29th May
Britain
"Here is the news, and this is Alvar Lidell reading it. King Leopold of Belgium was this morning taken into hospital having suffered what was described as 'a serious mental breakdown' which caused him to attempt to surrender the country to the German invaders. This unconstitutional action has fortunately been denied by the government, and Belgium remains in the fight with the other Allied Powers. It is not yet known how serious the King's condition is, but the Belgian people have been promised an update as soon as more is known. In other news..."
France
General Billotte looked around the conference room. The Belgian members of the meeting didn't look comfortable, although he could hardly blame them for what had happened, that all seemed down to a stupid idea of Leopold's. Not the first one, he was certainly not the ruler his father had been, but at least the Belgian government had moved quickly to stop the worst effects of his sudden desire to trust Hitler.
"So, what is the current situation?"
His Chief of Staff stood up in front of a large map of the northern Belgian front.
"Things are still very confused, Sir, but we have a better idea now. First, the initial effects of Leopold's declaration was most severe at Antwerp. The city itself was already suffering badly from the air raid and the ongoing artillery barrage, and it seems the defenders obeyed the surrender order. This was also followed by some - though not all - of the units defending the defensive line around the city. Obviously the French troops ignored it, but the actions of some of the Belgian troops left them in a very exposed position."
He gestured at the map again. "Assuming Antwerp surrendered, the only way out for our men was to the south west. Fortunately the British armoured attack had pushed back 9th Panzer, or they would have been trapped. As it is, 1st Armoured have been ordered to hold south of the city and give them a way out. Although the surrender order was rescinded, the German moved quickly to move into the city - we were surprised at how quickly, indeed it has been suggested that perhaps they knew in advance, although there seems no actual evidence of this. Given that they had already penetrated some of the defensive works around the city, particularly south of it, we see no option but to withdraw to a better defensive line."
Billotte nodded. It was a shame, the city had been holding, and the counterattacks had been going well, with more troops on the way, but he had to deal with the facts, not what he would have liked them to be. "Suggestions?"
The Chief of Staff looked tired - not surprising, he had been up all night trying to make the most of what was, bluntly, total confusion.
"The main effect is the loss of Antwerp and the defenses around it. While some troops are still in place, and still fighting, we want to pull them back before they get isolated. The enemy still has two panzer divisions in the area, and while the British armour is stopping any easy route south of Antwerp, the Germans can still use their panzers to surround and isolate any units that have become disconnected from the defence line. So we intend to hold most of the Dyle line, but pull them south to form a new line running east-west along the Rupel, north of Mechelin, connecting to the existing KW line and the Dyle at the east end.
We will then carry on the line, using the Scheldt as our main barrier, towards Ghent. We have sufficient troops to hold a good line north of the city - we need to keep its rail and roads links in our possession - and from there we will use the old defence line from Ghent past Bruges and to the sea. With British V corps already there, and three more French divisions arriving in the area this evening, we are confident of being able to build the necessary field fortifications before the Germans can arrive in force."
Billotte looked at the map. It seemed a shame to fall back like this, but after what had nearly happened in the Ardennes, better to lose a few miles than an army. "And if this fails?"
"We have around six divisions of troops available in the rear - half British, half Belgian. They arent ready for combat, but we will be using them to fortify a fall-back position, along the line of the Lys river and joining the pre-war defensive works along the border. The most urgent need is to pull back the Belgian forces still fighting to the Rupel line, and move up the British 5th Division to help them hold. We also need to do something about the bridgehead. While there is less than a division there, its position makes it a threat to any men retreating from the city, and could interfere with us forming the western part of the new line."
Billotte nodded. "I have good news on that. While we will have to deal with what's already there, the British have informed me that the Royal Navy intends to make sure today that they won't be able to ferry much more over. Since they appear lightly armed, we can use our tanks to keep them penned up, long enough to get our line re-established."
{
To clarify. The Belgian troops withdrawing south will cover the area between Lier and the Scheldt, the French divisions falling back will take up the line between there and Ghent, and V Corps will cover the western part between Ghent and Bruges. The three French divisions arriving will take over some of this, allowing V corps to extend east, and reserve troops will be moved forward to cover the line until the withdrawn units are in position. 1st Armoured will cover the withdrawal and make sure the panzers don't interfere, then fall back behind the water line as the mobile reserve}
Germany
Werner Mölders was today awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the first fighter pilot to receive this award. He has been presented with the medal for shooting down his 20th allied plane over Namur.
