Plan Dyle-Breda
딜-브레다 계획
Plan Dyle-Breda was the Allied operational scheme for a German invasion of Belgium in 1940: French and British forces would advance to the Dyle River line, while the French Seventh Army moved toward Breda in the Netherlands to link with Dutch forces. It was put into effect on 10 May 1940, but the German advance in the Netherlands and the Ardennes offensive forced the Allied northern armies to abandon the planned defensive line and retreat.
In depth
French planners sought to defend northern France's industrial region and Channel ports by meeting a German attack in Belgium rather than on French soil. The Dyle plan was adopted in November 1939 and expanded in early 1940 into the Breda variant, which extended the advance into the southern Netherlands. This decision drew mobile Allied forces north, while the German main effort through the Ardennes broke the front and isolated the northern armies. The French reduced the Breda movement on 12 May and withdrew from the Dyle position after 15 May. The term therefore describes not only an operation name but also the collision between interwar French forward-defence doctrine and German deception and armoured breakthrough in 1940.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (supports the Dyle plan, the Breda variant, the Seventh Army's advance toward Breda, and the northward diversion of Allied forces during the Ardennes offensive)
- fr.wikipedia.org (supports the French operational plan, its application on 10 May 1940, extension toward the Netherlands, and abandonment of the Breda variant)
- codenames.info (independent military-history reference supporting the plan's purpose, Breda variant, and its relation to the German Ardennes operation)