Each weapon is carefully positioned for maximum effectiveness. The fortress is easy to observe from any direction, and every tunnel leading into the fortress can prevent enemy attacks. There are no exposed masonry traces on the fortress, and there are no buildings that expose the position. Weeds are growing everywhere. There are 4 hidden turrets on the top, which are supplied with ammunition by hydraulic lifts and can be retracted underground at any time. In order to confuse the enemy, the Belgian army also set up fake turrets throughout the fortress. The fortress was designed by a group of experts during peacetime and completed in 1935 after three years of careful construction. At that time, it was listed as one of the most important defensive positions in Europe and the strongest fortress in the world, and was vividly compared to the "gate" to the east of Belgium and a "lock" on the Albert Canal defense line. The fortress is generally considered to be impregnable and impregnable. Although the Belgian army racked their brains in the construction of this modern fortress, because the fortress was mainly designed to defend against ground attacks, one thing they did not consider was that the enemy might land from the air between the forts and armored turrets. in the open space.
As the gateway to the east of Belgium, Fortress Eben Emael was used as a key location to defend against Germany from the beginning. Especially after Germany rearmed, Belgium, which had jointly invaded Germany with France, was even more worried about retaliation from Germany in the future. So they have been working overtime to complete it as soon as possible. Finally, when the Eben Emal Fortress was completed in 1935, the Belgians finally breathed a sigh of relief because they finally felt that they were safe.
The giant fortress built by Belgium under such circumstances was obviously aimed at Germany. Of course, Germany could not turn a blind eye, especially Hit? After Le's position in Germany was consolidated, he immediately asked the military intelligence department to pay close attention to the situation of the Eben Emaar Fortress. The Military Intelligence Bureau led by Canaris has been secretly investigating the progress of the construction of the fortress in Belgium. When the SS After the Gestapo grew up, they immediately got the same assignment, because Hit? Le did not fully trust the Military Intelligence Service, which was part of the Wehrmacht system.
In Lin Wei's view, although this matter is difficult, it is not impossible to accomplish, and while spying on the intelligence of the Eben Emaar Fortress in Belgium, Lin Wei and Heydrich did not change their main focus on intelligence. The Soviet Union's policy was because compared with the Soviet Union and Western European countries, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in the west were obviously easier to deal with than the Soviet Union in peacetime. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it was not difficult to find people who knew German. But it was difficult in the Soviet Union. The vigilance of the people in these countries is not comparable to that of the people in the Soviet Union who often went through great purges.
Under the personal care of Heydrich, the Gestapo immediately began to collect relevant intelligence. Since 1938, it began to collect information about the fortress. In 1939, it had obtained detailed design drawings of the interior of the fortress, and quietly conducted research on this strong defense. Conduct careful study of the system. Knowing the information about the Eben Emaar Fortress so quickly, Heydrich was severely beaten by Hit in private? Le praised him.
Based on the knowledge of German intelligence personnel and the design drawings of the fortress, the German army began to imitate two Eben Emaar fortresses in the autumn of 1939: a replica of the same size was built at the Grafenfurt Military Training Center, A smaller model was built at Desheim Air Base.
Hit waiting in the Eagle's Nest? Le, is also anxiously waiting for news about the Eben Emaar Fortress, because the degree of progress there will largely determine the intensity of the British and French coalition forces going north to support Belgium. In other words, the more critical the situation in Belgium, the more likely the British and French coalition forces will be. I will devote all my efforts to rescue it, otherwise it will completely fall into the full set of Germany's Sickle Operation. When the British and French forces are fighting with General Bock's Army Group B, General Rundstedt's Army Group A will be copied. The British and French allied forces' retreat was thus annihilated, the main force of the British and French allied forces, and victory in the war against France was achieved.
"Is Team Sturm Kirk ready?" Hit? Le asked.
"It's ready, Führer!" said Major General Jodl, director of the Operations Bureau of the Supreme Command. "Marshal Goering has mobilized 400 Junkers transport aircraft and is now transporting the troops used for this paratrooper operation to the front line. Already! The Sturm Kirk glider brigade has arrived at the Eben Emal Fortress, I think there will be news soon!"
Did you listen to Yodel, Hit? Le nodded noncommittally, obviously still feeling a little uneasy.
Sturm Kirk Group had been assembled as early as November 1939. It was mainly composed of paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Regiment and engineers from the 7th Air Division, as well as a small number of Air Force pilots.
In late October 1939, Hit? Le summoned Cork himself. He walked under the wall, opened the curtain of a large map of Belgium, pointed at the fortress of Eben Emael and told Lich that he must take down this fortress, and also capture Cannae, Froenhafen and Bridges on the Albert Canal in Feldweiselt and elsewhere. The only troops given to Cork were a reinforced company of the 1st Parachute Regiment, some engineers and the Ju-52 aircraft and gliders needed for the attack. Hit? Le ordered him to start preparations immediately. As a result, an airborne commando team, captained by Captain Koch, was established specifically to carry out the task of attacking the Eben Emaar Fortress.
According to the terrain characteristics of the fortress, it is planned to use gliders to land the commandos directly on the fortress. The glider to be used is the German Air Force's excellent DFS-230 glider, which was developed a few years ago by the German Army for airborne assault missions.
After Cork accepted the mission, he used various effective methods to study the Eben Emaar Fortress. He made detailed observations of the fortress model at Grafenfell, memorized various photos and maps, and used reconnaissance flights to conduct on-site observations of the fortress from the air. He firmly believed that attacking the fortress during the day would be very costly. Attacking with such a small force was actually almost equivalent to committing suicide. Only by landing the glider directly on the top of the fortress at night can he successfully capture the fortress, because the unexpected attack time and unique attack method can make his actions surprise the enemy. In order to improve the surprise effect in the early stage of the attack, he planned not to implement artillery fire preparations and aviation fire preparations before the attack.
Based on these assumptions, Kok led his troops for half a year from November 1939 to April 1940 at the Grafenfurt training base near the old Czech border, conducting extremely difficult and rigorous training to adapt to this operation. training. The training starts with theoretical classes, and uses visual teaching aids such as sand tables and three-dimensional models to teach. Because Hitt? Le Zeng demanded that advance drills and training be kept strictly confidential, and anyone who leaked the information would be put to death. Therefore, when the assault force was first established at Hildesheim Air Base, it was isolated from the outside world. There are no vacations here, and no going out is allowed. In order to maintain absolute confidentiality, although the soldiers are well aware of the internal fortifications and facilities, the name of the fortress is not told to them until after all training is completed. Following the theoretical training, field training began regardless of day or night, regardless of good or bad weather. After Christmas 1939, they started conducting actual military exercises using the Czech fortress of Altefata in the Sudetenland as an imaginary target.
After the plan was finalized, Cork used the model to rehearse it 12 times. All combat groups practiced night landings several times in narrow areas by glider. In order to reduce the glider's gliding distance, barbed wire is wrapped around the glider's skid, and a small parachute can be released from behind when landing. At first, the paratroopers were all assigned to the units that attacked the Eben Emaar fortress. Later, Cork assigned a paratrooper machine gun squad consisting of 13 people to each bridge attack unit. In order to destroy the solid concrete underground shelter, a 50-kg cone-hole charge explosive package was specially developed.
For security reasons, the Cork Stormtroopers were stationed in several places near the Rhine River. They did not launch attacks on the Eben-Emel Fortress and three bridges until they received orders. Initial orders were received on May 9, ordering dispersed troops to move to prearranged areas for concentration. Shortly thereafter, a second order arrived, informing the commandos that Operation Yellow was to begin at 5:25 a.m. on May 10.
Before the operation began, Hauptmann-Walter Kok divided his troops into four small groups. Granite Group, commanded by Lieutenant Rudolf Witzsch, consisted of 85 men and 11 gliders, whose mission was to attack and capture the Eben-Emel Fortress; Steel Group, commanded by Lieutenant Gustav Altmann , consisting of 90 soldiers in 9 gliders, will capture the Feldweisert Bridge; the Concrete Group, commanded by Second Lieutenant Gerhard Schacht and a total of 96 soldiers in 11 gliders, will capture the Fronhofen Bridge ; The Iron Group, commanded by Second Lieutenant Martin Schacter, with a total of 90 people in 10 gliders, will capture the Cannes Bridge.
At 4:30 in the morning, a brigade of Junkers transport aircraft took off from two airports near Cologne, dragging 42 gliders into the blue sky, carrying them inside the Junkers transport aircraft. This time they attacked the Eben-Emel Fortress. commando. 493 airborne troops, including Hauptmann Walter Kok, flew smoothly to Belgium.
"Captain Hauptmann Walter Kok has arrived over Belgium!" 50 minutes later, the captain of the Junkers transport plane said. At the same time, we are paying close attention to the situation on the ground and sending signals to surrounding aircraft through signal lights! To alert surrounding aircraft that they had arrived over Belgium, these aircraft maintained strict radio silence for fear of being discovered by the Belgians.
Captain Hauptmann Walter Kirk, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and said decisively, "Put down the rope ladder and prepare for battle!"
"Yes, sir!" the commando team members stood at attention.
As the door of the Junkers transport plane was opened, strong winds poured into the aircraft. The members of the commando team barely withstood the strong winds with parachutes on their backs. I lowered the rope ladder about 20 meters long and began to climb up the rope ladder one by one to the glider below. At this time, the pilots were also trying their best to control the plane, hoping that the plane could be more stable so that the commando members could be safer.
When all the commandos and glider pilots had reached the glider safely, Captain Hauptmann-Walter Kok waved to the Junkers overhead, indicating that he could put down the reins. The captain of the Junkers transport plane also waved his hand, meaning, good luck to you!
At an altitude of about two thousand meters, the Junkers transport aircraft released its twenty-meter-long air rein, which was considered high enough for the glider to land on top of the three bridges and the fortress, and maintained a steep dive angle to further Make sure they land correctly.
At this time, the entire operation relied on the Sturm Kirk Group itself. At an altitude of two thousand meters, the glider pilots who climbed down from the transport plane with the commandos began to become the key to this operation. factor.