Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
Why would such an apparently large and powerful German force be under Dutch command on German soil? As far as I know, the Dutch don't have what can be termed a large military, and most are conscripts from what I understand.
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Large and powerful German forces have been under the command of foreign nationals for decades, as everyone here knows. As for the Dutch, I have hypothesized in the past that the Dutch get shifted south to cover the areas left uncovered by the Anglo-American co-invasion of the DDR. Someone has to, after all. Putting this force under Dutch command is at least half a political move. General Sir John Hackett creates a situation in which a new Southern Army Group (SOUTHAG) is formed in southern West Germany under the command of a French general. The French (and Italians, Greeks, and Belgians, Spain, and probably Portugal) pull out of NATO in response to the Anglo-American involvement in the invasion of the DDR. The Dutch and Danes stay in NATO, but they don't participate in operations in the DDR. Putting a Dutch general in command of SOUTHAG makes a [theoretically] positive statement of unity among the remaining NATO partners. Also, SACEUR rather hopes that the Dutch will be flattered by having a major command and therefore more likely to stick with the alliance and the strategy.
As we know from the v1 chronology, though, the Soviets the southern FRG. I have hypothesized in the past that the Soviets are aiming to inflict major casualties on the Dutch with the intent of so shaking Dutch public opinion that the Netherlands also drops out of NATO. The loss of a few divisions and a few squadrons of aircraft would mean a welcome, though not decisive, reduction in NATO combat power. The loss of Dutch ports on top of the loss of French and Belgian ports would be a real blow to the ability of the US and UK to support intensive combat operations on the Continent.