Iceland is located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland Sea, east of Greenland in North America, across the Denmark Strait and the snow-covered Greenland in the school year, about 500 nautical miles away from northern Scotland on the British Isles... Due to the limitations of natural conditions, Iceland is sparsely populated. On this land of about 100,000 square kilometers, there are about 200,000 Norwegian and Irish descendants. After World War I, Iceland broke away from the Kingdom of Denmark and became an independent country. However, this country did not have an army, and its daily public security was maintained by the police.

After Germany occupied Denmark, Britain sent troops to occupy Denmark's Faroe Islands and Iceland, intending to use this island chain to limit the activities of the German navy. However, after the Battle of the North Atlantic, due to the loss of sea control, the Americans took over Iceland's defense from the British and began to send troops there.

The U.S. Navy mobilized most of its maritime forces to the Atlantic Fleet, and even in the difficult times when the Philippines was besieged, it did not dispatch reinforcements to the Pacific Fleet. General Ernest King knew very well that if Iceland fell, the fragile maritime ties between North America and Europe would be cut off.

"Operation Lighthouse" is a hastily formulated combat plan by the German Navy. Austro-Hungary does not want to have a large-scale confrontation with the United States at sea before the Russians were resolved. However, the German Navy's combat plan has been completed, and Austro-Hungary finally approved the combat plan to send naval fleets to participate in the operation.

Due to the urgent time of this operation, the preparations were not very sufficient. Major General Ruit, the commander of the 2nd German Marine Division, who was ordered to land in Iceland in advance, did not have much confidence in this battle. The US military stationed about one division in Iceland, and there was a wing of the US Air Force on the island, with about 400 combat aircraft. In addition, the US Atlantic Fleet concentrated four aircraft carriers, and compared with that, the German Navy did not have much advantage.

On the evening of April 27, under the escort of the German local fleet, the 2nd Marine Warfare Division left the standby Norwegian fjord on 43 transport ships and sailed towards Iceland. The landing forces were escorted by the German 5th Battleship and the 3rd Cruiser Fleet, including 4 King-class battleships and 2 heavy cruisers, 8 cruisers and a destroyer alert group, with Lieutenant General Hoffmann as the commander. The two aviation fleets commanded by General Lukins were 4 aircraft carriers, 2 German-class battleships, 3 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers. In addition, there are 4 supply ships and 3 fast tankers and other auxiliary ships.

The maritime operation was commanded by General Lukins, while the landing operation was commanded by Major General Ruit.

This huge fleet marched westward at a speed of 12 nautical miles per hour in the early summer. The 3 brigades of the 2nd Marine Division landed in three parts, and the battle was mainly carried out in northern and northeastern Iceland. The Austro-Hungarian North Atlantic Fleet, which had left Biscay Bay early and entered the North Atlantic Ocean in western Ireland, will be responsible for the operation of the southern waters of the landing site, while General Lukins is responsible for the security in the direction of the Denmark Strait and provide air support to the landing forces.

The sea was very calm, and it was raining lightly most of the time. The next day, the sky was cloudy and the clouds were pressed down very low. The aerial reconnaissance planes of the US and British Air Force were unable to observe the sea surface. Without the enemy at all, the entire landing transport fleet approached the northeast of Iceland at around 2:10 on the night of April 29. The destroyer led could already see the shadows of the distant coast, which was located in Cape Kodrü in the northeast of Iceland.

The entire escort fleet turned sharply to the left and entered Wapuna Bay. In a suffocating tension, the landing forces advanced towards the planned landing site, the Port of Wapuna at the bottom of the bay.

At 4:50 am on April 30, the two land battle battalions that had landed first changed boats and started to set off toward the scheduled location, both at the "Red Beach" and "Blue Beach". The German army did not notice any movement from the Americans. It was obvious that the US military did not deploy defensive forces here. The navy's early reconnaissance report was not incorrect.

At the scheduled landing point, the assault battalion of the 2nd Marine Division rushed up and landed on the scheduled landing point north of the Hops River. They did not find an enemy at all, as if it had never been inhabited here.

At 6:30, the landing commander on the destroyer l39 sent a signal: "Login successfully. No resistance was encountered!"

An hour later, the assault battalion had controlled the entire town of Wapuna and the port, and the troops that had originally landed as planned were changed to this small fishing port to land. The 11th Marine Corps Regiment first came ashore, then the 1st Battalion was on the right and the 2nd Battalion was in the middle. The 3rd Battalion was on the left, and the three land battle battalions began to advance in depth and head. Their mission was to advance inland and establish a line of defense to ensure that the entire landing ground was not threatened by the US counterattack. This would cover the smooth landing of the subsequent troops, so that there was a space for disposal after the materials and equipment landed onshore.

It was not until after 1 pm that a US patrol plane discovered that a large number of German warships had poured into northeast Iceland, and most of the German Marine Division had already arrived ashore, and a large number of combat supplies were filled with the small fishing port. The US patrol plane was immediately shot down by German fighter jets patrolling over the sky, but the telegram to the police had been sent out.

The German army landed on Iceland Island on a massive scale, and was indeed shocked by the US military, which had not been attacked since the war began. During the war, the General Staff immediately held a meeting and ordered the US Air Force in Reykjavik to launch a counterattack immediately, and at the same time ordered the Atlantic Fleet to attack with all its might and prevent the German attack.

On the afternoon of April 30, while the German army had completed its landing, 72 fighters and 516 bombers of the 12th Air Force of the US Army took off urgently and rushed straight to the northeastern bay where the German army landed. At the same time, a main force of the US Atlantic Fleet consisting of 6 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 12 light cruisers and 4 destroyers, left the Norfolk Naval Base under the command of Admiral Jonas Ingram, the commander of the US Atlantic Fleet 2, and urgently provided reinforcements to Iceland.

In this time and space, due to the alliance between Japan and the United States and the decline of the British Navy, the U.S. Navy equipped most of its main battleships to the Atlantic Fleet to deal with the possible attacks by the German and Austrian Navy. Admiral Ingnore's troops were unprecedentedly powerful, with main battleships including 8 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships and 12 heavy cruisers.
Chapter completed!