Holland closed its border, not allowing "refugees" to pass through, cutting off the German Army's hope of retreating to Germany via Holland.
This caused irreparable damage to the trapped German Army: they lost the best chance to break through, simultaneously hitting their confidence and morale.
There is a saying: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
If there had been no hope of retreating through Holland from the beginning, the German Army would have risked everything to break through from the direction of Hasselt.
Now that there was hope only to be ruthlessly extinguished, this placed the German Army in a general state of despair, with many even unwilling to attempt a breakout and choosing to wait for surrender.
Admiral Nicholas and Colonel Erwin were not resigned to this. They organized over a hundred thousand remnant troops to break out in several directions.
However, only a little more than ten thousand successfully broke through the encirclement.
