The missions of the Eighteenth Army commanded by General von Kuchler and the Sixth Army commanded by General von Reichenau are different. If the mission of the general is to firmly attract the main force of the British and French coalition forces in Belgium If so, then General von Küchler first forced the Netherlands to surrender, and then turned around to support General von Reichenau, and together they launched a fierce attack in Belgium.
General von Kuchler's task is not an arduous one. As the right wing of General von Reichenau's Sixth Army, General von Kuchler does not have as many troops as General von Reichenau, and There was only one armored division, and Admiral von Küchler's time was running out. The main force of the British and French coalition forces has begun to enter Belgium continuously. It is impossible for General von Reichenau's Sixth Army alone to stop the main force of the British and French coalition forces. Time is running out, and Admiral von Küchler must force the Netherlands to surrender as soon as possible. Then, together with General von Reichenau's Sixth Army, they would support the Belgian war situation.
If the war in the Netherlands continues to drag on, once the main forces of the British and French coalition forces all enter Belgium and start preparing for a counterattack, General von Reichenau's Sixth Army will definitely be unable to support itself. will be repelled. The even more terrifying thing is that after the British and French forces discovered that the German troops in Belgium were far less powerful than they expected, they would definitely have a question, that is, where is the main force of Germany? At that time, if they use their brains just a little bit, they will be able to think of Germany's plan and start to formulate remedial measures. In that case, the plan of Operation Sickle will go bankrupt. This is a catastrophic consequence. In this case, they will only rely on their own local supplies. Germany, which is in need of military supplies, must once again start a war of attrition with Britain and France, which have vast colonies around the world.
Not only General von Küchler could not afford this result, but also Hitler? Le, Linwei, Göring, the SS, the Wehrmacht, and even Germany as a whole could not afford it.
"Lampard! You don't have any objections!" Admiral von Kuchler didn't understand Lin Wei's elusive behavior, but he just thought Lin Wei was more playful. If there is a chance, General von Küchler is still willing to talk to this junior. Although General von Küchler does not like the SS, the SS under the command of Lin Wei is finally better than before. Roman's stormtroopers are much cuter. Furthermore, after the baptism of the Polish campaign, although the SS was still a little immature, it was still quite useful.
"Uncle von Kuchler, how dare I say more in front of an experienced person like you?" Lin Wei said embarrassedly, "I came here just to see the scenery of the Netherlands!"
See the scenery? General von Küchler looked at Lin Wei's innocent look and immediately judged the credibility of Lin Wei's words. The credibility was negative. General von Küchler once observed himself, the rising star of the next generation of Junker landowners, especially after the end of the Polish campaign. He also specifically looked at the march route and command, and studied the performance of the SS in the battle. The result of the research is that the commander's tactical command is very rough, and he is far behind in recruiting himself, but he clearly knows where the decisive victory is in Poland. He seems to have a keen instinct for victory.
In Admiral von Küchler's view, the command was rough, which did not matter. The key is the keen sense of victory that many people don't have. This is the most important thing. Therefore, General von Kuchler did not believe Lin Wei's nonsense at all, and then asked, "Lampard, you should be able to see my difficulty now. The Netherlands must surrender as soon as possible so that I can have time to support von Lai. That old immortal from Schenau!"
"The results of the Dutch Battle can be used as a reference for defeating France!" Lin Wei said, "Uncle Von Kuchler, Rotterdam is a stumbling block in front of us. Once Rotterdam is captured, the Dutch people's will to resist will collapse, and The key point of the Dutch Fortress with Rotterdam as the center is the Dutch troops in Rotterdam! Capture Rotterdam and the Dutch Campaign will be over! We can naturally start the next stage of the Belgian Campaign!"
"The problem is that I can't capture Rotterdam in a short time now!" Admiral von Küchler said.
Lin Wei looked at General von Küchler suspiciously and asked, "Uncle von Küchler, why didn't I see the SS Skeleton Division Armored Division after I came to the Netherlands?"
"That old bastard from Reichenau took him to Belgium!" General von Küchler said angrily. "That old bastard said, Küchler, the Dutch military is far inferior to Belgium, and the Skeleton Division It will be more useful to follow me. After the war begins, I will face the main force of the British and French allied forces. You don’t want to see me lose the battle! What do you want me to say?" General von Küchler finished his complaint and looked at it angrily. With Lin Wei.
"Uh..." Lin Wei originally thought that the Skeleton Division should follow the less powerful 18th Army to attack the Netherlands, and then ran to the Netherlands as a matter of course. Unexpectedly, the result of the two generals' compromise was to hand over the Skeleton Division to Reichenau. The Sixth Army.
"Where's the Gustav train gun?" Lin Wei asked again.
"That thing is indeed the best weapon for attacking fortresses!" But Admiral von Küchler changed the subject and said, "But it is not suitable for the Netherlands. This place has a network of water networks and it is not easy to transport it. Besides, it is not suitable for the Netherlands." Reichenau said that it would be better to give him this thing to scare the British and French forces, but it would be overkill and useless to scare the Dutch!"
After listening to General von Küchler's words, Lin Wei looked at General von Küchler speechlessly, thinking: There is such a general who can't always grab weapons supplies from others. If he is his own commander, he I will definitely get angry every day.
"Is the Valport Airport under our control now?" Lin Wei could only ask this question after thinking about it.
After receiving a positive reply from General von Kuchler, Lin Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief and finally got what he wanted. Valhaven Airport is the largest civilian airport in Europe. Controlling it is equivalent to eliminating the need for Luftwaffe fighter planes to take off in Germany. For German aircraft with limited range, it not only greatly shortens the flight distance, but also takes off in the air after occupying this airport. The reconnaissance aircraft can control the entire sky of the Netherlands, and in this way, it will be invincible.
After getting what he wanted, Lin Wei said, "Uncle von Kuchler, maybe we don't have another armored division to cover ourselves now, nor a huge siege train gun to support! But there is this airport That’s enough! I’m going to talk to Marshal Göring, I think there will be enough bombers to move in almost tomorrow!”
"Bombing Rotterdam? Lampard, we can't harm civilians!" Admiral von Küchler dissuaded.
"Uncle von Küchler, I still think victory is the first priority!" Bang... Lin Wei lit a cigar without changing his intention at all; "Uncle von Küchler, I once put Warsaw was razed to the ground, not caring about one more city!”
"But that's different! The Dutch have no hatred against us! We can't do this!" Admiral von Kuchler once heard about Lin Wei's performance in the war, but he didn't expect to see Lin Wei's coldness in front of him again. The ruthless side. And calm words are as easy as saying whether you've had breakfast or not.
"Uncle Feng Kuechler, this is the fastest way!" Lin Wei said calmly.
"Lampard, give me a day! I will find a way to make Rotterdam surrender!" Admiral von Küchler said.
"Okay! Uncle von Küchler!" Lin Wei put out his cigar and said with a relaxed expression, "I will send someone to send a telegram to Marshal Goering now! Uncle von Küchler, you still have one day." Time, uncle, I hope you understand that your kindness to the Dutch may lead to the failure of Operation Sickle. The failure of Operation Sickle will push Germany into the abyss. I hope you will not become a criminal because of your kindness to the Dutch. Cruelty to Germany!”
"Of course I understand this!" Admiral von Kuchler said.
"General! The head of state is calling!" As soon as Lin Wei went out, the chief of staff came in hurriedly and said.
"Read it!" Admiral von Kuchler said distractedly.
"Command Headquarters Order No. 11. The Dutch army's resistance has proven to be stronger than expected. Due to military and political considerations, this resistance must be crushed quickly." The chief of staff immediately finished reading this short order.
"Hey..." General von Küchler knew that it must be the main force of the British and French coalition forces in Belgium, and stepped up the offensive. So Hit? Lecai wanted to solve the Dutch problem as soon as possible.
At this point, Admiral von Küchler could not help but consider it. So General von Küchler immediately ordered, "Time is pressing, order all directly affiliated troops to attack Rotterdam immediately!" At this time, General von Küchler also wanted to conquer Rotterdam himself, because he knew that once the Air Force Intervening in the war in Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands will really not be saved!
The German high command is anxious to solve the Dutch side. That is because the German high command is eager to withdraw armored divisions and supporting troops from the Netherlands in order to take advantage of the new opportunities that have just emerged in France in the south, but now they are not aware of this situation. As one wishes. The Dutch were still holding on, preventing Germany from deploying troops. That's why he urged General von Küchler so urgently. What's the solution? That is to order the air force to support the Sixth Army on the Belgian front, turn around and support the Eighteenth Army, and bomb Rotterdam to speed up the capture of the 'Dutch Fortress'.
Immediately, the troops of the German Eighteenth Army outside the city began to assemble according to the orders of their commander, General von Küchler.