The Wilmington morning star., 1940-05-14
|Nazi Forces
Take Citadel,
Enter Liege
Invading Troops Are Still
Fighting For Some Of
City's Outer Forts
NAILS MAKE CONTACT
Thousands OF Reich's Sol
diers Sweeping Toward
Possible Record Battle

BERLIN, May 10. - Up - Adolf
Hitler's legions hoisted their swas-
tika flag today over the Citadel
o. the northern end of fortress
ringed Liege and broke into the
Belgian city, the German high
command reported, in their crush
ing advance through the low coun-
tries.
German troops are still fighting
with the Belgians for some of the
outer forts of Liege, but others con-
tinued westward Of the stronghold
and to the north while in the Meth
erlands the Nazi announced occu-
patton of fully half the country.
Establish Contact
A deepwly penetrating thrust of
armored forces in the Netherlands,
the high command said, establish
ed contact with troops landed by
parachutes around Rotterdam.
DNB, official German news agan-
cy, declared that as a result the
so-called Holland fortification sys-
tenn has been flanked."
Hundreds of thousands of Ger
man troops were sweeping west
and southwest through the little
kingdoms toward what loomde as
perhaps the bloodiest mass battle
in history. British and French
forces sped to the aid of embattled
Dutch and Belgians.
DNB said one German force in
the Netherlands captured about
18, 900 Dutch soldiers; a Dutch gen
eral and his staff we're taken.
While Hitler's army was driving
for the heart of the lowlands with
speedy armored cars leading the
way on the ground, a tremendous
fight went on for supremacy in the
air.
Many Planes Destroyed
The high command reported 800
enemy planes were destroyed yes
terday and more than so this norm
ing alone. according to an Off
cial compilation, the Germans lost
400 pwlanes up to Monday noon.)
DNDB in a later summary of the
war situation said that air attacks
to an hitherto unknown extent"
characterized Mond. IS fighting
and that more than 100 enemy
planes were shot down by early
afternoon. The agency placed Ger
man losses at hardly more than 80
planes.
French and Belgian troop con-
centrations in Belgium were at
tackled and the enemy suffered
'heavy loss," DNB added. The
agency also said that several
"warships and transports were hit
and set afire" and sunk" in air
attacks on British landing opera
tosions on the Dutch and Belgian
coasts.
Germany warned France that
German parachute troops would be
treated e soldiers, not spies, and
announced for every pwarachute
trooper shot by France in viola
ton of International law she would
shoot teno captured French SOL
dierS.
Warning To France
This was a sp' :ific warninog to
France, inh a denial of a French
yesterday that the para
chutists wore foreign uniforms or
civilian clothes.
The first contact of German
;roops with French forces on Bel
gian soil. according to Berlinh in
is expected to come
south of Liege, where the French
reported moving up west OF
he Ourthe river.
On the Observation-Disclosures line front
he high command reported German
positions had been moved forward
south and southeast of Zweibrucken,
opposite the northern boundary of
French province of Lorraine, in
IN action in which DNB reported the
Germans captured 600 Frenchmen.