Battle Map - Northwest Europe: May 10 to 16, 1940

Early on the mild spring morning of May 10, 1940 the Luftwaffe
hammered Allied airfields across Belgium, France, and the Netherlands
and German paratroopers quickly captured intact key bridges over the
River Meuse, Maas in the Netherlands, at Rotterdam, Moerdijk, and
The Hague. The Dutch Government surrendered at noon on May 15th.
As the Wermacht efficiently subjugated Holland, in the early morning
hours on May 10th, 85 men from the 7th Fallschirmjager Division
quietly swooped in on gliders to capture the Belgian flagship fortress.
With Eben Emael neutralized and German possession of several bridges
across the Meuse River, the German army freely advanced into
Belgium. The Allied forces reacted quickly, recognizing the German
frontal advance into Northern Belgium and the Netherlands as the
German invasion's main axis. In total, 35 Allied divisions rushed
northeastward according to the pre-existing defensive plan to the
Dyle River line in Northern Belgium between Antwerp and Namur.

Meanwhile, Germany's powerful tank heavy spearheads had traversed
70 miles of excellent defensive terrain in the Ardennes in only two
days and then crossed the Meuse River in the face of resistance from
the badly outnumbered and outgunned French defenders in the
region; two poorly equipped and trained French Armies, the 2nd and
9th Armies. By nightfall on May 13th, German armored formations,
comprising 7 panzer and 3 motorized divisions, 1,222 tanks, 545 half
tracks, and 39,373 other motor vehicles, streamed across the Meuse.

Map Courtesy of: Department of History, United States Military
Academy