Capítulo 137: Chapter 215 Liège
The Belgians around the Eben-Emael Fortress did intend to reinforce and recapture the fortress. After all, the fortress was of utmost importance, and it had cost a significant amount of manpower and resources to construct. Handing it over without a fight was simply unacceptable.
However, as the Belgian infantry approached the fortress for reinforcement, they were mercilessly bombed by German aircraft from the sky.
Several waves of reinforcements were repelled, prompting the Belgians to make a harsh decision: bombard the fortress. Since they couldn't reclaim it, they would obliterate the exposed Germans outside the fortress.
There were a few artillery positions near the fortress, but unfortunately, these large guns had their barrels pointed outward. After all, who would aim cannons at their own fortress? These cannons were quite outdated, relics from the previous war, with a caliber of 150mm. While it might sound intimidating, they had short barrels, resembling oversized fireworks more than effective cannons.
As these artillery units laboriously adjusted their positions to target the Eben-Emael Fortress, piercing screams echoed from the sky.
Instinctively, people looked up and saw planes diving from the clouds.
"German bombers!"
Before the words had fully settled, the Stuka formation, having descended to the lowest possible altitude, dropped bombs one after another. The stacked artillery shells were ignited, and the entire artillery position was engulfed in flames.
The remaining artillery positions were also subjected to bombardment.
This continued from morning until noon. The Belgian military not only failed to recapture the fortress but couldn't even approach it.
Meanwhile, the main vanguard units of the German Army Group B had arrived.
The first to cross the river were two tank divisions of Generalleutnant von Leeb's 6th Army. In addition to these tank divisions, he had 14 infantry divisions under his command. His mission was to break through the front between Maastricht and Liège, open the road to Brussels, swiftly confront enemy forces north of the Meuse and Sambre Rivers, and blockade the northern side of the Liège Fortress, securing the flank for the westward advance of the German Army Group.
Von Leeb's mission was of decisive importance to the overall victory of the campaign. Whether the forces deployed by the Belgian and Anglo-French Allies could be decisively contained, depriving them of freedom of movement, depended on the speed of the German 6th Army's actions.
General von Leeb often personally led the assault teams, crossing walls and obstacles under gunfire, significantly boosting morale. Of course, this was also due to his athletic hobbies during his youth, his vigorous physique, and his character, which loved self-display, prompting him to perform quite bravely on the battlefield.
As a high-ranking military officer, General von Leeb was well aware of the true strategic intent of their side. The military activities of the Army Group B could be considered a feint; the real offensive was the Army Group A, which pierced through the Ardennes Forest.
However, von Leeb dared not show any negligence. He attacked Belgium with the most rapid offensive to draw the attention away from the Ardennes region. Only by doing so could they mislead the British and French into believing that this was the main direction of the German offensive and lure more Allied forces into this massive encirclement.
Now, watching his tank divisions rumble across the large bridge over the Albert Canal, rapidly advancing, von Leeb felt that even without military actions in the Ardennes region, they could still achieve final victory through a frontal assault.
As von Leeb's command armored vehicle passed by the Eben-Emael Fortress, it stopped, and he summoned Lieutenant Wiegand, the commander of the "Granite" assault team. "Young man, how did you manage to take down this fortress in such a short time?"
Lieutenant Wiegand reported truthfully, "Reporting, General. Before our landing, the fortress had already been bombed once. After we landed, there were hardly any Belgian soldiers resisting."
"Oh?" General von Leeb couldn't help but wonder. "Why wasn't I informed of this bombing?"
Lieutenant Wiegand explained, "General, I saw that the bombers had the insignia of the Guard X Unit."
Von Leeb suddenly realized, "So that's how it is." The Guard X Unit was directly responsible to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Sometimes even the High Command was unaware of their operational plans. It seemed they had used some secret weapon on this fortress. "Did the Belgian soldiers in the fortress surrender?"
"No, General. We eliminated dozens of Belgians who rushed out, blew up all the entrances and gun positions, and even sealed all the vents in the fortress. They're trapped inside now. Do you… want us to rescue them?"
General von Leeb shook his head. "No need, let them stay. We don't have the extra resources to deal with them. Thank you for your hard work, young man." After some words of encouragement, von Leeb sat back in his vehicle and continued following his troops.
It wasn't until 6 o'clock in the evening that they encountered substantial resistance, advancing thirty kilometers without a hitch.
Such rapid progress was, of course, due to the cover provided by the air force. The troops, especially the armored units, required absolute air superiority above them to advance without concern. Currently, the German Air Force had deployed thousands of fighter planes along the extensive front to secure air dominance.
Von Leeb's vanguard had reached the outskirts of the city of Liège.
Looking at the distant ruins of the Liège Fortress, von Leeb sighed with mixed emotions.
In the last decade of the 19th century, Belgians had expended tremendous manpower and resources to construct the Liège Fortress. The city's periphery was arranged in a circular layout with twelve permanent fortifications (clockwise: Pontisse Fort at 1 o'clock, Barchon Fort at 2 o'clock, Evegnée Fort at 3 o'clock, Flemalle Fort at 4 o'clock, Fort de Shodeff at 5 o'clock, Embourg Fort at 6 o'clock, Boncelles Fort at 7 o'clock, Flémalle Fort at 8 o'clock, Ougrée Fort at 9 o'clock, Loncin Fort at 10 o'clock, Lantin Fort at 11 o'clock, and Liers Fort at 12 o'clock). These fortresses were equipped with 252 cannons of various calibers, along with machine gun emplacements and infantry firing positions.
In terms of their relative positions to the Meuse River, these fortresses were divided into two sections: six fortresses from 2 o'clock to 7 o'clock were on the west bank of the Meuse, and six fortresses from 8 o'clock to 1 o'clock were on the east bank. The fortress group was built on small hills surrounding the city, with elevations ranging from 130 to 260 meters. The firing positions and emplacements on the fortresses provided broad fields of fire, overseeing the surroundings, while the fortresses themselves were relatively concealed. The placement of firepower between the fortresses was also quite clever; when one fortress was attacked, the two nearest fortresses could provide supporting fire.
According to the plan of the German Chief of Staff, General Halder, the general offensive against France would adopt the "base + pivot" strategy. This involved using the Meuse Fortress, situated at the junction of Germany, France, and Belgium, as the pivot. Deploying 200,000 troops on the left in Alsace and Lorraine to act as the "base", they would tie down the bulk of the French forces in front of them. Simultaneously, 200,000 troops around Meuse would serve as the "pivot axis", concentrating 700,000 heavy troops on the right, forming a powerful mobile "pivot". This force would cross Belgium along the coast, ford the Seine River, occupy Paris, and then veer northeast, encircling and annihilating the main French forces on the Franco-German border. The success of this strategy depended on whether the German right-wing group could capture the important Belgian city of Liège within a few days (Liège: 7 railway lines and 17 roads converged here, population over 200,000, approximately 30 km from the border). From there, they could take a fast train to Paris in just three hours.
As a result, the Liège Fortress became an obstacle for the German Army. Using various "siege hammers" (large-caliber heavy artillery), the Germans relentlessly attacked for 13 days, opening the route to attack France at the cost of 25,000 casualties.
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