The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

6
Breakthrough
‘MORNING REPORTS SHOW further extension of objectives attained,’ scrawled
General Franz Halder on the morning of Sunday, 12 May. So far, so good.
The German Sixth Army had linked up with the German airborne troops at
Eben Emael and the Belgians there had surrendered; the Albert Canal, a key
obstacle that ran from Antwerp to Liège, had been crossed. The Dutch army
had fallen back on Rotterdam, while the French Seventh Army had been
met and forced back from Tilburg towards Antwerp. That meant that most
of Holland was now in German hands. Intelligence had also reached the
Germans that the British and French were moving up towards the Dyle
position, just as Halder had hoped.
Dutch resistance crumbled even more during the ensuing day, with
German troops reaching the shores of the Zuyder Zee. The French Seventh
Army, its forward units more than a hundred miles from the French border,
was also struggling against one of the few German panzer divisions in the
Army Group B and also the attentions of the Luftwaffe. The Belgians were
stumbling too, and were now falling back to desperately try to link up with
their French and British allies along the Dyle position. Meanwhile, although
the BEF was now dug in along the Dyle, Général Blanchard’s French First
Army was struggling against the mounting tide of refugees and incessant
Luftwaffe attacks to reach its allotted positions. By dusk, only two-thirds of
Blanchard’s men had reached the Dyle.
Nonetheless, as Halder was well aware, it was in the south, in Army
Group A’s sector, that the critical battle would be played out.
Hauptmann Hans von Luck and his company in the 7th Armoured
Reconnaissance Regiment had reached the River Meuse at Houx, a few
miles to the north of Dinant that evening, 12 May, incredibly, ahead of
schedule. The advance had been through difficult terrain but they had not
met any great resistance. Now, from the high ground that rose away from
the east bank of the great river, they could see the valley below. The Meuse
was more than a hundred metres wide. On the far side, wooded, craggy