0510_10A: The First Five Days - PzC 12 France '40

The Battle of the Netherlands, 10 May 1940: Despite his public assurances that Germany would respect the Netherlands' neutrality in the coming war, from the start Hitler regarded the Netherlands as a key point in German strategy and ordered his generals to draw up plans for an invasion before the last shots had been fired in Poland. An invasion of the Netherlands would facilitate the conquest of Belgium and would provide the Luftwaffe with valuable airbases from which to strike Britain. The task of subduing the Netherlands would be left to Georg von Küchler's 18. Armee. Discounting the combat effectiveness of the Netherlands' militia army (which had not fought a continental war since 1831 and had been severely de-funded in the 1920s and 30s), the German leadership repeatedly stripped forces away from Küchler to reinforce the main effort through the Ardennes. To compensate for the relative weakness of 18. Armee the Germans developed a bold operational plan: Fallschrimjägers and airlanding infantry under General Kurt Student would drop far in the rear of the Dutch field army and seize key bridges over the Oude Maas, Nieuwe Maas, and Hollands Diep while a group commanded by Hans Graf von Sponeck would land at airfields near the Hague and attempt to capture the Dutch Queen and Parliament and force an early capitulation. Meanwhile, the overland invasion would be preceded by German Brandenburger operatives who, disguised as Dutch soldiers and Police, would capture the Maas bridges and disable Dutch demolition charges. Armored trains, some backed by a battalion of entrained infantry, would speed ahead of the German army across these bridges and deep into Dutch territory. While most of the German general staff placed little faith in these bold maneuvers and held a realistic estimation that the Battle of the Netherlands would last about a week, others, perhaps overconfident after the rapid capitulation of Denmark, assumed the Dutch war could would last no more than day - General Von Sponeck even landed with a bouquet of flowers in hand to present to Queen Wilhelmina upon his arrival at the Hague. Hitler was fully confident of an early Dutch surrender. The Führer's overly optimistic attitude was soon shattered. As dawn broke on May 10th and German troops poured over the Dutch border and fell upon Holland from above, it quickly became apparent that the Dutch were willing fight..[Size: Medium] Design Note: 1. The Dutch 5th and 6th Divisions and Light Division the campaign behind the Peel-Raam Line and then withdrew north to the Waal and Linge Rivers immediately after the German invasion. This version of the scenario starts these forces at their historic positions and the Allied player may either recreate the historic withdrawal or explore what might have happened if these divisions had attempted a determine defense of Nord Brabant. 2. To recreate the German airlanding operations it is desirable that the German player accept all parachute and glider reinforcements regardless of whether a given hex is occupied by an enemy unit or not.