On the day the Belgian Army announced its surrender, the 3rd Infantry Division of the British Expeditionary Force, under the command of Major General Montgomery, quickly outflanked and intercepted more than a dozen Belgian transport units that were preparing to surrender, and seized nearly a transport vehicle.
Montgomery then gathered these 200 military vehicles with the 400 military vehicles from his own division headquarters for the retreat.
He ordered that the reducers of all military vehicles be coated with a layer of reflective paint and illuminated with small lights hidden under the rear fenders. The driver of the following vehicle used this light to follow the vehicle in front.
The entire convoy turned off its headlights, implemented strict light control, and quietly evacuated under the cover of night.
To prevent accidents, he also ordered traffic pickets to be set up at intersections and corners where it is easy to get lost to direct the movement of the convoy.
That night, Montgomery's 3rd Division marched all night, advancing quietly and covertly, sneaking into the German encirclement.
While passing through a small road next to the village of Salz, on another large road less than ten miles away from them, a mighty infantry regiment of the German Army Group A, that is, the large force of the 13th Infantry Division
, are also rushing towards the inside of the encirclement.
Both sides were traveling through the night, accelerating their march, and everyone from the generals to the soldiers on both sides were kept in the dark. However, Montgomery's British 3rd Division had more vehicles, so it was faster than the German 13th Infantry Division.
This allowed the 3rd British Expeditionary Division to march 60 kilometers at night, successfully jump into the German encirclement, and rush to the front of the German infantry in the early morning of the 28th, organizing a temporary defense line to cover the large forces heading to Dunkirk for evacuation by sea and land.
.
"The commander of this British force seems to be quite capable." In the conference room of the German High Command, Manstein pointed at the large map on the wall with a telescopic pole and said: "According to the 13th Division at 10 a.m.
The telegram sent from the 27th reported that a British division appeared in front of them. According to the intelligence we have received before, the only ones who can appear here are the troops of the British 3rd Division."
In response to the British "Generator Plan", Reinhardt had already arranged for Manstein to formulate a dismantling plan called the "Power Outage Plan" in tit-for-tat fashion. Now, everything is exactly as Manstein had predicted.
The difference is almost the same. Nearly 400,000 British and French allied forces are trapped in a small area of northern France, leaving only Dunkirk, a small port with only 10,000 residents, as a sea retreat. The German armored forces that had just stalled have also resumed full operations.
They gathered their strength and divided their forces to attack in the direction of Dunkirk.
The only thing that was a bit unexpected was that the British 3rd Division, which was supposed to be outside the first encirclement, actually jumped into this encirclement.
However, it doesn't matter, it's just a little more effort.
The Navy has dispatched all available fleets to cooperate with the implementation of the "Power Outage Plan". They have sent over all available warships in the High Seas Fleet. In this fleet, almost all German
In addition to building warships, a large number of second-rate warships were captured and received in countries such as Poland, Denmark, and Belgium. They include aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, torpedo ships, frigates, and even submarines.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that at the request of Germany, the Kingdom of Norway, under the auspices of its new Prime Minister Quisling, quickly and secretly dispatched a main fleet including two blond King Harald-class coastal defense ships.
(only a small fleet in the eyes of Germany), went to the port in Denmark, participated in the "Blackout Plan", and accepted the coordinated command of the German Admiral Raeder.
The current situation is very different from when Manstein formulated the "Scythe Harvest Plan" under Reinhard's instructions.
First of all, after the naval battle in Narvik, Norway, the German navy defeated the arrogant Royal Navy of the British Empire for the first time. Although it was only a British squadron, it was also a victory and an unprecedented battle.
The victory was a morale-boosting victory.
Encouraged by the victory in the Norwegian naval battle, the Imperial Navy Commander Redel is now a little more courageous. As the saying goes, drunkenness makes a person timid. And the record of easily defeating the British Royal Navy squadron in Norway has become a gang favorite.
A drink that emboldened the timid Redel.
In addition, the Imperial High Seas Fleet now in Redel's hands is no longer what it used to be. You must know that at this time and space, the navy of the Third Reich neither let go of the Polish fleet that could have slipped to Britain in the past, nor was it attacked.
The heavy losses caused by Norway's "Weser Exercise" even added two captured British destroyers. (During the Battle of Norway, the First Squadron of the High Seas Fleet of the Third Reich captured a total of three British destroyers. Only one of them
One ship was seriously damaged and is still in a state of repair. It is temporarily parked in Wilhelmshaven for repairs and cannot participate in this battle.)
In addition, it also added four "Zeppelin-class" large aircraft carriers that have not been put into combat in history, as well as auxiliary "Flying Fish-class" small aircraft carriers.
It can be said that the Imperial Navy in Redel's hands now is several times or even dozens of times stronger than the fleet that Reinhard could command at the same time in history before Reinhard's time travel!
By the way, he is also the commander of the combined fleet, and also commands the main fleet sent by Norway to support the battle.
On the other hand, the British Royal Navy has lost 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers in the war against Norway alone. Among them, one destroyer was sunk by the Norwegian Coast Guard.
One side is much stronger than in history, while the other side is much weaker than in history. It is this change that prompted Reinhardt to carry out this bold naval interception battle.
When British warships are temporarily used to transport personnel, loaded with officers and soldiers and the water is extremely deep and even tilted, these British warships will lose 80% or more of their combat effectiveness and defense capabilities. By that time, it is said that
Maybe it only takes one cannon to hit these temporarily requisitioned overloaded "military transport ships" and they may sink immediately.
After losing this fleet, the British Navy will face another blood loss since the Norwegian Sea War.
When Norway was defeated, they could still pretend to be fine by relying on their heritage as a maritime power. However, with the continuous blood loss, even the majestic empire on which the sun never sets will surely become seriously ill over a long period of time.
Due to long-term contact with Reinhardt, Manstein knew very well that once the French campaign was over, the next step would be a landing war against the British. If he could not take advantage of the current advantage to weaken the British navy as much as possible, then in the future
The landing operation will be very difficult and even painful.
Although the German High Seas Fleet is out in force this time, their target is not just a small Dunkirk... but also the main force of the British Surface Fleet!