Chapter 280

German Paratroopers also played a vanguard role in the invasion of Belgium. Almost at the same time as the Dutch paratroopers, German Paratroopers are everywhere in Belgium. They opened the way for German ground forces, and the first cavalry of group a entered Belgium from due north of Liege. It stretches south between Germany and Belgium and is called "the appendix of Maastricht.".

At the junction of the two countries is the famous MAS River, and not far away, there is an Albert canal in Belgium. These rivers are like fortresses that arch Belgium's fragile border defense.

In 1914, the German team entered Belgium from the same road in the same place. In order to resist the possibility of the next German invasion, the Belgians began to build a grand fortress here in the early 1930s.

The fortress is located three miles south of Maastricht in a town called Eben? EMAR's small village is the strongest fortress in Western Europe. This Ebon? Emarburg can be called the northern fulcrum of the connection between the important places. The south of the fort points directly to Liege, which is the only way to the hinterland of Belgium.

They invested a lot of money in the fortress, making the whole fortress solid. Unfortunately, ironically, they hired a German engineering team to complete the construction of the whole fortress. The meticulous German engineers built the whole fortress very solidly, but they gave a copy of the drawing to the German defense forces.

In order to occupy this important fortress, the Germans put in 500 well-trained paratroopers. The task of these troops was to hold the line of attack for the German 1st Cavalry of group a army.

This time, the German Paratroopers decided to attack in a more innovative way - they took a glider to land directly. Stutton chose glider instead of parachute for airdrop. First, he was afraid that the huge noise of ju-52 transport engine would expose the operation ahead of time; Second, he was afraid that paratroopers scattered in the air would not form an assault force. He needed these soldiers to concentrate on landing and attack together.

They used 50 Gliders in the early morning to escape the ju-52 transport at 7000 feet above Aachen. Each glider had 10 heavily armed paratroopers armed with mp-44 assault rifles or G42 machine guns and flamethrowers.

When the sky was just beginning to dawn, these transport gliders made of iron sheet, wood and canvas, with their take-off and landing sleds, quietly landed in a place only seven miles away from the target. They made all preparations. These paratroopers trained secretly for this operation for three months. The training content was extremely harsh. Two paratroopers were even sentenced to death for violating discipline.

The glider troops were divided into four detachments, code named concrete, steel, granite and iron. Their targets within a five mile radius are the Albert canal and three bridges.

The steel detachment landed on the West Bank of the Albert canal and quickly captured the northernmost intersection: the feldwitzet railway bridge; The concrete team took the bridge in the middle, the concrete viaduct in florinhaven.

Two units and later paratroopers guarded the two bridges. They built bridgeheads on both sides, and the Belgian army's counterattack was soon defeated.

The southernmost bridge, German Paratroopers are in trouble. How far is it from Eben? Cannes, less than a mile from EMAR fort, was the target of the iron detachment. A few minutes before the glider landed, it was found by the Belgian garrison. They fought back and killed more than 30 German soldiers. But the Germans laughed to the end. They took the bridge and drove the Belgians away.

The task of the unit code named granite is the most unusual. They were ordered to take Ebon directly? Fort EMAR. This fortress covers 175 acres, is a Pentagon, usually there are 1200 Belgian soldiers stationed here, but this morning because of the change of defense, there are only 750 soldiers in the wall.

Cliffs along the canal protect the northeast side of the fort, with antitank trenches and a 20 foot wall on all sides. Inside the fortress, tunnels extend in all directions, and there are many fortresses. The rotating turret is equipped with all kinds of weapons. The only defect is that there are not many anti-aircraft guns, and there are no mines laid on the broad surface of the fort.

Eben? Fort EMAR is very vulnerable to air attacks, which is why Germany chose it as a target. 15 German gliders landed safely on the lawn at the top of the fort under the futile anti-aircraft gun fire of stunned Belgian machine gunners. The German Paratroopers bravely jumped out of the plane and rushed to their target with artillery fire.

All the Germans were blasting experts. They brought two and a half tons of explosives. A considerable part of them had a new device on them. It was a concave hemisphere. This kind of device can let the explosive force concentrate downward, and can easily destroy the heavy concrete fortifications.

Each of these explosives weighs 100 pounds and can break a few feet of steel plate in one blow. After studying aerial photos and fortress maps, the engineers knew exactly where they put their explosives. Less than 10 minutes after landing, they blew up more than half of the selected targets.

And in the process of the explosion, they found that the Belgian garrison had cut corners. Two turrets were just furnishings, and they did not have the ability to attack at all. With their fierce fire, the Belgian defenders were forced to retreat into the ditch to seek shelter. They called the Artillery Force outside the fort and shelled their fort from the outside. The German Paratroopers were forced to hide in the bunkers they had just blown up, waiting for the shelling to stop, and then they killed them again. They threw the remaining explosives into the tunnels of the Belgian Garrison and blew up the Belgian army inside. However, because the Belgian garrison was numerous and powerful, they fought to the death. The German team can't control the whole fortress for a while. They have to wait for the reinforcements to arrive before they can complete the task that seems impossible. Reinforcements came faster than best expected, and the troops crossed the Maas river with unimaginable speed. Akkado and his generals have devised a small spy plan that they are proud of. The purpose of this plan is to cross the bridge on the MAS River as quickly as possible. A special operation team, dressed in imitation Belgian uniforms, arrived near the bridges. The troops pretending to be in rout approached the target. Then they opened fire at close range and captured several important bridges. So the German infantry and cavalry were able to cross the Maas River as fast as they could. In a few hours, the German Paratroopers were waiting for their own reinforcements. But these supporters were killed by Eben? The German Paratroopers trapped at the top of the fort had to destroy an important fort No. 17 in order to be rescued. But the design of the turret was so ingenious that the German Paratroopers could not reach such a lower position, so they could not arrange explosives. Therefore, the Belgian garrison was able to continue to carry on, firing shells one after another to attack the mule horse infantry of the first German cavalry army. The engineers in the paratroopers soon found a way. They asked someone to tie the explosive to the end of the rope, install a detonator, tie it to the belly, and then be pulled to the top of the turret. Then these explosives were used to plug the gap in the fort observation post. Soon the explosive pack exploded, destroying some important fortress parts and making the fort unable to operate any more. In fact, the German Paratroopers were very guilty. They were afraid of the Belgians' counter attack, because their troops were really limited. However, until ten o'clock in the evening, the Belgian defenders did not have the courage to go out of their bunkers to fight back. They just stayed in their trenches for the last struggle. Soon the German infantry came up and began to use flamethrowers to clear the way. As they approached the bunker, the soldiers pulled the trigger. The flames stood out in the dark night and soared in the moonlight. The guns in the Belgian garrison bunker were dumb. The sound of the flamethrower awakened the tired German Paratroopers above the fortress. They were all sleepy by this time. When they realized that their reinforcements had arrived, they rushed down the hillside, shouting to meet their comrades in arms. They sang and danced with the German engineers, and the two guys even danced in a dangerous place. The next morning, more reinforcements arrived, and German infantry surrounded Eben? Fort EMAR, Stuka bombers coming, dropping bigger bombs, destroying more fortifications. After a while, the broadcasting horn of the garrison sounded, and the Belgian garrison went out of its fortification, waving the white flag and surrendered to the brave German Paratroopers. In this battle, only 75 Belgian defenders were killed, more than 50 others were injured, and more than 600 others remained unscathed. The German Paratroopers miraculously killed only five people. The German once again completed the attack with the speed of running. It took only two days for the first cavalry army to go through the road that had not been finished in 20 days. The German a group army has firmly controlled its own advancing area and created the most favorable conditions for the launching of the operation. Akkado decided to praise the paratrooper parachute operation, Stuart on behalf of all paratroopers decorated, all participated in the Eben? All paratroopers in the offensive and defensive battle of EMAR fortress will be awarded a promotion, and officers will be allowed to enjoy a month long holiday. Of course, akkado is more gratified that xedang has been completely controlled by the German armored forces. Those fierce tank armies will appear behind the Allied forces of Britain and France and advance towards the English Channel as fast as possible.