Norway counterfactual: sea control before the landings

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Norway is especially consequential: earlier British sea movement and faster Norwegian mobilization could have exposed the German invasion force to severe naval and ground opposition.

The Norway scenario turns on a small number of operational choices rather than an invented wonder weapon. If British forces had moved forward by sea and Norwegian reserves had been called out promptly, German invasion ships and troops could have faced Royal Navy cruisers in a much less favorable position. The German force depended on reaching the fjords before such naval and reserve responses could be organized. Maritime control and mobilization timing interact closely in amphibious campaigns.