Many German merchant ships had been sunk along this route. They needed a "Plan B."
But just because Germany doesn't attack them doesn't mean others don't have any ideas.
According to documents released after the war, the British's goal in the 1940 Battle of Navik was to control the Swedish iron ore mines. If necessary, they would directly occupy Norway and Sweden—regardless of their neutrality—and then take them over!
Looking back, they have countless reasons to glorify themselves, and history is in the hands of the victors.
The Soviet Union was also not idle at the time: they had a territorial dispute with Finland. After signing the "Non-Aggression Pact" with Germany, they directly launched an attack on Finland in 1939, which is the so-called Soviet-Finnish War.
Although many people define this war as "an aggressive war launched by the Soviet Union against Finland", from the perspective of the course of World War II, the attack on Finland was of positive significance.
So, this matter is a matter of personal opinion. This is why Xiao Peng didn't comment on the matter to reporters. After all, this is Russia. For the Russians, this was a just war to quickly end World War II! But for Finland and Europe, it was irrefutable evidence of the former Soviet Union's aggression against other countries.
As the saying goes: the butt determines the head.
The final winner of the Soviet-Finnish War was of course the Soviet Union, but this battle was not easy for them: they encountered the biggest bug in the history of war: the Finnish winter.
And Finland is not fighting alone - Sweden continuously provides it with various weapons and equipment: as a "neutral country", Sweden must maximize its interests. They need Finland to act as a shield for them! And...
Would you be called a troublemaker if you don't stir things up?
The most interesting thing is that at that time, Britain planned to occupy Norway and Sweden, but did not want the Soviet Union to occupy Finland, so they also planned to send "volunteers" to Finland to support Finland.
It's a pity that Finland did not hold out until the British volunteer army: even with the weapons provided by Sweden, they were vulnerable to the Soviet Union after losing the protection of winter. The British planned to march into Finland on March 20, but Finland surrendered on March 13. However, the Soviet Union did not actually occupy Finland, but cut off Finland's access to the sea and took back the disputed area.
However, this also had a bad consequence: Finland and Germany stood together to attack the Soviet Union and seized a lot of Soviet territory.
On the other side of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Battle of Narvik, aimed at the capture of Norway, broke out. This battle caught the Allies off guard, sinking all ten German destroyers and several iron ore transport ships. The shipwreck Xiao Peng discovered was one of those sunk during the battle. The German Navy was severely weakened by this battle, but the war ultimately ended in defeat for the Allies.
This also sounded the alarm for Germany, and they implemented their own "Plan B", which was to attack the Soviet Union together with Finland, wanting to occupy the port of Murmansk and fight the famous "Battle of Murmansk".
As the only year-round ice-free port in the Arctic, the Germans wanted to occupy it. If Narvik fell, they could use it as their backup port to continue transporting supplies.
So the German-Finnish coalition attacked Murmansk. The mustache man thought that the battle would be over in three days, but it ended up lasting for forty months without success and the German-Finnish coalition was defeated.
What's even more amazing is that while resisting the invasion, the people of Murmansk did not forget to provide fish and canned food to the country. During these forty months, they caught 850,000 tons of fish and produced 3.6 million cans of fish. While fighting Germany, they also provided material support to other fronts. So it is not surprising that Murmansk was later awarded the title of "Hero City".
However, due to its involvement in the German attack on Murmansk, Finland lost its northern access to the sea forever. Its northern territories were divided up by Norway and the former Soviet Union.
Of course, this matter is quite sensitive: everyone claims to be a victim. So Xiao Peng told reporters that the wisest choice was to remain silent.
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