The general consensus here is that, with the Germans occupying Norway and Sweden remaining neutral, an invasion of Jutland would probably be unsuccessful and would certainly be unproductive. Therefore, I want to change the pre-conditions.
1. British, French, and Polish forces remain in Narvik in June 1940 and stop the German offensive around Bodo.
For the Germans, the value of Norway was two-fold. First, control of the Norwegian sea frontier served to circumvent the ability of the British to blockade the North Sea. Raiders based out of Trondheim could reach the open Atlantic relatively easily. Second, control of Narvik and the ore port there would prevent the British from being able to out-bid the Germans for Swedish iron ore and thus deny them that supply. In this scenario, the Germans have taken Trondheim and the Norwegian coast but have not accomplished anything with respect to the issue of the ore.
2. After the Fall of France, the Germans invade Sweden in Aug/Sep 1940.
I do not know how successful this would actually be, but I don't think it would be possible for the Germans to overrun the entire country and reach Gallivare and Kiruna in a single operational jump. Terrain would be very difficult and they would be 500+ miles from Trondheim. Ultimately, the only relevance for this scenario with regards to much later operations in Denmark is the fact that Sweden is at war as an enemy of Germany.
There are two timeframes for a potential Allied invasion of Denmark I would like to consider.
1. Landings in summer 1943 as a parallel to Operation Husky on Sicily. This presupposes that German resistance in Norway and Sweden has mostly ended by Q2 1943 and that the Kattegat and Skagerrak are mostly open to Allied shipping. What Allied forces would be available for the landing and what German forces might oppose them? Would the initial target be north Jutland or would Zealand be a better choice because it is very close to Sweden? The British priority through most of 1943 and 1944 was to secure the Mediterranean, so operations in Scandinavia would probably be a mostly American operation.
2. Landings in summer 1944 as an adjunct to or instead of Overlord on the French coast. In this option, the campaign in Scandinavia drags on longer and turns into something more like the Italian campaign through 1943 and early 1944. As a staging area for an invasion of northern Germany, Jutland is a relatively poor choice because any movement into German has to cross the Kiel Canal and then would be funneled between the Baltic coast and the Elbe through the 60 km gap between Hamburg and Lubeck. However, control of north Jutland and Zealand would allow Allied amphibious shipping to enter the Baltic and use Sweden as a staging area for landings between Rostock and Danzig.
1. British, French, and Polish forces remain in Narvik in June 1940 and stop the German offensive around Bodo.
For the Germans, the value of Norway was two-fold. First, control of the Norwegian sea frontier served to circumvent the ability of the British to blockade the North Sea. Raiders based out of Trondheim could reach the open Atlantic relatively easily. Second, control of Narvik and the ore port there would prevent the British from being able to out-bid the Germans for Swedish iron ore and thus deny them that supply. In this scenario, the Germans have taken Trondheim and the Norwegian coast but have not accomplished anything with respect to the issue of the ore.
2. After the Fall of France, the Germans invade Sweden in Aug/Sep 1940.
I do not know how successful this would actually be, but I don't think it would be possible for the Germans to overrun the entire country and reach Gallivare and Kiruna in a single operational jump. Terrain would be very difficult and they would be 500+ miles from Trondheim. Ultimately, the only relevance for this scenario with regards to much later operations in Denmark is the fact that Sweden is at war as an enemy of Germany.
There are two timeframes for a potential Allied invasion of Denmark I would like to consider.
1. Landings in summer 1943 as a parallel to Operation Husky on Sicily. This presupposes that German resistance in Norway and Sweden has mostly ended by Q2 1943 and that the Kattegat and Skagerrak are mostly open to Allied shipping. What Allied forces would be available for the landing and what German forces might oppose them? Would the initial target be north Jutland or would Zealand be a better choice because it is very close to Sweden? The British priority through most of 1943 and 1944 was to secure the Mediterranean, so operations in Scandinavia would probably be a mostly American operation.
2. Landings in summer 1944 as an adjunct to or instead of Overlord on the French coast. In this option, the campaign in Scandinavia drags on longer and turns into something more like the Italian campaign through 1943 and early 1944. As a staging area for an invasion of northern Germany, Jutland is a relatively poor choice because any movement into German has to cross the Kiel Canal and then would be funneled between the Baltic coast and the Elbe through the 60 km gap between Hamburg and Lubeck. However, control of north Jutland and Zealand would allow Allied amphibious shipping to enter the Baltic and use Sweden as a staging area for landings between Rostock and Danzig.