Chapter 5 – The fronts are closing in
Chapter 5 – The fronts are closing in
21st of April 1940 03:00, Brussels
The Belgian Parliament had assembled in a crisis meeting. It was the second one besides the other when the Germans occupied the Rhineland in 1936. The situation was looking grim: the Belgian army was outnumbered compared to the German armies, but Belgium had prepared itself by setting up a string of defences and bunkers at the border and along the Maas river. It was clear Belgium couldn’t survive on its own, so the government had accepted the proposal of the British to join the Allies. Besides the instructions to the army to prepare themselves the government couldn’t do much more then to await the coming offensive of the Germans, a very frustrating thing.
PM Pierlot stared into the dark after the meeting ended. Somewhere to the east the Germans were preparing their move. The thought alone that it was planned all along without knowing it, or at least not being sure… Some dark years were to come…
21st of April 1940 04:00, the Ardennes
The big majority of the army was still sleeping, including Alexander, when the sirens suddenly awoke in the middle of the night. The sirens, put across the whole camp when the first defences were made, now functioned for the first time. All soldiers immediately stood up and assembled out of the barracks as fast as they could. Alexander could see the whole camp coming to live in a quite disorderly manner: officers were shouting orders, soldiers were ordered to take their positions in the bunkers not far away, all while the sirens kept on sounding. The officer of his battalion came to him and his friends and said that they were needed at bunker A10.
“What’s happening officer, is it the Germans?”
“It is indeed the Germans soldier, they have declared war and we are needed at the border immediately. We expect an invasion just like in Poland. Now get in the truck, to your positions.”
But the Germans weren’t invading the country yet. They were invading the Netherlands and their lost land behind the Maginot Line first, giving the French enough time to send reinforcements. The Soviet Union on the other hand, abusing the current situation, demanded Finland to surrender Finnish territory near Leningrad, to allow for better defence of the city. The Finns, clearly not amused by the demand, refused this. Two weeks later, the Soviets saw their flank secured as the Germans were busy enough and decided to declare war on Finland. It seems not only the Germans may be a threat to Belgium and the Allies.
9th of May 1940 01:00, the Ardennes
Alexander was on duty at the border when it happened. A loud explosion just some tens of metres away from where he was standing. He was so surprised he didn’t respond for some seconds, until another soldier ran to him and pushed him onto the ground, just in time to save him for another explosion which would’ve probably killed him. Still surprised at what had just happened, the other soldiers arrived and took their positions. Just after they arrived, heavy bombardment followed by the German army itself attacked their position. Alexander took his position too and before he knew it he killed the first Germans in his life.
The attack kept going during the whole night while injured soldiers were taken behind the lines and rest was only provided to those who could barely fight anymore. It was only five days later, when the Royal Air Force arrived from across the Channel that the attack was repelled, for now.
Not much rest were given to the soldiers, as the offensive of the Germans rebegan on the 31st of May. Although the defences in the Ardennes did their job perfectly, the morale quickly dropped when news spread that the Germans were able to invade the most southern point of Belgium, while also succeeding in invading the Netherlands from the north, taking Amsterdam.
Only 3 days later, on the 3rd of June, the Netherlands capitulated and fled to London. The news was devastating for Belgium. Pierlot and his most skilled marshals and generals came together the same day to discuss the situation. It was not looking good.
“Generals, marshals, I just want to hear the facts, how bad they may be. How is our situation at the moment?” Pierlot asked.
“To be frank Prime Minister, not good at all. We focussed our defences too much at the Ardennes and the Maas river, believing that if the Germans would invade just like in the Great War, they would leave the Netherlands on their own. But now that those Dutch decided to join the Allies… Simply said, our northern flank is wide open. The Germans are already at the border and they can reach Antwerp in any day from now on.”
“This isn’t good at all... Can we send some divisions to the north to secure our flanks there? Can we even make up some basic defences on the Dutch border?”
“Making defences now is useless, they would be of a low quality, take too much time and would only hamper our own advance. Regarding the divisions, we are losing ground in the Ardennes. I expect our men to lose our position there very soon. Although I hate to suggest this, I think we should better retreat our forces behind the Maas river and try to defend ourselves there. The river will protect us and we can send men to the northern border if necessary.”
“And what about the French reinforcements?”
“Let me see, I received a telegram of the French Field Marshal. He said that they can’t send more reinforcements. The French have been pushed back and lost their position on the Maginot Line. They need all men there, not to forget the Italians are in the south in the Provence, waiting for an opportunity to attack too. Oh, and before you ask, the British are at the moment only sending airforces, no men.”
“I believe retreating behind the Maas river is the only thing we can do. But it won’t save us much, only time. Our fight is hopeless: Plan A(llies) is not providing us much coverage, Plan B(elgium) to defend our country has failed too... I think it is time to prepare ourselves to execute Plan C.”
“What, Plan C Prime Minister? I thought that was just a plan for when we were in dire need, when things would be extremely unfortunate. It wasn’t even meant to exist, you said it yourself that it would probably never be used!”
“I thought so too but we have no choice. If we want to turn this war we must make some sacrifices. And it’s not that when we will execute Plan C that Belgium will be utterly lost. I’ll head to London to discuss matters with the British Prime Minister. If we have the support of the British, we will succeed.”
21st of April 1940 03:00, Brussels
The Belgian Parliament had assembled in a crisis meeting. It was the second one besides the other when the Germans occupied the Rhineland in 1936. The situation was looking grim: the Belgian army was outnumbered compared to the German armies, but Belgium had prepared itself by setting up a string of defences and bunkers at the border and along the Maas river. It was clear Belgium couldn’t survive on its own, so the government had accepted the proposal of the British to join the Allies. Besides the instructions to the army to prepare themselves the government couldn’t do much more then to await the coming offensive of the Germans, a very frustrating thing.
PM Pierlot stared into the dark after the meeting ended. Somewhere to the east the Germans were preparing their move. The thought alone that it was planned all along without knowing it, or at least not being sure… Some dark years were to come…
21st of April 1940 04:00, the Ardennes
The big majority of the army was still sleeping, including Alexander, when the sirens suddenly awoke in the middle of the night. The sirens, put across the whole camp when the first defences were made, now functioned for the first time. All soldiers immediately stood up and assembled out of the barracks as fast as they could. Alexander could see the whole camp coming to live in a quite disorderly manner: officers were shouting orders, soldiers were ordered to take their positions in the bunkers not far away, all while the sirens kept on sounding. The officer of his battalion came to him and his friends and said that they were needed at bunker A10.
“What’s happening officer, is it the Germans?”
“It is indeed the Germans soldier, they have declared war and we are needed at the border immediately. We expect an invasion just like in Poland. Now get in the truck, to your positions.”
But the Germans weren’t invading the country yet. They were invading the Netherlands and their lost land behind the Maginot Line first, giving the French enough time to send reinforcements. The Soviet Union on the other hand, abusing the current situation, demanded Finland to surrender Finnish territory near Leningrad, to allow for better defence of the city. The Finns, clearly not amused by the demand, refused this. Two weeks later, the Soviets saw their flank secured as the Germans were busy enough and decided to declare war on Finland. It seems not only the Germans may be a threat to Belgium and the Allies.
9th of May 1940 01:00, the Ardennes
Alexander was on duty at the border when it happened. A loud explosion just some tens of metres away from where he was standing. He was so surprised he didn’t respond for some seconds, until another soldier ran to him and pushed him onto the ground, just in time to save him for another explosion which would’ve probably killed him. Still surprised at what had just happened, the other soldiers arrived and took their positions. Just after they arrived, heavy bombardment followed by the German army itself attacked their position. Alexander took his position too and before he knew it he killed the first Germans in his life.
The attack kept going during the whole night while injured soldiers were taken behind the lines and rest was only provided to those who could barely fight anymore. It was only five days later, when the Royal Air Force arrived from across the Channel that the attack was repelled, for now.
Not much rest were given to the soldiers, as the offensive of the Germans rebegan on the 31st of May. Although the defences in the Ardennes did their job perfectly, the morale quickly dropped when news spread that the Germans were able to invade the most southern point of Belgium, while also succeeding in invading the Netherlands from the north, taking Amsterdam.
Only 3 days later, on the 3rd of June, the Netherlands capitulated and fled to London. The news was devastating for Belgium. Pierlot and his most skilled marshals and generals came together the same day to discuss the situation. It was not looking good.
“Generals, marshals, I just want to hear the facts, how bad they may be. How is our situation at the moment?” Pierlot asked.
“To be frank Prime Minister, not good at all. We focussed our defences too much at the Ardennes and the Maas river, believing that if the Germans would invade just like in the Great War, they would leave the Netherlands on their own. But now that those Dutch decided to join the Allies… Simply said, our northern flank is wide open. The Germans are already at the border and they can reach Antwerp in any day from now on.”
“This isn’t good at all... Can we send some divisions to the north to secure our flanks there? Can we even make up some basic defences on the Dutch border?”
“Making defences now is useless, they would be of a low quality, take too much time and would only hamper our own advance. Regarding the divisions, we are losing ground in the Ardennes. I expect our men to lose our position there very soon. Although I hate to suggest this, I think we should better retreat our forces behind the Maas river and try to defend ourselves there. The river will protect us and we can send men to the northern border if necessary.”
“And what about the French reinforcements?”
“Let me see, I received a telegram of the French Field Marshal. He said that they can’t send more reinforcements. The French have been pushed back and lost their position on the Maginot Line. They need all men there, not to forget the Italians are in the south in the Provence, waiting for an opportunity to attack too. Oh, and before you ask, the British are at the moment only sending airforces, no men.”
“I believe retreating behind the Maas river is the only thing we can do. But it won’t save us much, only time. Our fight is hopeless: Plan A(llies) is not providing us much coverage, Plan B(elgium) to defend our country has failed too... I think it is time to prepare ourselves to execute Plan C.”
“What, Plan C Prime Minister? I thought that was just a plan for when we were in dire need, when things would be extremely unfortunate. It wasn’t even meant to exist, you said it yourself that it would probably never be used!”
“I thought so too but we have no choice. If we want to turn this war we must make some sacrifices. And it’s not that when we will execute Plan C that Belgium will be utterly lost. I’ll head to London to discuss matters with the British Prime Minister. If we have the support of the British, we will succeed.”
Who else has he killed!
