Fall Gelb (1940)
May 10th - May 14th
Hauptquartier der ErsatzsArmee, Leipzig - 1940, May the 10th - 0900
Meeting between General Fromm, Befehlshaber der ErsatzsArmee and General von Oven, General Inspekteur der ErsatzsInfanterie.
- "Mein Lieber von Oven, it has begun : since 0500 this morning, our troops have crossed the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.
- Well... It's not like it would have been a big surprise, gell ?
- I would prefered to have a little bit more time before all that. We just completed the invasion of Denmark and Norway and we're running thin on troops over there. When will the occupation forces be ready ?
Norway Occupation Forces
- Herr General. We've been able to send some service and command units but the coastal-defense brigades and divisions won't be ready before the end of June... at best ! Besides, we'll still have to ship them over there. As far as I know, the Royal Navy is still present in the area and our supply convoys are suffering from it. At least
2 freighters sunk since the beginning of the month.
- It's not really our concern, mein lieber von Oven ; it's up to Raeder and Göring. I just hope they know their job...
- At least, Herr General, Reichsminister Funk und Todt seem to know theirs.
- We're lucky on that point. Have you seen the bunch of divisions we've been ordered to set up ?
- Yeap...
Mobilizations waves 10 to 15. All together
60 divisions !!! Not counting
3 new Gebirgsjäger-Division...
- And some armored, motorized and other security or rear-area units...
France's occupation forces
- I focus on the divisions of the
13 and
14th waves since they're planned for occupation duty in France. But as you can see, they won't be ready before this summer... And we also have to take care of the new Army.
- You're doing great, von Oven. Keep up the good work !"
Hauptquartier des OKH, Frankfurt-am-Main - 1940, May the 11th - 2300
Meeting between GeneralOberst von Brauchitsch, Chief of the OKH, and General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff.
- Na, General Halder... Any news now ?
- Jawohl, Herr GeneralOberst. We've received the first accurate reports.
- And ?
- So far, so good, Herr GeneralOberst.
- Let's see that... Holland first.
- Well... The 2 divisions of the
Luftlandekorps succeded to reach their objectives. The
7. Flieger-Division seized
Rotterdam and the
22. Luftlande-Division captured
Utrecht and the bridges over the Rhine.
German paratroopers over Holland
The
22. LLD is currently subjected to heavy dutch counter-attacks but General
von Sponeck is fully confident he can hold his positions until our ground troops arrive. The Luftwaffe is currently airlifting the required supplies.
- How long for our ground troops to come ?
- The dutch positions at
Nijmegen have been completely wiped out.
Diettrich and his SS attacked too early, as usual, but the
9. PzD is moving forward and should reach
Ede tomorrow night.
Arnhem has been taken and the
1. Kavallerie-Division is rushing towards
Apeldoorn with the
SS-VT right behind it. Once there, the
1. Kavallerie-Division will move north to
Zwolle and
Hausser will move west towards
Amersfoort. Doing this, we're going to by-pass the
Ijssellinie and the bulk of the dutch Army, 6 divisions, will get stucked between them and the
X. AK attacking from the east.
- I like that ! What happens on the front of the
6. Armee ?
- Nothing, Herr GeneralOberst. The
XVI. AK (mot) has reached
Venlo without meeting any resistance and it's now rushing towards
Eindhoven. The
6. Armee is following in its wake, through
Venlo and
Maastricht.
- But I thought we had spotted enemy defenses in
Eindhoven ?
- Yeap but the Luftwaffe took care of that... It's gone by now.
- Impressive ! What's the situation of the
HeeresGruppe A ?
- The resistance is much stronger than expected, mostly in
Vervier. Obviously, the Belgians have been waiting for us...
However, they didn't expect our airborne attack on their fort of Eben-Emael and on the Meuse bridges. These air assault have completly disorganized their defense and they prevent the arrival of their reinforcements.
The belgian service and command units in
Hasselt are subject to heavy air attacks and it is to believe that by the time the
XV. AK (mot) reach them, they won't be able to oppose any kind of resistance.
Further south, in
Luxemburg, the combined attack of the
12. and
16. Armee, spearheaded by elements of the
PanzerGruppe 'von Kleist', has been successful. Unfortunatly, due to massive traffic-jams, we won't be able to reach
Luxemburg before tomorrow morning.
I told you, Herr GeneralOberst, that the terrain wasn't suited for tanks. Reaching the Meuse at
Dinant on May 15th, like
Guderian and
von Manstein planned it, won't be possible !
- Don't lose your temper, General Halder. Let's see what's going to happen..."
GefechtsStab des XIX. Armeekorps (mot), Luxemburg - 1940, May the 12th - 1100
General Guderian, CO XIX. Armeekorps (mot) meets Generals Kirchner and Veiel, COs 1. and 2. Panzer-Divisionen.
- "Herr General. They're gone !!!
- Who are gone,
Kirchner ?
- The gouvernment... They left the city just before we arrived.
- Not my concern. I was told to take the city, I've done it. What happens next is something for politicians.
We have to move on ; time is our worst enemy, meine Herren !
- Zu Befehl, Herr General. But we need some time to reorganize our divisions and to refuel. Our units are scattered in- and outside the city. It's a real mess !
- I'm aware of that,
Veiel. Anyhow, the infantry units of the
12. and
16. Armee won't be there before tomorrow at best. In the meantime, get your divisions ready.
Schaal and his
10. Panzer-Division are on their way. I'll send him and the
GD-Regiment towards
Arlon. You two will follow as soon as possible.
- What about
Bastogne, Herr General ?
- That's for
Reinhardt and his
XXXXI. AK (mot). His
6. Panzer-Division is about to reach
Luxemburg too and it will then move to
Bastogne. The
IR. 900 (mot) will do the same.
Meine Herren, 4 Panzer-Divisionen in a city... Make sure your traffic regulation units have the proper intructions : priority to the units moving west !!! Do I make myself clear ?
- Jawohl, Herr General.
- Move !!!"
Hauptquartier der 4. Armee, Bittburg - 1940, May the 13th - 1400
General von Kluge, CO 4. Armee, leading the attack on Vervier.
- "Brennecke ! Could you tell me what's going on over there !!! Why aren't we advancing ?!!
- Herr General, we're confronted to a fierce resistance ; the Belgians have 4 divisions in
Vervier and they don't intend to let us through. However, according to the last reports of General
Strauss, leading the
II. AK, cracks in their defense started to appear and the
8. PzD is exploiting these gaps. My opinion is that they'll soon begin to withdraw.
- I guess, they've heard about the fall of Eben-Emael.
German paratroopers and glider DFS-230
- The fort has fallen, Herr General ?
- Yeap. This morning at 0800, the garrison surrendered to our Fallschirmjäger and the bridges over the Meuse have been taken intact, all but one.
A british division, identified as the 54th East-Anglia, is currently trying to counter-attack but General
Süssmann is confident he'll be able to hold until our troops arrive.
- That's sure good news for General
Hoth and his
XV. AK (mot) !
- Surely ! The Luftwaffe has done a terrific job and the belgian positions in
Hasselt have been completely destroyed.
Hoth can now drive to
Liege and
Namur."
Hauptquartier der 18. Armee, Bocholt - 1940, May the 14th - 1200
General von Küchler, leading the offensive against "Festung Holland".
- Mein lieber Marcks, we've got them by the balls !
- That's my opinion too, Herr General. I just received the last report from General
Student. The
7. Flieger-Division and the
22. Luftlande-Division have begun their attack against Amsterdam.
Hausser has reached
Amersfoort yesterday morning and he will join the attack as soon as he had reorganized his troops.
Furthermore,
PanzerZug 5 has reached the outskirts of
Breda and it's paving the way for the
9. PzD. I hope General
Hubicki has brought his bathing suit ; the way he goes, one more day and he will be in
Dordrecht...
- Let's keep serious,
Marcks. What about the
"Enschede Pocket" ?
- Fully closed, Herr General, and we've got 6 dutch divisions in the bag. Further north,
PanzerZug 4 has reached the sea at
Leeuwarden.
- Make sure no escape is possible.
- That's why we sent the
1. Kavallerie-Division to
Steenwijk. The main problem is that our advance is very fast and our infantry divisions have a hard time to follow the motorized troops...
- Not a new issue, nicht wahr,
Marcks...? We've seen that in Poland already."
Hauptquartier der HeeresGruppe A, Koblenz - 1940. May the 14th - 2300
GeneralOberst von Rundstedt meets General von Sodenstern, his Chief of Staff.
- "Na,
von Sodenstern ? Still thinking that our Panzer can't cross the Ardennes forest ?
- Herr GeneralOberst, with due respect, we aren't even half-way to our FIRST objective : the Meuse river. I grant you that the Belgians collapse in
Vervier occured sooner than I expected but the hard part is still to come. Besides, they're withdrawing in good order.
- You have absolutly no idea of how mechanized warfare works, mein Lieber.
The Ardennes front - D+4
See...! During the night, the
IR 900 will take position in
Bastogne and will cut off their retreat. Further south, the
10. PzD and the
GD-rgt will reach
Arlon.
Try to reach General
von Kleist and tell him to throw the
10. PzD onto
Longuyon. From there, it will be able to attack
Sedan from the SE while the rest of the
XIX. AK (mot) will attack from the East.
And get me General
Speerle, from the
Luftflotte 3, on the phone : I need him to focus his air attacks on the triangle
Philippeville-Dinant-Sedan. I want my Panzer on the other side of the Meuse and I want them over there fast !!!
- Zu Befehl, Herr GeneralOberst.
- One last thing : get General Halder on the phone and tell him he can start to move the reserves forward, mostly the
2. Armee.
- So soon ? Don't you think we should wait until we've actually achieved our breakthrough, Herr GeneralOberst ?
- If I'm not mistaken, it's just a matter of days and I don't want to wait 10 days for the reserves to come to be able to exploit. Dismiss !"