Even with more conventional approaches, the new strategy sparked protests from most German generals. They believed that such concentration of power was irresponsible in the same position, that interspersed forces would not be able to receive adequate supply, and that these already insufficient supply routes were easily cut off by the French. If the Allies did not respond as expected by the Germans, the offensive could eventually cause disaster. However, their objections were ignored.

Halder believes that, because the strategic position of the German army seemed hopeless, even a slight chance of achieving a decisive victory would be better than defeating completely without action. The adaptive change also suggests that it would make it easier for the Allies to escape to the south. Halder points out that if this were the case, the German victory would be easier because it would be a huge blow to the reputation of the Allies who had abandoned the Low Countries (commonly known as the British-French Alliance in 1940).

In addition, the German army's combat effectiveness will remain unchanged and will be able to implement the "red plan" and then attack France with all its might. However, the decision in this regard will have to be postponed until the successful completion of the "yellow plan". In fact, the German army's detailed implementation plan only includes the first 9 days of actions; there is a fixed timetable to determine the path to advance. According to the traditional "mission command", this depends on the judgment and actions of the battlefield commander. This uncertainty will have a huge impact on the actual process of the event.

In April 1940, for strategic reasons, the German army carried out the Weather Exercise to attack neutral countries Denmark and Norway. The British, French and Free Polish forces carried out operations in response to support the Norwegians.

At this time, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and the British Expeditionary Force had a total of 135 divisions (of which the French and British troops had a total of 103 divisions, formed 3 army groups, 3,469 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft. More than 1,000 aircraft from the British Isles could be used to support combat, which was comparable to the German army in terms of force. However, Britain and France had long implemented appeasement policies and were not prepared for war.

The combat plan code-named D was conservatively miscalculated by the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces. The focus of the plan was to defend against the Germans to carry out major assaults to Belgium, and Belgium was used as the main battlefield for the fighting between the two sides. According to the D plan, the Allied Forces deployed the main force in the northern end of the French border and the northern French provinces. If the Germans carried out major assaults to Belgium, the five-nation Allied Forces would cooperate to block the German attack; most of the other troops were deployed on the Magino defense line in the south. If the Germans carried out a frontal attack on the Magino defense line, they would rely on solid fortifications to resist; and in the middle, they relied on natural barriers in the Ardennes and the Maas River, leaving only troops with weak combat power to guard it.

France has mobilized about one-third of the male population between the ages of 20 and 45, bringing its armed forces to more than 6,000,000, which exceeds the 5,400,000 of the entire "Legitimate Wehrmacht". But only 2,200,000 of these troops are deployed in the north, although the total number of troops from Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands is more than 3,300,000.

By May 10, there were 93 French divisions, 22 Belgian divisions, 10 British divisions and 9 Dutch divisions in the north, with a total of 134 divisions. Among them, 6 armored divisions and 24 motorized divisions. Another 22 divisions are being trained or equipped in wartime emergencies (excluding reorganized units), including 2 Polish divisions and 1 Czech division.

In addition to these sufficient divisions, the Allied forces have many small infantry units: the Netherlands has brigades and battalions equivalent to about 8 divisions; France has 29 fortress infantry regiments. In the French army, 18 divisions are composed of colonial volunteer units; including 19 "B-class divisions", although they are fully trained units, there are still a large number of people over 30 years old who need to be retrained after motorization. The best Allied forces are well-trained British divisions, with sufficient power and a large proportion of professional soldiers; the most serious lack of equipment is the Dutch troops.

Allied forces deployed about 3,100 tanks and self-propelled artillery on May 10; another 1,200 were promised to be incorporated into new units to join combat or be allocated by the reserve; another 1,500 outdated FT-17 tanks were sent to the front line, which gave France a total of about 5,800 tanks on the front line. They had about 14,000 artillery pieces.

The Allies therefore enjoy a clear advantage in numbers on the ground but at a disadvantage in the air: the French Air Force has a total of 1,562 aircraft, and the Royal Air Force can provide 680 aircraft, and the Royal Air Force bomber command can provide 392 aircraft to be put into combat. Most Allied aircraft are outdated;.

Germany deployed about 3,000,000 people to participate in the battle. In May 1940, a total of 157 divisions completed training; another 14 reserve divisions still participated directly in the battle. Mainly in the C-group Army and troops attacking the Netherlands. In addition to 93 divisions being deployed on the front line (10 armored divisions, 6 mechanized divisions), 39 divisions were deployed in the West as the Supreme Command of the National Defense Forces, and about one-third would not participate in the battle. About a quarter of the combat troops were from veterans over the age of 40, including World War I.

The Germans on the Western Front deployed 2,700 tanks and self-propelled artillery from May to June, including reserves assigned to combat; about 7,500 artillery can be used. The ammunition stock can be sufficient for 12 weeks of combat. The Luftwaffe troops will be divided into two groups. A total of 1,815 combat aircraft, 487 transport aircraft and 50 gliders are deployed to support Army B, while another 3,286 combat aircraft are deployed to support Army A and C.

In September 1939, Belgium and the Netherlands remained neutral. They tried to do everything possible to avoid war by adhering to a strict neutral policy. Although they secretly arranged to cooperate with the Allies to deal with Germany's invasion of its territory, none of them were publicly prepared. The French team's top commander Moris Ganmolin suggested that the Allies should take advantage of the opportunity when Germany was tied to Poland to seize the Low Countries before Germany. However, this proposal was not adopted by the French government.

During the Battle of Poland, the French army launched a symbolic Sar offensive - only nominally fulfilling the pre-war guarantee of Poland and the West carried out the rescue promise - French soldiers advanced 5 kilometers towards Sar before withdrawing in October. As soon as the Battle of Poland ended, they immediately retreated back to the Maginot Line of Defense.

At this time, France had deployed 98 divisions (but 28 were reserve or fortress divisions) and 2,500 tanks against 43 German divisions (including 22 reserve divisions), and the German army had only a small number of tanks. According to the judgment of William Keitel, the Supreme Commander of the National Defense Forces at that time, the French team could easily break into the weak western defense line of the German army.

After October, France decided not to take the initiative in 1940. Although most of the French team had been designed to target offensive operations in the 1930s, the Allies believed that even without the Eastern Front, the German government might have been instability due to the blockade, which had occurred in World War I.

If such a possibility appears to be easier and easier if the Nazi regime does not collapse, in 1940 the Allies would carry out a huge modern expansion plan to leverage the advantages of existing military production in the war against Germany to build overwhelming mechanized forces, including about 24 armored divisions. Then the Allies would carry out a decisive offensive in the summer of 1941. If the Low Countries still did not commit to participating in the Allies' operations by that date, the Allies could firmly undermine the interstellar if necessary.

…(To be continued)
Chapter completed!