If the Belgians had extended the Maginot line to the sea the Germans never would have stood a chance of breaking through. However the depression hit Belgium hard and defense works were the first thing cut.
Belgium did build some defensive works but it was on the cheap. I’ve seen pictures of some of them and there was little rebar used and the concrete didn’t have enough stone and the thickness was only around 2/3 of what it should have been. Really bad job all around.
Israel needs to get Wrath of God Old Testament.
Like Soddom and Gomorrah WoGOT.
The Mechelen incident of 10 January 1940, also known as the Mechelen affair, took place in Belgium during the Phoney War in the first stages of World War II. A German aircraft with an officer on board carrying the plans for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), the German attack on the Low Countries, crash-landed in neutral Belgium near Vucht in the modern-day municipality of Maasmechelen within the Province of Limburg. This prompted an immediate crisis in the Low Countries and amidst the French and British authorities, whom the Belgians notified of their discovery; however, the crisis abated relatively quickly once the dates mentioned in the plans passed without incident. It has been argued that the incident led to a major change in the German attack plan, but this hypothesis has also been disputed.
When Germany invaded Poland, there were six German divisions between the French border and Berlin. Belgium and the Netherlands could mobilize 30 divisions between them. After the Mechelen incident, had the Belgians and Dutch mobilized, or had the Anglo-French anticipated a German thrust through he low countries, the blitzkreig of May 1940 into France either would not have taken place, or if attempted it would have failed.
One problem for the Anglo-French was lack of a unified command. Neither trusted the other to defend their flanks, and when the Germans (serendipitously for the Germans) attacked in between both retreated to secure their flank, more of less letting the Germans in behind the French, and British lines.