The enemy had destroyed the bridge. Near the village of Telneset in central Norway, German and Norwegian troops arrived too late to save the strategic crossing. Stuck on the banks of the Glomma river, military engineers worked to assemble a mobile ferry instead. If truly at war, they may have moved more quickly. But as it was, the atmosphere on the morning of Oct. 31 seemed relaxed for soldiers supposedly beating back an invasion.
“Trident Juncture,” a major NATO military exercise centered on Norway, imagined an attack in which the western alliance was forced to respond with thousands of troops, ships, armor and airpower—fighting to stop an unnamed adversary intent on occupation or even annexation.
