You are in Charge of Eben Emael !RAR!

[Wanderer]

You are placed in command a week before the Nazis come to pay you a visit and take over management by force.

How do you stop them?

Me: Go to a nearby rail depot and buy up rail ties and plant them on top of my fort facing straight up, next I tar the ground, next put command detonated explosives all over the top, finally I barb wire the entire top.

The rail ties and barb wire will stop the Glider Attack in its tracks without firing a shot. The Germans will have to launch a conventional assault and it won't be cheap and the command detonated explosives and tarred ground will definitely make them think twice about assaulting the top of my fort.

Should buy a few precious days for the Belgian Army to form a coherent force.

Anyone have a better defensive plan utilizing the technology of the time?

[PeZook]

Anyone have a better defensive plan utilizing the technology of the time?

Post watches. As soon as the gliders land, massacre them with machinegun and cannon fire before paratroopers can disembark.

Come on ; By putting a time traveller in command, you've made a paratrooper attack pointless, since it relies completely on surprise. With the amount of weapons you can bring to bear, if your men are prepared stopping the attack will be pitifully easy without extensive earth-moving.

It won't do much to slow the Germans down, though. They will simply build pontoon bridges instead of the ones the fort can destroy, or use ones it can't. A few more days will not change the outcome of the french campaign.

Just about the only thing my saved fort can be good at is sucking up aircraft bombs untill it's destroyed.

[Wanderer]

Post watches. As soon as the gliders land, massacre them with machinegun and cannon fire before paratroopers can disembark.

Why risk them landing? Why not prevent it outright so you can concentrate what you are suppose to be doing, that is dominating the Albert Canal with your guns. Thats why I planted the rail ties and add added tar and other nasty surprises. If the Gliders try and land, the troops in them will be severly injured if not out right killed.

Come on ; By putting a time traveller in command, you've made a paratrooper attack pointless, since it relies completely on surprise. With the amount of weapons you can bring to bear, if your men are prepared stopping the attack will be pitifully easy without extensive earth-moving.

Who said you're a time traveler? This isn't an ASB, its is a assumed that you are born then. Then again maybe I should have been more detailed as to how you are born then and in command. My bad.

Still my method is not unprecedented, the French took the same precautions I set up on the Maginot Line though it was directed against tanks and infantry rather than a glider attack.

It won't do much to slow the Germans down, though. They will simply build pontoon bridges instead of the ones the fort can destroy, or use ones it can't. A few more days will not change the outcome of the french campaign.

Then why capture the fort if its that simple to find alternative routes, there are other forts as well sited to provide cover over the canal and my fort as well.

Just about the only thing my saved fort can be good at is sucking up aircraft bombs untill it's destroyed.

Did the Luftwaffe have any armor piercing bombs good enough for the task.[/quote]

[PeZook]

Why risk them landing?

Out of spite

And...this may actually have far-reaching consequences (though your method would work, too) - Germans may abandon their paratroopers altogether is their first real operation is a spectacular disaster.

Why not prevent it outright so you can concentrate what you are suppose to be doing, that is dominating the Albert Canal with your guns. Thats why I planted the rail ties and add added tar and other nasty surprises. If the Gliders try and land, the troops in them will be severly injured if not out right killed.

Well, I would concentrate on what I'm supposed to be doing...if you're alert, you can massacre the entire company in five minutes.

Who said you're a time traveler? This isn't an ASB, its is a assumed that you are born then. Then again maybe I should have been more detailed as to how you are born then and in command. My bad.

If I'm born then, then the attack will be a surprise and Eben Emael will be taken. Besides, it won't be me. It will be some shmuck raised locally, and unless by coincidence he has an uncanny ability to foresee enemy attacks...he won't do shit.

Still my method is not unprecedented, the French took the same precautions I set up on the Maginot Line though it was directed against tanks and infantry rather than a glider attack.

Your method is excellent, but my method uses far less man-hours of work

Then why capture the fort if its that simple to find alternative routes, there are other forts as well sited to provide cover over the canal and my fort as well.

And they all fell. Eben Emael is by far the shittiest to storm, but it won't prevent the Germans from rushing across the Low Countries.

Did the Luftwaffe have any armor piercing bombs good enough for the task.

They had plenty of heavy artillery and 500kg bombs which would do the job just fine with direct hits in the armored bunkers; It will require lots of bombing, but it can be done. Hence why my comment the fort would be an excellent bomb sponge.

[Wanderer]

They had plenty of heavy artillery and 500kg bombs which would do the job just fine with direct hits in the armored bunkers; It will require lots of bombing, but it can be done. Hence why my comment the fort would be an excellent bomb sponge.

And if I set the Tar on fire, throwing up a massive smoke screen, while at the same time screaming into the phone for the Air Force to get off its ass and give me support, (the French Airforce for example failed to deploy sufficient planes into the sky despite its numerical superiority, only the Dutch Airforce launched an all out assault to stop the Luftwaffe and it really put a smackdown on the Luftwaffe before being destroyed) wouldn't that make a bit more difference?

Hard for a Stuka pilot to target my bunkers if they can't see where the bombs are going to fall and where my AA is shooting from.

Also wouldn't the rail ties I set up help out by causing some of the bombs to burst too high?

[PeZook]

And if I set the Tar on fire, throwing up a massive smoke screen, while at the same time screaming into the phone for the Air Force to get off its ass and give me support,

Uhh...Eben Emael was commanded by a lowly major...why, exactly, do you think you will have any real effect on the deployment of the Belgian air force?

(the French Airforce for example failed to deploy sufficient planes into the sky despite its numerical superiority, only the Dutch Airforce launched an all out assault to stop the Luftwaffe and it really put a smackdown on the Luftwaffe before being destroyed) wouldn't that make a bit more difference?

A bit, yes. Eben Emael would make for a pitched battle, but not an impossible one.

Hard for a Stuka pilot to target my bunkers if they can't see where the bombs are going to fall and where my AA is shooting from.

Also wouldn't the rail ties I set up help out by causing some of the bombs to burst too high?

Oh, sure - these are all standard methods to combat air power. Still, you have a fixed fortification there and it will get pounded down eventually.

[Wanderer]

Uhh...Eben Emael was commanded by a lowly major...why, exactly, do you think you will have any real effect on the deployment of the Belgian air force?

Well, hopefully if I scream loud enough they'll send me air support. Otherwise they'll have the shame of Major Wanderer's Glorious last stand on their hands as I have no intention of being a Nazi "Quest" for the rest of the war.

A bit, yes. Eben Emael would make for a pitched battle, but not an impossible one.

Well hopefully I can buy time enough for others to get their heads out of their asses, else see above.

Oh, sure - these are all standard methods to combat air power. Still, you have a fixed fortification there and it will get pounded down eventually.

Guess its a last stand then. Should I wear Full Dress Uniform or Battle Fatigue when I go down?

[Stuart]

Guess its a last stand then. Should I wear Full Dress Uniform or Battle Fatigue when I go down?

Full dress uniform. Smiting the Ungodly while properly attired shows an admirable sense of style.

[PeZook]

It would surely be nice to read about in history books

[Wanderer]

Guess its a last stand then. Should I wear Full Dress Uniform or Battle Fatigue when I go down?

Full dress uniform. Smiting the Ungodly while properly attired shows an admirable sense of style.

Would it dampen my image if I have a darish mustache, full beard, a corn cob pipe in my mouth, two Thompson Machine Guns in my hands and a pile of bullets where I fall in the magazine or should I die wielding a sword and pistol leading a counter attack on the fiendish hordes?

[Sea Skimmer]

Eben Emael only had one normal entrance (it also had a few thin walls which could be broken down as emergency exist), which didn’t open onto the so to speak roof of the fort. This meant it was realistically impossible for the garrison to surge out and sweep the German glider troops, just 74 strong off of the roof. Aside from six pits dug for anti aircraft machine guns, historically the fort had few means of protecting itself inside the outer perimeter. The Germans had to either blunder in front of several 75mm casemates aimed at the far flanks, or get in view of the single 120mm revolving turret, which was reduced to firing a rifle out of its barrel after it was damaged early in the battle.

What the fort needs is more infantry support, otherwise German engineers crossing the Albert canal would almost certainly still be able to take the fort, even if the glider landing was totally defeated. As commander you could order the construction of trenches and positions on the roof, but you can’t man them without seriously degrading the effectiveness of the fortress as a whole. However no support troops were available because Belgium was not mobilized and didn’t consider Eben Emael more then a delaying position. The fact is the Fort, while having some advanced features was poorly sited, poorly armed and could hardly expect to dominate the surrounding landscape. If it held out longer the Germans would have barely felt the difference.

Eben Emael could and did historically call for supporting artillery fire from several other forts and batteries, but the Fort was no small area to bombard and the gunfire wasn’t effective. This is probably the best place for improvement. More artillery could be reasonably be brought up in support of the fort, since unlike an infantry unit the artillery doesn’t have to site absurdly exposed on the edge of the boarder.

[Wanderer]

Sea Skimmer, in your opinion where would the German Engineers be most likely to attack from?

Best Image I could find of the area till I get Google Earth up.

Now assume I was able to sweet talk the Belgian Command to give me three additional batteries and two Infantry Companies for a testing exercise scheduled to arrive conveniently on the night the Germans attack. Where could I best employ them to prevent assaults?

[PeZook]

Sea Skimmer, in your opinion where would the German Engineers be most likely to attack from?

Best Image I could find of the area till I get Google Earth up.

Now assume I was able to sweet talk the Belgian Command to give me three additional batteries and two Infantry Companies for a testing exercise scheduled to arrive conveniently on the night the Germans attack. Where could I best employ them to prevent assaults?

What, you're running an RPG game or what?

[Wanderer]

Sea Skimmer, in your opinion where would the German Engineers be most likely to attack from?

Best Image I could find of the area till I get Google Earth up.

Now assume I was able to sweet talk the Belgian Command to give me three additional batteries and two Infantry Companies for a testing exercise scheduled to arrive conveniently on the night the Germans attack. Where could I best employ them to prevent assaults?

What, you're running an RPG game or what?

Just trying to figure out a way to stop or delay the Nazi Tide.