In our timeline, the Germans invaded France both from the North, through Belgium, AND most importantly from the center, thrgouh the Ardennes forest. This attack, made by mechanised forces supported by the Luftwaffe, took the Allies by surprise and brought about the fall of France: from the initial limited brakethrough, German armoured forces pushed North to the English Channel, thus cutting out most of the Allied forces who were stationed in Belgium.
Initially, the plan was to attack only through Belgium, as the German High Command believed that the Ardennes forest couldn't be passed by a siezable force in a timely fashion; not fast enough, anyway, to take the enemy by surprise. The French also counted on the "impassability of the Ardennes" and defended that area with lightly armed and poorly equipped troops.
In our timeline, the decision to also attack through the Ardennes was made by Hitler because of a series of events: a young general had managed to fire up his enthusiasm, and a plane with plans for the northern invasion had crash landed in France. Thus Hitler decided to attack through the Ardennes.
In this timeline, he doesn't, instead devoting all of his forces to the attack through Belgium, in the North. We can assume that German paratroopers manage to conquer bridges and other key points as they did IOTL, but what happens next? without the Ardennes attack, it's a face to face confrontation in Belgium and maybe northern France, without Guderian's Ghost Divions running over enemy supply lines from the South.
So, how do you see this evolving?
Initially, the plan was to attack only through Belgium, as the German High Command believed that the Ardennes forest couldn't be passed by a siezable force in a timely fashion; not fast enough, anyway, to take the enemy by surprise. The French also counted on the "impassability of the Ardennes" and defended that area with lightly armed and poorly equipped troops.
In our timeline, the decision to also attack through the Ardennes was made by Hitler because of a series of events: a young general had managed to fire up his enthusiasm, and a plane with plans for the northern invasion had crash landed in France. Thus Hitler decided to attack through the Ardennes.
In this timeline, he doesn't, instead devoting all of his forces to the attack through Belgium, in the North. We can assume that German paratroopers manage to conquer bridges and other key points as they did IOTL, but what happens next? without the Ardennes attack, it's a face to face confrontation in Belgium and maybe northern France, without Guderian's Ghost Divions running over enemy supply lines from the South.
So, how do you see this evolving?