16th May 1940

[Pdf27]

The entirety of 1st and 10th Panzer Divisions have passed Reims and are continuing towards Paris. Due to the forested terrain and poor roads, they only reach the line of Épernay – Châtillon-sur-Marne by nightfall. Refuelling the Panzers and all their supporting vehicles is starting to become a problem, and is actually setting the limit on the rate of advance. Some improvisations have been made, such as refuelling at French petrol stations, but they aren't proving effective enough to keep the advance going at full speed.

In Belgium 3rd Panzer division reaches Aalst, west of Brussels, and 4th Panzer division reaches Tervuren to the east. This causes the collapse of the Dyle line to the south of Brussels, with the German infantry divisions along it moving again to the west.
Following this, the rump of the Belgian government decamps to Ghent. Leopold III however remains in Brussels, saying that “Whatever happens, I have to share the same fate as my troops.” Privately, he has been describing the failure of the British and French troops to advance further into Belgium as a betrayal, and seems to think that continuing the war is not in the best interests of Belgium.

In the Netherlands, two squadrons of Hurricane aircraft are provided to the Dutch Air Force from RAF reserve stocks in order to make up for losses experienced in the initial German attacks. Dowding has been protesting this loudly, but Churchill is insistent that “The Gallant Dutch should be supported to the utmost”. When Churchill suggests sending RAF squadrons instead of just the aircraft, Dowding sees the writing on the wall and caves in.

General Student uses the last of his artillery shells in an attempt to eliminate the Dutch positions on Dordrecht. The attack comes close to succeeding, but ultimately the Fallschirmjägers have been taken to the limit of their endurance and the attack falters on the edge of success, despite the Dutch taking very heavy casualties. With the failure of this attack, Student decides his position is now untenable and makes preparations to secretly withdraw his troops across the Hollands Diep.

In the North of Holland, an attempted German amphibious assault across the Ijsselmeer fails comprehensively, with a large fraction of the casualties being due to poor boat handling on the part of the attacking soldiers – many of whom haven't been on any body of water larger than a swimming pool before. The Dutch appear to have been ready and waiting for the attack, leading to one of the SS units involved to shoot 25 hostages in retaliation for the “spying” by civilians before the attack.

[jemhouston]

The issue is in doubt, who factures first is the question.

[Pdf27]

The issue is in doubt, who factures first is the question.

Not really, if anything the Germans are marginally more successful than in OTL. Apart from the failure of the airborne assault on the Netherlands (which TBH isn't a big deal - the Germans haven't bet very much on it) everything is going to plan for the Germans.