Norway's Third and Fourth Divisions were short divisions with only two regiments each, and the army had suffered decades of inadequate funding and support. Some mountain artillery had been assigned and trained for internal troubles, while air support had never been permitted for that purpose. Roughly two hundred senior Norwegians attended a German diplomatic screening of propaganda about the conquest of Poland, recalled here as taking place on 5 April. Laake and other senior officers treated the three days needed for mobilization as a reason that little could be done. Full mobilization required that time, but partial mobilization could proceed more quickly, and the delay made early action more urgent. A call-up started on 5 April could have placed organized forces against the landings on 9 April. British announcements of minefields along the Norwegian coast supplied another reason to mobilize. Both belligerents were acting along Norway's coast while its forces remained inadequately prepared to resist.
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Norway still had a final chance to mobilize in April 1940
Even after decades of neglect, a partial mobilization in early April could have put organized forces in place before Germany's landings.