Even with adaptation to more conventional methods, the new strategy provoked protests from most German generals. They considered it irresponsible to concentrate their forces in the same position, and that it was impossible for the interspersed troops to be adequately supplied, and that these already insufficient supply routes could be easily cut off by the French. If the Allied response was not as expected by the Germans, the offensive could end up being catastrophic. However, their objections were ignored.

Halder believed that since the strategic position of the German army seemed hopeless, in any case, even a slight chance of achieving a decisive victory was better than defeat by complete inaction. The change in adaptation also implied that it would make it easier for the Allies to flee to the south. Halder noted that the German victory would have been easier if this had been the case, as it would have been a huge blow to the reputation of the abandoned Low Countries Entente (colloquially known as the Anglo-French alliance of 1940).

In addition, the combat effectiveness of the German army will remain the same, and it will be possible to carry out the "red plan", after which an all-out attack on France will be carried out. However, decisions in this regard will have to be postponed until the successful completion of the "yellow programme". In fact, the detailed implementation plan of the German army included only the first 9 days of operations; There is a fixed timetable to determine the path forward. According to the traditional "mission command", this relies on the judgment and actions of the field commander. This uncertainty can have a huge impact on the actual course of events.

In April 1940, for strategic reasons, the German army carried out Operation Wither, attacking the neutral countries of Denmark and Norway. The British, French, and Free Polish Army responded by operating in support of the Norwegians.

At this time, the Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourg, French and British expeditionary forces had a total of 135 divisions (of which the French and British armies had a total of 103 divisions, organized into three army groups. 3,469 tanks, 2,000 aircraft, and more than 1,000 aircraft in the British Isles to support the battle, comparable to the German army in terms of strength. However, Britain and France pursued a policy of appeasement for a long time and were not well prepared for war.

The Allied High Command's plan of operation, codenamed D, was a conservative miscalculation, focusing on defending against the main German assault on Belgium, which would be the main battlefield for both sides. According to Plan D, the Allies deployed their main forces at the northern end of the Franco-Belgian border and the northern provinces of France, and if the Germans carried out a major assault on Belgium, the Allied forces of the five countries would work together to block the German attack; Most of the other forces were deployed on the Maginot Line in the south. For example, the Germans launched a frontal attack on the Maginot Line. relied on strong fortifications to resist; In the middle section, it relied on the natural dangers of the Ardennes Mountains and the Maas River, leaving only the weaker combat units to garrison.

France has mobilized about a third of its male population between the ages of 20 and 45, bringing its armed forces to more than 6,000,000 men, more than the 5,400,000 of the entire Wehrmacht. But only 2,200,000 of those troops were deployed in the north. Although with the addition of British, Belgian and Dutch troops, the total is more than 3,300,000 men.

By 10 May, 93 French, 22 Belgian, 10 British, and 9 Dutch divisions were in the north. The total number is 134 divisions. Among them, there are 6 armored divisions and 24 motorized divisions. An additional 22 divisions are being trained or equipped in wartime emergencies (excluding restructured units), including 2 Polish and 1 Czech.

In addition to these full divisions, the Allies had many separate small infantry units: the Netherlands had separate brigades and battalions equivalent to about 8 divisions; France had 29 separate fortified infantry regiments. In the French army there were 18 divisions, made up of colonial volunteers; Including 19 "B-class divisions". Although it is a fully trained unit, there are still a large number of people over the age of 30 who need to be retrained after motorization. The best Allied units were well-trained British divisions with full mobility and a large percentage of professional soldiers; The most serious lack of equipment was the Dutch troops.

Allied deployments totaled about 3,100 tanks and self-propelled guns on May 10; Another 1,200 were pledged to join the battle in new units or allocated from reserves; Another 1,500 obsolete FT-17 tanks were sent to the front, leaving France with a total of about 5,800 tanks on the front. They had about 14,000 guns.

The Allies thus enjoyed a definite numerical superiority on the ground but a disadvantage in the air: the French Air Force had a total of 1,562 aircraft, the RAF provided 680 aircraft, and the RAF Bomber Command provided 392 aircraft into combat. Most Allied aircraft are of obsolete type; Only the British Hurricane and the French D.520 were able to compete with the German Bf109 fighting chickens on some near-parity conditions.

Germany deployed about 3,000,000 men to participate in the campaign. In May 1940, a total of 157 divisions completed their training; Another 14 reserve divisions remained directly involved in the fighting, mainly in Army Group C and in the forces attacking the Netherlands. In addition to 93 of these divisions deployed on the front line (10 armoured, 6 mechanized), 39 divisions were deployed in the West as reserve divisions of the Wehrmacht High Command, about a third of which would not take part in the fighting. About a quarter of the combat force is from the age of 40, including veterans of the First World War.

The Germans on the Western Front deployed a total of 2,700 tanks and self-propelled guns in May-June, including reserves assigned to fight; Some 7,500 guns could be fought, and the ammunition stock was sufficient for 12 weeks of combat. The units of the "Luftwaffe" were to be divided into two groups. A total of 1,815 combat aircraft, 487 transport aircraft and 50 gliders were deployed in support of Army Group B, while another 3,286 combat aircraft were deployed in support of Army Groups A and C.

In September 1939, Belgium and the Netherlands remained neutral. They tried to do everything possible to avoid the war by adhering to a strict policy of neutrality. Although they secretly arranged for cooperation with the Central Powers in the event of a German invasion of their territory, none of them were openly prepared. The supreme commander of the French army, Moris? In that month, Gammelin suggested that the Allies should take advantage of Germany's tie-up in Poland to occupy the Low Countries before Germany did. However, this suggestion was not adopted by the French government.

During the Polish campaign, the French launched the symbolic Saar offensive - an attack that was only nominally a pre-war guarantee to Poland and a rescue promise from the West - and the French soldiers advanced 5 km (3.1 mi) towards Saar before withdrawing in October, and immediately retreated to the Maginot Line as soon as the Polish campaign was over.

By this time, France had deployed 98 divisions (but 28 were reserve or fortified) and 2,500 tanks against 43 German divisions (including 22 reserve divisions), and the Germans had only a small number of tanks. According to the then head of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, William? Keitel's judgment was that the French army would easily be able to break through to the weakly defended western line of the German army.

After October, France decided not to take the initiative in 1940, although most of the French army had been designed for offensive operations in the thirties of the twentieth century. The Allies believed that even without the Eastern Front, the German government could be destabilized by the blockade, as had been the case in World War I.

It also seemed easier and easier to do so without the collapse of the Nazi regime, and in 1940 the Allies would implement a huge program of modernization to build an overwhelming mechanized force that would have taken advantage of the existing military production in the war against Germany, including some 24 panzer divisions. Then the Allies were to carry out a decisive offensive in the summer of 1941. If the Low Countries have not committed themselves to participating in the actions of the Allies by that date, the Allies can resolutely break their neutrality if necessary.

…… (To be continued......)