According to the army's assessment of the exercises, storming the fortress of Eben-Emer would never work. In addition to its own sturdiness and its location on a disgusting, almost one-size-fits-all terrain, the Germans had an even more important goal on the Northern Front, which was to take control of the three bridges over the Albert Canal.

For Army Group B, which has 27 divisions and a total strength of nearly 800,000 troops, these three bridges, which can pass through heavy vehicles without stopping, are undoubtedly the key to their rapid attack on the Belgian hinterland as planned. If the Belgians blew up the bridge, the Germans would have to force their way across the canal, pay more casualties, and delay the entire offensive schedule. Therefore, if the Germans stormed the fortress with their front feet, the Belgian troops guarding the three bridges would be able to press the detonator switch with their hind feet - according to intelligence, the Belgians had already planted explosives under the piers.

In this case, the strategy of sending airborne troops to carry out the attack will not work. Because even if the German paratroopers could parachute behind these bridges to eliminate the bridge guards, the loud roar of the transport planes before the airdrop would reveal their intentions. In addition, even if the paratroopers parachuted out of the capsule at the fastest speed, at a minimum altitude of 90 meters above the ground, and if Kamisuke succeeded in subduing the guards of the bridges, the heavy artillery in the Eben-Emer fortress was able to destroy all three bridges.

Crucially, the success of this depends entirely on the judgment of the enemy. If the Belgian officer guarding the bridge was a very sensitive fellow, and he did not hesitate to give the order to blow up the bridge as soon as he heard the roar of the German transport planes, then the German paratroopers could only stare dryly.

So, the capture of the fortress of Eben-Emer, as well as the 3 bridges, should not only be carried out simultaneously, but also be sufficiently concealed. Resist the enemy before they react. In the end, Hitler had to drop his face and go to a young woman for advice. Despite Hitler's view of the world as inintelligent creatures who could only be raised as vassals of men in life, this young woman was the real fighter among women, and she was Hannah Leich, arguably the strongest female aviator of the 20th century.

As early as 1937, Hannah Leich was a specially recruited elite test pilot of the German Army Airlines, in addition to flying prototypes such as Stuka and Dornier-217 for testing, Hannah Leich was also recorded in history as the test pilot of the world's first helicopter. In a series of air competitions for Germany before the war, Hannah almost won awards and broke flight records, and she was set up as a role model for women by Goebbels's propaganda machine and received by many senior National Socialist Party officials, including Hitler.

Although Hannah has flown no less than 10 new models, her favorite and best thing is still the glider she learned in middle school. So, when she heard Hitler talk about the difficulties of attacking the fortress of Eben-Emer, she immediately proposed: "We can use gliders for silent raids." That's right, just use a glider! ”

Hannah's proposal brought Hitler to his knees. After asking several senior generals of the army and receiving positive answers, in November 1939, Hitler personally supervised the formation of an elite commando unit. Although most of the German paratroopers had to fight in the Dutch direction, leaving only about 400 men to capture the Eben-Emer fortress and the three bridges, Captain Koch, who commanded the commando force, believed that too many people would easily expose the target, and that as long as the personnel were elite enough, they could fully achieve the intended combat objectives.

Captain Koch then began to develop a concrete plan of action. He divided his troops into four detachments, the first of which was responsible for the assault on the fortress of Eben-Emer, and the remaining three for the capture of the three bridges over the Albert Canal. The detachments further planned their tasks, including flamethrower groups (for destroying bunkers), machine gun groups, anti-tank groups, mortar groups, and demolition groups. Koch required each soldier to master at least two skills, and if a member of these groups was broken up or killed, the rest of the team could take his place.

Based on these assumptions, Koch led his troops to extremely arduous and rigorous training at an air base near the old Czech border. The German pilots practiced no less than 100 times just to land the glider on the top of the narrow fortress, and the commandos were even more familiar with the camouflage fortifications on the surface of the fortress, and they knew how to occupy the surface of the fortress and paralyze the fire of its batteries. This intense, secret training lasted nearly half a year, and by the end of April 1940, all commandos were fully familiar with their mission.

The final question is to choose a specific raid time. Since the German Army had scheduled the operation of the "Yellow Plan" at 3 a.m., and the glider pilots wanted to land the plane accurately above the cramped fortress, this was undoubtedly too early. When the glider flies over the fortress, it must be dusk. It's too early, it's too dark to see the terrain clearly; If it is too late, and the sky is already bright, it will definitely be exposed. The ideal time should be 30 minutes before sunrise. This time is summed up by countless training sessions, and the glider pilot can barely see the terrain clearly.

Therefore, the time of the army's general offensive must be revised. Otherwise, once a frontal battle starts, the guards of the Eben-Emer fortress, which is not far from the border, will definitely increase their combat alert, which is extremely unfavorable to the surprise attack of the commandos. In addition, on the day of the attack, a westerly wind would blow over Belgium. Because gliders are unpowered vehicles, they must gain enough lift to reach their desired range when facing the wind. In the event of no wind or tailwind, the transport planes had to tow the glider some distance into Belgian airspace, where the roar of the engines would wake up the Belgian soldiers on the ground, and the defenders of the fort would also be put into combat readiness.

For this reason, Hitler personally intervened and set the time of the "yellow plan" attack to be 30 minutes before sunrise. At the same time, the date of the attack of the latter gave way to the need for the assault forces to carry out the operation only after the meteorological services gave an accurate forecast of the Belgian border. Because he knew these secrets, Fang Yan was like a mirror to the seemingly indecisive posture of the Supreme Command, and in a few days, the order to attack the next day would spread throughout the troops.

In the early morning of May 9, German meteorological experts finally gave the ideal forecast information. Hitler, who was faced with a critical choice, did not hesitate as usual, but decisively ordered the whole army to attack on May 10. For this moment, Hitler has been waiting for seven months, and all the disadvantages of last year have now been overcome by him, and the strong army can finally show its sharp blade to the enemy!

Although all the German units were surprised by this time-critical order, under the strict training in peacetime, everyone from the general to the private knew what their duties were, and after receiving the order, everyone immediately went into action. Fang Yan didn't even have time to go to the 7th Panzer Division's garrison more than ten kilometers away to say goodbye to Rommel, and he learned that this unit had been completely withdrawn. If someone takes an airplane to look down over Koblenz at this time, they will find that the boundless "wild plain ash" is surging on the land like a tidal wave, and tens of thousands of vehicles and horses are flowing in the middle of it, forming a heroic and magnificent picture.

That night, the Germans, numbering 93 divisions, assembled on an 800-kilometer-long front from north to south. This was a much larger force than it had been in 1914 when the Schlieffen Plan was implemented: Hitler's annexation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland added about 12 million reliable Germanic people to Germany, and these people contributed 10 more standing divisions to the German Army, making it even more powerful than it had been at the height of the Second Reich. Confident Hitler left Berlin that night on the Führer's special train, preparing to go to the headquarters of the Western Front to personally direct the operation: this time the German army had a bold strategic plan, which, if successful, would be enough to determine the battle on the Western Front.

The early summer night was short and quiet, and at 4:27 a.m. on May 10, the first brilliant red orange light pierced the eastern sky and poured over the banks of the sparkling Rhine. Guderian, commander of the 19th Panzer Corps, stood on the command vehicle with his head held high, the lieutenant general's uniform was hunted by the morning breeze, and behind him, the three-way armored column was like a vast dragon, stretching to the horizon with no end in sight.

At this time, the number of tanks and self-propelled guns in the three armored divisions under Guderian alone exceeded 1,000. Together with other vehicles and several other mechanized units, the entire armored cluster stretched all the way to the heart of Germany, nearly 200 kilometers east of the Rhine.

The morning light is getting brighter and brighter, dispelling the remaining darkness between heaven and earth, and the huge Niederwald monument on the banks of the Rhine gradually emerges. The statue of the goddess Germania, a symbol of the German Empire, holds a crown and a sword in her left hand, as if in homage to the Battle of Sedan in 1870 and the coronation in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles.

Seeing this scene, Guderian could not help but burst into tears, and a strong national enthusiasm surged in his heart, and he couldn't help but sing the majestic "Watching the Rhine". Twenty-six years ago, on a train leading to this place, he was a lieutenant who witnessed the same scene and sang the same songs as his comrades. Infected by Guderian, several officers on the command vehicle also joined this battle song with great excitement, and the majestic and passionate male voice gradually grew and gathered, and finally resounded throughout the world.

Raise your eyes and look up, the blue sky is endless. Twenty-six years have passed, but the monument has not changed, and the enemy in front of us has not changed. The difference is that the Germanic peoples fought for Kaiser Wilhelm in the past, and today they will fight for their legendary savior, Führer Adolf Hitler, whom they swore allegiance. 10