In the last war, the Kingdom of Belgium and the German Empire divided the Netherlands, and several provinces in the south of the Netherlands were incorporated into the Kingdom of Belgium, while several provinces in the north of the Netherlands became part of the German Empire. When the world war breaks out again, the Low Countries will once again become the battlefield of the world war. This is probably the tragic fate of the Dutch!

In order to defend against the German attack, the Kingdom of Belgium deployed heavy troops on the northern border, using the lower Rhine as a moat to build a defensive line. In the event of war, the territory north of the Rhine could be temporarily abandoned, allowing the Kingdom of Belgium to hold its line with minimal force. The bigger crisis is coming from the east. The Maas River is not as wide as the Rhine, and it will be very difficult to resist the attack of the German iron cavalry. So, the Belgian Army deployed 300,000 people here. As for the bridges on the river, if they really can't hold it, they can all be blown up. After destroying them, it is much better than the Germans using these bridges.

On August 10, 1863, the German army's right hook plan was officially launched. In charge of Army Group A in Project Right Hook was German Field Marshal Friedrich. Feng. Count Wrangel. Army Group A, under his command, gathered 1.2 million men, which can be called the elite of the German Army. You know, after the initial mobilization, the German Army was only five million men. The troops at his disposal alone amounted to a quarter of the total strength of the German Army. It can be seen that Germany attaches great importance to Army Group A. Of course, this also put Army Group A under tremendous pressure.

The Belgians built defensive lines not only on the Rhine and Maas rivers, but also on the Scorching Sun region. After all. The Scorching Sun region is a plain that is extremely vulnerable to enemy attacks. And the role of the fortress of Liège. It was to hold the plain, so that the Germans could not penetrate deep into the heart of the Kingdom of Belgium. Of course. The fortress of Liège may not be able to hold off the Germans forever. But as long as they were able to hold out for a month after the outbreak of war, their mission was accomplished. By then, the arrival of Chinese reinforcements would give them enough strength to fight a decisive battle with the Germans. Germany's right-hook plan is to capture the Kingdom of Belgium before the Belgians and Chinese can react, so as to use it as a springboard to sweep across Western Europe.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, Friedrich. Feng. Count Wrangel was on the front line. Although he has an army of millions, he is not interested in this war. Still cautious. After all, it was the Maas River defense line that he had to break through, heavily defended by the Belgian Army. Even if he had four times the strength of the Belgians, he was not to be taken lightly.

When the hands on the watch pointed to six o'clock in the morning, the troops deployed by the Germans on the border attacked. After a brief artillery strike, millions of German troops crossed the border and invaded the Kingdom of Belgium. It's just that the Belgian Army is east of the Maas River and does not deploy many troops. More of them, they are just serving as a vigilance.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "When the shells fell overhead. The Belgians were dumbfounded.

"What's going on? Did the Germans start attacking? My God! They haven't declared war on us yet! They are an undeclared war, a despicable sneak attack! The Belgian cried out in horror.

"Immediately contact the command, we were attacked by the Germans. The war has begun! "The commanders at the front immediately reported to the command that they had been attacked by the Germans. After all. Since the Germans had adopted this vile method of undeclared war, it was foreseeable that their attack would be very violent. If you can't react in time. There will inevitably be heavy losses.

In charge of commanding the northern line of defense was Belgian Army General Carter, after receiving a report from the front. He immediately realized that the war had begun. Carter reported to Brussels on the one hand, and on the other hand, ordered all the troops to be ready for battle. Prepare for the German attack. In addition, the bridge over the Maas River had to be blown up so that it would not be used by the Germans.

The British, the Belgian Army reacted relatively quickly. Although, the surprise attack of the Germans made them a little flustered. However, after the tempering of the last world war, the Belgian Army has been completely changed compared to before. In particular, a large number of middle and lower-ranking officers have grown. Even if many of the newly recruited troops are not doing well, they are still able to bring out their combat effectiveness under their leadership. Under the onslaught of the Germans, the small number of troops deployed on the border began to retreat. The troops deployed west of the Maas River quickly moved into the defensive line.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Explosions came and went, both from the shelling of the Germans to the explosion of explosives buried on the bridge. The Maas River was less than five kilometers away from the Germans, which allowed the Germans to deploy artillery fire on the border to easily fire shells into the west bank of the Maas River. In terms of heavy firepower, the Belgian Army was not weaker than the German Army. Even in the number of cannons, inferior to the Germans. However, they still returned fire and engaged in a heavy artillery battle with the Germans.

An hour later, the Germans had rushed to the east bank of the Maas River. However, what appeared in front of them were those bridges that were blown up. Although, they had already made their way to the Maas River as fast as they could. But it was still not possible to snatch the bridge from the Belgians. As a result, the Germans had to brave the bullets of the Belgian Army to cross the river.

Fortunately, the Imperial Army was also well prepared. They had long anticipated this situation, and not only the engineering units were ready to build bridges, but all kinds of materials for building bridges were ready. The troops also prepared a large number of small boats to carry the troops after the event. Although the small boats weighing about a ton could not fit a few people, they had no problem crossing the Maas River, which was less than 100 meters wide. It can be seen how well prepared the Germans were to start this war.

These boats are all made of iron, which can effectively avoid being pierced by bullets. On the bow of the ship there are also machine guns and mortars. In this way, they will not be able to fight back when they cross the river. In addition, the heavy artillery fire on their own side undoubtedly provided effective fire support for the troops crossing the river.

At 7:45 a.m., the German Army launched a river crossing operation on the Maas River. On the surface of the river, which was tens of kilometers long, the Germans threw in hundreds of small boats. On the artillery positions on the riverbank, the Germans even invested tens of thousands of artillery pieces of all sizes to carry out fierce artillery bombardment on the Belgian army's defensive line. Some Germans even set up heavy machine guns and light machine guns directly on the river bank and fired fiercely on the other side of the river. After all, a hundred meters wide on the surface of the river simply could not withstand the bullets of light and heavy machine guns.

It can be said that from the very beginning, the German offensive went directly to the most intense time. The Germans knew that crossing the Maas was the first obstacle they had to overcome to ensure the success of the entire right hook program. As long as they can cross the Maas, the vast territory of Belgium will be open to them. They can take advantage of the superiority in their forces and drive straight into Brussels.

Belgium has well-developed transport facilities, whether by rail or road, it is very convenient. At the same time, this is an advantage that Germany can take advantage of.

On the small boats on the Maas River, countless German soldiers were desperately paddling their oars. The boat was like an arrow from the string, speeding towards the opposite shore.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Shells kept falling on the surface of the river, blowing up columns of water. Some guys were not so lucky, their heavy boat was hit directly by a shell. The iron boat was torn apart by the explosion of the shells, and all the more than a dozen German Army soldiers on board sank into the water. Although the Maas River is not wide, there is no problem in drowning these Germans. With up to 20 kilograms of equipment on his back, even a strong swimmer would not survive.

"Da Da Da!" The Germans in the boat were shot and fell into the river, and the blood stained the river red.

Similarly, the heavy machine guns and mortars that the Germans had set up in the bow of the ship were firing, even on a small bumpy boat. But the sound of the shelling and the roar of the heavy machine guns also seemed to bring them some psychological comfort.

Venlo, the largest city in the province of Limburg, had a stretch of the river that was the focus of the German army because it was closest to the German border. An infantry brigade of the Belgian Army, deployed here, is under tremendous pressure. Under the overwhelming artillery fire of the Germans, the brigade suffered heavy losses. The Germans immediately began to cross the river, which forced the infantry brigade to brave German artillery fire to enter the position in order to prevent the Germans from coming ashore.

A small boat made its way through a rain of bullets and washed up on the beach across the river. The German soldiers on board had just jumped from the boat when they were swept away by an oncoming bullet. A light machine gun was pouring fire on them.

More and more small boats washed ashore, but almost all of them were crushed on the river beach by the fierce fire of the Belgian army. However, as more and more German troops crossed the river, this frustration would gradually change.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "On the battlefield, the sound of guns and cannons became one, and people kept losing their lives, and the cruelty of war was vividly displayed at this moment. (To be continued......)

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